Roburt

You just can't beat the 1960's Impressions sound and Curtis Mayfield's songs from any era. This version isn't 'too different' from that original sound ........ so everything is good.

The Bob Soprano 45 was cut up in Boston at Joe Saia's Triple A Studios on Dorchester Avenue. Saia had also managed Teddy & the Pandas, a local garage band that were signed to Musicor by Boston based A&R guy Bruce Patch. Patch worked with Musicor Records and so was probably the link between Bob Soprano and the record label. It was Patch's job to get local radio DJ's to play the records he was pushing on behalf of Musicor (& other labels). Joe Saia also worked with local radio DJ (& record store owner) Skippy White. Skippy ran a number of locally based labels (Wild, Stop, Silver Cross, My Records, Bluestown) as well as Mass Record Distributors. Skippy White was a DJ at WILD in Boston in the 60's and this radio station had broadcast both Italian language shows and R&B music shows up to 1967. It therefore seems likely that WILD & / or Skippy White were also involved with Bob Soprano landing his 45 release on Musicor. Incidentally Jackie Shane ("Any Other Way" on Cookin' & Sue) also cut with Skippy White for his Stop Records label.

The R & R Hall of Fame has finally gotten around to seeking out 60's soulsters from the HofF's home city. Lou Ragland was one of those selected for interview ............ https://rockhall.com/blog/post/9395_cleveland-soul-interview-with-lou-ragland/

Ady got me to interview Mary (with much help & assistance given by Paul Dunn on the day) at that early Cleggy weekender. The interview took place in a Cleggy fish & chip shop. 'Normal folks' were coming in to eat their dinner as we occupied a booth and questions & answers were exchanged as the video cameras rolled. I asked her how a lady so diminutive in stature came to possess such a BIG voice, she thought for a few seconds & then just burst straight into a gospel song. At the end of her rendition, everyone in the restaurant just burst into applause. Mary truly was a special person.

Just got back from an 8 day cruise to learn that Mary (& Bobby Bland) have passed. SAD SAD NEWS ........ just shows that we are losing old soul singers on a much too regular basis at the moment.

I always liked S.O.U.L. and the group's releases (fine Cleveland soul, some cuts with a jazzy edge). Got a copy of their Musicor 45 ("The Jones" -- Musicor 1500) from October 74 and their Dynamo 45 ("I Need Somebody To Love" -- Dynamo 6004) from 1975 many many years ago. Never considered either at all rare though single releases on both those labels were sporadic back in those years .... ..... remember Ady asking me about the Dynamo 45 and him inferring it was rarish but still not at all sure that is the case. I would guess that there were more S.O.U.L. tracks cut around the mid 70's and always wanted to hear any that existed.

Stone Flower was Sly's own label and he did a distribution deal for it with Atlantic ......... Sly & F S were of course signed to Epic / Columbia themselves ......... ..... so putting out a few copies of his new LP on his own label may have been his way of 'winding' the management guys at Epic up (Sly was always in dispute with some record exec or promoter back then as he was high lots of the time). The 'I Want To Take You Higher' book states that he made a lot of money from the release of 'Stand' and used some of it to get offices in Hollywood to base his new Stone Flower Productions concern in (these offices were opposite the big Capitol Records building). But by 1971, his label had enjoyed 2 x 45 hits (on Little Sister) so I doubt putting out copies of 'Riot' on the label were to raise it's profile.

More REAL singers ....... the Mighty Clouds of Joy ............ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QiDCAXIw0yU

....... And ........ the same programmes take on Bobby Womack ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ERq36gghWr8

.. AND .. 44 mins on David Ruffin ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9fJf0da68xo

Back with the best ....... the Temptations .......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FJluqa0jud4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ltRwmgYEUr8

I believe that Mickey Stevenson has written his autobiography & it should hit the shops next year.

Yet more Hy-Lit ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dm9FqHW-_a4 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JC3aGqz2MIA

More clips from the Hy-Lit Show ............... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=puJ13fyjnHM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FgtpreUfcS0 https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=P6K0Xh6mo0I https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=buyHuaL7bF4

...... AND ........ Jackie Wilson on the Ed Sullivan Show ......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DPsjOw7dkOE https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdCACn5ry8M

And here's Brenda & the Tabulations ........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JQ57WztP6IE

Not the Night Train show ..... these clips are from the Hy-Lit Show out of Philly ..... .............. the Ambassadors .... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=BiIlF3x4gak https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wfnmeJaG4Lc

QUOTE OFF THE SITE .......... I was travelling home from work one time and took the scenic route. The roads are usually quiet but there was a car in front that had the plate N5OUL or something very similar. It had a load of "Keep the Faith" stickers on etc. We went along over hill and dale for about 10 miles and then the road widened out at a junction and we ended up alongside. He looked over and I went to do the fist gesture, but because I am a fcuktard, the way I did it looked like I wanted to fight him. He wound the window down and gave me a "You-f*cking-what?" look. Yes, white skinhead. I started laughing and did "The fist" properly, and he laughed. He was lost. .......he had Kegsy summed up instantly then, the guys been lost & in the wilderness for years. He most definitely got lost for this years Cleggy Weekender.

