Roburt

Hope to hear this played at every Casino Oldies nite I attend from now on. ........... top tune with strong Wigan connections.

Well the (1967) Twisted Wheel was about my 4th regular allniter, so that tells you what era I'm from .... .... and all this insistence on OVO just makes me laugh ..... don't get it at all; never have, never will ... ... the idea that you would refuse to dance to a fave track coz it wasn't being played off OV is just plain crazy.

.... went to a local soul/northern do at weekend, place packed dancefloor full most of night, everybody enjoying themselves still full hour after last record ........... So the place was buzzing & everyone there had a great time. Loads of people still there way after the last record was spun, so obviously a great 'social' event. So WTF does it matter one jot what format the music was played off.

I started work on my book about 18 months ago with a deadline of Spring 2012. Still only 70% through the research stage & only 50% through the 'initial draft chapters' stage. ............... set myself a spring 2013 date to finish it now. Mind you, coming on here & finding a topic that interests me has me shooting off at tagents numerous times. That slows down work on my major project. I also get involved in 'smaller projects' & get to post up an article quickly (on here or the like). Everything seems to slow my major project down these days ... PLUS .... my source / collaborator will tell me some fact or other & that will open up a whole new area that I have to research.

Stax hit Miami in May 69 ............. ... followed by another booking for local act Jessie (Lee) Ferguson & the OL's ...

I posted this photo up on a soul related web site a couple of weeks ago .............. ... wouldn't mind a couple of those show ad hangings for my record room (if they'd fit in that is, they look quite tall) ............

Dave, I only checked this article and didn't see the photo up there. Just looked at the 'Forever Saturday Night' article which I didn't know was up on the site as well & saw it there. I see Oliver made mention of the 'Mad Dog & Pups' tracks in the 'other article' (Forever Saturday Night) on him. Yes, got the 45 -- Many thanks.

Sorry Steve, I was obviously WAY OUT with my guestimate that ..... .... The Honey Bees 45 (Garrison #3005 / 50642) had to be released around MARCH to June of 1967 .....

Google (& Bing) maps are great for seeing how things looked a few months back but they constantly update their info & so you never get things in a 'historical context'. What someone needs to do now is go back to the 60's / 70's maps / aerial photos and start loading those up online. So much of the neighborhoods that we are interested in have been decimated over the last 30 years. Pull up modern day maps of the 'soul' areas of Detroit, Chicago, Baltimore, Miami, etc and what you see bears no relation at all to what was there in the 'glory years' (60's / 70's). Just about all the top chiltlin circuit venues are long gone. The studios, record shops, bars , small local clubs have all been bulldozed. To get a feel for what an area was like, we need aerial or street shots that are over 30 years old. .... AND ... its not just the street scenes that we have lost. It amazes me how few photos there are of soul artists performing in top US & UK theatres / clubs. Every week across the USA (back in the 60's) there would be upwards of 100 artists performing in chitlin circuit venues but how many were photographed & which of the few shots that were taken still exist. About the only place I can think of where photos are available is the Apollo in Harlem. Top acts (usually 5/6) played venues such as Carr's Beach from the 40's thru to the 70's .... but try to find photos of them & only about a dozen can be found on the net -- and many of those concentrate on the MC (DJ) with just the act in the background. I was at the Wheel (for the last time) yesturday and for 4/5 years they had top acts on live at every Saturday allniter, but how many photos of those acts exist today and it is very few. I find this strange as many of the acts were 'charting' at the time (late 60's) and it was their only show in the Manchester area on each tour. You would have thought the local newspaper's entertainment's reporter would have gone along to interview / photograph the likes of Ike & Tina, Edwin Starr, Ben E King, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Ruffin, Jnr Walker, Johnny Johnson & Bandwagon, Drifters, etc; but they don't seem to have made the effort.

Oliver (during his Move days) snapped in his hotel room up in Scotland ...

