Roburt

Yes Steve I know about the book & have chatted (on-line) with the guy who produced it. As far as I recall, there is little in there about the recording studios (its mainly about the local acts; soul & pop).

RE: Hi Roburt how about the pulse label the sound of Baltimore with Doc & the Echoes " Why Wonder " & " Million dollar bill " Yep they were a decent outfit who got their name because they had started life as Tommy Vann's backing band -- Tommy Vann and the Echoes. So when he went off & got some new guys to work with, they were so well known locally that they decided to just become 'And The Echoes'. Tommy himself plus 4 of the 5 guys in 'And The Echoes' were white but that didn't stop them loving / performing soul stuff. Here they are (without Tommy Vann) ............

RE: Clay Hunt seems to have maintained his singing career right down the years (his first 45 release being a Motown cover on Kapp) but I don't know of any other records released on him unless he's the guy who was cutting for Polydor in the early 80's .......... The Clay Hunt who recorded for Kapp & then Bay Sound in the 60's is obviously the same guy who had the LP 'Part One' + 2 singles out on Polydor in 1981. Clay's manager in the mid to late 70's was a guy called Sonny Gordon. Sonny was also Peaches & Herbs (Herb Fame) manager at the time. 'Peaches' in the 60's had been ex Sweet Things (Date) lead singer Francine Barker. When the Sweet Things were recording (65), Freddie Perren was a DC area school teacher who wrote arrangements for the group and so got to know their manager, Sonny Gordon. Encouraged by his music biz success, Freddie quit his teaching job and went on tour with Jerry Butler. He ended up in LA and became a member of Motown writing team 'the Corporation'. A few years later, he struck out on his own, working with Tavares, the Sylvers, Revelation, Minnie Ripperton, Gloria Gaynor, etc. When he started his own MVP Record label, he signed Peaches & Herbs to a deal as he remembered Herb from the old days. This brought him back in touch with Sonny Gordon and so he also signed Clay Hunt to a deal with MVP (via Polydor).

Baltimore helped kick off the doo-wop group explosion in the 50's, had loads of fine soul acts in the 60's plus a great live soul club / theatre scene back then ..... BUT .... it struggled to set up / support local recording studios and record labels during those times and into the early 70's. Lots of local soul artists headed out to New York, Philly, DC and the like to sign record deals and cut tracks but a few stayed local to kick off their recording careers. Rufus Mitchell's Ru-Jac was the local label that lasted the longest and made the most impact but lots of their stuff was actually cut in DC area studios. Lou Mills (Louis R Mills Jr) opened his North Baltimore based studio set-up as Recording International at East Cold Spring Lane and the Alameda (not far from the Morgan State Uni campus) in 1958. Lou's outfits then seemed to use the names Recording Inc. & Record Manufacturers Inc. before he later renamed his studio as Flite 3. Lou was highly regarded locally as a recording engineer and soon became known as 'Baltimore's Godfather of Sound'. The first big cuts to be laid down at the studio seemed to be by locally based Al Brown and the Tune Toppers. They used the studio in 1960 to cut "The Madison", which after being picked up by Amy made the US R&B Top 20 in May / June 1960. Syng McGowan cut most of his tracks (released on Hope Records) there from around November 1965 through to the end of 1966. Betty Sandler Feldman (Bella Flowers) owned / ran Hope Records. Top sound engineer George Massenburg started out working as a sound engineer / producer at Lou's studio in the late 60's and he worked on lots of the tracks released on Bay Sound Records. Bay Sound Records put out good stuff by the Bleu Lights, the Chaumonts, Clay Hunt & the Fuzzy Kane Trio. Kenny Hamber did a show with Clay Hunt at Annapolis High School back then and was blown away with the guy's vocal ability. Clay seems to have maintained his singing career right down the years (his first 45 release being a Motown cover on Kapp) but I don't know of any other records released on him unless he's the guy who was cutting for Polydor in the early 80's. Another Baltimore studio where local artists cut in the late 60's was Accent Sound Studios which was located at 48 West Biddle Street. By all accounts this was a basic facility that had a 'homely feel'. Eddie Drennon (NJ / DC based back then) cut Baltimore act Mickey & His Mice there in 1968 and their version of "Little Green Apples" made the local charts for an extended period after being picked up by Bell. The success of that 45 enabled local promoter Marty Cantine to start up Marti Records (the label putting out Mickey & His Mice's follow up 45). The Marti label was associated with Roc-Ker Records for a while. However most of the 45 cuts made by Baltimore's Frankie & the Spindles that came out on the Roc-Ker label seemed to be cut in Philly and were put out via Philly based Phil LA of Soul Records and then via a deal with Amy / Mala / Bell. Frankie & the Spindles 45 version of "Have You Seen Her" (Funny "A") made some noise in 71 until Brunswick relented and allowed the Chi-Lites original version to escape on a single. Strangely, Frankie had first called his group Frankie & the Spinners but despite the national profile of the Tri Phi / Motown outfit, he was still using that name on live shows as late as summer 1968. Dontee Records was run by Joe Tate who later started Jotee Records. His main artists were the Summits, the Contemplations (who became Rock Candy) and the Blendels. In the early 70's, they seemed to cut their tracks at DB Sound Studio (where was this located ?). There was another basic recording studio located down by the Inner Harbor area but I can't recall the exact location or owner at present. Can anyone add much to the above information or provide details of other Baltimore studios in the 1960's (the city had a few more decent ones by the 70's including one built on a barge anchored in Baltimore harbor).

"Gimme a Little Sign" always was a great song !!!

Just noticed that my head appears bottom left of the screen at 1min 55 secs into the clip ...... you just can't keep me out of things !!!

