Ady Croasdell

End of February but only an estimate

Could any kind soul lend me a copy, a box set of 45s in return! Ady

Agreed with all of that

Yes

Yes Returning to the birth of Northern Soul, the label boasted another single that helped the scene convert yet more aspiring night owls. With a title like ‘The Cat Walk’ c/w ‘Little Bit Of Soul’ and being recorded by Gerry & Paul and the Soul Emissaries, Fatback 411 was always going to get listened to by young Brits in search of that old, soul sound for their happening dances back in the north of England. This time they weren’t even slightly disappointed. By the early seventies, instrumentals were in vogue through the likes of Motown’s Earl Van Dyke and Ric Tic’s San Remo Strings, and when the first chords of ‘The Cat Walk’ blast out of the speakers, there’s no doubt that a classic dance record is playing. ‘Little Bit Of Soul’ maintains the danceable rhythm but doesn’t quite contain the magic that ‘Cat Walk’ conjures up. The Gerry of the group was Gerry Thomas, a NYC keyboard player who was also adept at the trumpet and a great musical arranger to boot. Gerry is a central figure in the Fatback story; he originally met Bill Curtis when they were both playing in a dance band run by Ron Anderson called Ron Anderson and the Versatiles. He left the band in 1968 to play in the Jimmy Castor Bunch and stayed with them for the next ten years. While he was with that group he wrote for them and performed on their big hits, but also developed an interest in the Fatback organisation which extended to him arranging the very first Fatback Band single. Paul was Paul Roland Martinez, a bass player and original member of Jimmy Castor’s various bands. In fact, it was Paul who introduced Gerry to Jimmy. Paul had been a member of the 50s group the Cadillacs, and that’s how he met Jimmy Castor, when Jimmy was doing some singing with the Teenagers after Frankie Lymon had left. Paul co-wrote ‘Little Bit Of Soul’ with Gerry while Gerry was sole composer of ‘The Cat Walk’. The Soul Emissaries were an ensemble of studio musicians who included, among others, Richard Tee, Jimmy Johnson and the king of New York session drummers, Bernard “Pretty” Purdie. Now here’s a story for the serious vinyl collector; better known as anoraks to the uninitiated. ‘The Cat Walk’ was a massive record on the Northern Soul scene in the very early 70s, so much so that it was one of the first records to be bootlegged. When I first came across the bootleg copy I soon realised that the sides of the record were reversed and what should have been ‘The Cat Walk’ was ‘Little Bit Of Soul’. This had always amused me, and when I met up with Gerry Thomas a few years ago I repeated the story to him. He confided to me that the record pressing company had got the sides the wrong way round in the first place and they had sent the masters back to get it pressed the right way before selling it. So did that mean the bootleg was an original, and which was the correct version of the titles? The fact that both sides were played at different times and they were both instrumentals made it seem like an insolvable problem. However, when we came to dub (what I thought was) the original record for this CD (it’s one of two singles for which the masters had been lost), I was amazed when our normally perfect Sound Mastering studios sent me the master CDR for approval and they had put the tracks in the wrong sequence. Luckily I didn’t go in with guns blazing, because when we compared our original single it was exactly the same as the bootleg and I was beginning to question my own sanity. Had there ever been a copy that had had my favourite side as ‘The Cat Walk’? A phone call to the ever-knowledgeable Mick Smith, a man who had been there at the time, and Keith Minshull, one of the first DJs to play the record, confirmed the existence of the original version that I remembered. All the early dance ads featuring ‘The Cat Walk’ as one of the star attractions at Wolverhampton’s Catacombs or the Bird’s Nest in West Hampstead had been correct after all. What I realised had happened was that there had been two different originals like Gerry had said and the bootleggers had chosen the wrong one to copy. It may not have meant much to the majority of soul fans but at least I could sleep peacefully again!

It gives you the option of playing it off-centre or not

Absosubseqentoliciously

I hope so. Strangeloves right ain't it?

So Killer Joe by the Rocky Fellers; is it being played? Or Strangeloves?

Yes thanks, that, popsike and discogs are the main ones I use

Sorted now for this one. Ta Ady

What was bonkers for me was I went through the website comments and records like Drip Drop by Dion were described as Northern. One bloke said Killer Joe by the Rocky Fellers was plaeyd by most Northern DJs - I'd not heard of one. Mind you did someone say Night Time by the Strangeloves was getting played nowadays? The biggest record among the casual Northern fans was Nothing But A Heartache by the Flirtations which gets paid at trendy retro dos but ain't got a Northern rhythm as far as my legs tell me. There's obviously an ocean of folk out there with a completely diffrerent take on NS

Anyone fancy lending us a copy? CDs and gratitude from us and Jesse in return. Ta Ady

Bump

I think I'm sorted from a mysterious benefactor. Just like in a Dickens novel

Indeed. I still need a good 'un though

Too many questions until we can speak to those involved which may well happen. Jamie had the Marke Jackson tracks down as written by C Jackson so no subterfuge there really.

Thanks but no thanks!

Ha, another myth gone.

On my computer

And there's a title to conjure with missus. Anyone got an Ex or better copy, no styrene hiss please? Usual terms and conditions apply. Cheers Ady

There's a name to conjure with and allegedly one of Elvis' girlfriends to boot. Anyone got an Ex copy they could loan for a few days for riches untold (or a handful of spiffing CDs?) Ady

I think Spain Pete's may have flown over my big head!

Coussans (not sure about spelling) is he from Southport?