These guys were swinging down in Miami ...

the honeybees recorded on roxbury (dream express) 1976 That set of Honey Bees were UK based. Their producers were Richard Hewson & Phil Swern who worked with the likes of the Pearls (1972), R & J Stone, Bryan Taylor, etc. Hewson led the RAH Band

Pete, the dates are listed in my text .... L to R: Dec 66 / Jan 67 / May 71

Wrong. The Tams went out as 'the Girls' when x-dressing. They did gigs on the beach scene in the 60's. The Honeybees were really the Temptations in drag !! While that info is fresh in my mind; think I'll add it to the group's Wikipedia pages

Some Garrison related info ............... The Garrison label was launched in early December 1966 Earl Harrison's big 45 (Garrison #3001 / 50620) on the label hit the stores (& the charts) in Jan 67. The Honey Bees 45 (Garrison #3005 / 50642) had to be released around March to June of 1967 ..... ... weren't the Andantes very busy at Motown at that time ?? ... AND ... Honey & the Bees were definitely busy in Philly recording studios (on Arctic sessions) during that period. There was a Honey Bees playing gigs in Las Vegas in May 71. I doubt this was the same group though. There were also groups who used the name in the 1950's & 1970's.

RE: the BevGlenn / ABC Records Otis Smith >> FEB 1973; ABC / Dunhill Records appoint Otis Smith as vice president in charge of special projects. Smith was responsible for ABC's expansion into the r&b field, covering all phases of that product. Smith had been with ABC in the capacity of Director of Singles Sales at an earlier time (from 1968 thru to early 1970's). In 1971 & 1972 he was working for Hot Wax (label vice-president) & Invictus. He had joined label management at MGM in 1962 and then had a spell at Riverside from Feb 1967. So I guess the recording artist Otis Smith & the label manager of the same name were different guys (unless he was doing both at the same time).

Honey & the Bees (Josie) Personal Mangement -- Jimmy Bishop & Penguin Artists Booking Agent -- QBC

WMBM Miami -- July 68

ACADEMY #14 -- May 65

'Things Got Better' in Miami back in 1969 ............

The best set (of crockery) I ever saw spun was back in the 60's on Crackerjack. Can't recall the name of the 'spinner' though. .... and I wouldn't go with Kegsy's nomination as he can only remember the last 4 years; everything before that is a blank to him (so his opinion can't count).

Hey, I used to take you for nights out to the Hull soul clubs back when you were still in short pants ...... I couldn't be expected to find you copies of rare UK 45's at low prices as well !!!! Anyway, the guy in the Wakefield record shop (it was halfway down the hill towards Westgate Rail Stn, can't recall the name but it had been there for some years) had a 'stock' of old UK 45's up in the shop's attic & he would go and fetch a copy of things you asked for by name .... but you could only have one copy of each 45 per visit & he wouldn't tell you what he had up there or let you look yourself.

It was a big record on the UK scene way before 1971.

The Otis Smith who ran Beverly Glen Records was a top executive at ABC Records in 1974/75. He was responsible for signing black acts to the label -- one of those being the Hitchhikers (ABC 5209) This album was recorded at Conneticut Recording Studios, Bridgeport CT in 1973. The group's lead vocalist was Kenny Hamber with Vinnie Vincent credited as playing guitar on the album. The Hitchhikers was a R&B group based out of Providence (initially the group members had come up from Baltimore with Kenny for an extended engagement at Jeffrey Osborne's mothers nightclub. When the original guys got homesick & went off, Kenny recruited a bunch of local guys and kept gigging around the area). Vinnie Vincent would go on to play on many recording sessions including Dan Hartman's "Instant Replay" album sessions.

Honey & The Bees on Arctic & Josie were Cassandra Ann Wooten, Gwendolyn Oliver, Jean Davis and Nadine Felder ..... ....... this group backed up many other artists on their Arctic recording session. For instance, they provide backing vocals on the Kenny Hamber Arctic cuts.