Rick Cooper

There are six Al Green singles on Motown Yesteryear. Of these I think Take Me To The River was previously only on an album. Not sure if the others are alternate versions.

In 1966 Stockport the place to be seen at was The Tabernacle Club. Opened in January 66 in a former church close to the police station and opposite what used to be Strawberry Studios. I was too young to go then but from online chat it sounds like it was a busy little club that many people remember fondly. Lots of live acts appeared there including most famously, Jimi Hendrix, Pink Floyd and The Riot Squad (incl David Bowie). Soul acts mentioned are Edwin Starr, Jimmy Cliff, Bobby Hebb, Jimmy Ruffin, The Fantastics and The Showstoppers. Another site lists Sly and The Family Stone, The Temptations and The Impressions, not sure about these, although the last two were probably fake versions. The music played was mentioned as being RnB and soul. In 1968/69 it was sold to a new owner who named it Sgt Peppers with a change of music featured. I went to see Johnny Johnson and The Bandwagon there but whatever music the DJ played was completely forgettable.

For those who haven't already seen this great video of Plebs , Halifax 1967. They seem to be having a good time especially the girl at 1min 17 secs. Anyone go there or know anyone in the clip?

There's an interesting article about The Pebble Episode J-2 record. It seems the group had been signed to Sue but then doesn't explain why it was issued on J-2 after both parties fell out. https://garagehangover.com/the-pebble-episode/

First copies were mistakenly credited to Vincent Oddo, who was the engineer. It may be rock but that wouldn't have stopped Russ playing The Plum Song More info from a group member on these youtube clips. Seems a strange release for a soul label.

The Poets - Wrapped Around Your Finger on J2 recently sold on John Manship's auction for £7119 and the follow on discussion gave some of the backstory. As it's one of my favourite records ( also Mrs C's) I did a quick search to see what else is known about it and the J2 label. Other records on J2 are The Pebble Episode -Tripsey / The Plum Song J2-1300 Baby Washington - Like A Rolling Stone/ New Yorker J2 1301 These are listed as 1967 releases so is it likely that Juggy Murray set up J2 straight after Sue/Symbol closed as a way of getting out tracks already recorded at Sue. Maybe this didn't go down too well with companies that Sue owed money to and radio stations were cautious. There seems to be some promotion done on The Poets as John's auction copy was stamped "DJ Copy" and there is one with a Chips sticker on it. So does anyone know if any J2 records got magazine reviews or radio plays in the US ( I guess @The Yank would be the only one who would know). @Robbk did you see any J2 singles in shops in the sixties? Has anyone got the other J2 singles and are they worth much? It was mentioned that John Anderson found the first 5 copies of Wrapped Around Your Finger, anyone know what year this was? John Anderson had huge quantities of all the Sue group labels back in 1974/5 . Global Records bought a van full from Soul Bowl around 75/76 after John had taken everything of value. There weren't any J2 in this so either John kept them or they weren't in the Sue haul. I'd have thought that Richard Searling and Sam would have been offered (and played) Wrapped Around Your Finger so maybe it came from another later find. Any estimate as to how many copies there are known about? Also any info when and why Sue folded, probably change in young peoples music tastes ( them b****y hippies) leading to the hits drying up. Any more info would be much appreciated.

Yes, Goldmine CDs -Groovesville Review Vol 2 track 7 Terri Bryant- Genie and Groovesville Review Vol 3 track12 Pat Lewis- Genie. I've just played them both and they both sound the same on the laptop, with possibly a slight difference in the clarity of the "Pat Lewis" version (not as good as Terri Bryant). If I can find out how to download the tracks that should help but as Tim Brown has said the confusion is just down to having "Pat Lewis" on the tape box by mistake

Rob I've got the CDs but couldn't get the two Genie tracks to download on to this post. Perhaps someone who knows how I can do this will let me know. Listening to both versions they , as others have said, sound like the same vocalist (Terri Bryant) with just a little difference in the mix . The instrumentation sounds finished with strings and full backing and not a "scratch" version. There is the proper backing track on the CD Groovesville Review Vol 1 which sounds exactly like the Verve disc without vocals. There are other tracks on these CDs that sound like "scratch" recordings that could be the type that Rob Moss mentioned.

