Roburt

I'm sure someone here (Robb K or Boba) must have discussed with one of their contacts what ' typical' pressing costs for small runs of a particular 45 would have been in the US back in the 60's. . . . . . HOWEVER . . . . . . the costs of running a recording session in a local studio that wasn't equipped with the latest equipment could be very low. I have an invoice for a gospel session (so the group turned up ready to cut with their own musical director and band) staged at a 'standard' St Louis studio in 1966. The studio hired itself out for $25 an hour !!! 45 minutes of studio time + the actual tape containing the tracks laid down in that time cost the group leader just over $26 (including tax). That worked out at the equivalent of less than ten quid to lay down around 7 or 8 tracks (assuming one take on each song and little down time because of mistakes). Of course, tracks on the tape then had to be mastered and the like to allow records to be pressed up but the cost of the actual recording session for an indie label could be peanuts. ... ALSO .... many times a local label could negotiate studio session time without any advance payment. The label guys would promise to pay the session costs once the 45's were pressed up and selling in the shops (of course, many times they never actually got around to paying the bill, so the master tapes remained in the studio's tape vaults with the artist / label owners never actually gaining possession of them).

In the late 60's I used to buy 45's from a big warehouse based seller in the New York area who bought up unsold stock for next to nothing. He sent out monthly lists (about 20 pages per list) that detailed artist & song title for 1000's of 45's. Hits and 45's by known artists or on known labels (Motown , etc) would be listed at 50c, 25c or less (think some were in a 'any 8 for a dollar' section. Shipping to the UK was about as much as the records themselves but they always had loads of great 2/3 year old titles going cheap. .... HOWEVER .... the best buy was a tea-chest full of soul 45's for some ridiculous sum that worked out at about 2c per 45. You couldn't pick what was put into your chest but it was the 45's on unknown labels by unknown artists that made up the bulk of the stuff (i.e. the stuff that turned out to be rare years later). It was like a giant 'soul pack' direct from the guys who got hold of the stock direct from indie soul labels that had no idea how to get their stuff distributed properly & into US shops. I guess these sort of warehouses were the ones hit by UK dealers looking for NS gems in the 70's.

Yes I'm sure that's the one John. Many thanks.

The Exceptionals "Unlucky Girl" on GRT was another rebadged (& reworked) Way Out recording. The studio time to update the original recording was available and they them marketed the 'updated version' and landed an outside deal (which no doubt generated an up-front licensing fee). That song ("Unlucky Girl") was also shopped around to outside artists (Betty Everett) to try to generate cash from yet another source. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Zn8CIqBRBK8 Some Bobby Wade tracks were licensed for release by Deluxe and his contract was (I believe) eventually 'sold' onto Deluxe. The So Jamm label was one of Way Out's later concerns and I don't believe any of the 45's that escaped under that logo exist in quantity (how many copies of the Marilyn Smith 45 have surfaced ?).

Don't have any figures on US pressing costs back in the day I'm afraid. But lots of different business decisions effected how many of a particular 45 would be pressed up. Guys with little musical talent but money would fund some releases (Way Out's 'Big Jim' label was funded by NFL star Jim Brown for instance). Way Out & their studio was mainly a front for the numbers racket, so it was kept busy to mask the coming & goings of non-musical people. So making recordings was the main task there, no releasing them. Obviously the singers, musicians, producers, engineer wanted their work to escape but many times what they wanted was not really that important. With some of their releases, they were after landing an outside licensing deal. So having some 45's out there was important, but pressing up 100's of copies to supply record shops with stock sometimes wasn't the main priority. Many Way Out releases refer to an associated LP (track taken from LP #100x or whatever) but the LP's never actually existed as the cash wasn't available to press up copies. Way Out even rebadged some recordings (changing the artist names) and sold them on to labels such as Delite. As Steve said, it was common to press up both issues & demos at the same time (on the same pressing run, just changing the labels used mid way through), so most times (even with a limited press run) both demos & issues exist. An established local label (such as Way Out) would have pull with a pressing plant they commonly used & could get short runs of 45's done cheap especially if the plant had machines standing idle. Don't believe there was any STANDARD TEMPLATE for how many copies were pressed up & how much they cost the label. Luckily with Way Out stuff, Numero are on the case and a comprehensive release is due out soon. Ady got involved with the guy who claimed to own the rights to the catalogue some years back & even visited the studio where all the old master tapes were stored ..... but the guy was flaky & his 'right of ownership' was also a bit shaky, so Ady / Kent did the right thing then and walked away.

