Christine Cooper - Voices of Vista Lp - 1966

[The Tempest]

Picked this up on evil bay from the States the other night for £8.00 

It has " Heartaches Away My Boy " on it , which is one of my favourite oldies , 

Another member had a copy for sale recently on here , apparently it has a spoken intro , but not arrived yet so no idea what it will be like but for the pittance I paid , who cares ! 

My point is - does anyone know anything about the series , there seems quite a few about , promotional discs to promote the single release ? 

Any other decent Vista ones out there with Northern tracks on ?

I have a few of the Armed Forces Radio Service ones which have Beverley Ann , Joey Heatherton , Sharon Scott on , but never heard of the Vista series until recently 

 

 

 

[The Yank]

Vista (Volunteers In Service To America)  was seen as a domestic version of the Peace Corps. It was part of Lyndon Johnson's Economic Opportunity Act of 1964.

[Soul Shrews]

Is it the same mix/version as the 45 ?

Cheers Paul

[The Tempest]

2 minutes ago, soul shrews said:

Is it the same mix/version as the 45 ?

Cheers Paul

It comes at over two mins longer - so am guessing Miss Cooper is gonna tell us all about herself and the record , will post it up when I get it - but I like you just don't know !!! 

Edited October 10, 2018 by The Tempest

[Soul Shrews]

Yes please post it up

Cheers Paul

[The Yank]

I've seen one with the Temptations on it but don't know what song they featured.

Wonder if this is the Topper artist doing a commercial - 

[The Tempest]

That seems to be the common issue with them , no track listing just artists ! If I hadn't seen one for sale on here in recent months I wouldn't of even looked at it ! Obscure to say the least 

[Ian]

Had a couple of these a many years back there is a intro from some Guy then Christine Cooper introduces her new record nice item bit different

Ian

[Guest BabyBoyAndMyLass]

Wow, what a bizarre premise to be releasing records under!

[The Tempest]

Arrived this morning ! 

Best £8.00 I’ve spent in a long while !! 

 

[purist]

Christine Cooper is a puzzle to me. I bought the Teri Nelson album donkeys years ago, and the version of S-O-S on that album is the same as the CC 45. 
I used to wonder if the vocalist on the Teri Nelson tracks was the same person as CC, but I read that Teri Nelson Group wasn't ever a group as such, just Teri and various backing vocalists she'd used. The photo on the album cover has three girls who all could be the same person as on the really poor quality video from those old Shivaree shows on youtube, she appears to have a gap between her front teeth but sadly the album photo has them posed with their mouths shut.
Is the general concensus that Parkway was not exactly run correctly/legally/ineptly ?
Has anyone got a clear photo of CC, or have any confirmed info on her?

[The Yank]

Here ya go - 

[The Tempest]

In the infamous words of Hong Kong Phooey ! 

COULD BE !!!!

[purist]

One of the two middle ones on the back row ?
Don't know if I've still got the album, seem to think they named all five members, anybody got it handy to check ?

[Michael V]

The Teri Nelson Group on this LP included two ex- Crystals- La La Brooks and Mary Thomas; La La is on the far left,Mary is 2nd from the right,back row.

Teri Nelson is seated at the front.  Christine Cooper ( John Clemente's definitive 'Girl Groups-Fabulous Females That Rocked The World' Girl Group bible states 'Betty Cooper',but this is,with respect, surely La La's memory at fault,unless Christine preferred to be known as Betty at this point) is 2nd from left,directly behind Ms.Nelson. The remaining singer,far right, is Ona Lee.

 

 

 

 

[The Tempest]

Just now, Michael V said:

The Teri Nelson Group on this LP included two ex- Crystals- La La Brooks and Mary Thomas; La La is on the far left,Mary is 2nd from the right,back row.

Teri Nelson is seated at the front.  Christine Cooper ( John Clemente's definitive 'Girl Groups-Fabulous Females That Rocked The World' Girl Group bible states 'Betty Cooper',but this is,with respect, surely La La's memory at fault,unless Christine preferred to be known as Betty at this point) is 2nd from left,directly behind Ms.Nelson. The remaining singer,far right, is Ona Lee.

