Roburt

No response to the above, so I did more research on Paul Glass & USA Records and found this ..... ......... a newspaper obit piece on him from April 4th, 1986 ......... Paul Glass, 60, a pioneer Chicago distributor of independent record labels, founded in 1955 the Allstate Record Distributing Co., one of the largest independent distributors in the country at the time. He later owned the USA label, which launched several local musical groups that became famous. A memorial service will be held at 8 p.m. Monday in All Saints Episcopal Church, 4370 Woodland Ave., Western Springs. Mr. Glass died Saturday at his home in Oceanside, Calif. He had moved there after retiring last July. ``He started in 1955, just before Motown Records,`` said Cy Gold, who worked for him for 25 years. ``He really made a lot of records. He could smell a hit. He could pick the winner and consequently became one of the biggest independent record distributorships in the country.`` Mr. Glass, a native of Iowa, was a bombardier in World War II. After the war, he moved to Texas, where he worked for a record company for seven years. His Chicago-based Allstate firm, in addition to Motown, handled such independent labels as Atlantic, Chess and Checkers and Roulette. ``He was known then as the `boy wonder of the record industry,` `` Gold said. ``He won many awards. The distributorship extended as far as Milwaukee and Indianapolis.`` Mr. Glass then formed Token Distributors, which was the parent company for Look-N-Hear Electronic Stores, which had outlets in several suburbs. He also initiated USA Records, a label that gave a start to such local groups as the Buckinghams and the Crying Shames. ``He helped a lot of people get started, both recording stars and people who worked for him,`` his daughter, Marilyn Kroc, said. ``He loved everyone and would take a person out of reform school to work for him. He was an entrepreneur, a high-energy person who always had time for other people.`` Survivors, besides his daughter, include his wife, Nicole; 2 other daughters, Penelope & Candice; 2 sons, Michael & Tobin; 2 grandchildren; his mother, Irene Ramagos; and a sister, Helen Farrell.

Sad to say we have lost another singer ..... https://www.artiewhite.com/

Bet David Frost's got demo copies of all her 45's .........

I sent an e-mail to Little Artie & Al Herrera to ask them about their 'Kane & Able' tracks & work in the music biz ........ .... I got a reply but it came from the Mob's James Holvay (who wrote, produced & arranged "Life of the Party"). James tells me ............ My name is James Holvay and I am the writer and producer of “Life Of The Party”. Al Herrera forwarded me your email, in hopes that I can answer some of your questions regarding the session and the song. I first met Artie and Al Herrera when they were performing at a club in Chicago called The GiGi. I was attending college at the time, having just gotten off the road with The Dick Clark Caravan Of Stars tour. It was the height of the Vietnam War and the only way to avoid being drafted was to be attending college, unless you had a medical deferment. Joe DeFrancesco (who later became the manager of The MOB), was a promoter of local dances and record hops. He told me that I needed to see this great group (Little Artie & The Pharaohs), who were transplanted to Milwaukee, Wisconsin from Waco, Texas. I was blown away by Arties voice and showmanship. They did a Righteous Brothers Medley in their set that was dead on. Joe wanted me to write a song for them and get them in the studio asap. Their first release was a take off on The Righteous Brothers, who at the time were red hot. I wrote “Break Down And Cry”, which recently came out on an Ace Records compilation — “Wall Of Sound”. Having been heavily influenced by my hometown idol and mentor Curtis Mayfield, I wrote “Life Of The Party” for Artie to sing, as their second release. There were only a handful of studios in Chicago at the time. Universal was the best and most expensive. All of the early VJ stuff had been cut there. (Dee Clark, Jerry Butler, Betty Everett, etc.) Chess was the next most expensive. Out of my budget. (ha, ha) Sound Studios (230 N. Michigan Avenue), is where I cut “Life” and a lot of other tunes over the years, was in the middle price-wise. The remaining studios went down hill from there. It’s kinda like “you get what you pay for.” If you go to a cheap studio, the sound is horrible. Stu Black was the engineer at Sound Studios and always did a great job. He later moved onto Chess and engineered a lot of The Dells hits in the 60’s. (“Stay In My Corner”, etc.) I used the musicians that were part of the Dick Clark Tour band, who later became The MOB. Gary Beisbier wrote the horn charts. Regarding your questions to Artie about performing in the military, etc., that is an extremely sensitive subject for him. At the time, Artie was the lead singer of The MOB and our whole show was based around him. Al played tenor sax and sang background parts. Artie was “the star” of The MOB. We were performing at a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called The Attic and getting standing ovations every night. We were on fire. A few months prior to this, Artie received a notice to report to the draft board. We all figured that his “medical deferment” was going to keep him out of military service. He arrived at the draft board on Friday morning and in the afternoon he was whisked off to Fort Bragg, Georgia. Unfortunately for Artie and us, the military folks did not accept his deferment. That night we had 2 shows to perform and no lead singer or front man. We told the club owner what had happened and he told us to just play dance sets to get thru the weekend and get paid. We went back to Chicago with our tails between our legs, wondering how in the hell we were going to go on without Artie? With “our star” gone, it was our manager (Joe DeFrancesco), who suggested Al become the lead singer. After a tremendous amount of work and rehearsals we were able to continue as The MOB for 14 more years. For the next year, there were numerous letters, phone calls and pleading from Artie’s mother and the pastor of their church to try and get Artie released from his military service. He eventually did get out. When he was released from duty, emotionally Artie was not in a good place. He returned to Milwaukee and gave up the entertainment business to focus on his wife and family. The military experience and the fact that he gave up his music career bothered him for decades. The story does end on a good note. Two years ago, The MOB was inducted into a Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in South Dakota. I contacted Artie, who now lives in San Diego, California and invited him to perform with us at the Hall Of Fame event. Like the professional he was and still is, Artie rose to the occasion was the fantastic singer, entertainer and performer he always was. What a night that was to see all of us original members back together on stage. It had been 30+ years and way over 40+ years for Artie. THANK YOU for asking about “Life Of The Party” and the best of Chicago 60’s soul. . . . . James Holvay (a.k.a. Jimmy Soul)

