Roburt

Donny singing "Wildflower" with Skylark ...... There are other, more soulful, versions of "Wildflower" out there but it doesn't take away from Donny and his original (hit) version.

The leader of Mavis's backing singer ensemble is usually Donny Gerrard. Donny had big hits when the lead vocalist for Skylark in the 70's and also solo hits on Rocket & Greedy from 1975 to 77. In the UK he is best remembered for his top MS cut "He's Always Somewhere Around" (Greedy: 1976). If he's over with Mavis on this upcoming trip, it would be good if someone could interview him about his own musical career whilst he's here.

Dave also stated ............ The LP track was licensed from Mr Wonderful records ......... Which seems to have been the case (judging by the tracks US label of release) and how come the track ended up on a release from the Edinburgh based label. I guess the US Mr. Wonderful 12" has never surfaced over here in any quantity. I'd put "Secret Admirer" up here but can't find it on youtube.

Dave Thorley said this on another thread ............. ... Just as an aside Jerry Green was from Louisville and a one time member of The Heartbreakers. Jerry ... has a night club in the city to this day and sings there himself weekly. I have started a new thread on Jerry as discussing his track & career wasn't really relevant on the other thread (about Tropical Records). The track that kicked off the discussion was included on the UK 12" LP 'Move Into Soul Vol. 6' This guy's work is covered on at least 3 different Discogs pages ....... https://www.discogs.com/Various-Move-Into-Soul-Part-6/release/3301622 https://www.discogs.com/artist/730121-Jerry-Green-3 https://www.discogs.com/Jerry-Green-Connect/release/1443785 His track "Secret Admirer" escaped in the US on the Wonderful Record label in 1985 and the 12" single's label stated 'from the forthcoming LP' but it didn't seem to be included on Jerry's LP that escaped in 1988. I guess the Jerry Green who had "I Finally Found The Love I Need" out on Detroit based Woodward One Records is a different guy. A picture of Jerry (& friends) at a show undertaken at the Breckinridge Inn in Louisville .........

A while back (couple of years ?) a Lou Ragland track was played on the show .... and B.M. gave a short bio on Lou's recording career ........ not a thing I EVER expected to hear on a mainstream BBC radio show.

Don't get me wrong, your statement was 100% correct, just that the Frank Seay link to this thread stands up (IMHO) but Jerry Green had no actual connection to Tropical Records or their record store.

The St. James Club, where Little Eddie Taylor used to perform back in the day (see post #5 above) was also in the same area as the old record store (post #34) ........... the club being on the corner of 36th St & 2nd Ave (which is just east of I-95 and just south of the Airport Expressway). No idea if any of the buildings on that corner today housed the club or if the club building has been demolished. For most of it's life, the Tropical Record Co. offices / base was out of the same building (as the record shop -- which was located on 7th Ave. adjacent to 50th St) . Wonder which studio they used to record their tracks ? Their building -- 4950 7th St -- looks quite deep but if they kept their old record stock at the back of it, then it doesn't seem likely that they had their own studio located there. The company address on the ad I used to open this thread appears to be 4900 7th Ave .... so either that was a mistake or they moved a few yards up the road quite quickly.

Yep, that was also on 'Move Into Soul 6' along with the Frank Seay cuts (& others) ...... ...... But Jerry Green wasn't from Florida & his track wasn't licensed from the same source (AND so has no real connection to this thread). Frank Seay was still Miami based & he had enjoyed earlier releases on Tropical. Incidentely, I used to assist Move Records with their stuff so have every release from the label. But as the mid 80's was a long time ago, I can no longer recall the full info on these tracks.

That record store was next to the corner of 50th Street just by the I-95 expressway. It's just north of where the I-95 connects to the Airport Expressway (the airport being just South West of the location). I wasn't too far away from it last Thursday as I drove into the rental car park at the airport to return our steed before flying home to the UK. I also used the I-95 road a lot during our stay but not that bit of it (which as already stated is a bit of a dodgy area).

Kegsy, you always told me that you discovered lots of top gear that went down well at niters !!

As implied by the group name (Page Three), this trio were all glamour models who tried for a singing career. Their track was produced & arranged by two ex-members of the Shadows. By all accounts they appeared on TotP on 25/8/1977 to plug this track (no doubt coz they were pleasing on the eye). The 45 was also released in Japan. Can't say I'm at all impressed with their vocals though the cut is quite danceable.

But who was this Al Wilson ?????? ..... The Soul City / Rocky Road / Playboy label guy confirmed it wasn't him when he played Cleggy.

