Roburt

US newspaper article ............. https://www.nytimes.com/2013/07/05/books/ready-for-a-brand-new-beat-looks-at-a-martha-reeves-oldie.html?ref=arts&_r=0

Lots of labels like that on Jamaican released 45's as the guys who worked in Kingston record pressing plants were so meticulous in ensuring no singles left their premises unless absolutely perfect.

Seems that in more recent times, a McGinnis family from Jonesville, LA (including a Hillary McGinnis Jr) have been in the news a bit. Jonesville is a small town located about 100 miles NW of New Orleans. Good chance that the family there are (were) related to the lady who sang back in the day with the Electrostats.

As always (of course), a Sirshambling site page has a more info on artists who had releases on the label .......... https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/E/electrostats/index.php Listen to "I'm Not Gonna Hurt You No More" there (you'll not be disappointed even though it sounds as if Hillery wasn't the best vocalist in the world).

Info here on the Electrostats Three Oaks 45 ... https://funky16corners.blogspot.co.uk/2006/03/electrostats-21st-century-kenya.html Plus more info towards the bottom of this page ......... https://desosquichante.blogspot.co.uk/ .................. 45 label scans on both pages. Seems Eddie Bo & Walter 'Wolfman' Washington (https://www.walterwolfmanwashington.com/bio.html) were also hooked up with the label. More info on Walter Washington here ....PLUS a mention for Katrina (but not the flooding it caused) ... ......... https://redkelly.blogspot.co.uk/2005/10/walter-wolfman-washington-and-solar.html Walter's "Sun Ain't Gonna Shine" song was written by Kim Joseph and assigned (& now co-composer registered with BMI) to Edddie Bo's publishing company. The labels in-house publishing company seems to have been Romulin, though BMI no longer hold details on that outfit. I'd guess that the (musician) members of the Electrostats were Tony Morel, F Bua,A Torre & D Watson (they wrote one of the band's songs) and that the group's publishing was via Golden Puma & Mempro (again details on those publishers no longer held by BMI). Would also guess that the Tony Morel who co-wrote the group's songs and also arranged their tracks is the guy listed in the obit below. If that is the case, then his family originally came from Phoenix, moved to Baton Rouge, then New Orleans and he eventually settled in Lewisburg (just across Lake Pontchartrain from New Orleans). Mr. Glen Morel, 53, of Lewisburg, Tenn., died Saturday, June 4, 2011, at Maury Regional Medical Center. He was born in Phoenix, however he lived in Baton Rouge until 1986. Mr. Morel was a son of the late Paul Joseph Morel, and Frances Morel, who survives him. He was self-employed as a carpenter-owner of Glen Morel Construction Co. In addition to his father, he was preceded in death by his brother, Donald Morel. Survived by sons, Joel Morel and Mike Taylor, of Lewisburg, and Billy Brown, of Murfreesboro, Tenn.; a sister, Pam Morel Giauque, of Baton Rouge; three brothers, Tony Morel, of Lewisburg, David Morel, of Denham Springs, and Ronald Morel, of New Orleans

On top of the postage costs from the US, the Pound is now dropping in value against the US Dollar. So we will be spending more £££ when we bid & win a 45 that is located in the US and sold in $$$$$$. .... and to think Eddie Floyd used to sing ....... Things Get Better !!!

I think you mean La Brenda Ben ........... And the track you're referring to is Track 17 on CD1 of 'Cellarful of Motown Vol.4' ........ LISTEN HERE ......... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Cellarful-Of-Motown-Vol/dp/B003XDV3HA

Of course, it wasn't just the performers that had to watch themselves. The Lexington West's original owner had bought & done up the building in 1964. That allowed him to fit it out and open for business in April 1965. The club was closed and locked by December 1965 and its original owner soon lost interest in the club. But in 1968, the venue was bought by local nightclub owner Walter 'Kidd' Henderson. However, within months (in August 1969) he was shot dead in another place he owned on Pennsylvania Avenue, Baltimore's black entertainment hot spot. Seems that the Lexington West only brought bad luck to guys involved with the place.

A locally based singer who secured bookings at the club was the 'vivacious' Virgie Til. Virgie had been born in Florida but had moved up to Baltimore at an early age to live with relatives. She started to sing and caught the eye of the Oriole's Sonny Til. Sonny was married but that didn't stop him adding Virgie to his touring revue package. She assumed his name and Sonny put the tale around that she was his 'much younger sister' but no brother / sister teaming shared a room that only contained a double bed whilst touring. Eventually, Virgie went out on her own and landed a record contract. Sonny was left abandoned (by both Virgie & his wife who was granted a divorce) back in Baltimore.

