Roburt

The group's best seller ............

Bobby Eli's wife has reported that James C. Farrow of Sons of Robin Stone (Atco / Epic; 1970's) has passed away. ...... July 9, 1947 - February 4, 2013 ........... R.I.P. (Bobby was the group's producer)

................. AMENDED ............ Felice must have gone solo straight after that Soultown 45 was released. She was signed to Groovy Records as Florian Taylor & cut some sides that supposedly escaped on just about the last Groovy 45 (though I have never seen a copy of said single -- "Think About Me"). Her stay with the label was very short lived and later in 1966 she got a deal with Mustang Records. They put out "It May Be Winter Outside" around late December 66 and it hit home immediately in northern US cities (where the cold weather made it quite topical). By the first week in January 67, the track went big on Philly radio stations and from there it didn't look back. The 45 had entered the US national soul charts by the end of January and it also escaped in the UK that January (on President). Here it quickly became a big pirate radio & soul club play. With a hit on her hands, Mustang didn't waste any time & her follow up ("I'm Under The Influence of Love") hit US shops in March (67). Her 45 was also released in the UK and Europe, unfortunately pirate radio in the UK was shutting down due to Government legislation and so her new single got less radio play here. But club goers picked up on it and it became a dance floor hit. Radio 1 got going in the UK at the end of September and just about all the DJ's who got shows on the station came from the pirates. But Felice's outing was seen as an old release, so it got little radio airplay. The clubs were still behind it though but its popularity soon tailed off. She now had a high profile over this side of the pond and so "I Feel Love Coming On" was rushed out here in September and work on promoting the 45 got under way immediately. But her early US chart success had gone to her head and she was getting very difficult to work with. No one at Mustang was happy working with her anymore and, to further complicate matters, the company (Del-Fi) was also struggling to stay in business. In November, while she was over in Europe doing promotional work to push the release of "I Feel Love Coming On" (she was in the UK and also appeared on a TV show shot in Amsterdam, Holland), she was signed to Kent Records (US). Her new UK release was getting a big push from Brit label President and it soon became a club hit. It entered the charts here in November and after Radio 1 had to start playing it (coz it was on the pop charts) it climbed to almost make the pop top 10. In the end, it stayed on the UK pop charts for 3 months and made Felice a big star here. So they had a hit artist on their hands but President now had a problem. They had no more cuts by Felice that they could put out. After some months, a deal was done with Kent Records and the top side of her 2 Kent 45's were coupled to form a new UK release ("Captured By Your Love / I Can Feel Your Love" -- President # PT193) in April 68. By then (I believe) she had lost her US record deal and so European based labels were struggling to find cuts to release on this popular singer here. She was fetched across from the States and a new track was recorded in conjunction with President's Eddie Grant & the Equals; "Suree-Surrender". This initially escaped in Spain (c/w "All I Want To Do Is Love You") in early April (though I'm sure the tracks involved were licensed in from President in the UK). This coupling was also put out in Germany on the President label and it eventually escaped in the UK in November that year. But Felice now had no recording contract at home and with her later releases in Europe doing less well, she soon stopped making trips over here. She never did manage to get another US deal and by 1970 had seemed to slip out of the business altogether.

The sirshambling web site has a page on Little David (smith) who cut for 521 Records. David's children have recently contacted the site & have passed along this info ........ "David Smith was born in Goldsboro NC. He moved to Brooklyn when he was about 19. He performed at the 521 club in Brooklyn NY on Fulton Street on a regular basis. His stage name was Little David. He had also recorded Moonlight, Love Me,and Everybody's Laughing In My Face on the 521 label. My dad was a talented guitarist and vocalist. He wrote all his songs including It Hurts Baby. His records sold out but he did not see any money as many artist during those days. Instead of staying on the road he decided to raise his family. David was a great dad and person. He passed away in 1994 but he passed the torch to me. We come from a long family line of musicians. The photo is my dad on guitar and George Williams trumpet player for the Fatback Band. I know if he had continued with the music he would have been a legend as all of his musical friends are today but he put family first." David had 2 x 45's out on 521 around 1962 -- ... "Everybody’s laughing in my face / Love Me" (521 #1001 - 1962?) + "It hurts baby / Moonlight" (521 #1002 -1962?) The 1962 dates has been guessed at as ZIP codes were introduced in 1963 & its thought that this would also have been put on the label if that date had been reached.

I'd love to see a scan of the label, is it 'floating about' on the net anywhere ??