Most major labels almost always pressed up predetermined numbers of each 45 and unless it was quickly withdrawn (due to dispute with artist or pressing fault), then many 100's of copies would have been manufactured & sent to distributors. BUT for lots of little labels, cash was always short. So demo copies would only be sent out to a few local radio stns / DJ's. Even issues would many times be scarce as the cash wasn't available to put out loads of copies of each release. Cleveland based Way Out Records had their own studio, so cut 100's & 100's of tracks. They would then press up limited copies of 45's featuring some of the tracks laid down. If they landed a national distribution deal (as they did with Atlantic & then MGM) then Way Out stuff (& a few of the organisations sub-label releases) would be made available in quantity. But if they had to fund all the 45's pressed up, then numbers (many times) would be quite low. My brains failing these days but I know some 45 releases were just marketed in one city. I recall a major label release from around 1970 that was only sent out to DJ's & then sold in the Baltimore area (someone must recall which 45 this was). The 45 label's even stated that it was only being made available in that city I seem to recall.

Isn't there quite a bit of Okeh stuff on Canadian Epic ??

Still not fully adjusted to Florida time so I was up early this morning & needing to keep quiet (the wife was still asleep) I flicked thru some US TV channels. Glad I did as on one of the local PBS stns, I caught an episode of 'History Detectives'. This one dealt with a guy who was trying to establish if an amp he now owned had once belonged to Funk Brother James Jamerson. You can check out details of this show here ........... https://www.pbs.org/opb/historydetectives/investigations/ ............. Steve Fishman’s heart skipped a beat when he came across a battered Ampeg B-15 amp with the name “James Jamerson” stenciled on the side. Steve calls Jamerson the Jimi Hendrix of bass players. He says Jamerson’s bass line drove the Motown sound. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inducted Jamerson in the year 2000. The museum might want to display the amp, but only if History Detectives host Eduardo Pagán can prove Jamerson owned it. ........ ALSO ...... it seems that a US edition of 'Antiques Roadshow' is being broadcast tonight from Detroit. I'm led to believe they visit Hitsville during this show (probably someone fetches along something with a Motown connection). So I'll have to try to catch that as well.

Picking up on Steve G's post ............ Baltimore was a very important radio market for black labels. 3 local stations played soul & had listeners over a wide geographic area (plus there was a 4th local stn in Annapolis). Lots of label record pluggers would make trips to Baltimore to give copies to local radio DJ's they knew, some 45's were only pre-viewed on Baltimore (and nearby east coast) radio stns. If a 45 didn't take off there, sometimes demo copies wouldn't be sent out nationwide & issues wouldn't be pressed up. Alternatively, if a 45 took off on a Baltimore stn, it would be re-marketed in numerous other regions (with 2nd pressing demos being pressed up & mailed out).

A few more pics of Barbara (but none from the Playboy spread) .....

Her obit as it appeared in the Independent ........... https://www.independent.co.uk/news/obituaries/barbara-mcnair-435311.html PLUS a few more bits of info on her (from a 1969 newspaper) .........

Barbara seemed to base herself in Vegas from the early 70's and performed at Casinos there. Here she is pictured in late 74 when she attended the opening night of Sammy Davis's comeback performance at Caesars Palace in Vegas.

More bits of info about Barbara ..............

Another interesting new book ................ I'LL TAKE YOU THERE: MAVIS STAPLES, THE STAPLE SINGERS ....info on the book & buy it here ........ https://www.amazon.co.uk/Ill-Take-You-There-Freedoms/dp/1451647859/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1390763945&sr=1-1&keywords=i%27ll+take+you+there Seems that Donny Gerrard is one of Mavis's backing singers on her live shows these days. Someone should fetch her over for a UK concert & get Donny to perform his biggies as well.

