Magnum Records - Help Please

[Robbk]

11 minutes ago, Theothertosspot said:

Whats with the Rydal, Pennsylvania connection, with regards Doc Records, Champion Records (distributed by Tollie (is that part of Vee Jay, Chicago?)) Pipkins, Ed Cobb, Jobete? or is there no correlation! 

 

 

We already went over this in an extensive thread I started in 2004 on Soulful Detroit Forum.  Someone I talked to at Motown, who was friendly with Hal Davis, Marc Gordon, and Frank Wilson, told me that the Doc Records label was partly (or fully) financed by a doctor living in Rydal, Pennsylvania, who was a friend of Davis'.  I believe he spent a fair amount of time in L.A.  I don't believe the story that Ed Cobb, or Davis, Gordon, The Pipkins, or any of the Jobete L.A. producers had any reason to use an address far away from L.A. to "hide" these releases from Berry Gordy and his staff.  Otherwise, all those other Jobete songs they released on other indie labels (Power, Grand, Joker, Magnum, Dee Gee, Tamara, and all the songs released on non-majors, would have had to be placed on new labels using "fake" addresses in distant cities.

As far as I know, Champion was Ed Cobb's label, probably owned by him and with a financier partner.  It was NOT owned by VJ, only distributed by their Tollie distributor.  Ed Cobb was NOT the only L.A. Jobete producer to have a release on Doc Records.  It probably was an outlet for ANY of the L.A. Jobete producers to release their own productions, given that "The Doctor" knew Hal Davis, and probably most of them.

 

[Theothertosspot]

Amazing, A Touch of Venus released on UK Fontana, which got first plays at Catacombs Wolverhampton 

[The Yank]

 I like the description for the Champion label - 

"a pop-r&b line in the Tamla/ Motown groove"

 

 

 

[Blackpoolsoul]

2 hours ago, Robbk said:

So Sid Talmadge owned, or co-owned, both Highland and Magnum.  No wonder some records were on both labels.

Not Magnum Robb (he co-wrote on Ollie Jackson) I found out and mentioned  above in the thread

Roger Davenport & Hunter Hancock, Los Angeles, CA (1964-1968) owned Magnum

[Robbk]

42 minutes ago, Blackpoolsoul said:

Not Magnum Robb (he co-wrote on Ollie Jackson) I found out and mentioned  above in the thread

Roger Davenport & Hunter Hancock, Los Angeles, CA (1964-1968) owned Magnum

Yes, I'M the one that originally said that Mercedes Music was Hancock's, and that he was likely to be at least a co-owner.  I was only repeating what someone just wrote above, that Talmadge owned Highland and Magnum.  I also found it hard to believe.  And now I looked back to find out who wrote that (as my comment on that was responding to that very quote), and now I find that the quote doesn't exist.  I must be going mad (or have crossed the line into severe senility). 

Edited October 1, 2019 by Robbk

[Robbk]

3 hours ago, The Yank said:

 I like the description for the Champion label - 

"a pop-r&b line in the Tamla/ Motown groove"

 

 

 

The article on Tollie Records and Ray Harris mentioned that Harris tried to get the small labels he would distribute to release their product (or, at least the best of it) on Tollie, but they declined (so far), because they wanted the buying public to identify with their label.  But, talking about "The Motown/Tamla Groove", Harris got Frank Wilson to let Tollie have his 2 sided "Motown-style (Jobete Music published) 2 songs by "Eddie (AKA Frank) Wilson".  Although Tollie apparently didn't have much clout in The Western US, unlike VJ in The Midwest.  Harris didn't get anyone to play it.  I didn't hear either song played on KGFJ, KDIA, KSOL, WVON, or WDIA.  I bought the record because I remembered Eddie Wilson on Back Beat, and because it had 2 Jobete songs on it, and because Gordon and Wilson were the writers.  It turned out to not disappoint me.  I was glad my home town label, VJ got it, but sad to see it get no airplay.

[Chalky]

9 hours ago, Robbk said:

Yes, I'M the one that originally said that Mercedes Music was Hancock's, and that he was likely to be at least a co-owner.  I was only repeating what someone just wrote above, that Talmadge owned Highland and Magnum.  I also found it hard to believe.  And now I looked back to find out who wrote that (as my comment on that was responding to that very quote), and now I find that the quote doesn't exist.  I must be going mad (or have crossed the line into severe senility). 

No one said Talmadge owned both, I only said he owned Highland (the quote is still there a few from the bottom on the previous page).  Most of Talmadge’s own releases went through Malynn enterprises so I would assume if he’d had a stake or owned Magnum then Magnum would be the same. 

Edited October 2, 2019 by Chalky

[Chalky]

On 30/09/2019 at 07:27, Blackpoolsoul said:

It appears that, thanks to all your help (particularly the suggestions at the top of this page), that Magnum is as follows and any clarification would be great

Label owner: Roger Davenport & Hunter Hancock, Los Angeles, CA (1964-1968)

https://www.electricearl.com/dws/hunter.html

https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2004-aug-11-me-hancock11-story.html

There is still no conclusive evidence is there that Magnum was owned by these two?