Such sad news. Never met him, but his dedication, knowledge and enthusiasm always shone through his posts. Going to be very much missed.

As others have said, Sam and Dave were one of the acts that made a big impression on me as a youngster. They were the first major live soul act as I saw as a young teen. My brother took me along to see them at Manchester Odeon in 67 or 68. I think the opening acts were Arthur Conley and Joe Tex but the whole place went wild when Sam and Dave came on. The mainly US backing band were fantastic, top musicians and great showmanship. Sam and Dave were unbelievable, coming back for two encores. No gimmicks, fancy lighting, just solid talent. RIP Sam , a real "Soul Man"

The CD I've got this track on is Letter Full Of Tears from Acrobat Music (2008) which has a good information booklet, unlike previous compilations. This goes into a bit more detail on the Springboard/ Trip LPs stating that a tax break in the 1970s and 80s let other companies lease early tracks and benefit from tax advantages. Vee Jay, Maxx and Fury all took advantage of this but the resulting albums lacked details of each track. Bob Fisher, who compiled the CD and wrote the booklet didn't state where the unreleased ones came from , so if he doesn't know I doubt anyone else will. To me it doesn't sound like a Maxx recording. The writers and publisher for How Do You Say Goodbye are Reardon- Schweikert and Warner Chappell North America. These writers only appear on this track so no help narrowing it down but if anyone can trace the song to a BMI entry it should help.

There was but not sure if still going. This is a CD from 1999 that gives a little info and shows the tracks from back then. I used to sell records to a shop in Rotterdam and a DJ in Amsterdam. I got to know the sort of records they wanted by listening to the stuff they bought. The DJ wanted me to find new tracks for him as there was competition to have the best records. They would cover up the labels or more frequently scratch the label or obliterate it. Some tracks were on the other side of northern records, such as Sam and Kitty- Love Is The Greatest and James Barnett Take a Good Look. Most of the records back then would be late 60s or early 70s but the CD selection here look to be from playlists from the 1990s as the tracks are not ones I remember from my selling days. I got to like most of their tracks and rate them just as much as some northern records. Sometimes they could be a little weird but the same goes for over here or Belgian Popcorn. One of the big sounds in mid 70s is Gloria Walker - Walking With My New Love, and is a good example of the type of music played. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8ChfMBSs2Jg There were a lot of bootlegs such as the Temptations one but some would be legal re-presses from the US labels. There is a UK pressing of Mitty Collier- Share What You Got on Peachtree licensed from William Bell that was done for the shop in Rotterdam. Sometimes there was enough old stock to meet demand so no need to boot/ re-issue. The audience for these records would be in their 30 or 40s in the late 1970s so can't see there are still clubs for them now, more likely reminiscing in care homes. I wonder if there are some big collections in the Netherlands waiting to be found.

For once I have to disagree with you on this. I really like Baby Baby I Need You but it was a much earlier recording to Girl Why You Wanna Make Me Blue so sounds out of place as the B side. It has the sound and tempo that would fit the Surinam clubs in the 70/80s. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aOUfiY7GJCc

I've not heard this one before so looked on YT. Seems this was a popular record in the US from the comments. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aAk-3U2ODdo @Sceneman a few questions for you. Could Guy Stevens play anything and the crowd would go along with him? Was there a quick turnover of records as in the fashions. For example would a record like Alvin Cash -Twine Time get plays as a US new release but be dropped by the time it came out on Stateside? You said Monkey Time by Major Lance wasn't played at the Scene, so were there other UK issued records not played there as the club tried to be more exclusive?

There's a VRBO ad that uses The Petersons Just What Iv'e been Looking For, is this the one you mean? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=rJFXMiqw7I4

Are you the only one? maybe, possibly. Not a well known fact for the general public but most on here should know so well done for admitting it. The album it's from - A Christmas Gift For You- was played almost non stop from early December by Ed Balbier at Global Records in the 70s so I know it well and I still play it at home pre Christmas. I didn't know at the time that Bob B Soxx was Bobby Sheen. The album Global stocked was brand new, shrink wrapped with no deletion sleeve cut corner which was strange for a nine year old record. It was supplies by a well known "House" in a Philly suburb which given Phil Spector's later actions seemed risky, however I think they still had Italian friends. Another track by Bobby Sheen that is almost as good as Dr Love is I Want You For My Sweet Heart, I don't know if it ever got played much.

