Roburt

A bit of an explanation regarding the Millage Records / Sirlin & Leonard Funeral Home situation ........... ..... with the passage of time / people involved passing away, I don't suppose we will ever get the full story .......... Lots of the Millage 45's that exist today have stickers on them that state either compliments of William Sirlin Mortuary or Sirlin & Leonard Funerals (both sharing the 620 East Ohio St, Pittsburgh address). It seems that many Pittsburgh funeral services staged between 1930 and 1973 were held or commenced at the William Sirlin Funeral Home on 620 East Ohio Street (before 1930, the firm operated out of a different Pittsburgh address). William Sirlin and Richard Leonard owned the William Sirlin Mortuary, Sirlin & Leonard Funeral Home and Duncan Heights Cemetery (all of which were located at 620 East Ohio Street). By the end of the 1960's / early 1970's the Sirlin & Leonard funeral business was in trouble. William Sirlin had been struck off for a period for 'abducting' a body from the county morgue. Sirlin was a good age by then and actually passed away in 1973. Richard Leonard then seemed to lose interest in the business, though in his will Sirlin left it to Leonard and his old secretary, Evelyn Schilling. Leonard & the Schillings allowed the cemetery to fall into disrepair, much to the distress of the families of folk buried there. When the first Millage Records 45 had been released in summer 1967, although the label on Kazia's single had claimed the label was Detroit based, requests for promo copies of the record were directed to the 620 East Ohio Street, Pittsburgh address. It seems that whatever the link was between William Sirlin, Richard Leonard, Odell Bailey or Lou Guarino will remain a bit of a mystery but the record company seemed to be operating out of the funeral home at that time. All of the Millage artists were based in Pittsburgh and their tracks cut there (at Gateway Studios). Odell Bailey had been born in Pittsburgh and had grown up there and owned a local record shop. He did however relocate to Detroit at some time. Al Dowe (who arranged the Kazia cuts) was a Pittsburgh trombone player who went on to run jazz quintets and own jazz clubs in the city. Before Odell Bailey (and Lou Guarino) were involved with Millage Records, they had worked with the Contrails (a five strong local white group). Odell Bailey didn't think that the Contrails first record release in 1966 would be given a fair shake by Pittsburgh radio DJ's if they thought their tracks were locally cut. So he put the 45 out on the Reuben label with an LA address. The ploy worked and the tracks got enough local airplay to get New York based Diamond Records interested. They licensed the 45 and put it out in November 66 (Diamond #213). An associated label to Millage was Del-La / Della. The label seems to have put out three releases, the first one sharing the same catalogue number as the initial Millage 45 (# 101). The 45 was credited as being a Telldell Production and featured Grant St. Exit performing “I Got Soul” c/w “That's Why I Love You”. This must have come out around the same time as the Millage releases, most Millage 45 tracks were noted as being Telldell Productions and were published by Odell Bailey's Telldell Music. Another probable link to the funeral business turns up here. The writer and lead singer on the Grant St Exit song “Thats Why I Love You” was one Wayne Schilling. No doubt, he was the son, or a close relative, of Evelyn & Robert Schilling. The other two outings on this Della Record label were from C.V.Horne. Millage Records just seemed to fade away sometime in early 1968. So my guess is that Odell Bailey had been friends with William Sirlin back in Pittsburgh and so made use of his premises to promote the Millage releases (perhaps he had sold his Pittsburgh based record shop by 1967 and so had no local base himself). With them having put out a 45 on the Reuben label some months earlier that claimed the record was released by a LA based label, perhaps Odell used a similar ploy when he put out the 1st Millage release (Kazia's 45). With a Detroit address, the 45 was likely to garner more radio plays in Pittsburgh and the surrounding area (as Detroit was the hot recording base back then). THANKS to Boba for the info on the two Della C. V. Horne 45's.

As cut-out book shop buys have been mentioned just above ...... I got the Ace Records book a couple of years back in an Oxford everything £2 book store. They had loads of copies & as much of what Ace puts out ain't soul, I just bought 1 copy so I could check it out. The quality of the printing etc is great, so even though it was only the 'black music' content that interested me, I went back for more copies. Needless to say, it had sold out in a couple of days. ............ UPCOMING BOOK ....... available to buy any day now ............. God, the Devil & James Brown - Memoirs of a Funky Diva BY Marva Whitney (R.I.P.). https://www.amazon.co.uk/God-Devil-James-Brown-Memoirs/dp/1904408575/ref=sr_1_1?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1367595560&sr=1-1&keywords=marva+whitney+god+the+devil+%26+james+brown

..................... An old IAN DEWHIRST post copied across from another thread ........ it concerns the old Aaron Neville hit 45 ........ It's interesting how a major hit can kill an indie isn't it? I've often had old time American record guys tell me exactly the same thing. "Tell It Like It Is" sold a million and the company went bust. The company was probably ticking over just fine in the New Orleans and Southern markets but suddenly having to press 1,000,000 45's and distribute them across the USA in 1967 must have been a step too far. One record veteran told me that you always have to have the next hot record ready to go otherwise the distributors will try and stiff you on the current hit.

