Roburt

Now I'm sure Ian Dewhirst will know lots about this subject ......... Patrick Adams got his start in the music biz in the mid 60's with soul group the Sparks. The group hit lucky from day one and landed a slot in a movie. Before long they were signed to Cub Records and had the 45 "Cool It" issued in 1967. By 1970 Patrick was working for Perception Records and when he left that organisation in 1974, he started up Harlem based P & P Records with Peter Brown. P & P soon hit it big with disco tunes & the label helped establish Patrick as a major player on the NY disco scene ...... BUT ..... my question is a bit more specialised. One of the 45's put out by P & P was by locally based singer Henry 'Smokey' Brooks. One side of this featured a late 60's sounding soul dancer; "Greatest Debt To My Mother". The other side of the 45 was pure JB style funk; "Mini Skirt". So both sides of the 45 were 'throw-back' sounding tracks by the mid 70's. ALSO, the "Greatest Debt" track is very short in duration for the mid 70's (2 mins 11 secs). This leads me to assume that this was an old cut that had languished in the tape vaults for a number of years before it escaped on that P & P 45. Henry Brooks more usually recorded under the name Smokey Brooks and as such he had a number of other impressive 45's released. His full real name was Henry L Brooks & he penned songs with the likes of Otis Turner and was signed to Leonard Lewis publishing (operated out of Leonard's apt at 345 W 58th St New York). Smokey also worked with Bobby Robinson and Earle Robinson. He had 45's out on Now (Leonard Lewis' label) .... "Eternal" being a good deep soul ballad. the above was coupled with another JB style funk item "Spin-It Jig" ... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0D-6lM7Zxp0 He also had 45's on Rampage (Bobby Robinson's label) -- "Nobody Loves You Like I Love You" ( 60's soul dancer) which was coupled with "Everyday Is A Good Day (When You're In Love)" .... And a 45 on Rochelle (out of NJ) "7 Moves For 7 Grooves" that was licensed for national distribution by Veep. This last track (also a funky dancer) got national distribution (on Veep) in the summer of 1967. So I'd guess that most of Henry's tracks were cut in the mid to late 1960's. Can anyone confirm this ???

His 1st New York show back in November 1971 ....

A Way Out Records gathering (footballer Jim Brown, who funded the Big Jim label, is in centre holding the LP) ... ...

Lou Ragland's big MS / 2 Step tune "Making Love" ......... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mbseqjMSJTk Peter Spence's new reggae version of the song. An earlier reggae (Lovers Rock) version of the song ....... by Barry Boom ....

Both groups were on BBC TV this morning & came over really well (both talking & singing) .... https://www.bbc.co.uk...t-arts-17364661 The Tops have a new lead singer -- Harold 'Spike' Bonhart (though Ronnie McNeir is still there). Spike sounds as close to Levi as its possible to get !!!! The UK tour should be good (Tavares are also on it & they were GREEEAAAATTTTT at Prestatyn).

A feature story on Cleveland soul ......... https://rockhall.com/...d-music-history Lou Ragland in London .............

Cheers, Ian. Pity you weren't around in NY during the time period I'm interested in. I have done some more research & it turns out that Lloyd Price bought 'the Birdland' , refurbished the club & opened it as the Turntable Club in March 1967. In the early months (through to early 68) the club didn't book name artists. When it did start to book top singers on a regular basis, Lloyd obviously used his contacts from down the years (he had been gigging up & down the east coast circuit since the early 50's) to secure acts to perform in the club. So acts such as the Coasters, Chubby Checker & Chuck Jackson played the venue (Chuck Jackson followed on from Chubby Checker in May 70).

Tyrone Perry (later a member of Westmoreland & Co. on Emkay) started out in the Young Disciples who were the backing band on all the Yodi stuff. The Yodi organisation was set up by Alan Merry as a local youth project to keep East St. Louis kids off the street corners & out of trouble. Phillip Westmoreland (a guitar player who worked in the studio for Oliver Sain in late 60's / early 70's) put together a new band around 1972 in conjunction with Marcus Kelley (who had earlier cut for Bob Eagle's White Eagle label), calling it Westmoreland Company featuring Marcus Kelley. They were signed to CMC in St Louis and soon began working there with Kent Washburn ( the Hypnotic's, Charles Drain's producer) Kent completed a couple of tracks that Oliver Sain had started cutting on the group plus he laid down additional songs with a view to landing them a record deal. Another outfit that contributed to the tracks the group cut (providing backing vocals) was the Georgettes. These tracks all got lost in the mix at the time but eventually escaped on the only soul album released by Kent Washburn on his Emkay label (1979).

The musical director at the Turntable Club was Charles Davis, a famed jazz sax player. This probably explains why the club still put on jazz nights each week, even in 1969 & 1970. Monday & Tuesday were jazz nights, with a live act. Wednesday was talent show night with acts just turning up & performing. No doubt, if a really impressive act turned up one week, they would be considered for a record deal with Lloyd's Turntable Records. Thursday through Sunday was when the headline act (Howard Tate, Jean Wells, Jean DuShon, Brenda 'Lee' Jones, the Buckeye Politicians, the Coasters or Lloyd himself) would perform. If you had made it along to the club in April 70, you would have been given a free copy of Howard Tate's 'Reaction' LP.