Back in the 60's, trying to establish a career as a soul singer wasn't an easy path. Of course you needed a good voice, decent co-ordination, flair in your dress sense and a decent business head. You also had to steer clear of too much booze and of drugs. If you managed to land a recording contract, it was quite common to be cheated out of any record royalties. So if you didn't actually write the songs you cut, then little money would be coming your way from that branch of the biz. Even playing live gigs had many pitfalls. You had to be signed by a booking agent and lots of those would cheat you out of a lot of your performance fee. You had to cozy up to club owners to ensure they booked you at their venue. You had to find an arranger to write charts for you and a backing musician(s) to support you on live dates. You had to ensure you were actually paid your fee (best done before you performed). You had to do 'free gigs' for local DJ's and celeb club owners.You had to hope that the venue's house band musicians could play well and that they knew your songs. Some of the venues would be far from home, so you needed decent and reliable transport. Some clubs were in very dodgy areas, so getting safely to & back from them could be 'interesting'. Many clubs had their fair share of bad customers (mobsters, pimps, ladies of the night, drunks, angry guys with guns, etc.). You had to have the stamina to perform 3 /4 / 5 times a night for up to an hour each show. You had to be prepared to perform up to 6 nights a week at each venue and then go out plugging your wares on the 7th day. Then if you were a woman, even more obstacles had to be negotiated. Your booking agent, club owners, club managers, club bookers, members of the house band and the like might come after you looking for favours. If you had family, you had to find someone responsible to look after the kids, younger brothers & sisters, elderly mother, etc. Over and above all that, you never knew what was really going on 'behind the scenes' at any of the clubs you played. In Baltimore in 1965, a posh new club, the Lexington West was opened. The place immediately started to book top acts and so attracted a big crowd most nights of the week. However within 8 months the place had gone. The Lexington West (721 West Lexington Street) was located across from the Lexington Terrace Projects in Baltimore. The club booked a good number of top soul acts in 1965 (Aretha Franklin, the Escorts, Baby Washington, Walter Jackson, Virgie Til, Arthur Prysock, Erma Franklin, the Anglos, Gloria Lynn, etc). The place had been opened in early April 1965 but was gone before the end of the year. In September 1965 the club's manager, Eddie Tucker (37), had been arrested for possession of drugs. He was convicted of narcotics offences in December by which time the club was already closed and padlocked. The club's liquor license had been granted in tucker's wifes name and it had been suspended while he appealed his conviction. By the time his appeal hearing came around, in late January 1966, both he and his wife had skipped town. So as a singer, you just never knew what situations you could be getting yourself into.

Bob, so did you try to arrange a radio interview to quiz her on her long music career ??

Yes, I got into the Sweet Sweetback soundtrack before I even realised it was EW&F who were providing all the music.

One of the very best soul groups of the 70's. I loved (& bought) every track that put out back then. As already stated, their live shows were spectacular events. Here's a (later) clip that features 3 of their best outings (you can ignore the first 45 seconds of it) ...... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mfagqCcyE6g THEN OF COURSE, there was also Frankie Beverly & Maze to catch live during that era !!!

Bettye is also doing a show in Perth (Scotland) 2 days later (19th July). But the set with more of her old classics included is only for the London show, not any of the other dates on her current European tour.

I'm told that Bettye plans on doing a 90 minute show with approximately half the songs she will include in her set being from pre 2000.

The CD set is a wee bit expensive (£21) for what it contains (but is a 3 x CD set I suppose) ............. https://www.amazon.co.uk/Looking-Good-Femme-Soul-Nuggets/dp/B00D3AAJOG/ref=sr_1_1?s=music&ie=UTF8&qid=1372939430&sr=1-1&keywords=Looking+Good+%E2%80%93+75+Femme+Mod+Soul+Nuggets+box+set. ............... other NS comp CD's seem to start at around £4 / £5 each these days. This earlier release in the series should go down well with fans of 60's UK beat groups ......... https://www.amazon.co.uk/Looking-Back-Freakbeat-Swinging-Nuggets/dp/B005Q9F7NA/ref=wl_it_dp_o_pC_S_nC?ie=UTF8&colid=213QE2HNA1CCU&coliid=I2QIZHQRL5KIT9

A piece off the net ............. Steve Chanin has been playing the drums since 1956 with bands in Middle Georgia and Atlanta. Bands he has played with include The Afro-Jazztet, The Chevelles, Duke DeMay's Trio, Bob Huellemeier's Orchestra, Quintessence, The Red Heifers, The Jazz Association of Macon's Ensemble, The Freedom Jazz Trio, The Monty Cole Quartet and The Southern Gentlemen Dixieland Band In addition he has played with The Macon Symphony Orchestra and for musicals at The Macon Little Theater, Theater Macon and Macon State College. So the above guy was the drummer with the Chevelles / Mighty Chevelles back in the day.

