Roburt

..... AND YET there's this info on Wiki ............... Neal Hemphill (born 1930 in Mobile was a plumber and record producer who operated the a recording studio from the basement of his Midfield plumbing shop between 1966 and 1985. Hemphill recorded tracks for numerous musicians and songwriters that went on to greater acclaim, releasing many of them on his own Sound of Birmingham, Hemphill, Black Kat and Crown Ltd labels. The studio's biggest hit was Frederick Knight's 1972 R&B ballad "I've Been Lonely for So Long", which was licensed to Stax Records. Hemphill was born in Mobile and had tried singing professionally with the gospel group "The Commander's Quarter". In the 1960s he moved his family to Birmingham and opened a plumbing business. In 1966 he opened up a private recording studio, which he named the Sound of Birmingham, in the basement of his plumbing shop. He experimented constantly with recording equipment and techniques and, over time, developed a characteristic sound for the studio that emphasized creativity and experimentation. That sound, as well as Hemphill's liberal philosophy on paying for sessions, attracted a number of young artists. In 1976 Hemphill suffered a heart attack and had to sell his recently-completed larger studio. Don Moseley purchased the equipment, including a 16-track mixing board Hemphill had bought from Jimi Hendrix's Electric Ladyland studio, and moved Sound of Birmingham downtown. In the 1980's Hemphill returned to recording, opening Hemphill Studios in his old studio space next to the plumbing shop. He died in 1985. So he started cutting his label's tracks in 1966 and gave up (initially) in 1976. Of course, the Crown Ltd 45 release's may have kicked off after 1966, so it seems that the dating is still not fully established. If Crown Ltd #120 does date from 1970, then Dobyne's version must have gone out initially as a 'demonstration track' for other singers to consider recording the song. As Bobby Freeman cut a version in August 66, the song had to be written prior to that date with a copy of it finding its way to Bobby at Loma that summer.

Lots of negative guys wading into the thread now; don't it always happen here. I'm still not sure that these Crown Ltd 45's date from the end of the 60's (or later). Robert Dobyne just about always wrote with Charles Edward Jones and some of their BMI registered songs were for Motown (Stone Agate: "Say You" & "Never Leave Your Baby's Side"). Charles Edward Jones seems to have been Chicago based, as was Dobyne when he was singing with the Artistics in 1963. I'd say that "Soulful Kind of Music" was influenced by the Stax sound (Otis, S&D, etc) and as the other side of that 45 is a S&D cover, the single has to date from after April 66. But Bobby Freeman also cut the song Dobyne penned, his Loma 45 escaping around September 1966. So to me, that would date Crown Ltd #120 as a summer 1966 release and would mean that the earlier 45's on the label are 1963/64 to 1966 efforts. I'm sure the likes of Bob (with all his Chicago related knowledge) should be able to help out with the dating of Dobyne's efforts.

Like it a lot ........ when do these 'early series' Crown Ltd 45's date from ?.... mid 60's ?? Guess we have little chance of establishing who Blind Billy was (could well have been a 'gospel star' from a group trying his hand at a R&Bish solo session). Do the gospel singles on the label span the divide (time wise) between the soul sides ?? The label was of course re-activated in the 80's for those fine David Sea cuts.

So did the Canadian copy come out in 1963 or 1966 ??? If it was 1966, it could have had bits added (femme backing vocals) to make it sound more up-to-date.

A Baltimore 45 chart from 1966 ............... Check out the tracks at # 21 & # 37 ....

This 45 was officially issued twice back in the US ............... First in 1963 when Roulette were trying to break Sam & Dave as a hit act and then again in 1966 when the duo were making hits for Stax. Can't tell if the 45 on ebay is a US or Canadian copy.

The track sounds better live than on the CD (the electronic backing on the recorded version is awful) .... https://www.amazon.com/Higher-and-Single/dp/B00607QJQ6/ref=sr_shvl_album_3/191-2327643-3800855?ie=UTF8&qid=1352283423&sr=301-3

Bobby a few years ago .............

By all accounts, he's Vegas based and does tribute shows there (& on cruises) as 'Jackie Wilson'.

This guy has a new CD out ..... .... remind you of anyone ....

Here's one of her tracks .............

The 45 track's that Debbie Rollins laid down are more girl group / wall of sound type cuts than Northern, but I like her ballad efforts quite a lot. She worked with the best studio guys; Jerry Ragavoy, Garry Sherman, etc. and they got some good efforts out of her back in 1964 (on the 3 Ascot 45's released on her that year). It seems that she was only 15 years old at the time she cut those tracks & at least one of her 45's gained decent radio exposure .... ... so why did she totally disappear off the radar after 1964 ? Did Ragavoy move onto other projects, did she concentrate on school & then college ??? Anyone know the story behind her short recording career & why it ended so quickly ??

WAKE UP TO THE SUNSHINE GIRL ..... BMI Work #6146787 Songwriters / Composers .... PAVLIK JOHN LEON & VALVANO MICHAEL Publishers .... JET EYE MUSIC INC Lifted from John Pavlik / Johnny Power's web site ............... In addition to his successes as an artist and producer, Johnny Power's entrepreneurial skills resulted in the publishing companies begun by him. Powerhouse Music and his current enterprise, JET-EYE MUSIC Inc. With Jet-Eye, Powers played a pivotal role in revitalizing the career of his friend George Clinton by licensing Clinton's music to various labels around the world. Jet-Eye is also responsible for reissuing classic recordings by numerous rock, jazz and doo-wop acts of the 1950s, '60s and '70s with internationally recognized labels in the United States, Europe and Asia. Powers negotiated and placement his performance of "Say It" in the Hemdale Film's production of Mosquito which aired originally on USA Cable Network and it continues to air on U.S and international television networks. So it seems that the BMI Jet-Eye registration for the song is even more recent (after Y2K I'd guess).

