Roburt

Rufus in his RCA days ..............

Rufus Lumley I'm Standing ........ This 45 was the very first record I paid £10 for - remembering my weekly wage in 1972 was only £8.00 ....... Wow, paying over a week's wages for a record made by a 'hillbilly' singer (who started out doing a cowboy song type show).

On Ebay at present .......... https://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PYE-record-maker-TYPE-1-/161026699816?pt=UK_AudioTVElectronics_HomeAudioHiFi_Turntables&hash=item257df07228

It was called the Pye Record Maker .... they were 'the most exiting development ever' ..... ...... you can still buy olduns on Ebay & the blank discs also turn up on there (& in charity shops). Pye was based in Cambridge back then, so I guess quite a few turn up in that area.

Not an expert on this 45 BUT the Jamie / Guyden guy's son was based in the UK in the 70's and told his dad all about NS interest in 60's Philly tracks. Coz of that loads of 45 on labels that Jamie Guyden controlled (Arctic / Phil LA of Soul) were pressed up for a 2nd time. Guess this was one of those singles.

Another documentary of much interest to us is in the making Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Its stated on the net that Rufus lived all over the US, though he never lived in Minneapolis (or Detroit). He was born in 1938, grew up & seemed to spend much of his life in Connecticut in the area bounded by New York & Rhode Island. He went To Lodge Professional School, a high school in New York that trained actors (a sort of 'Fame' type place). It seems his main 'skill' back then was his dancing ability. In 1957, he was based out of Bridgeport and was performing locally as a 'hillbilly' singer (doing a cowboy type song show). He then got involved with shows staged by the University of Bridgeport (around 1958/59). In 1959, he enlisted in the US Air Force and was sent to a base in Texas. No doubt his spell in the air force resulted in him 'living all over the US'. After his stint in the air force was over, he returned to Connecticut and he next turns up in the New York area trying to land a record deal. This he did, initially with Holton ( & then RCA). As by the mid 60's, soul type songs were dominating the charts, Holton seemed to have got him to record stuff in a similar mode. In summer 1966, he was holding down an engagement singing in a Norwalk, Connecticut restaurant (accompanying himself on the organ), so his Holton record deal doesn't seem to have raised his profile that much. When signed to RCA in 67, he was sent on visits to radio stns as far afield as Chicago to plug his records. He also had a spell in LA (1968) during which he played lots of live shows (perhaps he was trying to break into acting as well). In the mid to late 70's he was living in Baltic, Connecticut (a small place between Hartford & Providence). So by 1978, he would have been 40 years old and probably gave up his dream to make it as a recording star around then and took a 9-to-5 job.

Guess this is the same Ronnie McCain. In 1970, along with Sharon Redd (Gene Redd's daughter), he was down in Australia performing in 'Hair'.

I don't know if this is already common knowledge but long time stalwart of the Pittsburgh soul music scene Bobby Wayne passed away last year. Bobby was born Wayne Boykin, though for just about his whole music career he went by the name Bobby Wayne. After first establishing himself on the Pittsburgh club scene around the early 60's, he and his band (Bobby & the Vanguards) toured all over. They did gigs up in Ohio and across in Canada. While up in those parts he played shows backing Darrell Banks and the two guys got to know each other. Not long after this, Darrell had some shows in Pittsburgh (a week long engagement I believe) and Wayne went along to renew their friendship. Darrell hired him to open the show and the two became firm friends, Darrell made an effort & spent time schooling Wayne in stage technique. In the late 60's, Wayne went across to LA and cut some tracks with Arthur Wright. Two of these were leased by Atlantic and released on 45 (credited as by Wayne Boykin) around summer 1969. Another track cut at that time, "Gray Skies" remained in the tape vaults until discovered by Ace about 10 years back. Ady liked the track and included it on a Kent / Modern compilation CD. Wayne soon headed back to Pittsburgh and there he joined a group as their lead singer. He remained in the music biz right through the 70's, ending up in a local 'supergroup' Takin' Names. Wayne continued to play live gigs until the late 90's when a US based NS fan hooked up with him and signed him to his Bonedog Records. Some of his new recordings found favour with UK soulies and were licensed for release here by Grapevine. Two more decent CD albums followed after 2000 and both of these ('Hit That Thing' & 'Soul Station') enjoyed decent sale levels. Sadly Wayne passed away last year.

If you wanna make that prized 45 look just a little bit more special ............ ..... check out this site to see if there's a custom sleeve available ....... https://www.45rpmrecords.com/ms/index_list.php

Now you're askin sumat, after all it was over 40 years ago. As I recall, it was an electrical shop that had a record department rather than a dedicated record shop. It was about 100 yds down from the Town Hall on the west side of Pinstone St (before that becomes the Moor). But my memory could be a bit defective & I have no idea what its name was.