Weren't some of the Flaming Arrow artists also linked with people that worked with Capito ? The Capito label owner must have been this guy from Ohio ........ WARREN, OHIO - Lawrence ''Larry'' Capito Sr., 83, died Friday, May 28, 2010, at Windsor Liberty Health Care Center. He was born Nov. 20, 1926, in Warren, the son of Paul and Matilda DeNittis Capito. He retired from the General Motors assembly plant as a dingman after 18 years. Before that, he worked as a cement finisher for Mathews Concrete Co. He was a member of St. Mary Church and enjoyed making wine. He was a Navy veteran of World War II, serving from Dec. 1, 1944, to Dec. 22, 1945. I know Warren is near to Cleveland and not Detroit, so maybe the Flaming Arrow / Capito related Donald McCants was from the 'Ohio' McCants family (Chicago Gangsters, Rumple-Stilts-Skin, Ivy, Heat Records, etc). Maybe Ohio folk (Donald McCants, Bob McKee at WAOK) acted as the go-betweens that hooked the Detroit labels up with Macon / Atlanta based singers.

Other SirShambling pages for Crow / Flaming Arrow artists ......... https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/P/arthur_ponder/index.php https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/W/gloria_walker/ It seems then that Eugene Davis had strong links with the Georgia area (Macon, Atlanta) as he seemed to sign artists from around there & take them up to Detroit to cut tracks (though Gloria Walker cut some of her tracks in Muscle Shoals). Anyone know who / what that link was ? Eugene cartainly had links with Otis Redding's manager Phil Walden who was based in Macon. A few folk say Flaming Arrow some of the time based itself in Georgia (perhaps when the label was distributed by Atlantic / Cotillion) but do any 45's exist that show a 'non-Detroit' address ? Lots of times back in the 60's, the guys that acted as 'local scouts' for distant record labels were the local soul radio station's DJ's. If it was a person at an Atlanta radio station that hooked local artists up with Eugene Davis, then it must have been someone at WAOK as that was the only 'black music' stn in the city back then. WAOK's most famous jock was a Cleveland born white guy Bob McKee. Up to the end of the 1950's, Bob McKee ran an Atlanta nightclub that was a hangout for the local teenage crowd (McKee's Beat). Anyone know if he was mates with Eugene at Flaming Arrow ?

So if the MDOT (Michigan Dept of Transport) are willing to 'MOVE THE BUILDING' to save it from demolition ...... THEN ..... where should it be moved to (the most appropriate location from a soul history point of view) ?? As whole areas of central Detroit are now almost vacant wastelands because the old buildings / houses have been demolished, then there must be loads of 'well located' empty plots which would make good sites for the relocated studio. It could then be restored and also opened as a museum (like the Hitsville building).

Soulful Detroit piece on the studios ............... https://soulfuldetroit.com/web01-soulfuldetroit/united-sound.htm But it might be saved ........... https://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130703/METRO01/307030077

A local Detroit newspaper article ............... Legendary studio to go in road widening scheme ......... Proposal is to level the building as part of a project to reconstruct Freeway I-94. Plan is to add a lane on both sides & have service drives along the freeway. https://www.freep.com/article/20130703/NEWS01/307030043/motown-sound-United-Sound-Systems-detroit-sound-conservancy-demolition-freeway-expansion-MDOT-barry-gordy-aretha-franklin-eminem

Nancy Butts page on SirShambling ........... https://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/B/nancy_butts/index.php https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WKuEIuDiohc ... AND details of her obit notice in a local (to her) newspaper ........ Macon Telegraph --- September 20th, 1997 ........ Obituary notices are listed in alphabetical order: Nancy Butts, Sparta

Our kid got me a copy of the Temptations 45 for a few quid just after it first appeared ..... he's not a bad lad after all then !!!!!!!

So anyone know what's happening with Manifesto at the moment ? Seems strange that the web site has gone down !!