Roburt

Seems that 6 acts + the band were featured the week the Revue played the Harlem Apollo ..........

Don't have it (or even like it) but you're right, the Frank Foster was a St Ahd Rhythm production ........ he must have been about 40 when he cut it ...........

Well most Triode 45 track's weren't connected with St Ahd Rhythm Inc but I know Johnny Honeycutt's "I'm Coming Over" was.

I know lots about the premier black beach resorts on the US east coast -- Carr's & Sparrow's Beaches. These flourished right thru till the late 60's when blacks weren't allowed on 'white beaches'. But with the breakdown of segregation, these beach resorts fell into decline. The big shows by major black artists stopped & the people just stopped coming (I have a whole chapter in my book about the 2 resorts and the acts that played on them). .... HOWEVER .... across in Michigan there was a whole town (Idlewild) that grew up along similar principals. Blacks from the cities (Chicago, Detroit, Toledo, Flint, Grand Rapids, etc.) would head there for the weekend, staying in a local motel (or even buying a house locally). The place was in it's prime in the 40s / 50s / 60s but fell into decline at the same time as Carr's Beach (& for the same reasons). When it was a thriving holiday spot, the entertainment there was top notch. All the top acts of each decade would star there at venues such as Paradise Nightclub, Flamingo Bar, El Morocco & Red Rooster Lounge. Lavern Baker, Little Willie John, Arthur Prysock, Della Reese, the 4 Tops, Jackie Wilson, Lloyd Price, Etta James, B B King, Aretha Franklin, Bill Cosby, George Kirby and more were regulars (the 4 Tops even met their wives there). The resort (located in northwest Michigan) was a mecca for black entertainment. During summer months in the 1950s over 20,000 people would dance at venues in Idlewild. In the 60's Jackie Wilson would sing "Lonely Teardrops", "Baby Workout" &"Whispers". Twist competitions were held on a regular basis, visitors would dance the night away. Lloyd Price worked up in Idlewild for the whole summer one year. He had a full band to support him and in that band were the Funk Brothers; Benny Benjamin, James Jamerson, Earl Van Dyke. They were all working up there in Idlewild for the summer season. I don't know how that fitted in with playing in the studio or backing Motown artists up on live shows. I'm posting a photo below of dancers performing at the Paradise Club and it's impossible to identify the band members who are providing their music. However, on the drummers kit is a big R A logo ... so I'm guessing that the drummer is Richard 'Pistol' Allen However, the Paradise Nightclub burned down in 1970. The 700-seat Flamingo Bar still overlooks Idlewild Lake but stands empty. The Red Rooster lounge and restaurant is still open some days but only after 4 p.m. -- properties lay empty and decaying. The place is a shadow of it's former self. BUT it isn't totally forgotten and a number of web sites exist that detail what went on in this 'Black Eden' back in the day ........... https://www.blackpast.org/aah/idlewild-michigan-1912 https://fundrazr.com/campaigns/cKCj0 https://www.davehoekstra.com/wp-content/uploads/2014/03/idlewild_mich_black_mecca.pdf https://www.mlive.com/entertainment/index.ssf/2012/08/idlewild_the_black_eden_marks.html Anyone know any other soul music linked facts that relate to this place ????

This book on Motown looks like it will make a good read ......... Motown: The Sound of Young America -- Adam White https://www.amazon.co.uk/Motown-Sound-America-Adam-White/dp/0500518297/ref=sr A bit pricey but it looks a quality product. Don't suppose there will be tons of new info in it for committed T/M fans though. Looks to be lots of 'new to me' photos though .........

More on the pitfalls of touring back in the 60's, this bit from Motowner Willie Tyler ........ I guess people still tour like that, but I don't think the venues are as far away now as they were in those days. We would be driving forever. We'd be driving through the Appalachians, driving down the mountains and they'd be icy, icy roads. The driver would have to go very, very slow. We had two drivers and we'd be driving at night. We'd always drive through the night and get to the hotel in the morning. Check in, rest up, shower, go to the venue, come back, check out and then drive again to the next one. It was a grueling schedule. I remember we were working a place called the Carter Barron in Washington DC. It was a big venue and the acoustics were really bad. Sound was bouncing all over the place during the sound-check and I thought, "Wow, this is going to be really difficult for me." I'm the only talking act and it was a Saturday night with the potential for a rowdy audience. So I wondered how I was going to get through it. When we got there... we all felt this... there was something about the place... it was not a good feeling. So, the show started and the leader of the band for the Motortown Revue was Choker Campbell. He was onstage, this large stage. When the show started we all still had this feeling. "There's something strange here." The Contours opened. If the Contours were on a given tour they always opened. Martha and the Vandellas were on second. Martha is singing and then all of a sudden way up in the balcony - four shots went off. And as soon as the four shots went off we knew they were shots. Choker Campbell took one look at the band and stopped them. Didn't look at the audience. He grabbed all his sheet music, the band grabbed theirs and walked off the stage - as did Martha and everyone else. That was it. Show over. When something like that happens - you can't follow that.

Thanks for the info Dave. Back in the short period that I attended niters @ the Nite Owl in Leicester (May to October 67) I used to hang out with a crowd from the Walsall area. Once spent Saturday daylight hours in the town looking for soul / ska records with the local niter goers. Then @ the Wheel we were friendly with the Kidderminster mob (late 67/68/69) but never visited their home town back then. Never made it into Wolverhampton at all then but I guess the Walsall crowd would have attended soul nights in Wolves (were they a regular thing back in 67 ?).

