Sheryl Swope Interview

[boba]

Hi. Today on my radio show I did an interesting interview with soul singer Sheryl Swope. Sheryl was from the west side of Chicago and started singing and dancing at an early age. After graduating from Crane high school, Sheryl started working at WVON. At the station, Sheryl was discovered by producer Deke Atkins, who recorded Sheryl for his Duo label. Her first record, "Let's get this show on the road", got some local play (backing her on the record was Chicago group the Marlynns). Her next record, "Can't get him off my mind", had a classic late-60s Chicago soul sound (due to writing and backing by the Brothers of Soul), and became her biggest hit. Sheryl released two more records on the Duo label.

Even as a solo artist, Sheryl continued to be work with the Sammy Dyer dance school that she had been involved with since childhood. Several singing and dancing troupes existed at the school; Sheryl's older sisters were members of the Vashonettes (Vashon was Sammy's middle name) and Sheryl was a member of the Junior Vashonettes. In 1968, four singing members of the Vashonettes recorded a record for Checker records -- Love / A mighty good lover. Around 1970, due to their singing talents, Sheryl and one other Junior Vashonette were promoted to be members of the regular Vashonettes, forming a new four-member singing group with two of the original members. Sheryl went on her first tour with the Vashonettes to Acapulco. The new Vashonettes lineup did backing work for Chess and Checker records, and backed Donny Hathaway on his "Everything is Everything" LP. The group also recorded radio advertising jingles.

In the early the 70s, the Vashonettes continued to tour, playing resorts and clubs in the US and South America. The group broke their ties with the Sammy Dyer school to go with Sheryl's previous manager Deke Atkins. Deke renamed the group the Oncoming Times and recorded a single for the group, "If you had my love", which received some local airplay. Deke took the group to New Jersey where they recorded an entire LP for Sylvia and Joe Robinson's Turbo label. Unfortunately, the LP received little promotion. The group continued to tour until the mid-70s, when the group broke up.

Sheryl did some songwriting in the writers workshop in Chicago; a song she wrote called "Why must it be" was recorded by a group called the Teques on Clarence Johnson's Star-Vue record label. In the late-70s, Sheryl and Billy Brown (previously of the Shades of Brown), formed an act called "Two", backed by their band the Sounds of Theory. The group continued to perform until the late-80s. In 2002 Sheryl recorded an entire self-written and produced gospel CD. She continues to sing gospel music today.

You can check out the interview on my page at:

https://www.sittinginthepark.com/interviews.html

thanks,

Bob

[Val (Chunky)]

Thanks for that Bob....very informative

[Chalky]

Will have a listen bit later Bob. Keep these coming, they are very informative and great listening. Well I say great listening, all the others are on the mp3 player and bloody dog chewed me earphones

[Mike]

nice one listening right now

been keeping a lazy eye out for "show on the road" for a fair while now with no joy

if anyone can assist please do

[Steve Edgar]

Excellent stuff Bob, really enjoyed it, Thankyou

Love Sheryl's Duo stuff, so classy.

Was wondering Bob, do you have a discog for the Duo label?

steve

just wanna add Bob, that gospel track off her 2002 CD blew me away Awesome!

Edited November 17, 2008 by Soul-Integrity

[boba]

Excellent stuff Bob, really enjoyed it, Thankyou

Love Sheryl's Duo stuff, so classy.

Was wondering Bob, do you have a discog for the Duo label?

steve

just wanna add Bob, that gospel track off her 2002 CD blew me away Awesome!

There is a duo discography here:

https://capitolsoulclub.homestead.com/DuoListing.html

it's missing #7452, I have the missing number written down somewhere (it's an odd artist), I will see if I can dig it out.

Sheryl was singing along to her gospel track, she still sounds great.

[Geoff B]

Excellent stuff Bob, really enjoyed it, Thankyou

Love Sheryl's Duo stuff, so classy.

Was wondering Bob, do you have a discog for the Duo label?

steve

just wanna add Bob, that gospel track off her 2002 CD blew me away Awesome!

discog @ www.anorakscorner.com