Roburt

A 1965 gig for Rita ............

Not a high profile label with UK soulies in the early to mid 60's as too many 45's on the label here had no connection at all to soul (& we were still very young & quite uneducated in the lesser known soul artists). I do seem to recall chasing a Chicago outing that came out here on Fontana (could be wrong though, memory going as I get older ?) -- the 45 in question being by Morris Vaughn (My Love Keeps Growing ?). Don't recall chasing any of the Motown tracks on the label (was after the newer releases on Stateside), the Betty Everett's were much easier to find on President and the UK 'mod' recordings weren't of much interest to me back then (not enough spare cash to buy them after I had bought US recorded stuff). BTW, anyone know much at all about Morris Vaughn. I know he cut in Chicago with Jack Daniels but apparently he originally came from St Louis & cut solo tracks (for Gateway) & group tracks (with the¯»¿ Soulful Illusion") in the city. It seems it's the other side of his Fontana 45 that is favoured now but I don't remember every playing tuva side at all down the years.

Garnett's tracks were really popular with UK soulies in the mid to late 60's (though "Lookin For You" wasn't a regular play). All his US 45's got released here + he toured a few times & cut a live LP here. His biggies with Yorks soulies were "I'll Take Good Care Of You", "Been Such A Long Way Home", "Cry Baby", etc. but all slow or mid tempo so again not massive club plays (but they did all get spun). "It Was Easier To Hurt Her" wasn't as popular (though still a great track) coz the UK cover had been played to death on the radio & had 'taken the edge' of listening to Garnett's far superior original version.

A guy who has 'hung on' in the recording biz for around 50 years now ..............

Just about all the Ru-Jac 45's have always been a bit hard to find. When the 1st UK NS'ers 'discovered' the label, there were copies around to be snapped up. The supply soon dried up though. Most copies were sold in Baltimore back in the day but some (mainly later Ru-Jac releases) were nationally distributed or licensed by big labels for 2nd issues. The Shyndells were the label's usual studio backing band even though lots of the tracks were actually cut in the DC area rather than in Balto (there wasn't really a decent studio in Baltimore till the late 60's). By 1970, Rita was performing jazz in Balto clubs (if my memory is working right today), so her soul days were over in but a few short years. Rufus Mitchell, who owned / ran the Ru-Jac label, was a big local business man & concert promoter, so artists signed to his label were always assured loads of local live gig work. The whole catalogue has been 'scooped' by a (the best) UK reissue label and so comprehensive CD releases (& probably selected 45 releases) are assured. A single artist CD (maybe 2) will form the initial release of Ru-Jac stuff, but I'm sure Rita's tracks will follow (in 2013 ?) on a comp various artist CD from the UK label. No idea how much 'unissued' stuff was cut back in the day (some for sure) but don't think the master tapes still exist for these (though I hope I'm proved wrong on this point).

Another chart from a Baltimore radio station ..... Not too many local records figure on this chart though Jay Wiggins (a very popular live draw in the city) is on there. 5 Motown tracks in the Top 20, Eddie Holland being the most pleasing to me.

Me think Paul Dunn speak with forked tongue !!!! ..... well maybe not ..............

It depends how 'far' you want to stray into MS ...... lots of fans embrace any track, including new recordings, that has a strong soulful vocal no matter how 'housey' or 'garagey' the backing is. Others just like traditional souly stuff up to the 1990's. Loads of great 'real soul' artists still out there, check out stuff made by any of the acts who performed live in the Modern room at the Prestatyn W/Ender (Fish has great taste & only booked the best). Marc Evans & Marcel & the Truth spring instantly to mind. At the risk of being thrown off here, you couldn't do much better than join EMS to 'catch up' on all things modern soul wise (there are 'retro & new release sections on the site, so all era's are covered). BUT .... MS Fans aren't OVO only ..... lots prefer 'download' tracks (not me though) . Some great tracks are 'download' only. Others are CD only. The BEST (& worst) thing about post 1990 tracks is the number of mixes of a tune that are available. So though the dance scene fans will go for a 'bleeps & beats' version as their fave, there will usually also be a 'soul mix' version for us types. BUT BEWARE WHEN BUYING 12"s... loads of tracks will have 2 /3 different 12" vinyl releases to select from & the 'soul mix' will usually only be available on one of these. So, select carefully before pressing the buy button or you could end up with a copy that only features 4 / 5 different 'bleeps & beats' versions. GOOD HUNTING.

