Best Northern Soul Production Teams.....?

[Ian Dewhirst]

For me it doesn't come much better than Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie and Tony Hestor. All the right credentials and so, so many great Northern Soul productions.....

Stanley Mitchell "Get It Baby"

Luther Ingram "If It's All The Same To You Babe"

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Sam Ward "Sister Lee"

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Detroit Executives "Cool Off"

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=l01__ADd3fI[/media]

The Dynamics "Yes I Love You Baby"

Who else is up there with the greatest?

Ian D

Edited August 9, 2012 by Ian Dewhirst

[Soulman]

Ian..... you traitor. And here was me thinking you were all Philly'd up

[Soulman]

Actually Hestor / Wylie doesn't get any better really for out and out Northern stompers. Their input to the scene was outstanding with so many classics gracing the decks of venues from what is, I guess, time immemorial as far as the Northern scene goes.

Steve

[TheBigO]

I'd include the Pied Piper Production crew (Ashford/Chandler et all) too as so many great TOONS to mention

[luxury soul]

Wylie/Hestor = Thread Killer

[Ian Dewhirst]

LOL, you're right! No one better than Wylie/Hestor. I should have started with Chester Pipkin or Jerry Ross or James Carmichael or Arthur Wright and gradually we could have worked our way up.

Maybe a better idea would have been under-rated production teams ay?

I was in a Wylie/Hestor kinda mood after a few pints last night LOL....

Ian D

[Steve L]

Wylie/Hestor & Pied Piper, it cant get any better than those two can it?

End of discussion (wheres the whistling smiley gone?)

[Guest Dave Turner]

LOL, you're right! No one better than Wylie/Hestor. I should have started with Chester Pipkin or Jerry Ross or James Carmichael or Arthur Wright and gradually we could have worked our way up.

Maybe a better idea would have been under-rated production teams ay?

I was in a Wylie/Hestor kinda mood after a few pints last night LOL....

Ian D

Agreed Ian, they're responsible for a sound that is just so "Northern".

Not being picky but a lot of folks make the same mistake, it's Hester not Hestor

Fred Smith and the Mirwood stuff, again just so "Northern"

[luxury soul]

Ha-ha...had a Wylie/Hestor "beer" night a few weeks back when my 26 yr old son came home for the weekend...resulting in CD's for all his mates :-) and an immediate love of Rosemary. Good to see the youngsters appreciating the excellence of this pair!

Talk about starting with the best!

[luxury soul]

"Not being picky but a lot of folks make the same mistake, it's Hester not Hestor"

That's picky :-)

[luxury soul]

or should i say pecky

[Roburt]

As he classier sounds always came out of Chicago, I'd have to nominate the likes of Johnny Pate, Carl Davis and Ted Cooper.

[Chalky]

It's Hestor on his 45's.

[Guest Dave Turner]

It's Hestor on his 45's.

Not all Chalky, check the credits for the Pameline, Soulhawk, Moira stuff

[luxury soul]

He is right...it is Hester; I have checked :-) Records say Hester...damn!

[Chalky]

Not all Chalky, check the credits for the Pameline, Soulhawk, Moira stuff

Yeah I know mate but to be honest I'm not really bothered. I just thought I'd point out whilst some were being picky that he has used both ways to spell it.

[Robbk]

As he classier sounds always came out of Chicago, I'd have to nominate the likes of Johnny Pate, Carl Davis and Ted Cooper.

Wasn't Ted Cooper Okeh's head of production in New York? Carl Davis ran the office in Chicago. Ted Cooper handled the new York productions, and significantly more after Davis moved on to Brunswick. Okeh basically moved the bulk of their production back to New York after Davis left. If we're going to talk about Okeh in Chicago, we've got Carl Davis, Johnny Pate, Gerald Sims, Sonny Sanders, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Butler.

[Roburt]

Wasn't Ted Cooper Okeh's head of production in New York? Carl Davis ran the office in Chicago. Ted Cooper handled the new York productions, and significantly more after Davis moved on to Brunswick. Okeh basically moved the bulk of their production back to New York after Davis left. If we're going to talk about Okeh in Chicago, we've got Carl Davis, Johnny Pate, Gerald Sims, Sonny Sanders, Curtis Mayfield, Billy Butler.

I know Major Lance cut for Okeh in cities other than Chcago, but after Carl Davis left Okeh, didn't Ted Cooper produce a lot of his tracks ??

Where (city) would Major have laid down his vocal tracks on those cuts (surely a few had to be done in Chicago ?).

Perhaps I should have used the words .... lots of the classier sounds always came from Chicago artists !!

