Willie Dale- let your light shine; who discovered this? Any additional information on the artist? I had a suggestion he's white😁. Not so sure myself. 

 

Found this from the Athens re issue, but who was the friend from Manchester? 

The Willie Dale 45 was discovered about 7 years ago. A good friend on the scene in Manchester won the first copy from ebay after which a few of us chased up the seller getting some of the (roughly) 5 or copies of the record ever to surface. What was a $500 record when it was unknown is now a $4000 after the Neo and Northern Soul scenes got hold of it. But less about the history what about the record, I could not fit this into any one genre; it is funk, soul, psyche and garage and rolled into one and one of the best discoveries in the last 15 years. Beyond essential

  On 24/02/2024 at 13:57, Geeselad said:

Willie Dale- let your light shine; who discovered this? Any additional information on the artist? I had a suggestion he's white😁. Not so sure myself. 

 

Found this from the Athens re issue, but who was the friend from Manchester? 

The Willie Dale 45 was discovered about 7 years ago. A good friend on the scene in Manchester won the first copy from ebay after which a few of us chased up the seller getting some of the (roughly) 5 or copies of the record ever to surface. What was a $500 record when it was unknown is now a $4000 after the Neo and Northern Soul scenes got hold of it. But less about the history what about the record, I could not fit this into any one genre; it is funk, soul, psyche and garage and rolled into one and one of the best discoveries in the last 15 years. Beyond essential

 

Willie Dale, “Let Your Light Shine.” The first batch of eight copies were discovered by collector Alex Rodriguez somewhere in Bakersfield, CA. What’s special about this record is the mystery that surrounds it. For starters, the artist’s name is fake, the street address is fake–nothing useful is given away on the label–and we have no account of what happened to the rest of the copies that might’ve been pressed. Lovie D owned the label and he has sadly passed away. The only person connected to it that we know of who’s still alive is Willie Dale’s sister and she didn’t want anything to do with it.

  On 24/02/2024 at 16:19, Joesoul1958 said:

 

Willie Dale, “Let Your Light Shine.” The first batch of eight copies were discovered by collector Alex Rodriguez somewhere in Bakersfield, CA. What’s special about this record is the mystery that surrounds it. For starters, the artist’s name is fake, the street address is fake–nothing useful is given away on the label–and we have no account of what happened to the rest of the copies that might’ve been pressed. Lovie D owned the label and he has sadly passed away. The only person connected to it that we know of who’s still alive is Willie Dale’s sister and she didn’t want anything to do with it.

Thanks for the details, I've been told George Mahood or Adam lever were possibly the first in the UK to play/ own it, can anyone confirm? I know Ian wright covered it as the children of the night. 

Ok for reference, I've had PM's confirming it was first played and broken by Dave Abbott and Sean Haydon, who both hammered it simultaneously to bring it to the attention of the wider scene. Thanks for the interest and contributions. 

  On 24/02/2024 at 19:53, Geeselad said:

Ok for reference, I've had PM's confirming it was first played and broken by Dave Abbott and Sean Haydon, who both hammered it simultaneously to bring it to the attention of the wider scene. Thanks for the interest and contributions. 

I thought that too ,though didn’t want to say anything in case someone else found it initially .

It was Dave and Sean who broke it on our scene. Not sure they had it first mind, did think George at first??

When was the AOTN piece written cause it was a lot longer than 7 years ago.

Edited February 25, 20241 yr by Chalky

  On 25/02/2024 at 11:49, Chalky said:

It was Dave and Sean who broke it on our scene. Not sure they had it first mind, did think George at first??

When was the AOTN piece written cause it was a lot longer than 7 years ago.

Wouldn’t be suprised if George or Adam had it earlier ,with their track record of finding sounds 

Pretty sure Adam supplied Dave and Sean 10 years ago or more.

Don't think Adam rated it.

 

When Alex found the original batch, he first contacted me to get my opinion of the tune and the discovery. He was living in Bakersfield at the time, and I was a coupla hours drive away in LA. It's unique sound made it tough to categorize back then, but I traded for a copy with him before any of the stack went to ebay. I think the first winner was Ian Wright, and he was the guy that almost certainly broke it. The small clutch of folks in the UK 'Deep Funk Scene' hoovered up the rest, meaning almost all of the discovered batch flew across the Atlantic, leaving the lone (known at the time) copy in the US with me. Since then, one or two more have been discovered but not much else. One of the later unearthed copies, came from the back room of a store, again in Bakersfield...I think James Pogson was responsible for that one.

This is Alex's youtube post, from 5th March 2010, for dating purposes.
 

 

  On 26/02/2024 at 17:05, Greg Belson said:

When Alex found the original batch, he first contacted me to get my opinion of the tune and the discovery. He was living in Bakersfield at the time, and I was a coupla hours drive away in LA. It's unique sound made it tough to categorize back then, but I traded for a copy with him before any of the stack went to ebay. I think the first winner was Ian Wright, and he was the guy that almost certainly broke it. The small clutch of folks in the UK 'Deep Funk Scene' hoovered up the rest, meaning almost all of the discovered batch flew across the Atlantic, leaving the lone (known at the time) copy in the US with me. Since then, one or two more have been discovered but not much else. One of the later unearthed copies, came from the back room of a store, again in Bakersfield...I think James Pogson was responsible for that one.

This is Alex's youtube post, from 5th March 2010, for dating purposes.
 

 

Great info Greg 

Thanks for the info Greg 

https://www.soul-source.co.uk/search/?&q=Willie Dale let your light shine&page=2&quick=1&search_and_or=and&sortby=newest

sometimes our site search can provide a bit of history, 2009 first showed on here? 

 

Glad to see this discussion.  I love this record - it is so positively uplifting. A veritable anthem of universal love and truth to dispel dark forces. It reduces, or rather elevates me to tears when I hear it.  I'm just a sad wuss though. Thank God and Willie for music like this.

Lyrics as ever relevant now as when released;

People of the world
Hear me now
Children out there
In the world
Hear me now

Cause I ain’t gonna let you down
Gonna lift you up, yeah, yeah, yeah
Cause I’m coming from a new world
Oh yeah
So clear the way
Ain’t gon [inaudible]
Gonna let my light shine
All over the world
I’m gonna let my light shine
Yeah, yeah, yeah

Children of the world
This is our day
Brothers and sisters
This is our day now
We’ve got right on our side
And we don’t have to run and hide
Just let your mind run free
Over the evergreens
Don’t let yourself down
Go on and light your light shine
All over the world
Let it shine over the world, yeah
Brother let your light shine
If you really think black is beautiful
Why don’t you let your light shine
Makes no difference if you’re black or white
You’ve got to let your light shine, hey

Hey, hey, hey now
Why don’t you let your light shine
Mothers and fathers
Why don’t you let your light shine
Let it shine on your children
Make life better for them
They got to let their light shine
People of the world
People let your light shine
Let it shine in dark places
Light it on up