Roburt

A few bits from US music mags that relate to this topic ... the vinyl shortage continued past July 1974 BUT for the big labels (who got the best service from pressing plants), it was mainly LP releases & LP pressing quantities that suffered the most. The likes of 20th Century Records was cutting some releases, not putting out product on lesser selling acts & not signing any new acts. Little indie labels struggled a lot more to get their product (including 45's) pressed up as they required. Which potential releases actually failed to see the light of day is very hard to determine as no record label boss was gonna admit in public that they were cutting product on this or that act. To do so was the surest way to ensure that act got out of it's contract with your company & signed a deal with a new one.

Adding further info on the crisis which unfolded very quickly during October 1973. The war kicked off on October 6th. Western countries (US, UK, etc.) soon jumped in to support Israel. On October 17th Arab countries increased the price of their oil & cut production. Nixon was in power in DC but consumed by the Watergate scandal, but he decided helping Israel in the war would distract from Watergate. So he started sending $millions / arms / etc. to Israel. Angered by this, King Faisal of Saudi Arabia retaliated on October 20, placing a total embargo on oil shipments to the United States. He was quickly joined by just about all of the other oil-producing Arab states. By 1973, US oil production had dropped below current consumption, so the US instantly had a shortage. So by the beginning of November 73, it was obvious to anyone using oil / petrol (gas) / petroleum products that things were gonna get tough very quickly & costs were going to shoot up for things like vinyl. This occured right in the pressing plants busiest period of the year (Sept to December -- to meet the Xmas sales rush). WHAT WERE THE PRESSING PLANTS TO DO .... they had multiple existing orders to meet, were quickly using up their existing stock of vinyl, were being quoted increased costs for new product + were warned that supplies would likely run out soon into 1974. It would be great to know what pressing plant bosses decided to do when faced with the above. . . just carry on regardless, meet all current orders in full & face the prospect of having no supply of vinyl left by January 74 ... or did they go back to their (favoured) clients and come up with a joint proposal to reduce the planned numbers of each 45 currently under order. That way, they'd have vinyl left & would be able to press up later releases for those same record companies. I guess they'd go with the later, as if they had 'new releases' available in the initial 3 months of 1974, when many other labels couldn't get their singles pressed ... then they'd get additional publicity for their 1974 releases + increased radio plays (less new 45's being made & therefore less sent out to radio stn DJ's). It also seems likely that they'd plump for a lesser number of promo copies of each new 45 (just enough to service music mags, radio & club DJ's) ... AND THEN ... would only get issue copies pressed up in quantity of those 45's that got good radio audience response. MEANWHILE, no doubt, there were outfits out there seizing the opportunity to make money by pulping unsold warehouse 45 stock, thereby producing recycled vinyl for the pressing plants to buy & use. So not only were some proposed new 45 releases abandoned, but lots of existing soul 45's pressed up over the period between (say) 1969 and 1972 were destroyed. Again, resulting in potential future collector's items being lost completely or being reduced to just a handful of copies remaining. For NS fans, this situation no doubt came about a couple of years too late to have a major effect on their 'rich vein of released singles' but for MS fans it must surely have reduced the number of big sounds that would become available to them.

Many of the B sides to 45's made by US pop singers are what you'd expect; pop pap. But then, they were only cutting soul flavoured A side tracks coz that genre was 'flavour of the month' through much of the mid to late 60's. So they weren't really soul acts, just opportunists jumping on the bandwagon.

I didn't say he did.

Prompted by another thread on here (the one on the UK London version of Darrell Banks' classic single), thought I'd add in this bit of info from Sidney Barnes ... (it links to comments from him that I quoted earlier concerning CAN'T SHAKE IT LOOSE by PAT LEWIS) .. Darrell Banks 45's B side is yet another example of 'strange goings on' with regard to publishing credits on Detroit 45's ..... BMI has the writers credits for OUR LOVE IS IN THE POCKET down as being Clinton / McCoy / Joanne Bratton -- the 45's label having the 3rd name as Joanne Jackson). In fact, the song was penned by George Clinton & Sidney Barnes ... not a happy situation for Sidney who states that ... I will forever be pissed about it.

Lots of other 'outside artists' cut @ Golden World. One of those being Rufus Wonder & the Additions. The Additions (aka the Editions) were teamed with Rufus for the session that resulted in their Lando 45. They originally undertook the cutting of Rufus's songs at United Sound (65) but that session didn't work out. So a few days later they went into Golden World studios and re-cut "Under The Moon" (info ascertained by Boba in an interview & by David Flynn). Is it known which Detroit studio the other Lando cuts were recorded in ? Rufus stated that he & the Additions sang backing vocals on Carl Carlton's "I Love Only You" (for Lando). Edd Henry the song's writer also cut the song (for Lando sub label Nu-Sound). No idea if Rufus sang on that version as well. Don't think it's mentioned which studio either of those sessions were undertaken at.

