Down East / Musicor Records

[Roburt]

New York based Down East Records is best known for Justin's double sided 45 from 1968.

This escaped in the UK some months after its US release but it seems it could easily have been made available back in the US on Musicor

Did it ever get assigned a release number on the bigger US label ??

[boba]

Thanks for the post, moving to Look At Your Box given that this is 45 related.

I don't think this exists on Musicor. But who knows, there were some very rare releases on the label for some reason -- for example, the Reactions 45 which is rarer on Dynamo than on the local Sanfris label. In this case they probably inked a deal but it was never released.

[George G]

Dunno anything about a 45 on Musicor. I found the green and white label ones on the east coast. Still have one of each. Is there any info on the artist? Down East is term for the state of Maine.

[boba]

Ben Boyce also produced new york artists Johnny and the Expressions

[George G]

Must be a NYC thing then. The Down East was probably some in joke. For a label that seemed to have one 45 it's pretty easy to get.

[Steve G]

La Mont Johnson did other related rare New York things, I seem to recall there was a subsidiarty label of Down East!!!

I have one somewhere on a WD but it's one of them abbreviations of several names.....I'll have to dig it out later.

Two issues of Justin with different B sides is another slight mystery....

Have never seen a Musicor copy.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Steve G

[JOE TORQUAY]

i thought i read somewhere it was an atco related lable.but i could be wrong as it was a long time ago,

joe.

[Roburt]

On WIKI .......

James LaMont Johnson was born in New York City. During his childhood he took dancing, singing, and mime lessons, and appeared on the Star Time Kids television program at age 7. He later served in the United States Air Force in Germany, after which he attended Manhattan College and Syracuse University.

Johnson began his recording career in 1962. In New York City, he worked with tubist Howard Johnson and trumpeter Woody Shaw as the bebop period came to an end. Throughout the 1960s, he recorded with artists such as Jackie McLean, Ornette Coleman, and George Benson. Later in the decade, Johnson began composing music for films and advertisements.

LaMont and his brother Keith established a record company (funded by MBA, a midtown production company) on the Lower East Side in New York City in 1966. It was located on 53 Pitt Street, in a former seltzer factory, and was named Down East Records. The site housed the offices for Down East along with a small recording studio in the back of the building. The label released an R&B single by Justin entitled "Right Now". This became one of the first R&B records to utilize a fusion of Latin, jazz, and R&B music in commercial music. The same studio was also the site of demo recordings for Cat Mother (a rock group associated with Jimi Hendrix) as well as recording sessions for an Ornette Coleman album.

Many of the jazz musicians from SLUGS, a jazz club in the East Village, would use Down East to record demos. In 1967, the Down East roster performed at the bandshell in the East Village's Tompkins Square Park. Down East Records had one record that made it to the airwaves ("Right Now") and it was played on WWRL once every few hours. The label went out of business in 1969. The label's successes included major sales in Africa, and in the Mid-Atlantic region ranging from Washington, DC to Baltimore, MD. The artists performed on television shows such as The Hit Kit and gave radio interviews. Other staff members that worked with LaMont Johnson at Down East were Harry Bass, who had previously worked with Motown; Jimmy Hall, who had worked with and sang with many successful groups in the New York area; and James (Jimmy Mack) McNary who had worked as a musician/writer/promoter with many New York record companies.

Johnson lived and worked in San Diego, California, where he established the record label MasterScores Records.

In his later years, Johnson lived in Austin, Texas, where he continued to perform at venues such as Top of the Marc, and released I'll Be Home for Kwanzaa on the Bagel Label. During this time, he appeared on Jackie's Blues Bug by the Hip Bop Essence All Stars, a group that also included Branford Marsalis, Javon Jackson, and Vincent Herring. He also worked with Black Entertainment Television. Between 1991 and 1997, he was involved with more than 30 jazz festivals, as either a performer or producer.

Johnson died of heart failure on October 21, 1999 in Austin, Texas, where he lived with his wife Jayne Taylor Johnson

Edited October 29, 2012 by Roburt

[Sebastian]

Must be a NYC thing then. The Down East was probably some in joke.

Pitt Street is "down east" on the lower east side of Manhattan. Might allude to that?

[Roburt]

53 Pitt Street Manhattan ........

https://www.propertyshark.com/mason/Property/2689/53-Pitt-St-New-York-NY-10002/

[Roburt]

_{Slugs Jazz Club back in 1969 ....}

[bri pinch]

The flip of the first issue is exellent

never seen a white demo of this coupling

[Steve G]

Top 4 Tops impersonation there - always loved that side.

No one else know the subsidiary label I'm talking about?

Edited October 29, 2012 by Steve G

[Roburt]

Ben Boyce played a big part in Justin's recordings and it's suggested 'on-line' that Justin might actually have been Ben Boyce himself.

I can't find info about him singing himself though, but he was a songwriter so may have sung on demos of his own compositions

An early appearance for his name was on the Port 45 by the Intrigues. Port was the R&B label set up in 1965 by Jay-Gee Record Co. of New York.

Ben also worked on most tracks cut by Johnny & the Expressions that were released on Josie in the mid 60's (Josie being distributed by Jay-Gee).

Boyce killed himself in 1969 by jumping in front of a New York subway train after he learned that his pregnant girlfriend had died of a heroin overdose.

Edited October 29, 2012 by Roburt

[Robbk]

I probably looked through over a few million 45s in my time, and I never saw a Justin record on Musicor or Dynamo. I've seen many copies of the store-stock green Down East.

Port was owned by Jerry Blaine's son (thus the re-issues of the Whirlin' Disc label output).

[boba]

Ben also worked on most tracks cut by Johnny & the Expressions that were released on Josie in the mid 60's (Josie being distributed by Jay-Gee).

you learn something new every day!