LitEdTaylor was ever-present on the Miami club scene throughout just about all the 60's. As can be seen from the photo above, his 'Little' nickname came from his lack of height but that didn't stop him from being a notorious ladies man. At times, he claimed to be a close relative (brother) of Johnny Taylor's, but JT always denied that. I have posted up club ads for shows LitEdTaylor did in Miami in the 'Old Miami Shows' thread in the past. Not to be confused with the 'Little Eddie Taylor' that was a blues guitarist (who was about at the same time & into the 70's).

Further to the above ..... I guess labels such as United Artists came to Latin jazz quite early as they had been involved quite strongly in the early 60's when the 'Bossa Nova' craze was sweeping across the US. They had signed up artists such as LeRoy Holmes and he had gone on to make movie soundtracks for them and in his role of musical director at UA had produced stuff on many of the companies LJ artists. Mind you, comparing 'Bossa Nova' style tracks with the sort of stuff Fania was putting out is definitely a case of 'chalk & cheese'.

Thanks for that info Dean,I didn't realise that Fania were involved in Heavy Duty or that Atlantic had 'licensed in' the LP they released. He (Harvey) seemed to fall out with Fania (or he was poached by UA's Mike Lipton) in spring 1970 but I guess a few months at the bigger outfit was enough to convince him that they would never really fully embrace the 'Latin jazz' genre. I know he made foreign trips on behalf of UA (for instance to Puerto Rico in November 1970) but I can't think of too many LJ releases that UA / Liberty actually put any effort into promoting at that time. The company did have its UA International label that put out lots of stuff between the mid 60's & the end of the decade but I get the impression that they licensed stuff from say Brazil & Paraguay to mainly market in other South American territories. Apart from the likes of Fania (& similar concerns) for whom LJ was their main genre, straight jazz labels who saw potential in this 'side branch' and the likes of Atlantic, it seems very few record companies saw it as a musical genre to get involved with. Certainly none of the majors (till Atlantic was absorbed by WEA) seemed interested in LJ artists (unless you lump Chicano artists into that genre). Mind you, CBS did go on to sign up Latin artists based in the Miami area but I guess that was a different type of sound anyway.

As I posted up scans of 2 of Harvey's Hot Ice 45's ... thought I'd ask this question ...... A couple of decent soul groups also had 45's out on Heavy Duty Records -- the Topics & Hot Ice (Formations). So I'd guess that the label was definitely New York based .... but was it owned (at least in part) by Harvey ?? Fania Music published the music for some of the tracks, so I guess Harvey fetched some old partners across with him from Uptite / Fania. A couple of Heavy Duty soul outings ...............

As might be expected, Harvey Averne's Latin Jazz tracks were very popular in South America. He had hits in Argentina, his records sold well in Brazil and he was a regular visitor to Puerto Rico. He only stayed with Fania / Uptite for a little over a year end of 68, 69 + a bit of 70). Before mid 1970 he was Liberty / UA's Latin Division main promotions man. He produced the Funky People's UA 45 which I believe was an early April 1970 release. Might be a better bet to search for copies of his rarer outings in those countries.

It is a good show ......... just wish they had recorded (& kept) these earlier efforts .........

sad news Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Born: June 16th 1943 -- Harrisburg, Pennsylvania The 14 year-Old Beverly Ann Gibson had won the amateur hour at the Apollo theatre in New York. The win led to her landing a deal with Imperial Records in May 1958 ("The Ways Of Love") Beverley's cause had been taken up in New York by Julius Dixon (a veteran songwriter whose successes included Bill Halley's "Dim Dim the Lights" in 1954 & the Chordettes' 1958 smash "Lollipop"). Dixon dabbled in all areas of the music business and in 1958, he launched the Deb Label as a vehicle for Beverly. She introduced Dixon to the Chanels who also hailed from Harrisburg and they were also signed to his label. Her 1st Deb 45 was released in February 1959 -- "Loves Burning Fire" & the record soon broke big in Baltimore.The single entered the Top 20 National R&B chart in mid March & she performed for a big music biz audience at Hotel Essex House, Newark on March 21st . April saw the track breaking really big in Chicago & New York and all the success led to Beverly landing a prestigious gig with the Drifters at Sparrows Beach (a weekend retreat for blacks outside Annapolis, Maryland). The Deb label wasn't a big enough concern to really build on her initial hit and so Beverley soon found herself with King Records. Her 1st King 45 escaped in August 59 ("Call on Me" - KING 5244) with "Oh Yes I Love" (KING 5258) being released in October. Before December was out, "Wait and See" (KING 5288) was in the shops and her 4th King 45 followed in February 60 ("No Other But You"). Some of these enjoyed regional success but none repeated the sales her first single had enjoyed. Her career went quiet for a while and even a new outing for her earlier hit "Loves Burning Fire" on the Landa label (# 671) in June 1961 did little to change the situation. However, she was to make a strong return in 1963. Jubilee had signed her and they put out the 45 "Do The Monkey / A Three Dollar Bill" which was advertised in the trade press in April. By July 63 the top side was doing really well in Chicago. This was probably due to two reasons. She still had an established profile with radio DJ's who had been around in 1958 plus 'the Monkey' was just about the top dance craze in the city at the time (all the local kids looking for other cuts to dance to after they had learnt the steps from Major Lance's local smash "Monkey Time"). However it is the flip of her only Jubilee 45 that has gone on to find favour with soul fans around the world, "Three Dollar Bill" getting loads of NS exposure down the years and this resulted in it being included on Sequel's 'Soul Underground Vol.2' CD. Beverly married and soon had a family to look after, so her recording career came to an end. She lived back in Harrisburg until her death (just after her 64th birthday) in June 2007.