. . . . so Chuck approached the Sinceres and they agreed to go into the studio with him. For the purposes of the session and the subsequent 45 release, they were renamed the Soul Communicaters (Cleveland Martin being one of their members). To save money, Joe Averbach took two already recorded backing tracks and had Chuck pen new lyrics for both. The original cuts had been put out as by the Rhythm Rascals (Cleveland Martin once again being a member). Thus “Please Don't Go” and “Those Lonely Nights” were laid down by Chuck and the Sinceres / the Soul Communicaters in Tower Studio (New York) under the direction of Teacho Wilsure (the drummer on the session being Bernard 'Pretty' Purdie). The record was put out in Pittsburgh but failed to really register there. However, it did fare a lot better in Ohio and across southern states. Eventually copies of the single would be found by British soul fans and the B side would become a big Northern Soul sound. Much later (2005) German dance music producer Frank Popp put out "Breakaway" a song that samples "Those Lonely Nights". Chuck not knowing any of this, just moved on with his career .... BY THE WAY ... Joe Averbatch had been responsible for both the Dell-Vikings and Chuck Jackson's early successes. He was also the guy who sent Chuck to New York to record alternative versions of the two songs he & his group had laid down @ Golden World's studio . For that session, Chuck had to quickly pull together a new backing line-up and dubbed them the Chances. In New York, the new line-up cut revised versions of “Man Loves Two” & “Happy Go Lucky” (Sound / Veep). Another 45 that Cleveland Martin was on ...

Was the Carstairs 45 one that suffered due to the vinyl shortage or was it just coz Chess was going thru hard times generally & was 'pulling back' ? When Red Coach lost their Chess Records /GRT distribution in 1973, the 45's release was pulled after the promo stage. Gene Redd later issued the record himself via his own Red Coach/Red-Lite Records set-up, but that was well after the vinyl shortage was over.

In Jamaica, they always used recycled vinyl .. including bits of old paper labels just to add extra rubbish into the mix. It's also said that they'd sweep the pressing plant floor & all that rubbish would also go in the vinyl bin.

A war in the Middle East in 1973 led the OPEC countries (mainly Arab) to restrict oil production to punish western nations for supporting Israel. This led to a worldwide shortage of petroleum sourced items, as well as resulting in a massive price hike in petrol (gas) prices. By early 1974, many US pressing plants were struggling to source new supplies of vinyl, so they cut back on their production. Non regular customers were dropped, pressing volumes were reduced for many existing / ongoing customers and recycled vinyl was used (in whole or part) when pressing up new 45's. I guess we'll never know which acts had proposed releases that never saw the 'light of day' but it is easier to state which 'unsold stock' of 1971 / 72 / 73 soul 45's fell victim of the need to mince up singles just sat on warehouse shelves. Which decent soul 45's fell victim to this policy, has it been determined in the past ? Which soul 45's suffered from poor pressing quality due to the use of recycled vinyl ? Also some 45's must just have been produced in limited run promo copy form. If they didn't then garner any radio plays or get favourable music mag reviews, that would have been the end of that proposed release. I guess many of these have been ID'ed too.

So it seems BG was (partially) responsible for a lot of talent (both NY & Detroit based) ending up with Wingate / Golden World / Ric Tic. Then, when the 'new' outfit had enjoyed a few hits he got upset (maybe too strong a word) and bought them out. Strange goings on indeed. I think Gene Redd had lots of 'street smarts' even when based in NY, before starting to work in Detroit. Sidney Barnes worked a lot with him in NY but by the time he was in Detroit, he chose not to collaborate with Redd (though he had a lot of appreciation for him & his work).

Chuck Corby's 45 on a local radio chart ... & Little Milton's cover version which charted nationally ...

Chuck was quite photogenic back in the day ... so he got a few ad bookings for products ...

Chuck Corby's various versions of his "Man Loves Two" 45 + an ad for the single's release ... THEN ... a recent pic of Chuck performing ...

Chuck Corby's civic award for lasting 65 years in the music biz (he's still performing today) ...

My article on Chuck Corby runs to 6 pages ... with a little prompting from me (& a deal of research on my part), I believe we've arrived at the definitive account of his long career.