I prefer the guy that kicks in at 29 mins 15 secs ........ You made em laugh and left them feelin glad, You made em cry and you left them feelin sad ......... go on with the show ...

Sam & Dave were infamous for their relationship. They didn't talk to each other for years, even though they were still performing as a duo for some of that time. They were always 'fighting and cursing' when they did get around to being in each other's company ....... ......... https://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/gossip/rush-molloy-hold-soul-man-sam-moore-b-duo-sam-dave-article-1.320931 But did they ever end up having a fight on stage at any shows ?

Luckily there is very very little fighting at UK NS events ...... this calm atmosphere is not repeated at Hip-Hop events across in the US where it seems pulling a gun or thumping someone comes with the territory .......... see here ........... https://www.hollywoodreporter.com/earshot/rick-ross-young-jeezy-history-violence-awards-375382 But violence at music shows didn't just start to happen when macho hip-hoppers wanted a bit of extra publicity. Such events have happened since the dawn of R&R / R&B. In the UK, rockers used to smash up cinemas / theatres and in the mid 60's mod / rocker rucks at the coast were commonplace. Luckily guns don't figure much in UK incidents, however they do across in the US. It seems that back in St Louis in 1957 Roy Hamilton avoided a stampede by continuing to perform on a show staged at the Kiel Auditorium even though bullets were flying over his head ........... I know some artists (Chuck Berry, Wilson Pickett) were famous for having a gun handy at concerts to ensure that the promoter paid them for their work and no doubt lots of gang fights kicked off at dances/ concerts in many big US cities ..... Any other incidents at R&B / soul shows come to mind ? (Al Greene was shot by a female fan in the 70's but that was away from a venue)

It was a Gwen Glenn Enterprises release. That was the outfit within Motown run by Gwendolyn Gordy Fuqua (Berry's sister) after her divorce from Harvey Fuqua. I think it was a bit of a vanity project to keep Gwen occupied and happy but not many of their releases got much of a push (some of the High Inergy cuts being the exception).

With the internet these days, it can be quite easy to chase up facts on an old record or artist. The 'back room' people behind the music (label owners, studio engineers, producers, arrangers, studio musicians) are much harder to track facts down on. Using a common name for a group also causes many problems. One such named Baltimore outfit was the Persians. Put 'the Persians' into a search engine and you get 1000's of hits about the people who lived in the middle east many years ago and very little that relate to music groups. On top of that, there seem to have been a number of outfits that recorded under that name. The Baltimore group named the Persians had 45's out on ABC, GWP and Capitol between 1968 and 1972. None of their sessions seem to have been cut in Baltimore and the group existed before and way after the period during which they had record contracts. So 'researching' them is a minefield only made easier due to the fact that they re-formed in the 90's and so put out a potted bio back then to assist them in landing new bookings. Their first recording session (& quite a few after that) was overseen by George Kerr so its highly likely that lots of their studio sessions were undertaken in the New York / New Jersey / Philly region BUT establishing just which studio was used for each session is a nightmare (unless like Ace / Kent you have access to the original session logs). With George Kerr being such a 'back room 'heavyweight in the recording biz over many years, you would think that he would have received numerous mentions in say Billboard mag back in the 1960's / 70's. HOWEVER, that doesn't seem to be the case. So researching George's exploits requires quite a bit of detective work.

The use of visuals in books also seems to be a bit of a minefield. Obviously a photo taken by a 'celebrity or paparazzi photographer' has to be licensed (with fees paid) before it can be used by anyone else 'for profit'. But what about promo artist photos, label scans, record company ads placed in a music mag, club flyers or newspaper ads for concerts. Who owns those and holds the intellectual rights covering their use. The usage of an ad published in say an old edition of Cashbox or Blues & Soul will in theory be copyrighted by that publication even though it would have been the label's publicity department that drew it up originally and that ad could have been placed in a number of publications at the time it was drawn up. A book published in the recent past seemed to lift loads of its 'visuals' from Blues & Soul (page after page seemingly being reproduced just as in the original mags). Obviously some deal was done to allow this to happen but I don't really understand the logistics of such a move. Anyone out there investigated (from a legal point of view) just what 'old material' can be used (as its in the 'public domain') and what has to be granted permission before it can be utilised ? If permission has to be sought, just who do you approach to gain such permission (surely a record company needn't be asked if a label scan or copy of an old promo photo or old record ad can be printed in a new publication) ? It is obvious that you can't just copy an old newspaper / magazine article and re-print that in a new publication. The same goes for using an audio clip of a record or a video clip from a film or TV programme. But when it comes to the use of other 'visuals', I'm still highly confused about what the ground rules are.

JM just got £100 for the Bay Sound 45 by Soul Clinic ("So Sharp c/w No One Loves Me Anymore").