Garethx

For sale: Walter (Butterball) Davis "Girl Stop Begging"/"Baby (Watcha Doin' To Me)" La Cade LC-1007 Condition is M- with ultra clean labels. Great Chicago crossover that's getting big plays in the North West's more discerning venues. £125.00 including Special Delivery within the UK. Overseas postage can be assessed. Paypal preferred. TIA for any interest, gareth.

I should have said you'll definitely get one for a hundred quid if it's a fifty quid record! Sincere apologies.

The Sepia release of Al Gardner is probably touching four figures now: it's always been a tough record, although a few have been on ebay in the last eighteen months. The Googa Mooga 45 is far more plentiful and it should be possible to get one for around a hundred quid.

The Holidays 45 and the Rare Stamps version are the same cut. A different mix for the Stereo lp, but undeniably the same take and undeniably Steve Mancha on vocals on both. I've never heard the J.J. Barnes UK Stax 45 version, so cannot comment on that. Can anyone post a soundclip of it?

Every copy of this I've ever heard suffers from a distortion in the pressing. Some are more extreme than others , but it's another of those Philips Mercury 45s which seems to have been pressed on extremely low quality styrene, unfortunately. Fabulous record though: classic Fame at its best.

The cut of Easy Living on Rare Stamps is identical to the Holidays on Groove City and features Steve Mancha on lead vocal. It is erroneously credited on the J.J. Barnes side of the RS album.

Can't Let Your Left Hand Know did come out on Smoke City 110. I held a copy in my hand at Beatin' Rhythm in Manchester a few years ago. I left it as I felt paying £50 for a record I essentially already had (albeit on Midtown) was excessive. The date on my Midtown copy of A Man In Love says 1978. Must mention his Tragar 45, You Got A Spell On Me, a tremendous sixties screamer.

I've seen copies in sales boxes for as much as £350.

It's lp only: on The Many Grooves of Barbara Lewis, US Enterprise or UK Stax, 1969. Produced by Ollie McLaughlin and recorded at Chess in Chicago. A great track which I suspect is a cover of a contemporary pop song as it was written by Brian Hyland. Will have to check if there are any other versions. I love this album: all the tracks are beautifully put together, very cleanly produced and sung with tons of style and class by Barbara.

It's The Montaclairs "Hung Up On Your Love" on Paula in the US and Contempo in the UK. It's been put on a few CD compilations over the years, some of which might still be available. A really wonderful record by a great group. Their main man, Phil Perry, has performed with great distinction in the UK a number of times.

The "sick" on the label is in fact the froth on the top of a cup of cappuccino, seeking to reflect the label's hip and uptown heritage, but really just looking like a pile of sick. I was in Amsterdam nearly twenty years ago and walking through the part of town near the National Gallery in the middle of the night (as you do). On Veemarktstraat was a record shop which looked fascinating: peering in through the door you could see lots of US 45s stuck on the wall, several of which were of the orange 70s Wand variety. I remember wondering if they included things like Will Hatcher etc. Went back the following day and came back with a great haul of general soul records, including about ten copies of Will Hatcher on Wand, Bobby Harris's Turntable 45s, all the Theola Kilgore records, loads of things on Sound Stage 7 and Seventy 7 and a few of the Canadian/Jamaican albums by the likes of Glenn Ricketts. Happy days.

The same bloke, surely. One of the great unknowns as all his records are worth picking up and feature really top class soul singing.

I think it would be nice if Dave Thorley could relate the circumstances which led him to programme tracks like "Pyramid", "Quicksand" and "Room Full Of Tears" at Stafford. These records all went against the grain to a certain extent at the time, but Stafford seemed to create the perfect conditions for such left-field experimentation. All brilliant soul records but different enough from trad northern (and from each other) to create a real stir at the time.

The ultimate beat ballad in my humble opinion.

G.C. Cameron "Hearts & Flowers" Malaco Frankie Kelly "Ain't That The Truth" TWI

It's not strictly speaking a tailor made, is it? This version was cut at the same time as the rare Breakthrough release. Producer Joey Jefferson cut at least three versions with different lead vocalists from the group. The rare version has Johnny Hendley on lead. When he was approached to re-issue the track he used the Charles Diamond version as he considered it to be the best. In my opinion it simply is the best version and knocks spots off the Johnny Hendley cut, vocally and instrumentally.

Pat played it from an original acetate, which was bought from from John Anderson.

There is definitely at least one vinyl copy. Tim Brown owns it, I am led to believe.

One, I think. Plus one original acetate.

The Shepards exists on both the old style "ABC-Paramount" and new-fangled "abc" logos. Stockers of both seem less plentiful than deejay copies, but are out there. A really wonderful record, in my opinion.

Sorted now. Many thanks Keith.

Hi Anyone out there help me out with a copy of Jerry Butler on Vee Jay 588 Giving Up On Love / I've Been Trying Ideally in condition above VG+ with clean labels, issue or DJ copy. Vinyl preferred to styrene if possible. Thanks in advance gareth

I'd be really surprised if either The Crow or World Column were white acts. The ballad side of the World Column 45 is fantastic group soul straight out of the top drawer.

Dean Courtney's been over here at least once: I believe he performed at Prestatyn a couple of years back. He is most certainly black.

Can You Handle Me Baby is the rarer release on Vincent. What's The Use/Don't Throw Our Love Away is the title that turned up in some quantity a few years back. Should be about £75-£100 tops, I reckon.