 

 

 

 

 

[Michael V]

Sorry,yes,my mistake-Barbara Alston of The Crystals(far left,front cover)-not La La Brooks! Did'nt have the LP to hand.Minds not working too well today..

[Blackpoolsoul]

12 hours ago, Michael V said:

The Teri Nelson Group on this LP included two ex- Crystals- La La Brooks and Mary Thomas; La La is on the far left,Mary is 2nd from the right,back row.

Teri Nelson is seated at the front.  Christine Cooper ( John Clemente's definitive 'Girl Groups-Fabulous Females That Rocked The World' Girl Group bible states 'Betty Cooper',but this is,with respect, surely La La's memory at fault,unless Christine preferred to be known as Betty at this point) is 2nd from left,directly behind Ms.Nelson. The remaining singer,far right, is Ona Lee.

 

 

 

 

 

Although the name suggests otherwise, this was not a group. By contrast it was named for Teri Nelson, a young female vocalist from Harlem, New York, who was managed by Steve Camhi. During the late 1960s, the Super K Production company offered the then eighteen year old soloist a one year contract. After recording a few singles, Nelson's studio sessions were compiled into an album, which the Kama Sutra label released in 1968—purportedly without her knowledge—and promoted it as a group effort (comparatively, the artists pictured alongside Nelson on the album's cover are backing vocalists from the recording sessions). Nelson withdrew from her arrangement thereafter.

[Chris L]

20 hours ago, purist said:

Christine Cooper is a puzzle to me. I bought the Teri Nelson album donkeys years ago, and the version of S-O-S on that album is the same as the CC 45. I used to wonder if the vocalist on the Teri Nelson tracks was the same person as CC, but I read that Teri Nelson Group wasn't ever a group as such, just Teri and various backing vocalists she'd used. The photo on the album cover has three girls who all could be the same person as on the really poor quality video from those old Shivaree shows on youtube, she appears to have a gap between her front teeth but sadly the album photo has them posed with their mouths shut. Is the general concensus that Parkway was not exactly run correctly/legally/ineptly ?
Has anyone got a clear photo of CC, or have any confirmed info on her?

Christine Cooper remains an anomaly, I've been in touch with the Kasenetz-Katz people they really didn't remember a lot about her but are interested to find her again. Here's a picture of her with James Brown and Jerry Kasenetz from 1966. 

[Soul Shrews]

On 16/10/2018 at 13:23, The Tempest said:

Arrived this morning ! 

Best £8.00 I’ve spent in a long while !! 

 

Thanks for putting it up. But I can"t hear it as it contains "Warner Chappell" music and is blocked in Holland so is it the same as the 45?

Cheers Paul

[purist]

sounds the same to me, just with an introduction

 

[purist]

11 hours ago, Blackpoolsoul said:

 

Although the name suggests otherwise, this was not a group. By contrast it was named for Teri Nelson, a young female vocalist from Harlem, New York, who was managed by Steve Camhi. During the late 1960s, the Super K Production company offered the then eighteen year old soloist a one year contract. After recording a few singles, Nelson's studio sessions were compiled into an album, which the Kama Sutra label released in 1968—purportedly without her knowledge—and promoted it as a group effort (comparatively, the artists pictured alongside Nelson on the album's cover are backing vocalists from the recording sessions). Nelson withdrew from her arrangement thereafter.

I wonder how many beside 'Willie' have Teri on lead? SOS is definitely CC, so maybe there's other tracks that feature other girls on lead ? My hearing isn't that great to distinguish between them all, though Teri is different vocally to CC

[Raym]

'Heartaches away' puts a smile on my face every time - love it!

[Soul Shrews]

4 minutes ago, purist said:

sounds the same to me, just with an introduction

 

Thanks purist. Is it stereo being an LP ?

Would like one if anyone has one for sale

Cheers Paul

[Blackpoolsoul]

22 hours ago, Chris L said:

Christine Cooper remains an anomaly, I've been in touch with the Kasenetz-Katz people they really didn't remember a lot about her but are interested to find her again. Here's a picture of her with James Brown and Jerry Kasenetz from 1966. 