Really going off topic now .... but not a lot of people know this ..... RE : Sam Fletcher on Tollie I was one of the 1st Brits to visit Johnny Pate at his house in Vegas (about 12 / 13 years ago). He knew nothing about the NS scene, so I started listing the 45 tracks that he had been involved with that were NS faves. He couldn't even remember "Soul Self Satisfaction" or the artist, apparently some artists were assigned to him by ABC & he just met them in the studio, cut a couple of tracks on these type of artists, mixed the tracks & forgot about them. But when I mentioned the Sam Fletcher cut he got really excited. He hadn't thought about the track in years & hadn't heardit since a couple of months after it was recorded ... BUT .... it was one of his all time fave recording sessions and he was very proud of the way that cut ended up sounding. I had to make sure he got a copy of the track (on CD-R) as soon after I met him as possible. All the massive hits he worked on (The Impressions, etc) & it was this one that he was 'proudest' of.

Ady, You are a top true soul man .... but you do push 60's to the fore at every opportunity !! .... there are some of us that still like the sounds that got us into soul in the 1st place .. .... ... but we've also moved on to love 70's, 80's, 90's & even Y2K stuff.

Who was the 'little monkey' that started a big US dance craze back in 1963 .... .... none other than the Major !!!

Great news ..... in fact it's "Headline News". Hope Ady ignores his usual prejudices and lets William sing some of his MS gems ("Tryin To Love Two" instantly springs to mind).

the Artistics isn't a beat ballad ... .... Well we all used to dance to it back in 67, so what would you class it as; 2 step ?

Billy Stewart's LP 'Old Standards' won a album cover award at the end of January 1967, so I guess that was when it was released. So that would make the Artistics "I'm Gonna Miss You" an earlier play at Mojo allniters than Billy S's "Exodus".

Unless Stringfellow started playing Billy Stewart's "Exodus" before the Artistics 45 came out (he played the BS track off the 'Teaches Old Standards New Tricks' album - exactly when was that LP released in the US ?).

The Artistics "I'm Gonna Miss You" at the very end of 1966 at the Mojo club.

A New York area artist, recording & label ....... I much prefer the B side to the 'messy' top side dancer.

RE: many of them are from hispanic groups from san antonio. Bob, do you know why the song was so popular with the 'Mexican' community down there in 'nowheresville' Texas ? Guess the Radiants version (a national US hit in 1965) must have been a big radio play in the city.

Earl Turbinton (listed as a member of the Unusuals in the late 60's) was of course Willie Tee's brother ........ I didn't realise he was based up in the New York area during that period.

Good work, Russell.

BTW, "TRY IT" (Sonny Freeman's Jarda track) was written by JOE BURTON , JOHNNY COLEMAN , BOBBY FORTE , V S FREEMAN JR, WILBERT FREEMAN, MILTON HOPKINS , LOUIS HUBERT , RONALD LEVY , ELMOORE MORRIS & EDDIE ROWE. So I guess this was the outfit's line-up in 1971.

Think I'll stick with the Radiants (& Jimmy James & V's) versions.

A New York record label that was set up in 1971. Was "Stand Up & Be Counted" by Family Affair actually released ??? (I guess the song was the same one that Getto Kitty cut for Stroud). Sonny Freeman & the Unusuals were B B King's backing group for 3 / 4 years in the early 1970's, they toured overseas (Japan, Australia) with him as well as playing dates at such places as Rhode Island Prison. Sonny Freeman and the Unusuals were -- V. S. 'Sonny' Freeman -drums; Louis Hubert - tenor sax; Wilbert Freeman - bass; Booker Walker - alto sax; John Browning - trumpet & Ron Levy - piano. 'Little Joe' Burton was then added on trombone. Booker Walker left and was replaced by Earl Turbinton on alto. Louis Hubert switched to baritone sax and Bobby Forte was added on tenor sax. Then Milton Hopkins was added on rhythm guitar. They (SF&U's) were a fixture on the US club scene for many years; Odessa Harris was their featured lead singer for years (from the late 70's to late 80's) when they were based in the US mid-west. Sonny passed away in the late 80's.

Check out full details here ..... https://www.popmatters.com/pm/review/155496-lou-ragland-i-travel-alone/

This is what all those precious rare 45's were made to be played on .... ... (for $19.95 you could get one without the radio -- a real bargain)