[Blackpoolsoul]

25 minutes ago, Chalky said:

There is still no conclusive evidence is there that Magnum was owned by these two?

Maybe..... Chalky I got the info from Parkers in Ohio ages ago (and then forgot until more remembering) and had no reason to doubt there info, which is why I asked for more clarification

https://www.facebook.com/parkersrc/

Annoyingly there web page seems to have gone down (server)

Edited October 2, 2019 by Blackpoolsoul

[Ady Croasdell]

On 30/09/2019 at 18:34, Robbk said:

The spelling error, "Jobette" was pretty common, probably because the name was pronounced more like that spelling would represent in English than Jobete.  9It was pronounced Jo-Bet  for Joy, Berry, and Terry.  During the early days of Anna, Ray-Ber, and the earliest Tamla, the name was spelt "Jobette" almost as frequently as "Jobete", especially on Anna Records, and early Tamla.  So, I guess The Gordys couldn't decide which to use, and people who had seen it spelled the alternative (misspelled) way, thought it was correct, especially given that it was pronounced that way.  Willie Hutch and Hal Davis on Side A - Kent Harris (who also wrote a few songs for Jobete L.A. on the B Side.  The only Talmadge I know of in the record business in L.A. in the 1960s was Sid Talmadge, who owned and operated Record Merchandising (record distributors) on 9th Street near Vermont.  He was a big businessman.  I'd be kind of surprised to find out that he wrote songs together with Hal Davis and Kent Harris.  He DID distribute Magnum Records' products.  But, maybe his son was a musician and songwriter?  During the mid and late '60s and up to 1972, I had friends working at their warehouse, and so, got to buy records there for 50 cents each, or 40 cents apiece in whole boxes.

Hi Robb, do you know for definite Kent was with Jobete. I think Marcene "Dimples" Harris was but I don't know anything by Kent as Jobete. If you do know of any, I would love to know the titles. Thanks Ady

[Robbk]

6 hours ago, Ady Croasdell said:

Hi Robb, do you know for definite Kent was with Jobete. I think Marcene "Dimples" Harris was but I don't know anything by Kent as Jobete. If you do know of any, I would love to know the titles. Thanks Ady

No, I never knew for sure that he was a songwriter or songwriter/producer with them.  I just heard that as a rumour from one or two L.A. record collectors.  I did see his name as co-writer on one or two of Hal Davis' Finesse Music published songs on small Hal Davis-related L.A. labels, which seemed to go along with the rumour.  He was one of the group of Watts/South Central/South L.A. producers and songwriters who hung out together, and sometimes worked together on projects with the same small label, and he had one or two of his own productions, or self-written sons released on the same small L.A. label as had released Jobete songs, so I guessed that he might have been among the writers whose songs could be used by Davis and Gordon to offer to Jobete.  Now that I've looked through all my records in those labels, I'm wondering if that was a reasonable conclusion.  He may have just been a general colleague as a fellow South L.A. writer/producer, who crossed paths with all the Jobette crew, but never had actually worked on a Jobette project.  Or, maybe I saw a Jobette song he co-wrote in another collector's collection, and I've since forgotten the record?

[Ady Croasdell]

Thanks Robb. I’m tending towards the theory that it’s Dimples on the Ollie Jackson now

[Andy Rix]

I've checked the BMI song title entries for Kent Harris and he has nothing listed that is associated to Jobete, Stone Agate etc ...

I've been through, page by page, the Jobete catalog which contains details of every song from Jan 59 to March 31 1967 and Kent Harris is not mentioned

There are a few titles missing and unfortunately 'Gotta Wipe Away The Teardrops' is one of them ... one of the writers is Ruth Talmadge who did write a handful of tunes for Motown with Frank Wilson, Vance Wilson & Hal Davis

'The Day My Heart Stood Still' is listed and I've attached the page to show the detail

Ruth did write a song, Pril Music published, called 'They Call Me Mr Lonely' with Marcene and Beverly Harris

I haven't spoken to Ruth for a few years but happy to drop her a line if needed

Andy 

[Jaco]

2 hours ago, Andy Rix said:

I've checked the BMI song title entries for Kent Harris and he has nothing listed that is associated to Jobete, Stone Agate etc ...

I've been through, page by page, the Jobete catalog which contains details of every song from Jan 59 to March 31 1967 and Kent Harris is not mentioned

There are a few titles missing and unfortunately 'Gotta Wipe Away The Teardrops' is one of them ... one of the writers is Ruth Talmadge who did write a handful of tunes for Motown with Frank Wilson, Vance Wilson & Hal Davis

'The Day My Heart Stood Still' is listed and I've attached the page to show the detail

Ruth did write a song, Pril Music published, called 'They Call Me Mr Lonely' with Marcene and Beverly Harris

I haven't spoken to Ruth for a few years but happy to drop her a line if needed

Andy 

Andy, Could you please let me know how to access the BMI information. Thanks

[Ady Croasdell]

Thanks Andy, I didn’t think Kent had a Jobete connection. I can only see You Got Me Hurtin All Over as by Dimples on Jobete but she’s more likely