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9ycEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=christine+cooper+cameo+parkway&source=bl&ots=vDFSjcNuWK&sig=OuN6g0EqlsjB0aEP3gMKFWNpjTU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhw8bur4_eAhUNecAKHRUeDGc4ChDoATAJegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=christine cooper cameo parkway&f=false

[The Tempest]

13 hours ago, soul shrews said:

Thanks purist. Is it stereo being an LP ?

Would like one if anyone has one for sale

Cheers Paul

Member - Prophonics 2029 had a copy for sale in the summer , might be worth seeing if he still has it 

[Chris L]

8 hours ago, Blackpoolsoul said:

https://books.google.co.uk/books?id=9ycEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA8&lpg=PA8&dq=christine+cooper+cameo+parkway&source=bl&ots=vDFSjcNuWK&sig=OuN6g0EqlsjB0aEP3gMKFWNpjTU&hl=en&sa=X&ved=2ahUKEwjhw8bur4_eAhUNecAKHRUeDGc4ChDoATAJegQIBhAB#v=onepage&q=christine cooper cameo parkway&f=false

Not sure what your message actually is !! Could you write it in English  

[Blackpoolsoul]

3 hours ago, Chris L said:

Not sure what your message actually is !! Could you write it in English  

Sorry I thought I would add the link (which you press on) to read the article

[De-to]

 

Edited October 20, 2018 by de-to

[Chris L]

On 18/10/2018 at 19:53, Blackpoolsoul said:

Sorry I thought I would add the link (which you press on) to read the article

OK, right, yes I have read it. I know a bit about her but she does remain a mystery. She seems to have just vanished into thin air !

[Dave Moore]

Chris,

You are aware that CC is in fact Tari Stevens and was the girlfriend of a famous Philadelphian that you have actually met? I'm sure we've had this conversation before?

Dave 

 

[Blackpoolsoul]

9 hours ago, Dave Moore said:

Chris,

You are aware that CC is in fact Tari Stevens and was the girlfriend of a famous Philadelphian that you have actually met? I'm sure we've had this conversation before?

Dave 

 

The depths of my small brain seems to recall a connection with Eddie Holman, but I am so old now

[Andy Rix]

Eddie did date Christine .... Anybody asked him if he might be able to locate her ?

andy

[Ian]

10 hours ago, Dave Moore said:

Chris,

You are aware that CC is in fact Tari Stevens and was the girlfriend of a famous Philadelphian that you have actually met? I'm sure we've had this conversation before?

Dave 

 

Always thought this was the case the B side of Tari Stevens False Alarm is They Call Him a Bad Boy, the same B side as Christine Cooper Heartaches Away My Boy.  Ian

 

[Sunnysoul]

To Dave's credit he doesn't want to indulge  in shameless self promotion ... so everyone should know that there's some excellent material on Christine Cooper in Dave's brilliant book which every good home should own !

 

[Blackpoolsoul]

18 minutes ago, sunnysoul said:

To Dave's credit he doesn't want to indulge  in shameless self promotion ... so everyone should know that there's some excellent material on Christine Cooper in Dave's brilliant book which every good home should own !

 

Credit where credit's due.....

Is info on these 2 around or in his book ?

 

[The Tempest]

 

 

Sound different artists to me 

[Blackpoolsoul]

28 minutes ago, The Tempest said:

 

 

Sound different artists to me 

Interesting Dave will clarify me thinks

[Dave Moore]

It's a little delicate subject but Eddie did indeed date Ms Tari Stevens who, in turn, was indeed Christine Cooper. Sadly, he has no idea where she is now though. The information was then confirmed/corroborated by the sound engineer of 'HAMB'.  I was desperate to find her in order try and get her on stage but all to no avail so far. 

Dave  

 

[Andy Rix]

.. and Teri who looks after the Cameo/Parkway 'masters', in NY, also confirmed that Tari & Christine are the same person ... and that Christine's real name is Delores Cooper

Andy

 

[Chris L]

On 22/10/2018 at 22:38, Dave Moore said:

Chris,

You are aware that CC is in fact Tari Stevens and was the girlfriend of a famous Philadelphian that you have actually met? I'm sure we've had this conversation before?