I like "life of the Party" so much, I decided to drop Artie Herrera an e-mail to ask him a bit more about the track & his music biz career. I actually got a reply ..... but it came from James Holvay (who wrote the song & produced / arranged the track) coz Artie still has such bad memories about an event that took place at the time he originally fronted the Mob (which was just after this 45 was released). I'll put most of the info James sent me up on the Mob thread but thought this bit of trivia would fit well here ........ As Little Artie had 4/5 years performing / recording experience by 1967 when he was called up by the military, I asked if he perfomed (for the troops) while in the forces. James tells me that ....... your question to Artie about performing in the military is an extremely sensitive subject for him. At the time, Artie was the lead singer of The MOB and our whole show was based around him. Big Al played tenor sax and sang background parts. Artie was “the star” of The MOB. We were performing at a club in Milwaukee, Wisconsin called The Attic and getting standing ovations every night. We were on fire. A few months prior to this, Artie had received a notice to report to the draft board. We all figured that the “medical deferment” he had been granted was going to keep him out of military service. He arrived at the draft board on Friday morning and in the afternoon he was whisked off to Fort Bragg, Georgia. Unfortunately for Artie and us, the military folks did not accept his deferment. That night we had 2 shows to perform and no lead singer or front man. So one day Little Artie was the 'star of the show' for the Mob and the next he was whisked off to Fort Bragg and taught how to kill Viet Cong ..... BUMMER.

Most probably info on James in an Ace 'Dave Hamilton related' CD booklet notes ......... not at home at present so can't check ... ... but I'm sure Ady or someone like Chalky will see this thread & give a proper reply. Will be @ the Cleggy Weekender soon & Glen not being there (as he always was) will remind us how much we still miss the guy. ..... .... R I P Macce lad

BTW, Rich tells me that he has had a number of enquiries from people in France over recent years about his Star West records. The guys there though wanted him to press up new copies of the original Star West 45's BUT as he has no rights to use that label name, he didn't progress the proposal at all. NOW if some UK indie record label guy wants to put a couple of these cuts out on their own label, that would be a totally different matter.