You'll be pissed by 9pm Friday night, so I'll just park you on the grass outside the caravan door & make better use of your bunk. Us OAP's need our beauty sleep you know.

Bugga, I'm in London today & tomorrow. It's too soon to come back next weekend.

A little LA indie label, Mark II, had a hit on their hands with the Romeos (who were actually the Packers) track "Precious Memories" .... ..... look at how many distributors they had to take on (bet loads never paid em for the 45's either) .............

Paul Glass (who owned / ran USA Records) was also in control of one of the biggest 60's Chicago based distributors of indie labels .......

So Billy Nichols & the Soul Swingers were the backing band on the Bobby Dunn 45 "Do The Bobby Dunn" (JAS Records) as well ....... that was cut in 1966, so it seems that the Mr. Dunn 45 must have been a late 66 or 1967 release. BTW, the Bobby Dunn track has many admirers among funk fans (& it has been included on 'boot' funk comp CD's in the past) ........

Billy Nichols got back in touch with me concerning the Mr. Dunn 45 ...... He states that ........... Yes that was me and my band, we did that recording but I don't remember the studio..... I met the father of the Dunn Brothers back in 1966, Bobby Dunn. We first recorded a 45 on him called "Do The Bobby Dunn",then he hired us to record his sons..... I last saw Bobby about two years ago and he now is a preacher.

Loads of work would be involved & some of the info might be a bit illusive .......... ...don't forget that a record label was a good means to launder money, so some 'wise guys' got involved .... behind the scenes as well as in front. ........ PLUS ....... there were 100's of Record Distributors, many just dealing over a limited area ...... ... so a small LA label (say) that got a hot 45 could end up with dozens & dozens of regional distributors.

Billy Nichols was based in New York and leading Billy Nichols & the Soul Swingers from around the summer of 1966 to the end of that decade. It was obviously during that period that he & his group went into a local studio (Delta) with the Dunn Brothers and the whole ensemble cut the Mr. Dunn track "Something Is Wrong" (LAURAdunn Records) ......mind you, the 45's label actually credits the band as being called Billy Nicholas & the Soul Swingers. A very rare 45 (or so it seems). I've winged off an e-mail to Billy to ask what (if anything) he can recall about the recording session and the group.

In my discussions with Carole, she only seemed to make mention of Bobby Whiteside as being the guy who oversaw all her USA Recordings. This intrigued me as her "I'll Never Get Away" track credits a Bobby Bruce as being the producer. ...... ANYWAY ...... I thought I'd ask her about Bobby Bruce; who the guy was, etc ................ I got this reply..... All the sides I did (for USA) were recorded at Chess, and yes Bobby Whiteside wrote and arranged it ("I'll Never Get Away"). I remember him being there for the session as we did "Say Say Chicken Man" and "I'll Never Get Away" at the same time, but I really don't know a lot about Bobby Bruce. It sure seemed to me like Bobby Whiteside was in on the producing, but for some reason Bruce got all the credit. I don't know what the reason for this was. So it seems that even she has little idea who Bobby Bruce was & how he contributed to the session at which "I'll Never Get Away" was cut. The strange events that took place in the record biz back then just seem to go on forever. No doubt the guy was owed some favour by USA Records and so his name went on the 45's label. .... HOWEVER ..... just perhaps Bobby Bruce wasn't the 2nd guy's name. Maybe it was decided to give the production credits to a pair of guys. The first being BOBBY Whiteside, while the 2nd guy was named BRUCE 'somebody or other'. After all, her other sides state that they were PRODUCED BY B.WHITESIDE ......... ..... WHEREAS THIS ONE ......states ...........A BOBBY BRUCE PROD(uction).

Kegsy's well common himself, so the record will be really at home with him then. BTW, Kegsy, still trying to ascertain from Charlie if I'll be sleeping with you at Cleggy !!!

SoJamm Records ......... the 70's incarnation of Cleveland's Way Out Records. The company cut around 3 tracks for every one they released .... AND ..... ....... a big reissue label is now well advanced in its project to license / release (on CD / vinyl) all the best of their product ..... .... so we may well get a 'longer version' of "Covers Mother" plus other tracks made by Marilyn (& the many other artists who cut stuff for them).

Do you mean this one Mark ?? If so, any chance it might make it onto some sort of physical media in the near future (us OAP's still can't get on with mp3 only tracks).