They seem to have selected mainly black female backing singers who have gone out on tour behind rock & pop acts (though Stevie Wonder figures a lot in the film but he had a massive pop profile as well as a soul scene presence). So I think studio backing groups such as those that Dave mentions will get less of a mention as I believe there are trying to pull in audiences that have an interest in the likes of Bruce Springsteen, the Stones, Sting, Elton John, etc. 2nd mention in a thread here for Bruce Springsteen in a couple of days !!! The guys 'soul profile' is on the rise !!

A link to the interviews listed below was posted up on SDF. I think they are interesting enough for me to post them here as well .......... I have only put up links to SOME of these interviews but you can get to others on the same site .... iF YOU WATCH EACH CLIP YOU GET TO LEARN BITS OF MOTOWN BACKGROUND INFO THAT DOESN'T ALWAYS COME OUT .... .......... CHOLLY ATKINS .......... https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/2e7a40-interview-with-cholly-atkins-part-2-of-2 ......... BEANS BOWLES .... https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/264b4e-interview-with-beans-bowles-part-2-of-2 ....CLAUDETTE ROBINSON .......... https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/77c6e7-interview-with-claudette-robinson-part-2-of-2 .........MARTHA REEVES ............. https://openvault.wgbh.org/catalog/d67376-interview-with-martha-reeves-part-2-of-2

I think we have all made similar poor decisions Derek. I know I have on numerous occasions. ONE EXAMPLE ......... Back in 1970 I was on a degree course at Sheffield Poly. I had entered as a 'mature student' who had already worked for some years in Civil Engineering, so some parts of the course (the practical bits) I already knew backwards. So I used to bunk off those lessons and slope off into Sheffield city centre to check out the record shops. I came across a store that was closing down its record department and had been left with all the old 45's from companies that didn't take returns. So they were clearing out labels such as Action and numerous reggae labels. So I was faced with a room full of fine singles at 10p each. I bought one copy of each Action 45 they had, numerous other little label soul things and loads of reggae 45's. I intended to play through them all & go back to buy quantity of the best things. I left it a week (longer than I had intended) & when I went back with my 'list of buys', the place had been cleared out of all the good stuff. DOOOOH.

The Waters also get a mention elsewhere as being featured in the film. A 'still' from the documentary (Darlene Love & more) ........

Richard, I've got the leaflet about the CD at home & I'm away again at present. It does give a date when its out. Its later this year but I can't recall if its in the summer or later than that.

A pretty comprehensive list of the people who are in the film is here ............ .... (Gloria Jones & Patti Austin are others in addition to those already listed) ... https://www.imdb.com/title/tt2396566/fullcredits?ref_=tt_cl_sm#cast Another clip from the film ...........

Greg, Are you sure you're not allowed to slip a few gospel goodies into your set at the Cellar, Oxford on the 17th May ?? I live just outside Oxford and could be tempted to come along if you do. WHAT sort of cuts will you be playing in one of your R&B sets (can you list a few examples) ? R&B here means different things to different people !!

A photo of Al Dowe & an early 70's gig his group undertook (Al worked on the Kazia Millage tracks) ........

......... FOR ANYONE INTERESTED IN EARLY DETROIT SOUL TRACKS ......... 'History of Soul' Records is a newish CD company operating out of the UK at present. They take 'out of copyright' soul tracks & put together double 'themed' CD releases. So far, they have about 8 CD packages out ........ go here to see details & track listings ....... https://www.historyofsoul.net/ But they have at least another 8 releases in development. One of these is ...... 'Detroit Soul 1957 - 1962'. As yet, I don't have the full track listing for this one but it will include cuts by the Barons, Fabulous Playboys, Melvin Davis, Johnnie Mae Mathews, Timmy Shaw, Falcons, J J Barnes, Walter Hamilton, etc. Each release comes with a detailed CD booklet that sets out the facts surrounding the cuts included in the package. Don't know who they have commissioned to write the Detroit CD notes but the booklet notes I have read for existing releases are good.

Gary Glenn (of Gary Glenn & the Soul Set) was playing live solo gigs around the Pittsburgh area by late summer 1969 ......

The "Water Boy" 45 also escaped on UA in Australia (& no doubt in other countries as well) ..........

Seems that Evelyn Freeman was a gal. She lead a choir and also conducted an orchestra back around 1962. She (they) had an LP out on UA ....... 'Didn't It Rain'. She also cut in the late 50's / early 60's for the likes of Dot & Imperial Records. So, with her leading a choir, I guess different people (male & female) took on lead vocal duties on various songs.

Cleveland Martin (probably without the Soul Sets) was also on the bill of a big NAACP Charity show staged in Pittsburgh at the end of October 1967 .......... This came just over a year after he (& his group) had their 45 (under the name of the Rhythm Rascals) out on Sonic. AS WITH SOME OTHER PITTSBURGH RECORDINGS ....... the Sonic label is not badged as being Pittsburgh based (its LA). The Sonic 45 has connections to Fee Bee, a label that Cleveland would cut for in the 70's as lead of the Del Vikings. The tracks on the Sonic 45 escaped on Roulette in summer 1966.