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Roburt

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Everything posted by Roburt

  1. I would have been as Wally Roker owned both Canyon & Soul Clock Records. Soul Clock was started by Ron Carson but soon taken over by Roker.
  2. Just to ensure complete info on Rudy & his UK exploits are on this thread .... His BBC Radioplay Lp + a pic of him performing @ the 100 Club ... ALSO the song "Seems Like I Gotta Do Wrong" is a bit strange. Rudy cut it for Canyon but the versions of the song released at the time had it credited to Dee Ervin (Irwin) & Lynn Farr. It was a hit & other versions have been cut down the years. BUT STRANGELY it isn't a registered song with either BMI or ASCAP. I guess who penned it has always been disputed (& with Rudy Love having passed, I guess he will not be pushing his case anymore).
  3. Prompted by a related current thread ... The best way to make money in the music biz in the long term has proved to be to get your name registered as the writer of a song. When a recording of that song was released / is reissued OR a different version is released, the only folk who can be sure they'll get their dues are the songs writers (unless you're a US writer & not registered with a UK publisher -- of honour). Lots of guys knew this from early on, thus all the songs credited to Deadric Malone. A guy who was ripped off in many different ways down the years was RUDY LOVE. He wrote songs for most of his career & recorded for labels, large & small. Until he started releasing his own stuff, he only ever got to enjoy 2 album releases in the Us (both on Calla -- 76 & 78). He also had 2 UK LP releases but neither of them included his Calla stuff. One of his UK releases was credited to Tyrone Davis and were in fact Rudy's cuts for Canyon Records. The 2nd here was released by the BBC and consisted of his tracks cut for Motown South in Muscle Shoals. To make matters even worse, most of the songs that appeared on the Manhattan LP credited to Tyrone Davis had been 'borrowed' by other writers to cut on other acts signed to the Roker / Canyon group of labels. Of course those other writers took the writers credits, so Rudy not only didn't get his 1970 album released but he didn't even get his rightful writers credits. It seems that the guys who ripped him off (who could have included Wally Roker / Dee Irwin / Barry Despenza) were the same bunch who licensed the Manhattan UK LP to President and presumably were rewarded for doing so. Just coz I can; I'm also posting up Rudy's 45 that was released right after Canyon went bust (on the Earthquake label which I seem to recall Rudy telling me had connections to Ray Charles) ... Dee Irwin also had a 45 out on the label.
  4. The Traits Contact 45 dating of Nov 67 would seem to fit as it may have been that release that convinced ABC to sign Despenza to work for them in Dec 67. Boba interviewed the Traits / Center Stage on his SITTING IN THE PARK slot & that interview is still up on the net ... so they probably had lots to say about Despenza.
  5. Steve G will give you the Wand rundown ... but till he answers ........ Barry Despenza ran his 2 labels in 1966/67. He then got a contract with ABC in Chicago, working with the likes of Wally Roker & others. In 1968 he signed Tyrone Davis to a deal with ABC and cut a number of tracks on him (incl "Can I Change My Mind" -- original version). He must have known his time at ABC was coming to an end as he then took Tyrone Davis to DAKAR, got him a deal there & recut "Can I Change My Mind". The Dakar version became a big hit in Dec 68. I guess Despenza was out in LA with Wally Roker & Monk Higgins in 68/69 as that's when Roker & Higgins were working together for Canyon Records (Roker's label). Soul Clock was another assoc label. They cut the likes of Irma Thomas for Canyon and had also signed Rudy Love to the label a while earlier (late 68?). Rudy had been convinced to sign with Canyon by the teaming of Roker / Higgins / Despenza who were (at the time) celebrating a big hit on Tyrone Davis -- which must have been around Xmas 1968. They convinced Rudy to sign with lots of BS about how they were a 'hit team' & would get him hits -- BUT REALLY they just wanted his songs to use on other of their acts. Roker & Higgins stayed in LA but I guess Despenza headed back to Chicago to mastermind Tyrone Davis's career. He soon re-signed the Traits, renaming them Center Stage, and cutting them for his Dispo label (Donny Hathaway working with him on their tracks). He then went on to get them a deal with RCA. So I'd say the Ivories on Despenza (& the Traits 45) were released ahead of him signing with ABC in Dec 67.
  6. Back in time ...
  7. Anyone know how you nominate a singer / group to get a plaque on the Camden MUSIC WALK OF FAME ?? Anyone been down there & seen any of the existing ones ?
  8. Another sad loss. Went to see the Isley's in Vegas during our SOUL TRIP 98 ... they put on a really good show ..
  9. When "Dance To The Music" came out here it was massive in UK soul clubs, right from the off on Columbia in March 68.
  10. Lots of movies have also been made about soul stars .... Lots more have been proposed & abandoned though -- Otis Redding movie projects being started at least 3 times in the past, with one even getting as far as talking to Billy Ocean about him playing Otis. At present, a new movie is in the pipeline that will document the work of Earl Young & his mates in MFSB.
  11. The trouble is that though Sly doesn't really regret being a drug addict, it had a bad effect on his music & his later career (as it did with most addicts). His creativity dropped off after 1974 & his unpredictability led to lots of missed / cancelled live shows. The Family Stone members got fed up with him & quit. He had to take guys on who could take up the slack & help him out a lot (Rudy Love & Keni Burke being two). He lost overseas gigs as he was caught with drugs at customs & even when old friends such as Bobby Womack added him as a support act, he still got caught with drugs & was refused entry into countries such as the UK. He lost many friends, all his support team & all his money, ending up living in an old van (it didn't help that his hits came in the period when record companies ripped off many acts). A sad tale really.