Dave 

 

Dave

Yes we have, I'd heard this "rumour" a few times, I did ask that with the Kasentz-Katz lot, they then asked someone else (who's name escapes me) and also they "thought so too" - what made me doubt was I was expecting to see her face in the Teri Nelson Group. Anyway wherever she is I'm desperately in love with her!  

Chris

[4mc]

On 10/10/2018 at 19:34, The Tempest said:

That seems to be the common issue with them , no track listing just artists ! If I hadn't seen one for sale on here in recent months I wouldn't of even looked at it ! Obscure to say the least 

The fact that there is a Christine Cooper 5-minute,1-track slot, suggests there is likely to a full 24-minute single side.

The question about track listings, especially the Temptations needs a bit more of an explanation.

FYI to clarify what the "Voices of Vista" records are. They were shipped in boxes of 4-7 records every 2-weeks for almost four years. Each box would contain one or more sides with a primary artist and interview with musical tracks. Depending on the box, the B-side might be another artist but is often 3x short one track promo's. Then most boxes would also have a promotional disc which included 1-minute, 30-second, 20-second promo "spots" with a jingle and words by host Herb Oscar Anderson.

Each box also included a booklet with scripts and music release sheets. The albums almost all thank the American Federation of Musicians. Why? Because the union allowed the artists to be interviewed, record and played by radio stations for free.

So there is no track listing, because it was supplied in a booklet.

When the program first started they shipped 200-boxes out to major market radio stations, by the time the program lost its funding, they were sending out boxes to 600+ radio stations.

There is no such thing as a single VoV record. It was part of a set. Sellers have confused, and destroyed the history of this label/project by breaking out the records and selling the really popular ones for peak prices. For example, this sales is a complete mess, it's just a collection of Voices of VIsta discs bundled for $195, which is mad. Lesley Gore – Voices of Vista complete set of 7 radio shows (rarerecords.net)

re the Temptations then, as an example.

if its a 24-minute track, it will be one or more of the group being interviewed, 3x pretty standard tracks, not something special for the recording. The track includes promo's and often interview with a VOV volunteer.

If it's a 4+ minute track, it will be an artist talking about VOV and one of the three music tracks from the 24-minute track. If you find a 4+ minute track on a record, that almost always means that there was a 24-miute record.

If it's a 1-minute track with a load of others on the same side, it's just an artist promoting VOV and there will be no artist music.

How do I know all this? 

I'm a music researcher and I write the ctproduced website. I do some commercial/paid work, and I bumped into "voices of vista" like everyone else while researching a 1950/1960's black fol singer, Leon Bibb. Except unlike other people who just make up sh*t about what these records are, and almost everyone does. I actually went to the Library of Congress earlier this year and spent a day looking at the archives of the Office of Economic Opportunity to find out.

To answer one question above, about the Temptations.

I'm working on a few things between other things.

1. Sort out the discogs entries for the Voices of Vista. This is a big project, and since there are no hard records, it's taking time.

2. I'm collecting as many of the VOV discs as I can. I already have some 8-boxes of discs, and 30-seperate discs. My long term objective is to put all the discs on the Internet Archive, and submit the physical discs to the library of congress for long time archiving. The single interview sides are great although a bit "stiff" sometimes.

3. I'm not doing this for profit, and won't pay the prices for the sets above. There are enough copies sitting around in junk/2nd hand stores in the US that they'll come up every now and again on ebay. I just bought a "set" of 10-discs or 2-box sets from a seller who list them for $12.99 Surprise, the set was missing the Leonard Nimoy and William Shattner discs. Which were of course listed for >$100 elsewhere. I'll wait.

Here is a discogs entry for a complete box without the spots cc and sports dd disc that is almost always included in every box. Voices Of Vista Show No. 58 (microgroove, Vinyl) - Discogs 

 

Any questions?

++Mark.

https://ctproduced.com