Sound Stage 7,77, Sound Plus.h

[Sjclement]

No, not the label of the week. I was just wondering what the relationship between the labels is, some stuff appears on SS7 and 77. Little Ritchie, Roscoe Shelton, Ted Ford and Sam Baker all appear on the labels (same songs).

Whats the story?

Edited June 7, 2012 by sjclement

[Ged Parker]

I think 77 was the imprint used to rerelease a lot of SS7 material in the late 70's for the northern market. It did exist in an earlier guise and released Ann Sexton following it's local sucess on Impel.

[Dave Moore]

Go to the Sound Plus thread in the AATS forum. It will explain the Sound Plus label's relationship with Sound Stage Seven.

Regards,

dave

[Steve G]

Right the labels were owned by famous radio DJ John Richborg.

SS7 was his main label from the early 1960s to the early / mid 70s. 77 was another of his labels (tax reasons, and also radio DJ playlist diversification reasons for multiple labels). 77 was originally for 'new talent' but as time wore on the barriers became blurred.

Sound Plus was another label - essentially and originally a reissue label for his old product too - demand was not just northern.

That's the short story, I am sure some of the scientists / those with time on their hands can add plenty more.

Edited June 7, 2012 by Steve G

[Guest Dave Turner]

As a scientist with time on my hands here goes

Oops WFT went wrong there

Sound Stage 7 was created in 1963 as a subsiduary of Fred Fosters Monument set up. The label was possibly named after Nashville's Sound Stage recording studios. The initial output was rather poor so in 1964 Foster brought in Nashville's WLAC radio DJ John Richbourg (John R) who according to Johnny Bragg was "a white cat with a black soul". Richbourg was given complete control of Sound Stage 7 output from then on via his JR Enterprises. Richbourg was contracted until the end of 1970. His first output on Sound Stage 7 was 2549 "Roscoe Shelton - You're Such A Good Thing / I Know Your Heart Has Been Broken"

In 1971 and 1972 respectively Richbourg set up his Seventy Seven and Sound Plus labels. Sound Plus being mostly (but not entirely) a reissue label of Sound Stage 7 and Seventy Seven material.

Richbourg vigorously plugged his Sound Stage 7 and Seventy Seven material on his WLAC radio shows. Along with plugs for Ernie's Record Mart and advertising stuff like gold soul brother & sister medallions, gilt edged King James bibles and live baby chicks.

I know this is "Look At Your Box" and the thread is about SS7 and associated labels but a nice short write up from Discogs on Richbourg , who for me was one of the most influencial people in the history of soul music.

------------------------

"Gentleman John", "John R.", or just plain John Richbourg, it didn't matter what name you knew him as. This legendary late-night voice of Nashville's WLAC will always be regarded with awe whenever great rhythm and blues dee-jays are talked about. He truly was "The Daddy of Rhythm and Blues."

South Carolina-born John Richbourg brought his friendly baritone to WLAC in 1942, first as a newscaster. His roots were in acting - but a lack of paying parts led him to radio in 1941 at Charleston, S.C.'s WMTA before moving to WLAC a year later. After leaving in 1943 for three-year stint in the Navy, he returned to WLAC after the war and stayed for three decades.

When Richbourg returned, he resumed newscasting but also filled in at times on Gene Noble's nightly rhythm & blues show. Soon, the man who would be known on-air as John R. won his own late-night R&B show (1-3 a.m.) and quickly became a "must-hear" among r&b fans within reach of WLAC's powerful 50,000-watt signal. His policy of playing mostly dubs (records no one else had yet) endeared him to musicians, blacks and hip young whites.

John R. was a study in perceived opposites. He was so believable, so natural as an r&b dee-jay that most of his listeners assumed he was black (he was white). Unlike many of his contemporaries, he was not a loud-mouthed hepcat, as some would expect him to be. Quite the opposite, he was in truth a shy, private man who liked to help people for the sake of helping them rather than for personal gain. Many a fledgling dee-jay (including Bob Smith, better known as Wolfman Jack) came to visit him and left enriched by the experience. The list of major recording artists he introduced to a national audience for the first time numbers in the dozens. It includes Hall of Famers Otis Redding, Aretha Franklin, Chuck Berry, James Brown, Marvin Gaye, Bo Diddley, Little Richard, Jackie Wilson and B.B. King.

One of those Richbourg helped, Motown songwriter Jackie Beavers, called John R. "too good a man for the record industry. He was one of the most kind-hearted fellas you have ever met." Joe Simon, another performer he helped, said: "he was the first man I met who could swing that much weight yet be that nice."

Richbourg, it is said, appeared to live at the station but a life elsewhere was evidenced by his second wife Margaret and their six children. He got heavily involved in the recording business, promoting and managing acts. He even had his own record label and was an anamoly in the rough-and-tumble recording business in that as far as he was concerned, a handshake was as good as a written contract. That quality was admirable - but it did get him in trouble - one Nashville musician supposedly owed him $70,000.

John R. retired from radio at age 62 on Aug. 1, 1973, leaving his six-night-a-week post rather than play pop hits and rock 'n' roll as demanded by station management. More than a decade after his departure, fan mail still kept pouring in (he received an estimated 250,000 letters during his career).

In 1985, many of the artists John R. had helped turned up for a memorable benefit for the ex-dee-jay, who was ailing both financially and physically. If a measure of man a man is his friends, then John Ritchbourg stood tall March 26, 1985 as James Brown, B.B. King, Rufus Thomas and Charlie Daniels among others gave Richbourg a rousing salute. At the end, John R. whispered to his wife that he never thought he meant anything at all to them as a person.

John Richbourg, his body ravaged by cancer and his voice reduced to a whisper, died Feb. 15, 1986 at age 75. At his funeral, Ella Washington sang "Amazing Grace" and "Because He Lives" and his old friend Jackie Beavers performed a song John R. had requested, "Eye on the Sparrow."

Perhaps the most telling words about John R. were spoken by Beavers: "he loved black music more than I did."

[media=]

Edited June 7, 2012 by Dave Turner

[Mick Sway]

As a scientist with time on my hands here goes

" and his old friend Jackie Beavers performed a song John R. had requested, "Eye on the Sparrow."

Perhaps the most telling words about John R. were spoken by Beavers: "he loved black music more than I did."

Great thread and clips.

Filled a big gap in my knowledge!

Many thanks

Mick

[Dylan]

Right the labels were owned by famous radio DJ John Richborg.

SS7 was his main label from the early 1960s to the early / mid 70s. 77 was another of his labels (tax reasons, and also radio DJ playlist diversification reasons for multiple labels). 77 was originally for 'new talent' but as time wore on the barriers became blurred.

Sound Plus was another label - essentially and originally a reissue label for his old product too - demand was not just northern.

That's the short story, I am sure some of the scientists / those with time on their hands can add plenty more.

thats interesting regarding sound plus being reissues I always assumed they were boots.

I ended up with a couple of sam bakers and a jimmy church all that should have been on SS7 and filed them away in the bootleg box.

[Steve G]

Not boots Dylan, although i wouldn't be surprised if there are boots made of this label somewhere.