Edited August 11, 2012 by Roburt

[Robbk]

Personally, I prefer Mickey Stevenson and Ivy Hunter slightly over Wiley/Hester (but only by a fraction). I also like Dean/Weatherspoon, Fuqua/Bristol, the Jalynne folks in Chicago )most mentioned in the Okeh post, and also the Billy Davis Chess group, and Van McCoy, Gordon/Wilson in L.A., /Hal Davis' Finesse group, including The Pipkin Brothers, Willie Hutch, Vince Love, H.B. Barnum.-Robert Bateman/Ronald Mosely/Richard Tee in NY. , Don Davis' teaming with Norman Whitfield, Joey "King" Fish, Clay MacMurray and Richard Street at Thelma, LeBaron Taylor at Solid Hitbound, and with JoAnne Jackson/Joe Hunter/ and Ed Wingate's crew with Golden World, Joe Hunter and Fred Brown at Mickay's/Ring, Bunky Sheppard/Carl Davis at Chicago's Constellation, Calvin Carter/Barrett Strong at VJ, Jerry Ragovoy & Crew, Bert Berns, Leonard Jewell Smith group-L.A., Weldon McDougall/Johnny Stiles, Jimmy Bishop-Gamble/Huff-Philly, Leaner Bros./Otis Hayes/Monk Higgins at One-Derful/Mar-V-Lus, Monk Higgins & crew at Satillite/St. Lawrence/Sack and Chess.

[Robbk]

I know Major Lance cut for Okeh in cities other than Chcago, but after Carl Davis left Okeh, didn't Ted Cooper produce a lot of his tracks ??

Where (city) would Major have laid down his vocal tracks on those cuts (surely a few had to be done in Chicago ?).

Perhaps I should have used the words .... lots of the classier sounds always came from Chicago artists !!

As far as I know, after Carl Davis left Okeh, ALL Major Lance's newly-cut songs had their instrumentals cut outside Chicago. There were still a lot of Davis' Chicago productions left in the can, and they were sporadically parceled out to fill in Lance's releases. But the bulk were non-Chicago recorded. i don't even think that Lance's vocals were done in Chicago after Davis was gone.

[Roburt]

Robb, thanks for that info .... yes it makes a lot of sense that old 'vaulted' cuts would (at times) be used as a new 45 release's B side.

It does make sorting out an artist's recording history a whole lot more difficult to pin down though.

Wasn't the Major starting to get into record production (with 'new & young' artists) himself by the end of his 'Okeh years' .... I guess his studio work with these guys was back in Chicago even if his own sessions were no longer held there.

[boba]

how has nobody mentioned Bridges/Eaton/Knight?

[Mike Lofthouse]

George Kerr and his various associates - Richard Tee, Bert Keyes, Jerry Harris etc must of been responsible for many classic 'Northern' tracks - iand in addition some of the finest Deep soul recordings.

Mike

[Chalky]

George Kerr and his various associates - Richard Tee, Bert Keyes, Jerry Harris etc must of been responsible for many classic 'Northern' tracks - iand in addition some of the finest Deep soul recordings.

Mike

Not forgetting Sidney Barnes and Timothy Wilson.

[Dave Moore]

And not forgetting of course the 3 man midfield of West Grand Boulevard that they were all trying to recreate the success of. They knocked out a couple or three gud un's too.

Regards,

Dave

[soulsalmon]

dynodynamicsteam for me,

philly magic

[Robbk]

Robb, thanks for that info .... yes it makes a lot of sense that old 'vaulted' cuts would (at times) be used as a new 45 release's B side.

It does make sorting out an artist's recording history a whole lot more difficult to pin down though.

Wasn't the Major starting to get into record production (with 'new & young' artists) himself by the end of his 'Okeh years' .... I guess his studio work with these guys was back in Chicago even if his own sessions were no longer held there.

Yes. he was involved in some Chicago projects. But, I'm not sure if that started before his contract with Okeh was over.

[Ritchieandrew]

And not forgetting of course the 3 man midfield of West Grand Boulevard that they were all trying to recreate the success of. They knocked out a couple or three gud un's too.

Regards,

Dave

Holland Dozier Holland perhaps ??....................................they get my vote.

[Robbk]

And not forgetting of course the 3 man midfield of West Grand Boulevard that they were all trying to recreate the success of. They knocked out a couple or three gud un's too.

Regards,

Dave

I already mentioned Stevenson/Hunter, Fuqua/Bristol and Dean/Weatherspoon and Gordon/Wilson and Davis/Gordon above and Holland/Dozier/Holland was mentioned. So I'll add these (all assumed together with The Funk Brothers) :

Smokey Robinson-(Tarplin/Moore/Rogers/White), Holland/Dozier/Gorman, Bateman/Holland/Gorman, Whitfield/Holland, Whitfield/Strong, Bateman/Sanders/Wylie, Paul/Cosby/Moy/Wonder

[coops]

for pure northern hester and wylie but... for a more 'diluted' 'northern' manythings produced at muscle shoals has certainly got some soulful content if not actually 'banging'

[Wilxy]

Some superb production teams mentioned, but from a "Northern" Soul perspective, the Hestor / Wylie partnership takes the plaudits for me

[boba]

Some superb production teams mentioned, but from a "Northern" Soul perspective, the Hestor / Wylie partnership takes the plaudits for me

are wylie / hestor more important than holland / dozier / holland in making "northern" sounds?

[Ian Dewhirst]

are wylie / hestor more important than holland / dozier / holland in making "northern" sounds?

The problem is Northern Soul is generally appreciated more when it's not commercially successful, so whilst Holland/Dozier/Holland's productions were second-to-none, unfortunately most of 'em were hits which automatically discounts 'em credibility-wise. Most of Wylie/Hestor's killer productions were commercial stiffs which edges it for them.

Ian D