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Under The Streetlamp - Lp Only Version

Mattfox

By Mattfox
in Look At Your Box

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The Tempest
The Tempest

The Los Angeles-based Exits made only four singles -- three on Gemini and one on Kapp Records (really three, their debut came out twice) -- but two of them, "Under the Streetlamp" and "Another Sundown

Mattfox
Mattfox

fantastic record... also a great version of "another sundown in watts" ...

Micksmix
Micksmix

I have the femme version of "L O V E" by the jades on imperial

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Guest sharmo 1

Guest sharmo 1

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Money is a different version! and don't think I have played under the street lamp off the LP due to never getting past the great stereo Sundown In What's.

Yes mate it is i was lucky enough to get the 8 inch acetates of gotta have money and a great version of Let it all out superb versions with" money " being slower and having a different ending regards Simon.

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The Tempest Veteran

The Tempest

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The Los Angeles-based Exits made only four singles -- three on Gemini and one on Kapp Records (really three, their debut came out twice) -- but two of them, "Under the Streetlamp" and "Another Sundown in Watts," feature some of the '60s finest soul group harmony. Their sound married late-'50s doo wop with mid-'60s soul and the material was a teary-compound of aspiration and hope and despair and hopelessness. They recorded their first song and biggest hit nameless and the producer came up with their name as James Conwell (lead), Godey Colbert, Esko Wallace, Louis Hendricks, and Charles Colbert were leaving the studio under the gleaming exit sign over the door. A new name was in order as they had recorded "Love Can't Be Modernized" b/w "There's That Mountain" in early 1967 as the Trips for Soundsville Records.

Some of the members had prior and post musical experience. Conwell (the Vice Roys, the Minortones, and Smoked Sugar), G. Colbert (the Pharoahs, the Cufflinks, the Visitors, and Esko Wallace (the Visitors).

Conwell was the Exits' x-factor, a magnificent lead singer with a voice more melodic, soaring, and harmonious instrument that could jerk tears from a mummy. They made noise in pockets across America with their first release, "Under the Street Lamp" b/w "You Got to Have Money" on Gemini Records (August 1967). It was their most successful record, success being a relative term, as it got aired on many soul stations and was well-received where played. True to its astrological traits, impatient, flighty Gemini didn't work the record long enough, and before 1967 ended released a second recording, "I Don't Want to Hear It." It didn't take off, so ever-changing Gemini reissued "Under the Street Lamp" in early 1968.

Not in it for the long haul, Gemini Records went out of business; Jimmy Conwell had also recorded as a solo act for the label, but those 45s withered as well. They went with Kapp Records for one glorious single in 1969, entitled "Another Sundown in Watts" fronted by "I'm So Glad," and therein lies the problem: the B-Side should have been the A-Side. Except for an album credited to Conwell released in 1977, Let It All Out, nothing else by this marvelous group ever surfaced. And while Conwell's album, which has been re-released on CD by United Kingdom's AM Tracks Records, contains some Exits' tracks, it's not definitive as Conwell's most successful solo, "Cigarettes Ashes," is missing.

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Guest Paul

Guest Paul

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Interesting thread, Jimmy is very talented and a nice guy.

It's odd to note that apart from being known as both Jimmy Conwell / James Conwell (real name) and "Richard Temple" (named after a TV detective character) he was in many groups and variations of groups.

He was in The Minor-Tones and The Classics (same group), The Viceroys and The Penguins (same group) and The Exits, The New Group, The Trips and The Light Drivers.

So that's two solo names and eight group names.

Jimmy's friend Godoy Colbert (now deceased) was also in many of those groups and he was also a member of Free Movement and Smoked Sugar.

The Guiness / Globe LP credited to James Conwell was a bootleg of course, as most people will know, and Jimmy thought it was odd that the named him "James".

By the way, I've kept this quiet for a while but Jimmy is recovering from a serious illness and I'm pleased to say he's doing fine.

Paul

P.S. It was also nice that Dean Chalkley’s short film Young Souls features 'Cigarette Ashes', Jimmy was pleased about that.

THE EXITS:

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Guest Paul

Guest Paul

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Great read Paul.Can i just add that Godoy Colbert - "Baby i like it" is a fantastic piece of NS,and of course the same backing as Len Jewell's - "All my good lovin".Len Jewell being the link between GC,Jimmy Conwell,Exits etc.

Hello Kev,

Yes, Len was an important part of the team.

Sadly, Len is deceased (he died from complications following a shooting so Jimmy and other friends condsider it was "murder") but he and Jimmy collaborated on many songs which I've controlled as a publisher (Millbrand Music) since 2005.

I'm glad this thread came up because Jimmy has been ill and I'm releasing a single by him on Shotgun early next year.

Best wishes,

Paul

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Guest Paul

Guest Paul

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L. O. V. E. is my choice from this fantastic Guiness record...

Thanks, that gives me an opportunity for a free plug... 'L.OV.E. (I Love You)' is the A side of the Jimmy Conwell single which is due out on Shotgun in January.

Paul

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