First northern / rare soul scene reissue

[Joesoap]

Apologies if this has been done before but I was wondering what was the very first reissue done for the UK rare soul scene? Not talking about bootlegs or counterfeits, etc but official releases in response to old records being played on the early rare soul scene?

Going through some records at home last night and pulled out a promo of The Artistics 'I'm Gonna Miss You' / 'Hope We Have' reissue on UK MCA. Quite surprised to see the release date on the label is 13-3-1970. I'd previously assumed the trend for record companies re-releasing things for this market kicked off with 'You're Ready Now'. But I checked and that was released right at the end of 1970 and became a UK chart hit early 71...

So what was the very first? And what were the other early ones? (Once again, proper official releases, not bootlegs)....

 

Edited January 29, 2023 by Joesoap

[Paul R]

Possibly Harlem Shuffle in 69. 

 

Paul

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

[Mick Holdsworth]

Doris Troy "I'll Do Anything" on Toast, Sep 1968 according to Discogs. I'll bet there's earlier examples though.

[Nickinstoke]

Velvelettes on TMG 595 was early ‘67

[Mark B]

Tams hey girl don’t bother me 1970 then 71

[Julianb]

21 hours ago, Mick Holdsworth said:

Doris Troy "I'll Do Anything" on Toast, Sep 1968 according to Discogs. I'll bet there's earlier examples though.

I remember my old pal Graham Slater RIP going to buy this issue at a shop in Halifax. The owner asked him if he would rather have the original issue on Cameo Parkway as he still had a copy. Result!!!

[Smudger]

Some were never deleted and kept being repressed with say a solid ctr or slightly different label.

but others

Spellbinders double sided on direction

Dobie Grey,Ike and Tina River Deep,

then loads in the seventies some charted on second issue

 

 

[Nickinstoke]

There was a whole lot of reissues in 1968, aimed at the emerging soul scene. Fascinations, Edwin Starr, Jamo Thomas, Gene Chandler, Bob Kuban and several TMGs, leading people to sell the originals cheaply. 

[Sunnysoul]

Surely if you need a nominal starting point, it would have to be those iconic UK Capitol releases starting in 1966 !!!

No doubt about who or what they were aimed at : "DISCOTHEQUE '66 SERIES "  !!!

In other words, UK teenagers dancing to soul and RnB music !

[Dave Pinch]

5 hours ago, Sunnysoul said:

Surely if you need a nominal starting point, it would have to be those iconic UK Capitol releases starting in 1966 !!!

No doubt about who or what they were aimed at : "DISCOTHEQUE '66 SERIES "  !!!

In other words, UK teenagers dancing to soul and RnB music !

no you`ve missed the point.. i think its soul 45s that had been released previously in the uk and were legally reissued for the early uk soul scene.. dr. love was reissued in 1972 tho

[Dave Pinch]

fats domino - it keeps raining reissued on black liberty in 1967

[Steviehay]

showstoppers 68 followed by at least 10 other reissues ain't nothing but a house party orig 67 usa ??

[Rick Cooper]

Like @Nickinstoke I remember a lot of reissues around 1968/9 as I was just starting to buy singles but was too young in 64 -66 when the records first came out. To check what the titles were I had a quick check in some Blues and Soul mags.

Some are 

July 68 -Fascinations- Girls Are Out To Get You . Bob and Earl- Harlem Shuffle. Homer Banks-A Lot of Love/Sixty Minutes

August 68 - Your Chess Requests EP (Tony Clarke- Entertainer) The EP title says it all.

October 68- Doris Troy - I'll Do Anything. The review for this says "been in demand since it was deleted some months ago"

January 69- Jackie Lee-The Duck. Jamo Thomas- I Spy

May 69 - Tony Clarke- Entertainer, now on a single

June 69-Dobie Gray- In Crowd. Flamingos - Boogaloo Party

March 69 - see PDF

B + S singles March 69.pdf

Soul City , Action, B&C, Beacon, Pama and a few other labels were issuing some records for the first time here that are now Northern titles but I think they just wanted to put out records they liked and had realised that they would sell well north of Watford

[Geoff]

How about Night Train by James Brown, originally issued on Parlophone in 1962? Came out on Sue in 1964, very popular club record at the time.
Though it's not really Northern Soul I suppose.

Edited February 3, 2023 by Geoff

[Roburt]

Gene Chandler on Stateside in early June 65; then on Soul City on 5th April 68.

 

[Becket]

   

Chuck Jackson.    Both 1962 I believe ?

Cheers,    Tom.

[Nickinstoke]

8 hours ago, Becket said:

   

Chuck Jackson.    Both 1962 I believe ?

Cheers,    Tom.

‘62, Stateside   64 Pye International 

[Roburt]

The Chuck Jackson single was re-released due to a change of UK representation (from EMI to Pye).