Got in touch with my mate Rich Adams re: these records ........ .......... STAR WEST 152/153 - Richard Adams - What A Way To Say Goodbye / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) .......... STAR WEST 153 - Mel Adams - Hello My Friend / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) Rich was originally from St Louis and fronted the group Mal Adams & the Cashmeres (signed to Emerge) back in the 60's. So in the music biz he has gone by both the name Mal Adams & Rich / Richard Adams. He has confirmed that it was him that cut these tracks ... AND .... that he still has possession of the original master tapes for the tracks. ........... BITS OF THE STORY .......... in no particular order ......... the 45 that featured Mel Adams - Hello My Friend / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) was pulled before release due to Mal's name being listed as Mel on the label. The majority of copies of this single were destroyed due to the name error and therefore this will be quite a rare item. Star West Productions (& label) was owned by an old guy, Owen Garris, that Rich got to know in the mid to late 70's (he recalls that Owen had Motown connections of some kind). Anyway, Owen & Rich became friends when Rich was based in the LA area and was running a 'Richfield Oil' Gas (Filling) Station. Owen was looking for artists to sign to his Star West label and so Rich signed up. Roy Dodson was a bass player that Owen had already used on some recordings and so Rich got to meet him as well. Roy Dodson obviously also got to cut some tracks himself & had the 45 out on Star West that's also sought after now. Also at that time, members of the Gap Band were using his service station on a regular basis and Rich became friends with some members, mainly Malvin "Dino" Vice, and Robert Wilson. The Wilson brothers had a long time friend, Charles Townsend (they all grew up together) and Charles (who went by the name of Chuck then) lived very close to Rich's gas station. Charlie, Robert and "Dino" would visit Chuck almost daily and that's how Rich's friendship with the members of the Gap Band began. Owen, seeing Rich was getting connected, made an agreement with Rich to release a record on him. The song "What A Way to Say Goodbye" was written by Rich in conjunction with Rudy Rodgers (DJ Rodgers brother). Another song written at the time was "Inside Out" (penned by Rich and Fred Jenkins), But some conditions attached to the song (publishing rights maybe, Rich didn't go into the details) weren't right and so Rich had to re-write the song. The initial song, with changes, thus became "Your Love is Ecstacy", hence the fact that the title of the 'Ecstasy' song still seems to be "Inside Out". Rich also wrote "Hello My Friend" but that, when cut, had very limited availability due to the name error on the 45 when it was pressed up. The 'Mel Adams' 45 was never promoted and copies should never have escaped the 'junking process' (though a few obviously did). Rich did try to track Owen Garris down some years back but believes he passed some time ago (what happened to the other Star West track master tapes he has no idea about). Rich is still involved with the music biz and runs an outfit by the name of Playyosong. Check out their web site ............ .https://www.playyosong.com/ I posted a couple of tracks up yesterday (on the Soul Source Record Club Groovin into Summer thread) that Playyosong put out; both have major input from Malvin 'Dino' Vice and feature female singers Maia & DeNitria Chance. ....... both are also great cuts IMHO. Rich is willing to 'do a deal' on a reissue of his Star West tracks and so, any interested parties should contact him via his e-mail addy ............. playyosong@live.com .

The vocal mainstays of the Mob in the mid 60's were Little Artie & Big Al Herrera. Both had been recruited from Milwaukee group Little Al & the Pharaohs, though the pair had also recorded as Kane & Able. Little Artie was only in the Mob for a year (June 66 to June 67) before he was drafted. After Artie left, Big Al took on most of the lead vocal duties for the group and he remained in that position till they broke up at the very end of 1980. Artie & Al had been born down in Texas and were of Mexican descent. So they sang 'brown eyed' soul alongside the 'blue-eyed" soulsters in the Mob. The outfit certainly turned out some good tracks.

The Richard Adams track ...........

Deff trivia here ............ Sprightly soul OAP Lou Ragland still performs at venues in Vegas and across Nevada. He has also been running a recording studio in Vegas over recent years. This facility is (was?) funded by the local council to help keep young blacks out of gangs & trouble. They would turn up and Lou would assist them making hip-hop / rap tracks or train them in recording studio duties. ... BUT just recently Lou has been appointed to the position of ...... technician for the LAS VEGAS SHAKESPEARE COMPANY ........... ............... bet it ain't long before Lou's telling me that ........ A fool thinks himself to be wise, but a wise man knows himself to be fool.

I've winged off an e-mail to Rich Adams. As I said above I suspect, that he's the Richard & Mel Adams who cut for Star West. I'm sure (if it is him) that he'll let me have the info on the recording sessions (studio), label ownership, etc.

A great piece about a fine group who did well on the US chitlin circuit ..........