This is probably a question that only the likes of Ian Dewhirst or similar (guys who were regular visitors to NY in the 70's) can answer ... I'm after info on Lloyd Price's club that was located at 1674 Broadway (Between 52nd Street and 53rd Street). The place has a long history of being a night club. From 1949 to 1965 it was the famous jazz club, Birdland (owned by Morris & Irving Levy & named after Charlie Parker). As a jazz venue it struggled from late 63 and by 64 had started booking soul singers (the Lloyd Price Revue doing very good business there in April 64). After a while in limbo, the club was refurbished & opened as Lloyd Price's Turntable Club, live acts being the main draw (though Lloyd advertised the club as 'the Home of WWRL DJ's'). During this period, Lloyd's business partner, Harold Logan, was shot dead in the office above the club (May 69) in mysterious circumstances. The Ed Sullivan Band (leader Ray Block) used the club to rehearse for their slot on the TV show most Saturday & Sundays, so the place was kept busy. As the 60's drew to a close and into the early 70's, the club still managed reasonable business. But by mid 71 it was struggling, so Lloyd renamed it the Crawdaddy Club and undertook a week long engagement himself to try to boost business. Live acts still appeared at the club and in 1974, Rudy Gay (a 22 year old from Farmville, NC) was spotted performing at the club and recommended to the other members of Ace Spectrum. He auditioned for the group & was taken on as a member. The place was still going as the Crawdaddy Club in 1975 but by then, records were mainly keeping the punters entertained (Lloyd afterwards claimed it was one of the 1st disco's in NY). In the summer of 75, Lloyd (who by then was running a big youth development project) was using it as a recording studio to teach some kids about the biz. In the early 70's, Lloyd had become friends with Don King (about to become a big boxing promoter) and the pair promoted some big fights together. By the mid 70's, Don King was also trying to establish his own record label and he would get the groups he'd signed to play gigs at the club to help learn their trade, gauge their popularity with the NY crowd. But by 1976, Lloyd had sold the place & it had been re-badged as the disco, Boombamakaoo. It quickly became one of the top discos in Manhattan, with current DJ Bobby Morales being a punter there in its early days. By November 1976 it was one of the places to be seen, mainly due to the work of DJ Jorge Wheeler. A typical playlist at the club was documented at that time .................. ..... DJ Jorge Wheeler's Picks ANOTHER STAR - StevieWonder (Tamla) DON'T WALK AWAY - General Johnson (Arista) DOWN TO LOVE TOWN - Originals (Motown) GOIN' UP IN SMOKE / THANKS FOR THE MEMORIES / MUSIC MAN - Eddie Kendricks (Tamla) I BELIEVE IN LOVE - Rock Gazers (Sixth Avenue) LIKE HER! - Gentlemen & Their Lady (Roulette) MESSAGE IN OUR MUSIC - O'Jays (Phila. Intl.) SPRING AFFAIR / SUMMER FEVER - Donna Summer (Casablanca) WHEN LOVE IS NEW - Arthur Prysock (OldTown) YOU'RE MY DRIVING WHEEL - Supremes (Motown) An earlier one of his top spins had been Crown Heights Affair's "Dreamin A Dream" (back in 1975). I have no idea when Boombamakaoo went under, but for one night in 1979, it was turned back into the Birdland Club. The place is still a night club, now its Flashdancers Gentlemen's Club (a strip joint). Did anyone here visit the club in any of its Turntable / Crawdaddy / Boobamakaoo periods. If so, can you pass along anything you can recall about the place. CHEERS.

Will day tickets be available (want to see the Impressions again) ?

A good few of them are (about 10 I'd guess). However the vast majority are worth next to knowt. Can't recall at the mo which ones are collectable; the David Ruffin is one I like a lot. It tends to be the 'original song' ones rather that the synthed up 60's classics recuts.

Well, it would help if I ran a record label on which I could release the track. ...... but I guess a UK outfit (BBE) is already in touch with Exact Change as they have included the groups "Get Ready" on their 'Best of Disco Demands' comp CD package ........... https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CD5idGxxdxo Have to drop BBE an e-mail to see if they might also be interested in "Love Is The Answer".

Paul, I think it would be very easy to make contact with them ....... EXACT CHANGE MUSIC - Contact: William Butler Jr -- Phone: (301) 325-1857 EXACT CHANGE MUSIC, 1400 ELLWOOD AVE. BALTIMORE, MD 21213-3906

The 75 minute documentary was fascinating. What a true individual Bill was / is. He didn't enjoy touring, so he just gave it up. Wasn't bothered about all the money he was missing out on. Didn't like the advice the record company A&R men were giving him, so quit recording rather than compromise. You've got to admire a guy with such principals.

Now, Now, Arthur. If its so unloved, why do you keep playing it & people who hear it, want to own it ?

Aaron Johnson wrote "I've Been Looking" but Deloris Ealy wrote a few songs herself (some in conjunction with Aaron). The publishing on her songs is all over the place these days ......... Some are administered by a publishing company in Oakland, some by another in Detroit (TellDell Music -- "I Wish You Were Mine") & yet others by an outfit from San Pedro, Cal. 3 totally different concerns spread across the States & yet she only has 7 songs registered in all.

Mitty Collier version is way better than the Linda Queen effort ........ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kAG36ZvfcRU

Think I'll ask Kenny Hamber to get in touch with William 'Billy' Butler to discuss a licensing deal to get this track put out officially.

Yep, that sure looks like James.

Jimmy had been in a nursing home in S.C. when he passed. He had been battling Alzheimers for the last 3 years. Here he is with his gold disc for "Disco Inferno".

No live acts, no modern room, no attend. Bring back Prestatyn.

Before helping form the Tramps, Jimmy was lead singer for the Exceptions (Cameo) / Four Exceptions(Parkway).

Don't think that this is common knowledge yet ........ Jimmy Ellis of the Trammps passed away in March. http://www.heraldonl...erno-jimmy.html added by site a clip from a news item featured on the Charlotter Observer... the full article c... Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full