I've got a cassette tape that Ian did for me around 1973/4 with Jimmy Burns on it. I'm not sure Ian played it at Blackpool or The Blue Room at Sale but may have done a couple of times with little response . The tape was on repeat in the car so much that it slowed up or ground to a halt. He had so many of this type of record that he wasn't pushing. By this time he was moving to more 70s records such as The Carstairs, Oscar Perry, Marvin Holmes etc.

From John's description of the shop it is almost certainly the same one that me and Terry (Francis "Mr Tee) found in 77. We had spent two weeks travelling by bus from New York to Miami as a sort of holiday/sight seeing trip with frequent diversions to record shops and distributors. We were staying at a Holiday Inn in Miami Beach and one evening went looking for somewhere to eat. On the way we came across a large record shop which had all LPs on display but a small glass counter at the back with singles stacked up. From these we found about a hundred great titles. The owner said there were more in the back but they were $1 each and we had to buy at least 100. The first room had shelves on three sides but loads of stuff piled up exactly how John described it. The owner kicked us out as he was closing but we went back next day to go through the first back room. The records we found were the same as John said- St Lawrence, Chess, Constellation, Tuff, Special Agent and Champion. Some other labels but none of the majors, indie West Coast or Motown. Even after a whole day we hadn't gone through everything in this room as there was so much stuff in the way. We could see another room off this one but to get in you'd have to squeeze on top of a big fridge through the door frame. We had to get back to New York by bus in three days so couldn't wait. In the end we hired a car to take us and the records back to a shipper in New Jersey and then to the airport. I'd think the Sam Fletcher records must have been in the room we couldn't get in. There weren't any in the stuff we looked through as I'd have taken at least 25. The record "I'd Think It Over" had been a huge record in the Belgian Popcorn scene from the early 70s ( getting a re-press in Belgium). Also it's the type of record and artist that the Japanese collectors would have bought. Our visit was in 77 , June to be exact as I still have my travel docs and see that on the 24th I paid the shop owner ,Jack Howard $300, and car rental on the 27th. John says the owner died in 76 but either he got this wrong or someone else was looking after the shop. I'd think the owner , Howard, recovered but died sometime after our visit. He was a right grumpy old man with a foul mouth and bad temper, so a heart attack is quite likely. I've no idea what happened to the stock and thousands of Sam Fletcher. I'd heard that @Dave Raistrick found the shop after us but perhaps Dave or Rod would let us know. I vaguely remember the shop owner told us someone else from the UK had been there before us but wouldn't pay a dollar each, (50 cents or less was the norm back then). Was this John?

I don't remember hearing it at The Torch, Blackpool Mecca, Wigan or anywhere else. Perhaps I've blocked the memory as a coping mechanism for such a terrible record.

I don't know if anyone has mentioned, or watched, this BBC 2 programme shown last Saturday (21st Sept). It's a three part documentary exploring the racism faced by black music artists. The first show was looking at the 1920s to 50s and mentioned early blues, R'n'B and jazz artists. Parts two and three on next Saturday or on I Player now. Probably most on here will be familiar with the injustice done to many black musicians but worth a watch. Episode two looks at black owned record labels including Motown, cue Berry Gordy and Smokey Robinson. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/m0021zf0

There is an advert from The House of Sounds in Billboard magazine around 72 to 74 wanting to buy ex juke box singles (can't find it now as a search has 7000+ results) At the time I couldn't understand why they would need these as they had a warehouse full of records and juke box records would be worn out and unsellable. Would this have just been for the vinyl? House of Sounds pressed up quite a few old singles and some LPs. I remember the singles were all quite thin and had very fine short scuff marks on the surface. I suspect Ed Balbier of Global Records used House of Sounds to press up some northern titles for the UK as the quality was terrible. When I was at Global we used to import a lot of the US labels golden oldies issues. All the major labels had a comprehensive catalogue of past hits, often as back to back titles. Some had OK northern titles- Willie Tee, Major Lance, James Carr and the Motown Yesteryear series plus the pop hits by the likes of Brian Hyland, Bobby Goldsborough, etc were issued as oldies. Orders were placed about every two or three weeks and I think the number of titles out of stock was very low and titles were rarely deleted. So it seems that the majors could still find vinyl for oldies. Could it be that there was no risk of unsold stock and costs had been recouped years ago. The exception to this was a few smaller labels whose oldies seemed to be out of stock for months and months. These were Specialty, Laurie , Brunswick and a couple of others, could they have found the vinyl shortage meant they had to wait for their orders?