Well most of the posts are about the Wes Black cut, so here goes .......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wPp2KJlG1BI ........ MIND YOU ........... regarding these releases ........... STAR WEST 152/153 - Richard Adams - What A Way To Say Goodbye / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) STAR WEST 153 - Mel Adams - Hello My Friend / Your Love Is (Ecstacy) I would say that these have to be by my old mate Rich Adams. Rich was originally from St Louis and fronted the group Mal Adams & the Cashmeres (Emerge) back in the 60's. He moved to LA in the 70's and did work with Total Experience there. He then ran his own labels & I have loads of released / unreleased stuff he has sent me down the years. I used to meet up with Rich in Vegas when I was over there ... AND .... he (along with John Wilson of S,S&W) and Lou Ragland attended John Phillips (& Carols) wedding celebration dinner in the city after I was his best man at their ceremony.

Well I can see it ...... the site seems to be one of those Russian unlicensed music vid outfits. The actual video mainly shows Toni cavorting around in panties & bra (with the bra being absent at times).

Need some clarification on the releases put out by this Chicago based label in the 60's. The label was owned / run by Paul Glass. Glass also owned All State Record Distributors and had his own recording studio (located at 48th St & Cottage Grove in Chicago). At one time, Al Perkins ran the studio for him (1964/65 ?). The initial releases on the label were pop stuff (1960/61) but being Chicago based, Glass soon started signing local blues artists and cutting them too. But he never gave up on the pop stuff and in 1966 signed a popular local group, the Buckinghams. The Buckingham, like many other Chicago based white groups, seemed to include lots of soul covers in their act & the top side of their 1st USA 45 was a cover of James Brown's "I'll Go Crazy". The group knew the guys in the Mob really well and so the Mob's James Holvay gifted them a few songs he had recently written. They cut these songs and one was used to form the B side of the Buckingham's 2nd single (the plug side being a cover of a Beatles song). The B side of the group's next 45 (USA # 853) was also a Holvay song and this single did well in Chicago (making the local radio station charts around September). Holvay's status was raised on their next outing as his song ("Kind of a Drag" USA # 860) became the plug side of their follow-up release (late November 66). This track took off quite quickly, making the local charts on release before entering the national pop charts at the very end of the year. It climbed the US charts over the next few weeks, making it to No.1 in mid February. So from summer 66 through to April 67 no doubt just about all of Paul Glass's (& USA Records) efforts must have gone into pressing, distributing & promoting the Buckingham's releases. Carole Waller was unfortunate that she had also signed with USA Records around the same time as the Buckinghams were 'making noise' for the label. Going by label numbers, Carole's 1st USA single was "Say Say Chicken Man" (USA # 854) which should have escaped around late September / October 66. She didn't like the song which was an answer to "Say I Am" by Tommy James (which entered the US charts in mid August 66) plus it was also in part a homage to a local radio DJ who went by the name (on air) of Chicken Man. Her 'next release' was her biggie "Stop & Get a Hold of Yourself / This Kind of Love” (USA # 863). This 45 definitely escaped in February 67 as it was reviewed as a new release in Billboard mag. So Glass was probably having to largely ignore most work on other USA releases to push the Buckingham's records during the period that Carole Waller's 2 singles should have been released ...... SO IT ALL SEEMS STRAIGHT FORWARD ............ HOWEVER ......... Carole insists that "Stop & Get a Hold of Yourself (USA # 863) was her 1st release with "Chicken Man" coming afterwards. As her "Say Say Chicken Man" song was written in answer to Tommy James' hit song (by her producer Bobby Whiteside I think), it probably wasn't written till September 66 at the earliest. So for copies of USA # 854 to have been 'in the shops' by early October 66, the recording, mixing, mastering, pressing process must have been done double quick. With all the pressure on USA to service orders for the Buckingham's hit 45 from November 66 onwards, it only leaves a very small window (October / early November 66) when Carole's 45 would have been getting serviced by Glass and USA. Any Chicago expert know whether its likely that some of the USA singles were released out of sequence ?. I know artists usually have poor memories when it comes to record release details & dates BUT as one of her USA single's formed her 1st ever record release, I think her memory may not be playing tricks on her in this instance. All help much appreciated.

Here's a bit of (blue & brown eyed) soul linkage ....... think it qualifies as trivia ......... ....... Kane & Able -- "Life of the Party" on Destination ...... Kane & Able were Al Herrara & Artie Herrara from Milwaukee, they had been lead singers with Little Artie & the Pharaohs back in Milwaukee. The track was produced by local promoter Joe DeFrancesco in conjunction with Jim Holvay & Gary Beisbier of the Mob (Holvay also wrote the song with Holvay & Beisbier arranging the track). Not long after this threesome had worked with the Herrara brothers on their track, DeFrancesco suggested to Holvay that the Mob needed new lead singers. He suggested Al & Artie, who had gone back to fronting Little Artie & the Pharaohs. Holvay took on the suggestion, Al & Artie were approached and accepted the offer to join the Mob. The new outfit (the Mob) went from strength to strength and made some fine records. BUT for a brown eyed duo, Al & Artie (Kane & Able) sound real soulful on "Life of the Party".