Carole has checked out the article & this thread and here's what she has to say .......... Thank you John for giving me access to your article (on the web site). You did a great job. By the way, all the comments are nice, but the one about talking to me 10 years ago isn't true. I was at that time going by my married name and no one would have even known how to reach me. I didn't find out about this Northern Soul until Jeff McGinnis (black singer I am singing with on website) located me at the church (after I went back to my stage and maiden name) in Tennessee.That was about 3 and a half years ago. He happened to find the record for sale on ebay and wondered if it was me. I was shocked to see it anywhere - let alone what we uncovered after that. He and I had never heard of Northern Soul and started finding "me" all over the place. I said to Jeff "I didn't put me there" I had no idea. A little over 2 years ago I talked to a DJ from the UK who asked me to possibly come to Orlando, Florida to sign autographs or sing ... but it din't work out. He actually called me from Orlando and told me he was the one who had launched my song in Northern Soul and had found the record in New York. Kev Roberts and Roy Williams were the two I talked to. Roy talked to me about royalties, different rules on copyright in other countries, etc. because I didn't know if I had any rights or what to think ... anyway, I wasn't mad at anyone ... I just wanted to get in on my own song and singing .. from this point on somehow. It has been quite an education.So I am still trying to see what will happen; thus the website and facebook which both are recent in the past 6 months or so. I don't think she'll be mad at me for posting up her thoughts after reading the posts on here.

Sydney Scarborourgh 45 sleeves came from a Hull record shop -- I have quite a few of them. Many UK record shops in the 60's printed up their own card record sleeves as they kept some 45's in them in their shop racks, plus used them as an advertising tool.

Just got this message from Amazon ........... Unfortunately, the release date for the item listed below was changed by the supplier, and we need to provide you with a new estimated delivery date based on the new release date: Various Artists "Philly Re-Grooved 3: The Tom Moulton Remixes, More From The Master !" Estimated arrival date: May 23 2013 - May 25 2013

Carole with Roy Morris on his WRGP-TV show (a 'cleaned-up' version of the photo she posted on her facebook page) .........

The misspelling of the song on the B side of the 45's label could have also contributed to Paul Glass stopping promotion on the single and then pulling it altogether. He may have thought about having a revised label made up for the B side ... but then just left things as they were when he was spooked by all the booking enquires that started coming in from 'chiltlin circuit' venues.

This has been discussed before .... .... over many years the comparison has been made (going back to the 80's & pieces printed in soul fanzines way back then) ..... Definitely two separate guys but with similar voices (& as you say, Van McCoy involved with both). Chris Jackson seemed to 'fade away' after he made some money writing a big 70's hit for the Tymes ("You Little Trustmaker") ... ... Chris Bartley hung on in the biz much longer & was a member of the Ad-Libs in the 80's.

Carole has also put a picture of herself with Roy Morris on his WRGP-TV show up on her facebook page (though its quite faded) .... The WRGP-TV studio was at 1214 McCallie Avenue (Chattanooga) back in those days .......

Carole has her own web site ......... https://littlecarolewaller.com/ and has a facebook page ....... https://www.facebook.com/carole.waller.10 ... she's recently posted a picture of herself with Big Al (of the Mob) up there..

.............. A youtube clip of Melba's performance .......... (if you wanna see Kenny Hamber's 18 minute long slot you have to watch Part 2 of this 3 Part video of the recent show) ......

Melba just played a big gospel show in New England .......... .... this is what a local newspaper had to say on her performance ........ Miss Melba Moore — four-time Grammy nominee and Tony Award winner came out in a beautiful diva gown of sparkling midnight blue. Singing “Precious Lord, take my hand,” she demonstrated an incredible vocal range and powerful presence that has not diminished with age. She played with extemporaneous vocalizations as she sang, like an artist doodling on the page, which made the audience gasp. With “Power in the Blood,” she danced across the stage, the Sunday-go-to-meeting dance. “I got a new hip and a new knee,” she said, “so I feel like shoutin’.” She then launched into “Lean On Me,” a song written by Van McCoy for Aretha Franklin (not the Bill Withers song). “I’ll take the crumbs from the Queen’s table any day,” she said. She seemed to have fun playing with her higher vocal register and received a standing ovation. For the encore, she returned to the stage with a spectacular deep blue curling ribbon long coat, closing with “Can’t Stop Praising His Name.” Schenectady Mayor Gary McCarthy presented her with a key to the city, and as she departed the stage, she took the mayor’s arm, which charmed the audience. Some good photos are included with the article (including a really fine one of Kenny Hamber who was also on the show) .... ............... http://www.nippertown.com/2013/04/24/live-gospel-jubilee-proctors-41913/