Yes, Chuck is quite open that his Italian heritage helped him get some jobs in Pittsburgh, Atlantic City, Vegas and the like. Anyone that's interested in his story can buy the new edition of SOUL UP NORTH mag ...

Chess did well with their cover version of "Man Loves Two" ... (by Little Milton). So a few years later, they returned the favour & signed Chuck to a deal. He had a 45 out that he hoped would be a breakthrough release for him. Unfortunately, Chess didn't promote it so his creer didn't take off due to this single ...

Just back from Cork (well, in Liverpool after visiting Cork & then Dublin). We were out early in Cork but passed a couple of record shops that looked decent for old 45's, LP's ... but they didn't open till 11am & the wife wouldn't let me hang about till then. A chance missed me thinks (I wasn't after any NS gems, just decent Irish 45 release soul & Motown stuff). BTW, if you have time for non soul / record stuff, the English Market is well worth a visit & has a decent coffee shop too.

Yes, Four + 1 were Pittsburgh based. The '+1' was Chuck Corby. As I told Robb, Chuck panicked when he hadn't heard back from Gene Redd in just over a month. He went to his local record contact, the guy wanted in on a deal & sent him to NY to cut the 2 original tracks they'd laid down @ GW. Thus a 45 featuring "Man Loves Two" was put out on the SOUND label and then picked up for national distribution by Veep (Little Milton also covered Chuck's song for Chess). The 45 on Veep did OK but Little Milton's version (with Chess pushing it) became the bigger hit). Chuck has no idea what became of the GW master tape that contained the group's 4 tracks.

A picture of the group who cut @ GW under Gene Redd ... (we're away on a cruise from today) ... so another update -- telling much of this story as it relates to the group & their lead singer's GW experiences will have to wait till we get back on the 24th.

WITH REGARD TO .... An 'outsider' from another city, with his then group was sent to GW by a guy who knew the team there. They turned up with a couple of songs in their pocket. They 'auditioned' for the guys who happened to be in the GW building on arrival & impressed them enough to be allowed into the studio, They cut their 2 songs + a couple of old standards, with the companies musicians participating plus with vocal help from the Fantastic Four. A New Yorker oversaw the session and was impressed by the results. He took possession of the master tapes & saying he'd get a 45 released, disappeared back off home. The guy who cut them @ GW was Gene Redd (not hard to deduce from later posts) ... this was the group in question, playing a club date (see below) ... they broke up on returning from Detroit as their leader didn't want to wait to see if Gene Redd delivered for them. So they never actually got to enjoy any record releases ... What became of their GW master tape over in NY or DC is anybody's guess now ...

He gave us much Joy (not much Pain) as both the leader of the Butlers & Maze. Saw him when he was leading Maze, never when he fronted the Butlers ...

I have a lot of time for Nick Hornby, he's a great writer on a number of subjects that are close to the hearts of soul collectors ... BUT ... I can't agree with what he writes here (copied from the above post) ... " .. Nobody worries about kids listening to thousands of songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery and loss.” I believe that in a time of grief over a relationship failure, listening to songs about broken hearts and rejection and pain and misery actually brings solace to the 'victim'. Many such folk will believe their 'suffering' is unique to them, but being able to listen to (say) "Stay With Me" lets them know that such heartache has been endured by many. While I like dancing to instrumentals & some are so great that you just have to sit back and admire the musical excellence they display, it's the words to many soul songs that have grabbed my attention down the last 60+ years. Whether the theme of a song is heartbreak, joy, concern for the world & one's fellow man, a plea to one's partner, family or friends, a cry for help in an uncaring world, a statement of injustices being experienced ... soul can touch a nerve that most other forms of music can't. Heartbreak has always been high on the list of subjects addressed in soul songs. This is not surprising as the genre developed from earlier blues & gospel roots. Blues being the original 'music of heartbreak'. Gospel also speaks of the trials one endures before the promise of a 'better afterlife'. I know my life would have been the poorer if I hadn't heard the likes of "What's Going On", "The Ghetto", "I'm So Proud", "People Get Ready", "Since I Lost The One I Love", "Can't Satisfy", "You Always Hurt Me", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine, "War", "My Girl", "School Of Life", "What's So Easy for Two Is So Hard for One", "When I'm Gone", "The Tracks of My Tears", "When Something Is Wrong With My Baby", "Never Like This Before", "Sixty Minutes Of Your Love" and more.

Some parts of your question have been answered above, but not all of them. Much of the story is told in my article that appears in the new edition of SOUL UP NORTH mag ... BTW, seems my article on Cody Miller & the different groups he was in, led & sang with has been held over to go in a future edition of the mag.