A Baltimore TV show that the 'other' Tempests appeared on in 1967 ...... This outfit were (to the best of my knowledge) an 8 strong white ensemble who were around from 1962 to 1968. They gave up after that as club's found it cheaper to book 4 piece rock bands than this larger outfit. They didn't seem to land too many gigs in Baltimore's black clubs, though they did get a gig up in Ohio as support for the Impressions. Bit of a strange coincidence that both outfits cut tracks at Edgewood Studios in Washington.

It ("Christian People") was released (on US Liberty) in September 1970 so guess it was recorded that summer.

A interview he gave back in 1999 ........... https://one-way.org/jesusmusic/interviews/crouch/interview.htm Andre (Crouch) & the Disciples "Christian People" ..........

I don't think it has been mentioned on here but Andre Crouch passed away on 8th January .... ........ https://edition.cnn.com/2015/01/08/showbiz/andrae-crouch-obit/

I recently bought her book ('I'll Take You There') and am about to start reading it soon.

Cleveland always kept himself to himself and never even mixed with many others on the Cleve recording scene back in the day or more recently. I met with him & his wife / sons in Vegas a good few years back. One of his sons (who recorded) lived in LA whilst the rest of the family still lived in Cleveland. His son Paris unfortunately passed away in December.

RE: "There used to be a club downtown Columbus called Club Lavanna and he (Jo Jo) used to perform there .... " That must have been some venue back in the 60's as the likes of James & Bobby Purify, Oscar Toney Jr, Bobby Moore & Rhythm Aces also played the place back then.

I'm sure it must be a real release ....... otherwise they would have spelt Curtan in some strange way such as Kirton !!

Greg, a relevant section from my old piece on Barbara Stant ............. By the mid 1970’s, the original shop premises (Nimrod Record Store at 726 Church Street) had seen better days and with demolition threatened to allow road widening, Noah Biggs (now getting on in years) relocated across the road. He set up his new base at 707 Church Street and hired Martin Culpepper as his new studio engineer. Culpepper had worked on a couple of gospel 45’s that had been released on the Jobs label (which had ties with Leroy Little’s Tri-Us Records). This deal also brought the Grooms into the Shiptown (Jobs) family.

The US (& French) 45 version of "I Can't Stand It" were released around April / May 67 and are timed at 2:38. The group's big hit 45 was released twice in the US (1967 & 1968) but didn't have "I Can't Stand It" as the B side on either. This track formed the A side of a separate US 45. I believe the album version was slightly edited (2:33) and released (in Nov 68) on a German 45 as the B side there to "Time Has Come Today". .......... see here ..........https://www.45cat.com/record/3720de

Lou Ragland was also on those Ric Tic Review shows. The package also played the Ritz in Manc (a Sunday alldayer I seem to recall). Lou was brought in as a late replacement (for Laura Lee ?) as he had known Edwin for many years and was available to travel to the UK at short notice.

I'd guess it is quite a rare 45, I don't actually have a copy myself. I believe it is 521 #1004 (& it probably features Part 1 and Part 2 of the same song -- "Wonderful Love").

Here's some info on 'Guitar Crusher' ... a US guy now on the Euro blues scene ........... see post above ........ ........ Sidney Selby is a true blues man. He also goes by 'Bone Crusher' and 'Guitar Crusher', names he earned throughout his career. Born in rural Hyde County N.C. in 1931 during the height of the Depression, he toiled in the cotton fields during his youth but set aside Sundays for exercising his rich baritone in the choir of Mt. Pilgrim Baptist Church, continuing a tradition which gave rise to a whole generation of blues singers of his era. He moved to New York in the 50s, found a job and started singing in Church again. However. encouraged by his friends, he soon formed his own band, the Midnight Rockers and began attracting a large following. The year 1960 marked the beginning of a decade of performances with The Drifters, The Isley Brothers, Ben E. King and other major R&B talents which flourished during the 1960's musical renaissance. Selby was signed by Columbia Records and remained under contract until 1970, when the musical tastes in America began to shift away from blues and soul sounds. So, in the early 80s GUITAR CRUSHER headed for Europe and a more hospitals blues climate. Here his performance on major festivals marked the start of his comeback. The now internationally-known singer and writer has since accorded 4 albums singing his own compositions with force and assurance in his gospel-inflected voice. His transfixing vocal power won him a reputation as 'The Big Voice From New York', a headliner on the European blues-circuit. Seems he also played the 521 Club in the 60's and maybe played on some of the tracks released on 521 Records. He must have been UK based around 1969 as he had a Mike Vernon produced 45 out on Blue Horizon (here & in France) .... ...... see here for more info ..... https://www.45cat.com/record/573149fr