Mike

"It is important to to get the stories of these groups out, in their own words -- otherwise this history will remain undocumented and lost." A highlight post of a deserving regular Chicago radio show Sitting in The Park that thanks to the sterling efforts of Bob Abrahamian has been building up to be an reference goldmine for 60/70s soul fans over the last 3 or 4 years or so Sitting in The Park is a weekly soul show that broadcasts every Sunday night from 7:30-9:00PM on WHPK 88.5FM Chicago. Selected shows are also available to stream or download via the Sitting in The Park Website. With approx 80 shows on offer at current moment, all featuring interviews with 100s of the artists who made this so fine music, it is an almost unique archive. Bobs words says it all about the thinking and approach to the show "It is important to to get the stories of these groups out, in their own words -- otherwise this history will remain undocumented and lost." The latest show features Sheryl Swope and is a great example of just what is on offer, its a great enjoyable listen, not only just for the info/background discussion but also the showcase that it provides for the artists involved work, be it from back in the era or indeed recent work such as Sheryls recent gospel cd. Here's the intro to the latest show 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. The website is at http://www.sittinginthepark.com and you can listen online or download the shows for later listening via the interview page - the link is under the photo A list of all the interviews currently online follows below, which quite simply shows just what we are talking about! Hats off to Bob for all his efforts and time spent in making this fine resource available. You can get in touch with Bob via email or pm on his profile page on here (if a member) https://www.soul-source.co.uk/index.php?showuser=5120 or via email on his site Soul Group Interviews This page contains links to audio of radio interviews with soul groups done on my radio show ("Sitting on the Park" -- see the main page for more details). You are free to copy or distribute these interviews as long as they remain unedited and you are not profiting from them. It is important to get the stories of these groups out, in their own words -- otherwise this history will remain undocumented and lost. You can contact me with any questions or comments at the email address listed at the main page. Check back frequently as I'm doing many more interviews soon. 2/29/2004 Melvin Mason (Mighty Marvelows) 60 min 8/15/2004 Richard Pegue (Norvells, Nickel and Penny Labels) 90 min 10/24/2004 James Westbrook, Jr. (5 Wagers) 90 min 1/16/2005 The Steelers 60 min 3/6/2005 Berl Bynum, Lawrence Bibbs, Kirk Davis (Vows, Major IV) 120 min 4/2/2005 Clifford Curry, Bobby Thomas, Marcus Gentry (The Notations) 90 min 5/15/2005 Bobby Thomas, Jerrone Johnson (Channel 3) 30 min 6/12/2005 Gerald Dickerson (Creations, Contributors of Soul) 90 min 9/18/2005 Jerrone Johnson, Emmet Garner Jr. (Trends) 90 min 10/16/2005 Chris James (Natural 4) 90 min 11/13/2005 Kenny Rightout, Kirk Davis, Ronald Christian (Traits, Center Stage) 90 min 11/27/2005 Ron Renfro (Deltas) 20 min 12/11/2005 Frank Clark (New Concepts) 28 min 1/8/2006 Wayne Readus (Original Breed, People's Choice) 30 min 1/22/2006 Marcus Alexander, Marzette Griffith, Fred Smith (Turbulations, Age of Bronze, Essence) 50 min 1/29/2006 James Rushing (Devotions) 40 min 2/19/2006 Rosie Addison, Rose E. Kelly (Opals) 60 min 2/26/2006 Eugene Phillips (Moments of Truth, Wind, wrote and produced the Answers and Newsound) 70 min 3/5/2006 Irving Coleman, John Wynn, Roger Phillips, Ronald