It was always a popular 45 with UK soul fans / mods but I don't believe that fan pressure had any role in the 2nd outing of this track.

  

[Dean Rudland]

This is a fascinating topic and really depends on where you draw the line for the rare soul scene.

I mean obviously things were re-released on Sue because Guy saw demand for them - hence not only Night Train, but also You Can't Sit Down, whilst a lot of the 1964 Pye and Stateside blues singles were the result of mods or groups covering the records - My Babe by Little Walter, and Smokestack Lightin' by Howlin' Wolf had both been previously released on UK labels - but surely those 1968 releases were the first inspired by the new scene that was deliberately trying to track down poorly selling up-tempo dancers from a few years earlier.

[Rick Cooper]

[Rick Cooper]

Here are some pages from the "Pen and Paper" pages of Blues and Soul where they printed requests from readers looking for old records. Makes interesting reading as it shows the records and people at the start of northern soul, although it wouldn't have been called that yet. 

One letter from Wheel DJ Les Cokell and a few from Fred Benson, who seemed to be on the ball, I wonder if anyone sold them the records they wanted. The "records wanted" section only lasted about 10 months. 

Also is the review for Your Chess Requests EP highlighting the built up demand for The Entertainer. Also released the same month Short Kuts and Lynda Lyndell records which I could have bought, but didn't.

 

[Joesoap]

Some great replies - thanks all and please keep them coming.

Another thought on this - Dean mentions PYE-International and Sue, etc. The link to the 1960s London mod scene is fairly well-documented in relation to those labels. But what about Jay Boy a few years later in the early 70s? Seems to have been the very first label to recognise and specifically cater to the Wheel / Torch crowd. They evidently made a deliberate and concerted effort to do so.  Don't think I've ever seen much about what was going on there and how that came about and who was involved, etc. Anyone know,,?

[Roburt]

5 minutes ago, Joesoap said:

Some great replies - thanks all and please keep them coming.

Another thought on this - Dean mentions PYE-International and Sue, etc. The link to the 1960s London mod scene is fairly well-documented in relation to those labels. But what about Jay Boy a few years later in the early 70s? Seems to have been the very first label to recognise and specifically cater to the Wheel / Torch crowd. They evidently made a deliberate and concerted effort to do so.  Don't think I've ever seen much about what was going on there and how that came about and who was involved, etc. Anyone know,,?

Jay Boy was of course a President Records label. President had been releasing soul stuff for quite a while, having hits with soul 45's and had the rights to quite a few US label's product.

I'm not sure if they had someone on staff who had knowledge of the early NS scene or if a staffer just bought copies of B&S mag and read the relevant sections. Of course Jay Boy wasn't initially set up (in 68) to release NS product. But after President signed the Invitations (fake Drifters) to a UK record deal in 1970, they immediately put out a string of NS related 45's. So, obviously someone in the company was aware of demand for UK soul club dancers from British fans.

[Happy Feet]

Within the realm of early Old soul/ prior to the Northern soul scene was this a first or second issue ? 

[Nickinstoke]

1 hour ago, Happy Feet said:

Within the realm of early Old soul/ prior to the Northern soul scene was this a first or second issue ? 

This was the second issue (or third, if you count the”Your Chess Requests” EP). “The entertainer” was one of the holy grails when I started collecting soul records in 1968, and this reissue reflects that demand.

[Roburt]

Jumping ahead in time for it's 3rd UK release ... but anyone know why Thelma Houston's "Jumping Jack Flash" got 3 separate UK 45 releases ... I never knew there was any real demand for the track amongst UK soulies.

[Joesoap]

On 15/02/2023 at 22:32, Roburt said:

Jumping ahead in time for it's 3rd UK release ... but anyone know why Thelma Houston's "Jumping Jack Flash" got 3 separate UK 45 releases ... I never knew there was any real demand for the track amongst UK soulies.

Yes - wondered about that one myself. Another one like that is Jimmy Castor 'Hey Leroy' which used to be a fairly common record on UK Philips (1966) in junk shops, markets and 2nd hand record shops, etc when I first started looking early 80s. Then there was a reissue in 1971 on UK Liberty (lesser seen). Never a 'Northern' type record afaik. Who was buying it and why was it reissued?

Edited February 17, 2023 by Joesoap

[Joesoap]

On 15/02/2023 at 22:32, Roburt said:

Jumping ahead in time for it's 3rd UK release ... but anyone know why Thelma Houston's "Jumping Jack Flash" got 3 separate UK 45 releases ... I never knew there was any real demand for the track amongst UK soulies.

Btw - a separate thought. Second hand record record shops in the 80s would always have a small section of tatty, old singles marked 'Northern Soul'. You always looked through them and none of them ever were - just assorted rubbish. Thelma Houston 'Jumping Jack Flash' was always in there.  You still see shops with these sections sometimes. Can anyone remember any other titles commonly seen lurking therein?