Most likely ASCAP registration done in 73; BMI registration done in 80's / 90's ..... ..... and the original guy involved with Mike was no longer around ............... OR ............. the original name was 'fake' coz the 2nd guy was signed to a different publisher at the time. STOP ASKIN' HARD QUESTIONS KEGSY ... or I'll not let you have your ball back !!

Coz it sounds like one (& for no other reason).

I know me'lad, but that's how it's registered with BMI ............. & most of Mike's songs are registered with BMI today (80 to 90 in total).

There was a record company / manufacturing outfit based out of Alberqurque in the early 70's -- H.I.M. Inc, Copy Rite Recording, Crown Stars Inc, H&N Contracting, H&N Tape Co, etc. of 4401 Valencia, Southeast, Albuquerque. This outfit was run by an old LA based record biz guy Herbert 'Speedy' Newman,. Anyway, early in 1972 they found that their facilities were underused, so they started pressing up 'major label' LP's & selling them ..... .... only trouble was the 'major labels' (Warners, Atlantic, RCA, CBS, MCA, London, etc) hadn't given them permission to press up their product. Copy Rite claimed they were entitled to press up copies as the original labels held a monopoly position thereby breaking US anti-trust laws. It took 2/3 years but the whole outfit was prosecuted, the companies closed down & the equipment sold off to pay the fines / damages. So if this outfit was pressing legit stuff locally plus bootlegging other records around 72/73, maybe Mike V went to them to get some 'old tracks' pressed up at a decent rate.

After Bert Berns died, his wife attempted to keep Shout / Bang going as viable labels. She hired Harold Berkman to run the company in summer 68 & they set up deals for the likes of Teddy Vann, Rick Hall, Phil Walden, George Tobin & Johnny Cymbal to produce acts for the labels. They also kept tenure at Incredible Sound Studio, (126 West 42nd St) New York. In late summer / early fall 68, Mike Valvano was signed to work for the labels. Maybe the Joey Delorenzo tracks date from Mike's period in New York in late 68 / 1969. By 1970, Mike was back in Detroit working (for Motown) with the likes of Rustix (& then Stoney & Meatloaf). By summer 69, Harold Berkman (who had been with MGM in mid 60's) had given up on Shout / Bang and was heading up Life Records (who put out the Wind 45 "Groovin With Mr. Bloe" that got NS scene plays back in the 70's -- Tony Orlando sang lead on this outfit's vocal tracks).

............... FROM BMI database ................... WAKE UP TO THE SUNSHINE GIRL ..... BMI Work #6146787 Songwriters / Composers .... PAVLIK JOHN LEON & VALVANO MICHAEL Publishers .... JET EYE MUSIC INC

Wasn't Mi-Val a label owned by Mike (& the Modifiers) Valvano ?? After Motown relocated to Los Angeles in the 70's, they were looking for new talent and different sounds. The company signed Xit, a Native American band from Albuquerque, New Mexico to a contract. So Berry Gordy sent Mike Valvano to Albuquerque to oversee the new act. The group had an LP out on Rare Earth in April 1973. Whilst in Alberqurque, Valvano fell in love, married a local, and stayed in the city for 20 years. So that would place the Mi-Val 45 release at around the mid 70's (so it had a real throw-back sound) -- of course it could have been cut much earlier (in Detroit?) & just released after Mike moved to Alberquque.

.............. this record fell foul of the same old tiresome too white/too poppy thing ....... ........Yea, when you're into soul, what's not to like about a white poppy stomper (apart from everything that is !!). ........... Bring back Wigan's Ovation I say.

Chalky posted the link to this page .... but didn't highlight the fact that .... ... they run tours of United Record Pressings Plant .... every Friday 11am ... $5 .... Has any soulie that has visited Nashville been on the tour ?? (....... https://www.urpressing.com/history.php)

Southern Plastics .... back in the day .....

Info on Southern Plastics (United Record Pressing) ..... United Record Pressing, this nation's largest vinyl record pressing plant, is near downtown Nashville. It was formed in the late 1940s as Southern Plastics. In the early 1960s, when the company became United Record Pressing and began pressing records for some black-owned and managed record companies (particularly Motown and Vee Jay), the black executives and artists of those companies could not get hotel rooms or eat in restaurants here when they came in to oversee the pressing of their records, due to lingering Jim Crow attitudes. So, United turned most of the uppermost floor of their main building into a large, comfortable apartment for its visitors, complete with a big party room. They named the apartment the "Motown Suite." It has all been preserved mostly just as it was back then, with the original 1960s blond wood paneling, chrome dinette set, Art Deco lamps, vintage furniture and TVs and large console stereos. When I toured the United plant recently, it was a very odd feeling to sit at the same kitchen table where Berry Gordy and Smoky Robinson and other Motown notables sat and had breakfast because they weren't welcome in Nashville's downtown hotels or cafes. The pressing plant itself today is very impressive to watch in action. Making phonograph records is an incredibly complicated process and is very labor intensive. This is not an automated record plant where you push a button at one end and get widgets popping out at the other. Human beings are very involved with every step, all down the line. Link to full article .... https://www.cmt.com/news/nashville-skyline/1646608/nashville-skyline-nashvilles-motown-suite-is-a-storied-part-of-history.jhtml

Company Name: NASHVILLE PHONO MATRIX, INC. Address: 1314 LEWIS ST, NASHVILLE, TN 372100000 USA Registration Number: 000022332 Status: Inactive — Terminated Formation Date: 1961-12-01 NASHVILLE PHONO MATRIX formed on 1961-12-01 in Tennessee.