This cut was included on his UK Ember LP 'Here I Am' (1973). 5 tracks were lifted from the album for release on 45 -- 4 on 2 No. UK Ember 45 and a different track on a Brazilian Ember 7" (c/w a track used on one of the UK 45's). "I'm On My Way Back To You" (B side of the 2nd UK 45) was the best of the cuts to escape on single (IMO). A track with an extended title to that used on the LP ("Joe Poor Loves Daphne Elizabeth Rich") formed the B side of his 1st UK 45. The album itself was reissued on CD about 4 years back.

Johnny made a number of great deep soul tracks, his voice was perfect for genre ..... BUT ... he still insisted that they were all blues numbers. Whatever HE wanted to call em, I'm very glad he made em & I'll still think of them as being fine deep soul cuts.

Many of the above PLUS Sam Dees at Morecambe (Pontins) Weekender and also at Dingwalls in Camden (have a recording of that show somewhere on cassette). Loads of the acts at the Cleggy & old Prestatyn Weekenders + some that put in appearances at the old NS Weekenders in Yarmouth. .......... must also say Chuck Jackson, anywhere I have seen him perform.

I seem to recall having a CD with most of the JC tracks cut in the period when this was recorded (but not with my collection at present). Probably this one ......... https://www.amazon.com/Introduction-Johnny-Copeland/dp/B000GFRIX6/ref=sr_1_13?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1390096779&sr=1-13&keywords=johnny+copeland I love loads of Johnny's work even though he hated being called a soul singer and always insisted he only ever wanted to cut blues songs.

Wasn't that label / 45 Ike Turner related, back when he was based (with Tina) out of St Louis. He cut lots of locally based (& visiting) artists in local St Louis studios up till his package relocated to LA.

I've never really known enough about the AFN Europe broadcasts. Only a few of their shows were soul related but I know for a fact that when the US DoD put on touring shows that featured soul singers, those singers / performers would be interviewed on the network to publicise their shows and which bases they would be appearing at. There was an AFN studio at either Mildenhall or Lakenheath in Suffolk as Kenny Hamber & his package were interviewed there when he toured US bases in Europe and the UK. Lots of US bases had their own base newspapers / magazines and these would feature info on celebs that visited the bases, including singers & DJ's. There's a library in Norwich which keeps lots of historic info / documents on what occurred on the US bases in Norfolk & Suffolk but they didn't seem to regard keeping recordings of the normal AFN radio shows or the base newspapers / magazines as a priority. I would have thought that somewhere on the net someone would have a site that dealt with AFN Europe, their DJ's and what the network got up to. I haven't thought to look for such a site though.

You did a great job with those Kent / Carnival CD's Ady. No wonder Joe appreciated us Europeans (mainly thanks to you I'd say).

Another new book, this one looks really interesting ........... ... this ones by & about the life / career of Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie ....... ..... SOME INFO ..... I have some exciting news. I have a book coming out. It will be called “Let the Drums Speak !” Working with a wonderful writer named Ed Dennis, I have chronicled my life from a modest upbringing in Elkton, Maryland through my journey to becoming drummer for the stars. We wanted to do this project our way (without a big publishing company at this point).

Johnny River's live show is in LA and its tonight. Another interview he just did & more info on the show here (he does mention Soul City Records here) ............... ... https://www.huffingtonpost.com/mike-ragogna/from-whisky-a-go-go-to-th_b_4521991.html

Just been watching PBS and last night's Travis Smiley Show was being re-broadcast. His guest was Johnny Rivers and Johnny looked well for a guy his age. He was saying that he is doing a live show this week to celebrate his time at LA's Whisky AGoGo Club back in the 60's (didn't catch where the show was but somewhere in the US, most likely LA I guess). He talked about his time being the resident live act at the club back in the mid 60's, how the mobile recording truck equipment only had 3 tracks, so they could only mike up the stage area (the 'live' audience reaction to the band's songs were added back in the studio by all accounts). About all the celebs that dropped in to the club back then and that how it was the R&B music he heard in his youth that influenced all the stuff he did himself. Unfortunately the pair didn't get around to discussing Soul City Records, Willie Hutch and the like.

AND WHILST I'M DEALING WITH BETTYE .................. ....... thought I may as well post up a link to a good article about a show she just did at the famous Howard Theatre in DC ......... ..... it has videos attached at the bottom that show Bettye in full flow ............ https://www.dcmetrotheaterarts.com/2014/01/12/bettye-lavette-in-concert-at-the-howard-theatre-by-sydney-chanele-dawkins/