One of Global Record's owner Ed Balbier job lot purchase that he sent back here in a shipping container was a few hundred large boxes of 10 singles in a sealed plastic bag much like the top one in the above photo. Over a month or so when all the shop orders had been dealt with I was given the job of opening each bag and sorting the records by title. A pattern soon became obvious, every bag had a couple of Tommy James and the Shondels titles and a copy of Peggy Scott and Jo Jo Benson - Pickin' Wild Mountain Berries. The other records were not that great, the only ones I remember were about a dozen copies of Shane Martin- I Need You, about fifty of Esther Philipps -Nobody But You and one copy of Herb Ward- Honest to Goodness. All the records were major labels and I don't think they were drilled. I can see why Robb and The Yank didn't pay any attention to these bags.

Like others I've had a few knee issues this year. Could hardly walk in May but the X-ray was clear, physio diagnosed damaged meniscus (never heard of this but apparently it's something between the bones). Slowly recovered and managed a few runs recently. Unfortunately, the dog has decided she can't be bothered to come as well, after initial enthusiasm she turns back. Did a bit of swimming and cycling as I was told this was less strain on the knee. I've never fancied a gym, looks too competitive and judgemental plus all the expensive fancy stuff that seems necessary puts me off. Agree with others that getting out and moving is well worth it, both physically and mentally.

Hard to pick one track as a favourite as all his lead vocal tracks are superb. As a showcase for Paul's talent I'd go for Last One Out Is Brokenhearted issued on the Lost and Found CD of unissued recordings. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xhe2j8e8lLM The YT video gives some info on the track. Also worth a listen is the extended version someone has made. For more of Paul watch the live video of For Once In My Life from T.C.B TV special on YT.

Some other Canadian singles I had in the mid 70s came from Oldies Unlimited in Telford. This was a place that sold packs of singles as well as pop oldies, there are some previous discussions on here that give more info. With Terry (Mr Tee from Kidderminster) we managed to get access to the stock rooms, not easy as the owner was reluctant to let anybody go through the boxes. Most records we found were multiples of early 70s Philly and New York labels. Terry was selling at the Mecca as well as his shop so took quantities of lots of titles, the best one was Andre Maurice- Cream of the Crop. Scattered through the boxes we started finding small quantities of Canadian singles. In the end we got, Eddie Parker -Love You Baby, Timmy Willis- Mr Soul Satisfaction and two Precisions titles on Stone, Billy Butler -I'll Bet You on Brunswick and Ben Aiken - Satisfied on Warners. The Stone singles were around 4 to 8 copies of each and the other two one offs. There were no other Canadian singles so how and why these got in to the 70s US lot is a mystery. Canada was also the base for the ex Yorkshireman Martin Koppel, who was one of the earliest dealers to send loads of US singles to the UK. I dug out some of his first lists from 1972/3 to see if he offered any Canadian records. From the ones I've still got all his stock was from the US. Lots of Detroit labels such as D-Town, Premium Stuff, Revilot, Golden World, Groovesville, Soulhawk, Thelma, Moira etc but only one Motown disc (Earl Van Dyke -The Flick). Other labels included Okeh, Brunswick, ABC and Giant. It appears that Canadian soul singles weren't around in enough quantity to make it worth looking for, also Detroit had loads of old singles in large quantities and very cheap. Looking at his lists you can see how quickly he picked up on the in demand titles and putting up his prices and asking for bids on the big records. If anyone who knows Martin it would be interesting to know if he ever talked about finding singles in his home town of Toronto. As a "by the way" he had The Constellations -I Didn't How To for £1 in Sept 72.