By arrangement with the great Robert Bateman, I have arranged with him for me to re-issue
IF IT'S ALL THE SAME TO YOU BABE - LUTHER INGRAM
EXUS TREK - LUTHER INGRAM ORCHESTRA
on a lookalike of his H.I.B label
(B was for Bateman, I for Ingram and H for Robert's girlfriend at the time!)
As well as regular black vinyl, am doing a limited edition run on multi-coloured vinyl. These will be individually numbered from 001 to 150.
These will be £20 each plus postage. I can see them being snapped up, so if anyone wants to reserve a copy please PM me to do so. I am keeping Numbers 1, 45, and 100 for myself, but the rest up for grabs! Am happy to allocate numbers starting with No 2 on first come, first served basis and send PM reply confirming numbers that have been allocated.
Robert remembers the recording sessions well. The main one was done at Golden World Studio with the Funk Brothers playing. Richard Wylie came up with the lyrics and worked on the track with Robert. They had a history together with Luther Ingram via "I Spy For The FBI".
Robert, without Popcorn, then took the tapes to New York where he pulled a favour of Shelby Singleton and got use of the Mercury Studio where he added on the manic strings we all love so much. The Orchestra was in fact just two violinists, who Robert overdubbed and overdubbed until he got the sound he wanted ("I learnt to do that when I was at Motown").
We all think of Northern Soul classcis as being flops, but Robert tells a different story. Luther was popular in St. Louis and "If It's All The Same To You Babe" got regular radio plays there, and Robert's first pressing sold out and he had to supply more to deal with the demand. He sold about 5,000, his distributor in St. Louis wanted more and at that point Robert got concerned about the costs he was running up. He told the distributor his dilema and they said they would get someone to contact him who could help. Shortly afterwards Jerry Wexler from Atlantic rang him and arranged a distrtibution deal, hence the Atco credits on later copies.
So Robert sold around 5,000 copies himself, and got an advance from Atlantic that covered all his costs/made him a profit, so he certainly does not see it as a flop.
I explaind to him how the fast beat and whole feel of the record makes it ideal for the Northern scene, but asked who on earth he was aiming such an uptempo dancer at in the USA. His answer says it all: "I just wanted to make a record that sounded like something The Four Tops were doing!".
Modern Soul Funk Boogie - Gratitude Band - The Girl Is
Rock Funk Soul Reggae Collection Orig Approx 335 Vinyl
By arrangement with the great Robert Bateman, I have arranged with him for me to re-issue
IF IT'S ALL THE SAME TO YOU BABE - LUTHER INGRAM
EXUS TREK - LUTHER INGRAM ORCHESTRA
on a lookalike of his H.I.B label
(B was for Bateman, I for Ingram and H for Robert's girlfriend at the time!)
As well as regular black vinyl, am doing a limited edition run on multi-coloured vinyl. These will be individually numbered from 001 to 150.
These will be £20 each plus postage. I can see them being snapped up, so if anyone wants to reserve a copy please PM me to do so. I am keeping Numbers 1, 45, and 100 for myself, but the rest up for grabs! Am happy to allocate numbers starting with No 2 on first come, first served basis and send PM reply confirming numbers that have been allocated.
Robert remembers the recording sessions well. The main one was done at Golden World Studio with the Funk Brothers playing. Richard Wylie came up with the lyrics and worked on the track with Robert. They had a history together with Luther Ingram via "I Spy For The FBI".
Robert, without Popcorn, then took the tapes to New York where he pulled a favour of Shelby Singleton and got use of the Mercury Studio where he added on the manic strings we all love so much. The Orchestra was in fact just two violinists, who Robert overdubbed and overdubbed until he got the sound he wanted ("I learnt to do that when I was at Motown").
We all think of Northern Soul classcis as being flops, but Robert tells a different story. Luther was popular in St. Louis and "If It's All The Same To You Babe" got regular radio plays there, and Robert's first pressing sold out and he had to supply more to deal with the demand. He sold about 5,000, his distributor in St. Louis wanted more and at that point Robert got concerned about the costs he was running up. He told the distributor his dilema and they said they would get someone to contact him who could help. Shortly afterwards Jerry Wexler from Atlantic rang him and arranged a distrtibution deal, hence the Atco credits on later copies.
So Robert sold around 5,000 copies himself, and got an advance from Atlantic that covered all his costs/made him a profit, so he certainly does not see it as a flop.
I explaind to him how the fast beat and whole feel of the record makes it ideal for the Northern scene, but asked who on earth he was aiming such an uptempo dancer at in the USA. His answer says it all: "I just wanted to make a record that sounded like something The Four Tops were doing!".
All The Best,
Neil