A bit about the end of All Platinum / Sugar Hill Records ......... https://www.northjersey.com/arts_entertainment/music/Sugar_Hill_Records_tax_issues_latest_chapter_in_Englewood_hip-hop_familys_rock_history.html

You never know, but this might be the guy .............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4Z0VdBGK8XI

The above label scan has allowed me to solve the identity problem here ...... ... seeing that the song writer was called Samuel Mickles, I did a bit of checking and found this info on a Toledo based 60's singer ........ ........ the guy was (is?) called Samuel Mickles aka Sweet Sammy J Mickles and he was a mainstay on the 60's Toledo music scene ....

By 1981 Richard was playing a much classier selection (IMO) that included loads of great Modern Soul tracks. I think he was just about to cut his ties (buying wise) with John A @ Soul Bowl & he had started DJing on Radio Hallam in Sheffield. I much prefer the stuff he was playing in the early 80's than most of the tracks listed in the 1st post of this thread.

Unless his name was something like Sammy J Kaplan / Sammy J Ward or similar (I.E. the J was his middle initial). Of course, he could also have (usually) been a group lead singer (with the Earthquakes or similar) who just had the one 45 out as a solo artist.

Don El Records was Philly based & owned by real estate man Donald White. His labels flourished from about 1960 through to around 1967. The company was based out of 2020 Ridge Ave, Philly for some time (62 to 66 at least). He had three labels Don El, Chestnut and Alpha. Chestnut was primarily used for country music which he also liked. Wally Osbourne & Bobby Martin were his main producers. Artists signed to his labels included Eddie Holman, the Celestrals, Bobby Holland, the Daychords, Little Grier, Lady Fox & the Foxettes, Fluffy Falana & more. The Celestrals started on Don El & transferred across to Alpha. No real idea who Ronnie & Joyce were though, obviously a Philly based pairing. see here …..https://www.discogs.com/artist/Celestrals%2C+The & here …. https://www.45cat.com/label/alpha-records-philadelphia

Bettye LaVette is also on at the Stamford Bridge club ........ https://underthebridge.co.uk/events/bettye-lavette/

I've been told that Winfield Parker was just over in the UK but I don't recall seeing anything about him visiting these shores. Has he just been here & if so, did he perform anywhere while here ?

A show Marva undertook in Baltimore in 1967 ...........

Dunstable (California Ballroom) & Portsmouth (Birdcage & more) were great for live acts in the mid to late 60's. A great web site about the Portsmouth scene (especially the Birdcage) .... https://michaelcooper.org.uk/C/birdcage.htm

Back in the 60's / early to mid 70's most towns / cities had good soul clubs. Most didn't host nighters and many didn't feature live acts but the sounds spun were good. Places such as Hull, Bridlington, Scarboro, Goole, Grimsby, Doncaster, Tadcaster, Sheffield, Rotherham, Leeds, Worksop, Castleford, Bradford, Dewsbury, Retford, Nottingham & more had great clubs that catered for the mod then soul crowd. A great venue in Dony was the Attic (Co-op Ballroom) which used to host great soul nites that featured fine live acts. With the passage of time, skinheads took over & reggae music was also introduced and the club eventually faded away .... but in its time it was a great place.

I've done everyone though I certainly haven't been there for the full weekend every year. Charlie Rees & Paul Dunn have done everyone as well and they may well have been there for every Friday / Saturday / Sunday of every weekender. But there are others in our 'team' who have been part-timers (Snake Hips Temple, Kegsy, Swish, our kid & more).

New York event in under two weeks time .......... https://tickets.thecuttingroomnyc.com/event/271961-evening-motown-legend-new-york/

That shot from the Kerby Scott TV Show is great. That show was broadcast by WBAL-TV 11 in 1967 and was the new Baltimore dance show. The original dance show on Baltimore TV had been the Buddy Deane Show ( WJZ-TV) on which the film 'Hairspray' was based. The Kerby Scott Show had commenced around April 1967 and was soon attracting stars such as Kim Weston (promoting her new MGM 45 “I Got What You Need”), Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell (they were on in early July 67) plus Jimi Hendrix & the Experience. Local groups were also booked to appear on the show, one such outfit being Denny & the Hitchhikers who were on the show in mid September (67). Another lesser known group, the Soul Clinic were on the show in June 68. The local bands played their tracks live in the empty studio ahead of the show's broadcast slot. They then lip-synced to the track during the actual broadcast. I believe the show lasted for just over a year. The Soul Clinic were from York, Pa ... so they don't qualify as a Pittsburgh soul outfit (York being much closer to Baltimore than to Pittsburgh) ..... ... this is the track they performed on the Kerby Scott Show ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tJVZuVOHItg

Her Detroit recording ........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xxD7lxguehU

Marva had a 45 out on UK Polydor in summer 66 ......... She seemed to work quite a bit with Julius Dixon, who was an old guy by the 60's. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DP_StFwpSAU

By the 70's, Marva was making jazz show appearances across Europe (for instance in Germany in 1970 and Holland in July 77). Anyone know if she did any concerts in the UK during that period ?

Marva Josie was from Pittsburgh and gave her first live performance there at the tender age of 9. She was trained in opera but was soon singing R&B. By the early 60's she was performing in nightclubs and in 1962 secured a gig at a Detroit club. This seems to have resulted in her signing with Correctone Records, though her tracks were leased out to the Time label. She went on to cut for Sahara, United Artists, Julmar, City, Thimble and many other labels after those. In 1965 she cut a song written by Herbie Hancock and I guess this signaled the direction she was heading in. Marva started singing jazz after the soul boom was over & she has become well respected on the jazz scene down the years. ...... BUT ... did she actually cut any soul tracks in Pittsburgh ??