McLaughlin, Tyrone McCullough (Conquistadors) 60 min 3/26/2006 John Coleman, Kandice Patterson (Soul Majestics) 30 min 4/2/2006 Keith Steward (Heaven and Earth) 80 min 4/30/2006 Charles Perry (Naturals) 47 min 6/4/2006 Nathan Carter, James Noah Jordan, Ralph Peterman (Dynamic Heartbeats, Wasters) 27 min 7/9/2006 Bernice Willis, Tracy Williams, Laurel Ross (Muhammad) (Kittens) 67 min 8/13/2006 Omar Arnold, Albert Hunter (Sounds of Black, Sounds of Blackness) 36 min 8/20/2006 Marvin Glasper (Soul Suspects, Suspects) 37 min 8/27/2006 Fred Escobar, Walter Jones, Billy Sims, Robert Smith (Soul Procedures, Procedures) 40 min 9/17/2006 Mike Avery (New Image, Wreckin Crew) 32 min 10/8/2006 James Brown (Calvaes, Blenders on Aladdin, Accents) 36 min 11/5/2006 Lorenzo Clemons, Vernon Hammons (Mandells) 77 min 11/19/2006 Carol Sanford (formerly Carol Samuel), Linda Smith (formerly Linda Harris), Nepata Mero (formerly Marilyn McThune) (Ivorys) 37 min 12/3/2006 Walter Jones (Five Crowns) 29 min 1/28/2007 Ray Foreman (Visitors, Mist) 64 min 3/18/2007 John "Stormy" Colley (Lost Family, Saborian and the Los) 64 min 5/20/2007 Jimmi Mayes (Mill Street Depot) 74 min 6/3/2007 David Gogins, Ricky Gogins (Soul Impacts, Eight Minutes) 55 min 6/10/2007 Roosevelt Christmas, Doyle Cole, John Coleman (Passions, Newday) 65 min 6/17/2007 Elvin Spencer 24 min 7/8/2007 Leon Triplett, Levi Triplett (Triplett Twins) 73 min 7/22/2007 Robert Brown, Lamont Sanders (Dynamic Tints, Village) 37 min 8/19/2007 Lee Holloway (Krash Band, I.N.D.) 40 min 9/16/2007 Carl Boyd, John Jones, Farnell Jenkins, Paul Kelly (Conservatives, Teacher's Edition) 75 min 9/23/2007 Alex Alvarez, Robert Celestin, Dennis Harvey, Arlis Johnson, Art Lopez, Wareagle (Enchanting Enchanters, Enchanters on Atco) 56 min 9/30/2007 Henry Ford Yarbrough (Henry Ford and the Gifts) 61 min 10/21/2007 James "JJ" Janigan, Larry Ross (Puzzle People) 27 min 11/11/2007 Rudy Negron, Ted Thomas (Mystics) 54 min 12/9/2007 Jimmy Jordan, Sam Tate (Intensions, Measures, Jimmie and Eddie) 46 min 12/30/2007 Darrow Kennedy, Ron Kennedy, Bruce Rogers (Kaldirons, Marathon Band) 53 min 1/13/2008 Harold "Skipp" Lee, Bernard Reed (Constellations, Jalynne Sound, Pieces of Peace) 82 min 1/27/2008 Viola Floyd, Theresa (Legg) Franks, Kathy (Spates) Robinson, Vera (Regulus) Wallace (Versalettes, Trinkets, Little Foxes) 58 min 3/2/2008 Holly Maxwell 60 min 3/16/2008 Gus Redmond, Diana Simon, Fred Simon (Lost Generation, Mystique, New Lost Generation) 79 min 3/30/2008 Art Mitcham, Nate Pendleton (Dontells) 62 min 4/27/2008 Reginald Torian (Enchanters on Golden Ear, Impressions) 86 min 5/4/2008 Mose Freeman, Brema Lawhon, Richard McClendon, Frederick Robertson (Roe-o-tation) 59 min 5/25/2008 Randolph Murph (Brighter Side of Darkness) 40 min 6/8/2008 Kevin Rowan (Mystiques on Twinight, Raw Umber, Sons of Slum) 64 min 6/22/2008 Andrew Griffin, Johnny McKinney (Magnetics) 58 min 6/29/2008 Mark Greene (Moments, Leaders) 72 min 7/20/2008 Eddie Sullivan (Four Gents, Desideros, Classic Sullivans) 67 min 7/27/2008 Harvey Scales (Seven Sounds) 78 min 8/10/2008 Ray Buckner (Buckner Brothers, Buck) 49 min 8/17/2008 Patti Drew (Drewvels) 45 min 8/24/2008 Sam Pace (Esquires) 90 min 8/31/2008 Bill Brown (Shades of Brown) 53 min 9/14/2008 Vandy Lane (Ringleaders) 15 min 9/21/2008 Renaldo Domino 41 min 10/12/2008 Cecil Lyde aka Cecil Holden (Experience II; Lyde, Fisher, Giles) 70 min 10/19/2008 Carnell Haywood, Samuel Thomas Jr. (Magical Connection, Next Movement) 60 min 11/9/2008 Jerome Gilbert, Ron Martinez, Bobby Wilson (Realistics) 52 min 11/16/2008 Sheryl Swope (Vashonettes, Oncoming Times) 63 min Sitting in The Park - check it out now!