Garethx

That Willie & West is really good. Thanks for posting.

Very sad news. A tremendous singer.

Sam Coplin's office address as listed in Billboard 24 June1967 as: SAM COPLIN THEATRICAL ENT. 3303 LEE PARKWAY DALLAS, TEXAS PHONE (214) LA 2-1011

Anyone got an issue copy of Stemmons Express "Woman, Love Thief" on Wand. Looking on popsike all copies listed there seem to be demos with black type. Neither the Wand demo or the local issue on Karma list a writer. Does the issue? A scan would be nice.

From the ebay scan the typefaces look the right ones but the entire thing looks scaled down to fit the smaller than regular sized label.

Definitely a Dutch bootleg. I recognise the ink-stamp on the label from Dutch used record shops. The label is a facsimile of one version of the real dj copy, which would have been manufactured by Calla through Roulette at an RCA pressing plant. My own copy has a scratched matrix but also a stamped "R" representing the RCA Rockaway, New Jersey factory.

I have a mint- copy I'd let go for a decent offer. What did it make on JM's auction?

There is the Jazzman reissue on a pastiche of the famous black and white Wand logo. Instead of "Wand" it reads "Soul7".

This is basically what happened to good records in the scene's heyday. Few copies of a brilliant record turn up: everyone who plays newies has to have one; record gets hammered; eventually record gets dropped. Difference in the last decade is that not many records as good and relatively scarce are around the corner to replace it on playlists, as would have been the case in the 1970s. Perhaps because of that it stayed around too long and got over-exposed. A shame because listening to it again after a few years of not going near the thing reveals it be (to my ears at least) absolutely top notch. Used like any classic oldie in the right context I'm sure it will always do the business. Now the dust has settled this record will always at least hold its value as it's great and has proven difficult to get hold of easily once more.

Pretty much as good as any 70s soul record ever played on the scene if you ask me. In the same ballpark quality-wise as the definitive seventies things like Carstairs or Montclairs. Had this been in the hands of the right djs as a new release it would be seen in the same light as those above mentioned classics.

Rennie & Gwenae on Single B?

Rather the other way round with the Chicago Jerhart issue. This is a Californian record through and through.

One of Horace's greatest moments as writer and arranger: Nina Simone's "That's All I Ask". There is a cover of this by Jeff Buckley, who recognised its simple beauty, but it remains a relatively unknown part of Nina's repertoire. It's only on mono copies of the "Wild Is The Wind" album.

Great information MsPorsh. Vic's recording career has earned him the respect of fans all over the world.

This Charlie Mitchell?

I don't agree that it is 'pop'. I think it's a genuine example of 'blue-eyed soul'.

Far more than seven copies of this knocking about. The information about Ron Trombley being the drummer and vocalist in the band is taken from a youtube clip and is apparently from Ron's son. Mr Trombley is still about and still heavily involved with music in Flint (primarily country these days). It shouldn't be beyond the collective wit of the scene to get in touch with him and get some concrete answers surely?

Twenty quid is a fair price I think. Great double sider.

Great info posted above which really helps to join a lot of the dots. In pre Youtube days when the only way of hearing this was pretty much at a venue I doubted if this was in fact the Del Larks, but listening again it's clearly Sammy Campbell on the higher vocal part.

The lead singer is Ron Trombley, also the drummer in the band. No connection whatsoever to Soul Inc. from the Carolinas pictured above.

The singer on the second song is naggingly familiar. He sounds a bit like Clark Sullivan whom Ollie McLaughlin produced solo on Enterprise and later as part of Liberty on BASF. Not saying it is him though. Any info at all on the acetate's label? Also worth searching the BMI online archive for titles which might fit.

Also bear in mind Wayne Wadham's other brush with Northern Soul immortality as writer of Carol & Gerri's "How Can I Ever Find A Way".

Canadian Quality copies are on vinyl. Never heard one in the flesh so cannot comment on sound quality.

The typefaces used for the credits on the original copies are Tempo Bold Condensed and Tempo Black. Basically a version of Futura designed specifically for the Ludlow typesetting system. The repress/bootleg more than likely uses a conventional version of Futura.

Those two brown logo copies are indeed represses. The best way to tell without seeing the deadwax info is the weight of the type used on the credits. Both the ebay copies have the title / artist info in a light weight font. The originals (both with black and brown logos) have the title and artist in much heavier weight of type. I'm calling these later copies 're-presses' but they might well be bootlegs for the UK scene. I don't know, but it's worth bearing in mind that Spector still to this day retains a presence in the music business with a relaunched or continuing Tuff: https://www.tuffrecords.com/