Ian, took your advice and just ordered my copy. Was gonna wait till it was actually released but, being a Yorkshireman, I had to jump right in at that price.

Also available on a Brazilian Polydor copy ............

"I'd like to see more of you" also came out in Italy with a rather strange US version look-alike label .......... the other side of the 45 ain't too bad either (in a "25 Miles" sort of way) ............. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_yaDnooilU0

"Lost" also escaped on 45 .......... Colossus CS-144 "Where You Lead / Lost" ..........

A couple of pieces on the net that detail more info on the group (the 1st one is very detailed and puts the group's formation & work into context with regard to the wider Chicago soul music scene) ............... https://www.themobmusic.com/MOB_story.html https://mikebaker45s.wordpress.com/the-mob/ an extract from the above .......... By the early 1970s the group shifted into a show band switching over to the club and hotel circuit ...... it was a concert in Puerto Rico that brought the group their next break. Performing at San Juan’s Americana Hotel, they attracted the attention of producer/record company owner Jerry Ross. Impressed with the band Ross immediately signed them to his newly formed Colossus label. .......... seems strange that they had 'gone cabaret' before landing their best record deal. Carole Waller (USA Records artist) performed on shows (down in Florida) with the group and got to see them play live numerous times. She has nothing but good things to say about them & their live work. In addition, after the Mob broke up, she was actually in a band with Big Al Herrera. I'm awaiting Carole's approval to a piece I have just written on her before I post it up here. The article will hopefully contain more details on her work with Big Al.

Like most groups, the Mob seem to have played all the tunes in their live act at a faster pace that their (or other artists) recorded versions. Back in the 60's (at niters) I used to get a bit upset that the hit artists performed their known songs at much too fast a pace (compared to the record) but I guess they all did it to increase the energy level during their live shows. I'd say that they cut their version of "Open The Door" at the same pace as they performed the song during live shows. I think their early recordings were put out to reflect the content of their stage shows and to sell to folk who had seen them play live.

The Mob live back in 1969 ......... They come across sounding very similar to many of the best UK beat groups that were all playing soul songs in their live acts in the mid 60's.

I'm sure we all have 45's (& maybe albums) by this 60's / 70's outfit. They made a decent few good tracks back in the day. Following an internet campaign, the guys out of the group were reunited for a big music awards ceremony around 2 years back. Initially the group were formed in Chicago though their early vocal mainstays, Little Artie Herrera and his brother Big Al Herrera, had started out as members of Milwaukee's Little Artie and the Pharaohs. The Mob moved on from the Windy City and cut loads of further tracks in the New York / east coast area. They gigged all over the US, playing dates as far apart as Florida, New York and Milwaukee. Eventually they broke up around 1980. A US newspaper printed up a 5 part article on the group & their 2011 award .... though throughout the 5 pieces you don't really get a decent potted history of the group. An example of the articles ..... https://www.examiner.com/article/the-mob-2-from-chicago-il-to-sioux-falls-sd-30-years-or-less-overture There is some info on the group posted under this youtube video entry ............. The mid-1960s found the Herrera brothers in Chicago where they joined up with Jim Holvay (aka Jimmy Soul) and Gary Beisbier (who co-wrote hits for The Buckinghams), Jimmy Ford, Tony Nedza, Bobby Ruffino and Mike Sistak. Artie was drafted, exchanging life as a musician for a tour of Vietnam. With Al handling lead vocals as The Mob, the group became one of the first horn-rock outfits in Chicago where they released a series of singles over the next couple of years: -1966's 'Wait' b/w 'Mystery Man' (Cameo catalog number C-421) -1968's 'Unbelievable' b/w 'Try a Little Tenderness (Twinight catalog 111) -1966's Open the Door To Your Heart' b/w 'I Wish You'd Leave Me Alone' (Daylight catalog 1000) -1968's 'Disappear' b/w 'I Wish You Would Leave Me Alone' (Mercury catalog number 72791) But at least fans of the group did succeed in getting the guys back together and they got an award that helped reflect their past work, but I don't really think that the 5 newspaper articles did them justice.