"i've Got It"

[Guest Brett F]

Brilliant stories, for me the best thread ever on this forum.

Brett

[Guest]

Enthralling stuff this Bob.

BTW: Did you ever come across or work with David MacDonald, a white guitarist who worked at "Fat Man" Jack Taylor's Tayster / Rojac?

His story is also a fascinating one.

Sean

I don't know David McDonald. I didn't spend a lot of time with Jack and OC as mentioned. I actually thought the flip side "Lucky Man" was the A side - and not "I've Got It." The song had a great release section.

Dutch Robinson was the guy who produced it. He also had an album on a major label which I played on. And on it he did an excellent rendition of "Bumper To Bumper." But he like Willy, Tony, and OC never made it despite his talent.

You've probably noticed that I mostly identified with the black artists I wrote songs with and NOT the white businessmen whose job it was to exploit our talents. Some (not all) of the businessmen were jealous or suspicious of a young white boy who mingled amiably with not just black people - but black people who were old enough to be his parents. The music and the feeling was the bridge. Neither I or the co-writers I worked with concerned ourselves with the age or race of writing partners. If we shared the joy of music and could create together - that was all that mattered.

In retrospect, I had another problem as well. And that was as an aspiring studio musician/arranger/producer, I didn't concern myself with forming a band and playing out to a crowd (not that I didn't do that often with road bands so I could make a living). I simply hired my friends. When records came out and got a buzz, promotion people would ask "Where's the band? Are they available to do some live promotion?" And the answer was always the same: "They're in the stuido cutting tracks for Musique or Candi Staton. It's just Billy and his songs and his arrangements. There is no band!" And that wasn't a good thing. Promo people tended to shy away from bands that didn't really exist.

[Guest souljack]

brilliant just brilliant,this is what its all about ,all the best to you bill,thanks for sharing with us all.

[jazzyjas]

Such an amazing thread! Thanks so much for sharing these inside stories with all of us! It's hard to imagine all the behind the scenes stuff that went on to make some of these records. So great to hear the real stories from those involved.

You've unearthed another chapter in musical history and I can say on behalf of soul and musical fans in general, that we truly appreciate you coming on here and showing us your World.

-Jason

[Guest]

Periodically, I google my old releases to see if they've shown up on a playlist or have been released without licensing and I found the A side of "I've Got It" ("Bumper To Bumper") on you tube - with Willy Collins on vocals. Here it is: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fsh_SdfgW_o