Mary Wells was on the shows in late 1963, so Motown can't have been aware of her intention to dispute her contract & leave the company at the time. One of her last 45 releases on Motown was still on the national US charts in mid July 64 and her 1st 20th Century 45 made it's chart debut in October that year, so the whole dispute must have blown up around May / June 64 I guess. Proposed 45 releases on her were pulled by Motown (Motown #1061 & #1065) in July & August 64 (otherwise we would have gotten her take on "When I'm Gone" and not Brenda's which escaped in Feb 65) so that legal proceedings must have been in full swing by then. GETTING BACK TO the 63 Motortown Revue shows ........ I'd have been a bit pissed if I had gone to the show in Baltimore and seen just 5 acts, whereas two weeks later I could have attended a DC show and seen 9 acts. Strange goings on indeed. Mind you, the show would have remained about the same length (time-wise) so each act must have performed more songs on the shows staged in Baltimore.

It seems that the line-up on the Motortown Revue shows was quite fluid. Above are 3 of the 1963 shows ...... In DC (Howard Theatre) there were 9 acts + the band. In York, PA (where the Soul Clinic were from) there were 8 acts + the band (Mary Wells being there with the Supremes & Sammy Ward missing). In Toledo there were 7 acts + the band (with Stevie Wonder now topping the bill). .... HOWEVER ... only 14 days before the DC shows kicked off, the package had been playing their last date @ the Royal Theatre in Baltimore but on these dates there were only 5 acts + the band (and one of those acts was Jimmy Ruffin) ..........

Another youtube clip (very short) put up by a SouthernSoul member ..... ... Otis standing up @ Buddy Guy's Legends Club (he was in the audience) to sing a couple of verses of the song ... this was shot just weeks before he passed ....

Is anything known about Tiny Records? Perhaps it was the group or their manager's own label and was used to get a record out on this band that had been paying it's dues backing major artists up (on shows all along the US east coast) for many years before their 45 escaped. Certainly nothing else was released on Tiny and this outing was soon licensed for release on DC based Rouser (Tiny also being based out of DC). Lots of the live work the band did was up in Baltimore or across on Carr's Beach. They backed up just about every act that played the DC, Baltimore, Annapolis area over the years they were active. Example of this are two 1963 shows (when they were 18 strong) in Baltimore (Lou Johnson's "Reach Out For Me" can't have been that popular in Baltimore in mid Oct 63 as his billing on that show is a bit low key) .......

It seems that MS artist Gavin Christopher has passed. Don't know too many details yet but it has happened .......... Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Sure that this has been discussed on here in the past.

The group played a showcase @ the Village Gate in NY for record company reps. It was to try to secure a big label deal but it didn't pan out ........

The Soul Clinic played gigs @ NY's Cheetah Club just before they broke up ........

Ruth + Carl Holmes & the Commanders played repeated gigs @ the New York Cheetah Club in 67 ........... ... above is footage of the Fania guys playing the venue in 1971.

The Soul Clinic were from York (no, not the one in God's country but the one in PA) ...... ... there's quite a bit on-line about them ................ https://shadydell.blogspot.co.uk/2012/06/clinically-proven-epic-odyssey-of-band_08.html They played a big show with Billy Harner & the Rascals @ Willow Grove Park. Info on the venue above ..........

A few bits on this group ................ not got their 45 but would love it for the B side ..........

Car crashes, none payment for performing, poor hotels & food .... but all are only minor matters when compared with collapsing on stage & having ongoing health problems (or even dying). We all know that Jackie Wilson collapsed on stage (a stroke) & never recovered from the incident. But I never realised that Marv Johnson went the same way in 93 .......... PLUS a reminder of happier times for him ....

Just checked & it was basically the same line-up for both shows ..... ...... York, PA in May and Toledo in November ...... though Stevie Wonder had obviously moved up the pecking order by November ... AND ... 2 M's had disappeared; Marv Johnson & the Marvelettes !! The acts were obviously out on tour & away from Detroit for around 6 months that year !!

The 1963 tour (or maybe two different tours in the same year with different line-ups) ........... ........... anyone know ???

Every sane person in the world has eaten loads of Yorkshire Pudding ............ as a lad I had it for starters (with onion gravy), with my main course (a roast beef or similar) & for afters (with jam on). Can't beat Yorkshire Pudd .... much better than owt from Wigan !!!

John, RE: sending a copy of your book ......... I'm one of the reviewers (as I stated earlier) BUT it's Mike who allocates 'who gets what' to review. However, I love all types of soul (southern, Chicago, deep, some sweet, bluesy, Nola, 60's, 70's, 80's, etc) so would love to be asked to review your book (my soul LP collection is also extensive, so I should be able to do the book justice). BTW, do you also include UK released albums (Bell Cellar of Soul, 60's Chess comps, Impression Big 16, etc.) in the book ?

I'll have to pull the box of old B&S mags out of the loft. The mag interviewed EVD when he came to the UK (backing Freda Payne) and I bet he made mention of US tours he went on with Motown acts in that (Earl was featured on the B&S front cover at the time). By all accounts after EVD returned from that UK tour, the only regular job he could get was at a Detroit High School .... what a waste of true talent. Another Motown related musician was Dennis Coffey. He cut an instrumental version of "It's Your Thing" that Motown wanted to license for release around the time Dennis first started to work @ Hitsville studio. He had earlier played on live gigs behind the likes of Edwin Starr but I'm unsure if this was before / after Edwin was signed to Motown.