  12. Lots of stage musicals are / have been around that celebrate soul music & the folk involved in it .... Dreamgirls, Ain't Too Proud To Beg, Motown; the Musical + others that focused on the careers of Doris Troy, Faye Treadwell, etc.
  13. Some Cleveland related cuts on this album. Mainly via Lou Ragland (& his contacts), Numero has released lots of Cleveland soul tracks, lots being unreleased or rare items ahead of Numero's involvement. I like the Boddies 7" box set in particular that they put out a few years ago. Isn't one of 45's now going for a wad of cash ?
  14. Lots of various music 'Hall of Fame' nominations for successful soul acts + of course the Hollywood Walk Of Fame stars ... Can anyone else post up similar items to the above ?
  15. Not a singer or a musician, but a dancer; Cholly Atkins. After a distinguished career as a dancer, Cholly started to school acts appearing @ the NY Apollo with regard to their stage acts. From there, he was hired by Motown & became a member of their Detroit team. In the 70's, when the O'Jays wanted to become the 'next Temptations', they hired Cholly to tighten up their stage moves. He eventually settled in Vegas (still doing some dance tuition) but whenever Motown acts or the O'Jays played gigs in the city, he was always invited along to spend time with them backstage. I got to visit with him @ his home & his den there was full of mementoes -- His own awards & lots of backstage passes + many gold discs that had been gifted to him by the acts he'd helped. Below is a pic I took while with him (& Lou Ragland) in his den. It doesn't really display the scope of the treasures he had up on his den walls (which were all covered from floor to ceiling with such items). Unfortunately, after he passed , all were sold at auction to provide money for his wife (whole survived him). So his great collection of awards was broken up.
  16. On here, unsung heroes of the soul world get 'paid their dues', mainly via our discussions on their old records. But lots are celebrated in other ways. UK guys (& some US, Spanish, etc.) have gone looking for unreleased gems & have recently made them available to purchase. Enterprising promoters have been bringing 'forgotten singers' to the UK to perform for many years now (BIG UPS to Ady C and his ilk). But not all who made the music we love have gone unrecognised. While Lots (both singers & musicians) went thru their careers without much recognition LUCKILY some got to enjoy loads of success & have the evidence to prove it ... An item in my possession ... of course Gladys got many more awards (both in the pop & soul worlds) ...
  17. Mike Raven got into horror films after he left Radio 1 ... Later on he (& his family) moved to Cornwall, where he became a sheep farmer. His health made him give this up & so he turned to art (creating sculptures). He'd changed his name, which made him difficult to track down. Mike died in 1997, and was buried in a grave he had dug for himself on Bodmin Moor (which is where he was still living at the time).
  18. Guess you mean this guy ... SEE PIC ... if so, he would have been about 6 years old when the 20th Century 45's were released ...
  19. The Visitors, who went from Cobblestone to Muse ... jazz guys ...
  20. Are there any experts on Cobblestone Records around ? I know there was lots of non-soul on this Buddah label but there's also quite a bit of decent soul from known & little known artists. Some of their 45's also seem to be rare, which is strange with it being run by such a big outfit as Buddah Records. It had a regular release policy for around 12+ months from April 68 and then seemed to slow right down till it re-emerged in 72. The guy who ran it (Joe Fields) had a jazz background & had worked @ Verve ahead of this label being founded. He ensured jazz stuff was released on Cobblestone too. After Cobblestone ended, he returned to the jazz world. It seems that when he started his Onyx & Muse labels, he took tracks which had been destined to be Cobblestone releases with him & released them on those 2 labels (one such outfit involved being the Visitors). Can't find much of anything about the label in 1960's editions of Billboard mag. I'd really like to know a bit more about the label & its artists.
  21. With his connection to Benny Gordon, not surprised Trude Heller would book him .. .
  22. Some more from WWIN ...
  23. A very minor correction ... Roy Tempest's 'fake groups' first played UK tours from September 67 ... a couple at first, followed from 68 by a flood. All were groups at first as we had little knowledge of the make-up of such groups (who their members were) but later (from around early 70), he got more blatant & started advertising solo artists (Chuck Jackson, Carla Thomas & the like). Lots of the groups who appear on the above posted handbills were 'fakes' -- the Platters actually being the Laddins aka the Steinways. Although F4C says I have VAST 1ST HAND EXPERIENCE, I'd say many more soulies who frequented the Wheel in 68 / 69 / 70 would remember more than me. I was fortunate to get my first full-time job in late 1966 (November-ish), I was 'gifted' a pocket diary in Dec 66 and kept detailed records for all of 67. I attended many more WHEEL NITERS in 68 but (not having kept a diary that year) couldn't tell you who I saw that year ... the ravages of time since & intake of substances back then making my memory almost none existent of that period. He was an unwashed teenager from a pit village near Wakefield at the time WHEREAS I was a new school leaver from Donny who got a job working for the WRCC in Wakefield at the time. I was buying my records back in Donny at the weekend but in Wakefield on weekdays (remember a decent record stall on market days & a top record shop down the hill not far from Westgate rail stn -- they had a great back-catalogue tucked away out of sight -- but if you asked for the right 45 you could get lucky). SO our paths may well have crossed all those years ago.


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