I've got a few Trojan CD's, many have been put out here over the last 10 years or so. There's too many available to check through ..... ... can anyone tell me if "Dark End of the Street" by Little Boy Blue (released in the UK on Jackpot in 69) is on one of those UK CD's ??

Great story. Good on Numero for unearthing the old track, putting it out & placing it in the film.

Daft thing was back then ........... Billboard was still printing tips for the version of the Wally Cox 45 on Wand in mid January 71 just a few (4) weeks before they said Wally had signed with Golden State as a producer & his existing track was being licensed out to Kent Records.

The Ripple Blast Band had an LP of instrumentals out on Power around 1968. Seems that Power Records couldn't be bothered to get new photos taken as the album cover just shows 3 people who I would guess were the singers with the band ..........

Just noticed that Doc Bagby (there was a thread on a single by him on here recently) had an LP full of Drifters covers released on the Power label (which put out all the Ripple Blast Singers albums). I doesn't sell for much; so guess no one wants late 60's jazzy combo organ led instro versions of Drifters hits.

Lifted from 1971 editions of Billboard mag .............

Well I hope it certainly never gets played at a venue I'm at.

The uda side of this 45 was the official A side -- "Palm of Your Hand". The track was produced by Chicago Heights DJ Buddy Beason & it was mentioned in Billboard mag (as a new release) in mid October 1970. Another 45 due out then on Contact was from (11 yr old) Little Tyrone (Jones) -- "I Wonder What The World Would be Like if Kids Ruled the World" and a gospel 45 by Samuel Sanders & the M&N Singers was also ready to be issued. Can't find much on Buddy Beason but I guess he was a DJ on WMPP (or WCGO).

I'm told that Goldie & the Gingerbreads played a gig at the Mojo in 1965 (March or April), so their 45's must have been played at sessions held at the club back then.

Some of the above is guess work but as Roy Hepburn was another artist who had a 45 out on Desiree ("Loving Lies"), I checked up on his details. He was from Nashville & was in a couple of groups from there in the 50/60's (The Sliders who cut for Decca in the 50's) & the Skipper Hunt Combo. The Sliders would back visiting soul singers on gigs around Nashville in the 60's. Here they are behind (well in front really) of Carla Thomas (Roy Hepburn is the drummer) ......

I'm just about certain that General Assembly were from Nashville & I believe this is a picture of them .... They seemed to be led by a guy called Larry Perigo. Born in Nashville, TN. Larry Perigo started playing guitar at 9 years old and took up the violin while in 4th grade. He began a singing career in bands in 1963. He was later encouraged by a band member to give the saxophone a try. This resulted in him becoming a part of several local favorite bands throughout the 60‘s. In 1969 his band (The General Assembly Show) became a part of the Phil Harris Show in the main showroom at a Las Vegas hotel which featured the Harry James Orchestra and Frank Sinatra, Jr. This proved to be a great learning experience. After returning to Nashville he started The Headliners and they performed their first date on April 23, 1973 as a four piece band. It had immediate popularity in Nashville and was called to do another show with Phil Harris at the Fairmont Hotel in New Orleans this time featuring the Pete Fountain Orchestra. The Headliners also did shows in a Las Vegas lounge.