Roburt

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) .......

Gavin Christopher R I P View full article

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.

Just noticed another quote in Mary Wilson's book ....... .... in a section about Motown cover versions, she makes mention of "Come See About Me" by a Philly group the NELODODS !!!! I'd love to hear that track !?!?! Seems that the Supremes played gigs in Bermuda back in 1964 @ the Clay House Inn. Wonder which musicians went on that trip with them ...... https://bermudasun.bm/Content/NEWS/News/Article/Clayhouse-Inn-will-reign-supreme-again/24/270/45970

EMI label 45s would be pressed in one country but sold in a number of others on a regular basis back in the day. I seem to recall visiting Amsterdam, Rotterdam & Brussels back in the day (late 60's / early 70's) and finding UK pressed 45s for sale there. ALSO did the same on the Algarve a few years later (finding a Motown 45 by the Undisputed Truth in a locally printed picture sleeve when the 7" inside it was a UK pressing).

So is the book just about the Wolves soul scene & the Casino back in the day. If so, it would be of very little interest to me (being from Yorks & never having gone to the Casino).

John, The site now has a review section. I'm sure if you sent Mike (or one of us reviewers) a copy of the book, we would give it a fair hearing on here & maybe the review would generate a few extra sales. JRS

The Tams are still performing, in fact they have a gig tomorrow ........... Front Beach Festival Isle of Palms, SC Saturday, March 5, 2016 12:00pm - 4:00pm Come enjoy a day of shagging and beach music with The Tams

Even though the Tams were struggling a bit by 1971, they (or at least a later version of the group) were still going strong in 2006 ....... ........ they formed in 1960, so I guess no original member was still in their line-up in 2006 ......