A few years ago I tracked down the writers for Grey Imprints ' Do you get the message'. The group were a show band from Ohio, that pick up the track from the writers and recorded it on Clearhill records.

Last year I met up with the two writers and they told me that they had recorded a demo for it themselves and had originally intended to release this, but after they did the deal with Grey Imprint, this was shelved. To my joy, two weeks ago I was sent the original demo recording and the guys have agreed for me to release it, early next year. They have also given me another un-released track for the flip side which is a stunning midtempo crossover track.

Great stuff Dave.

Have to say I still like Grey Imprint despite the purple collars

dem whitey's got soul !!!!......are the writers white as well???....both their demo + grey imprint lead sound black to my cloth ears!!!

The writers are black and the lyrics are very 70's black consciousness ('I remember the time when the back of the bus was reserved for us'). So a little strange that a white band recorded it, but as all say, both are great recordings.

Great shirt collars

Nice one Dave, I thought Grey Imprint were black too.

Can't listen right now but look forward to listening in a bit. I did see your attempt on FB saying you'd been sent this, think you'd had a few

good tune..........played at lifeline l believe..........lead singer good voice

The Grey Imprint started as a salt and pepper band - the local (Dayton, OH) term for bands with black singers and white instrumentalists. The photo (which looks it was taken from the one I posted some years ago on the BuckeyeBeat site) is from a couple years later when the singer was Sonny Flaharty (sitting in front), he is not the singer on 'Message'. This version of the band also made a record or two. Other than Sonny, most of the players are the same, including guitarist Clay Yarber. Yarber was killed in a commuter plane crash outside of Buffalo, NY a few years ago.

Other salt and pepper groups were London Fogg (and the Continentals) on Gold Star/Imperial, Jaguars of 'the Metropolitan' fame, and the Citations who recorded on Vangee and Fraternity. There's probably more that I'm forgetting.

When my mate found a small handfull few years ago he'd mentioned about the group line up change ,but pointed out that the lead on " message " was certainly a black vocalist -infact i'm sure he sent me a couple of black and white 10 x 8 promo photo's with the copies of the 45 - will have to try find em.

Reminds me in parts of this track...............

Edited November 19, 201113 yr by wiggyflat

Possibly the best Nothern / Jazz hybrid tune since Lou Pride's I'm Coming Home In The Morning.....absolutely fantastic backing track with totally insane horn section.....love it

Can't wait to hear thr unreleased version Dave.... get the press warmed up...

Edited November 19, 201113 yr by Wrongcrowd

  On 18/11/2011 at 13:56, Dave Thorley said:

The writers are black and the lyrics are very 70's black consciousness ('I remember the time when the back of the bus was reserved for us'). So a little strange that a white band recorded it, but as all say, both are great recordings.

The Grey Imprint 45 came out in November '69

  On 19/11/2011 at 08:23, George G said:

The Grey Imprint 45 came out in November '69

Cheers George for all the info, all adds to the overall story of the recording. I was told that most of the masters from the Clearhill stuff are now with a guy in N.Y. ?

Edited November 19, 201113 yr by Dave Thorley

Played on Richard Searlings prog by Shifty who claims to have discovered it,covered it as Lou Pride.

Would never have put the photo to the track.

This sound really got under my skin around five years ago I think it was , did loads of research on it myself , such emotive lyrics it really did stand out as a killer cut to me back then . I wrote something in soul up north on it too and remember a massive debate trying to dicover who the people behind the song was . At one point I i thought the lead singer was Bobby Jones .

Would love to read the piece again ... lost my copy when I moved up north.

Imagine my delight holding one at Prestatyn ... Tim Browns box , god it was electrifying !

Dave if there one person that needs a copy when you run release its ME ME ME ! please

I am sure my tale of infactuation with the sound is recorded in the raresoul forum soultalk , I will try and search the soulful detroit archives today because a few of my chums on there helped in my crusade to find the lead singer ... Victor who served in the American Airforce . I was writing to a girlfriend who was in a relationship with one of the band , i was so close but never got to speaking to the boyfriend.

Yes this one really did have an impact on me , got obsessed by it , I really got the anorak bug with this one lol and yes my copy of the track came from a friend that got it from Shifty originally ..so yes it was a shifty find .

i wish I could find the piece I wrote would love to read it again.

Found the other side as the B side really amusing

Will the band see any of the sale proceeds on the release ?

Edited November 21, 201113 yr by Carms

  On 19/11/2011 at 12:02, Dave Thorley said:

Cheers George for all the info, all adds to the overall story of the recording. I was told that most of the masters from the Clearhill stuff are now with a guy in N.Y. ?

Dave, I collected my info nearly 20 years ago. Once I get a mystery solved, I'm done. I have no idea what became of the band or the masters, with the exception of one of the original band members for which I have contact info. Sonny Flaharty and Kenny Smith are pretty approachable and might know more. I have some Clearhill 45s, most of them are bad. The only ones that I remember being good are this and the Kenny Smith. I have another soulish 45 by the One and Onlys and thank goodness their discography lives up to their name...it's almost unlistenable. The other 45s are rock and country.

Edited November 21, 201113 yr by George G

  On 21/11/2011 at 07:01, George G said:

Dave, I collected my info nearly 20 years ago. Once I get a mystery solved, I'm done. I have no idea what became of the band or the masters, with the exception of one of the original band members for which I have contact info. Sonny Flaharty and Kenny Smith are pretty approachable and might know more. I have some Clearhill 45s, most of them are bad. The only ones that I remember being good are this and the Kenny Smith. I have another soulish 45 by the One and Onlys and thank goodness their discography lives up to their name...it's almost unlistenable. The other 45s are rock and country.

Just remembered another soul 45 I have on Clearhill - Derrick and the 3 Gs. It's an OK song but the recording quality is poor so the record has no energy.

  On 21/11/2011 at 05:50, Carms said:

I am sure my tale of infactuation with the sound is recorded in the raresoul forum soultalk , I will try and search the soulful detroit archives today because a few of my chums on there helped in my crusade to find the lead singer ... Victor who served in the American Airforce . I was writing to a girlfriend who was in a relationship with one of the band , i was so close but never got to speaking to the boyfriend.

Yes this one really did have an impact on me , got obsessed by it , I really got the anorak bug with this one lol and yes my copy of the track came from a friend that got it from Shifty originally ..so yes it was a shifty find .

i wish I could find the piece I wrote would love to read it again.

Found the other side as the B side really amusing

Will the band see any of the sale proceeds on the release ?

Maybe there some mis-undersatnding. I will release the demo version, not Grey Imprint. The demo version, was done by the writers, who were not involved in Grey Imprint, they just shopped the song onto the band. The demo I have put up here was recorded a year or so before the group, so roughly 1968.

So no one in the group will get anything for the release, but the writers will, as they are who I am licencing the track from.

Cheers

Dave