georgeblackwell

Donnie Elbert wrote a ballad called - BABY WALK RIGHT IN - Which he registered with B.M.I. Originally from New Orleans Elbert was living in Buffalo N.Y. at this time and his friend and fellow Buffalo native Darrell Eubanks was looking for a song to launch his career. Elbert gave the song to Eubanks who took it to Revilot in Detroit, where he claimed the song was his own composition. He changed the title to OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR HEART, upped the tempo, changed his name to Banks and had a huge hit. There was a protracted legal battle that was only settled just before Banks death. Although Elbert was proven to be the sole writer of the song 50% of the credits were attributed to Banks whose name appears on most writing credits when the song has been covered by other artists.

Oh yeah - top bloke and top tune. I think if you are a man and you listen to soul music (especially the really sad emotional stuff about heartaches and break ups) you often put yourself into the position of the singer and pretend/imagine it is you that is singing. There is nothing quite as invigorating as a good old tearjerker. I like to listen to one every morning - sets me up for the day - Originals - Baby I'm For Real - usually hits the mark or perhaps Sam Fletcher - I'd Think It Over.

Unlikely, it has never been about vocal talent it has always been about the right material and the right people pushing you. Although to the ears of most northern soul fans all of these Detroit underdogs sound fabulous, the fact is that the particular sound that we love did not find mass appeal Stateside and was always overshadowed by the mighty Motown machine. Banks did record what is, by most soul fans calculation, one of the top ten tunes of all time - OPEN THE DOOR TO YOUR HEART. But the fact that he stole this song from Donnie Elbert and then claimed authorship himself together with the manner of his demise leads me to suspect that he perhaps was not the nicest of men. Of course this is pure conjecture because none of us got to know the man himself so he might have been a lovely chap. Either way I feel he was always destined to be one of soul musics unsung heroes.

Here is a video playing the aforementioned track - any know anything about it?

Yes I have and here it is. Martin Scorsese I am not !!!

You would have more chance if you put the £100 on a horse in next weeks Grand National - you know £100 @ 33/1 = £3400 Job done!! Simples init

No such record ?????

I suppose we have got used to the general badinage between messrs Manship / Brown/ Brady etc over the years and none of those guys could ever be accused of underselling their stock. You know the sort of thing - "John how many Holy Grails do you have in your deejay box?" answer "all of 'em"

Sorry chaps, I've taken a valium and calmed down a bit now - Just looked at his Bill Cosby record - Looking at that beauty in all of it's UK demo glory - words are truly superfluous, you know "one picture is worth a thousand words" and all that. Didn't Levine write that one???

Perhaps we should all remember the often quoted adage "It is better to remain silent and be thought a fool than to open your mouth and remove all doubt." I guess what I am getting at with this topic is - if you don't know what you are talking about shut the f**k up or you will seriously piss off the vast majority of anoraks out there who think they know what they are talking about. Obviously I include myself in this righteous (or should it be self-righteous) group of The Knowledgeable.

I am beginning to get it now, he just puts any old bollix down no matter how unconnected to the record in question. In this example you take a classic Motown inspired track out to Hollywood and get a comedian who cannot sing, round up the second best studio band in the world to perform the track - The Wrecking Crew (obviously the Funks are number 1), bring in the best producer of 60's dance music - Fred Smith to supervise the session and you end up with the most remarkable novelty song ever pressed on vinyl. Oh yes and this becomes the inspriration for an obscenely rare Philly recording that was actually issued before Bill Cosby went into the studio. I guess the Harthon boys must have had a time m/c to go forward in time to get this inspiration.

Fact - Marc Almond invented Northern Soul. When his classic self penned tune Tainted Love was mercilessly covered by Glam Rock queen Mrs Marc Bolan (nee Jones) he withdrew from the all nighter scene to concentrate on playing the pink oboe. This must be true because someone who thought it was decided to write it down somewhere - and that is the power of the old tinternet. If it is out there somewhere it must be right,right!

I missed these gems - just brilliant - you couldn't make it up could you - oh yeah he did didn't he

To paraphrase Donald Rumsfeld There are things that we know we know There are things that we think we know There are things that we are not sure we know There are things that we know we don’t know There are things that we think we don’t know There are things that we are not sure we don’t know And then there are those who know f**k all and just make it up to suit themselves

that is the shame of it - he has some decent stuff on there for sale, perhaps he should let the records speak for themselves and leave out the superfluous nonsensical comments

Me too

https://www.rarenorthernsoul.com/soul-music/popular-musical-genres The level of misinformed hyperbole on here makes John Manship sound good. here are a couple of snippets that made me smile - Who does not know The Bee Gees? This band gave birth to disco with their funky tunes that invaded the playlists of every nightclub in the world. Yes of course, now I know where disco came from !!!! Jimmy Thomas: Springtime : Spark : £200 Amazing Unknown 60s Stomper & Its UK Only - His Rarest 45 Will Be Huge In Northern Venues Already Massive In Europe Not amazing!!! Not Unknown!!! Not a Stomper!!! Not his rarest!!! and trust me it will not be huge in Northern venues cos it is crap. Long John Baldry — The Drifter This GREAT Uk Singer Is Revered In Germany For The Talent He Is Its Time We Recognized It, The late LJB is and has always been recognised as the Doyen of British R&B, He was a pioneer and was instrumental in the careers of many artists - Rod Stewart, Elton John, Jack Bruce, Charlie Watts, Brian Jones, Mick Jagger, Julie Driscoll - the list goes on. Perhaps it is just the writer of this drivel who has not recognised the great mans talent until now.

Perhaps I should have said audacity, but then we are getting into the whole semantics thing again.

I think I have the winner - not really a northern tune but was played at the wheel. Prince Buster - Ten Commandments - original - MOSES - about 5000 years ago !!!!!!!!

I would never have the temerity to accuse Sam of having style.

There is a group of us old faithfuls from all points of the compass that get together at least once a year for a Northern weekender. The chap who is the most committed to organising these reunions is always the first one in bed. After about 5 pints of Old Speckled Hen (or whatever the local tincture is) he is falling asleep in his chair and has to be put to bed, usually around 11:00 o'clock.

I think Mr Barnfather was 96 when he went to Wigan. He is 170 now. Good Old Sam eh !!!!

Interesting one this - came out in UK on MGM 1963 and Choreo (MGM subsidiary) in USA in 1962. Bernstein wrote the music for the film which came out in 1960 but when the album for the movie soundtrack was made it was Sam Butera & The Witnesses who played on it. Sam Butera played a role in the movie as (you guessed it) a Saxophone player. So Sam Butera's version on Dot from 1960 is the first released version of the track. Even Richard Maltby's version Roulette 1962 predates the release of Elmer Bernsteins original.

Just checked out the sellers other listings - always comforting to see a few SOUL FOXES for sale !!!! Fair play to the lad though - he is not trying to pass any of these off as originals but like has been said previously it is just that the scene is populated by some right numptys these days. I see he is based in Leicester it's not Johnny M under another pseudonym is it ????

Thanks for this one Ian. It reminds me of my first record buying trip to the US in 1972. I left wants lists with a lot of record stores in the New York area saying that I would buy up to 6 copies of any of the records on the list. One of the records on the list was The Vibrations - Gonna get along. A few weeks after I came home I got a letter saying that one of the stores had got 6 records for me at @ $3.00 each. I sent off the money and waited excitedly hoping I was going to get The Glories or The Sweet Things or one of the other big sounds of the time. When the records finally arrived - you guessed it - 6 copies of Patience and Prudence