Roburt

A slight divergence from the main theme of this thread, but the UASF bases in the UK also had a part to play in the 1960's mod / soul scene. Quite a few GI's based over here would go out to local British soul clubs -- to enjoy a night out dancing but sometimes also to pester the live acts on there to let them get up on stage & perform themselves. Thus, we got Geno Washington, Sonny Childe and more. In addition to military folk based here, US based acts would be signed up by the USO to tour to perform for troops based in Vietnam, Germany or the UK. I know quite a few US recording acts that came over here to play concerts in bases in Germany, Norfolk / Suffolk, Oxfordshire, etc. (Kenny Hamber being just one of these). Taking just one base as my example, UPPER HEYFORD in Oxfordshire. This base (as did every other US one in the UK) had it's own shops, bowling alley & theatre. The US also ran the AFN radio stn in Europe as well as on-base radio stns (& newspapers). Most US personnel lived on base but in the case of Heyford, whole housing estates were built for officers & their families in local towns such as Brackley & Bicester. While lots of the time, the families would use the on-base facilities, they also frequented local shops, schools and pubs. Thus the opportunity was there to pal up with a Yank serviceman or two. If you did get to know any, they could take you on-base to go bowling with them or even to attend an on-base concert. The Norfolk bases such as Alconbury, Bentwaters, Mildenhall and Coltishall had more going on but Upper Heyford also had it's attractions. The theatre there; the SKYKING (where they showed movies & staged live shows) was quite small, so didn't accommodate huge numbers. But if the demand was there, a visiting act would have to do 2 shows on their visit. No doubt, others have tales to tell about getting onto British USAF bases or getting hold of copies the US military newspapers printed over here. I know I have seen a few of these newspapers & they plugged upcoming live act visits quite extensively in order to keep locally based folk from getting too bored or homesick.

In 68 a Chester venue that booked soul acts on a regular basis was the Clockwork Orange ...

Another famous R&B / soul club from back in the 60's; based out of gentile Cheltenham Spa ... This place was so influential that when the Bristol based ITV company's pop music show wanted to update itself (from a more R&R format to an R&B format), they sent scouts up to this club to get 'mod dancers' to be the studio audience on their TV show (see Nov 65 ad) ... the show had tried to establish itself in the R&R era by putting out an EP of the acts doing live stuff on the show ...

Of all the royalties due; to song writers; engineers, actual artists, record label, etc ... THE MOST FREQUENTLY PAID is that to song writers. As long as the re-release is legit & they are still registered (with up to date info held) with BMI or ASCAP, then they will get their royalty payments. With limited edition reissues though, the money involved is small. Someone like Sam Dees, who has written 1000's of recorded songs, of which 100's were hits ... he can just sit back & cash his 6 monthly royalty cheques ... though he has the advantage that folk like Tavares, Whitney Houston, Larry Williams, Ben E King and the like cutting his songs. The trouble with most OLD OBSCURE SOUL TRACKS is that the guys involved (including the writers -- many times members of the group) is that they give up due to lack of success, get normal 9 to 5 jobs and never realise that 20+ years later their old 45 now has a following. The number of folk I've contacted & said YOU DO REALISE YOUR OLD 45 NOW SELLS FOR $1000 / copy or whatever . . . . and WELL . . . THEY DON'T EVEN KNOW IT'S STILL KNOWN ABOUT. At present I'm writing a piece on a MODERN SOUL IN-DEMANDER after finding out (purely by chance) that a guy I have known for around 35 years started out in an obscure Cali group before he joined his hit making Ohio based group. His 1st studio experience (while still in school) resulted in a 45 put out on a label owned by the elder statesmen of that original group. It was the only release on the label, got a few local radio plays and then sank without trace. A few copies eventually found their way to the UK, modern soul jocks gave it spins and it was soon valued @ over $300 / copy. My contact actually got back with the original group's members & they did a 50th Anniversary reunion show @ their old high school's prom. The 1st time they'd been back in touch in 45 years. Of course, this 45 sold few copies back in the 70's, so BMI never really got to collect any royalties on their behalf, even though the group's leader (& their record label's owner) was savvy enough to register their songs with the publishing org. Ady C (with his Ace / Kent experiences) can wax lyrical on this subject and has done so in the past.

3 main publishing outfits in the US ... BMI, ASCAP & a n other. Theirs SESAC somewhere else. ASCAP was who most black writers registered with. Both BMI & ASCAP were the orgs that the writers royalties were paid via -- so they collect the monies in & then pay them out to the writers on a term basis (every 3 or 6 months I think). ALSO they keep contact info for each publisher they represent, so you can contact the writers via them (if the writers have kept the publishers up to date with regard to their current address / phone numbers). BMI was the biggest org of them all but some of the time, the info they keep isn't 100% correct or fully maintained. An old mention on a 60's / 70's 45 (or LP) that it was registered with BMI (or ASCAP) via xxx music publishers, doesn't mean that those orgs still have the details or still post up the info on many songs originally registered with them. PLUS, many times the wrong info is registered by them (poor old Sidney Barnes wrote many songs that are registered under other folks names -- so they've been getting the royalties on them, not him.

In Spain at present (on a winter break). Will check up & reply when back home. Seem to recall it was one of the London clubs they played on a regular basis. A piece about their live album below, cut @ Bolton Casino (this club had an associate club down the road but can't remember which Lancy town it was in) ...

No doubt, this was what the US demo acetate looked like ....

It seems the song is registered with BMI today as being the creation of a different writing team (?)

The song "Water" was written by the top New York teaming of Helen Miller and Roger Atkins. They wrote many top soul songs, together and with others. They mostly worked out of 1650 Broadway & the Brill Building. Miller co-write with the likes of Freddie Scott & Howard Greenfield. Atkins wrote with Teddy Vann, Dee Irwin & others. Artists who cut their songs included the Animals, Jerry Butler, 5th Dimension, Patti Drew, the Shirelles, Barbara Lewis, Chuck Jackson, Maxine Brown, Dionne Warwick, the Reflections, Deon Jackson, Little Anthony & Imperials, Nancy Ames, Pat Powdrill, Ben E King, the Toys, Lenny Welch, the Platters and many more + of course, Geno Washington & the Ram Jam Band. I've looked but I can't find a US recorded version of "Water", so it seems Geno's management must have sourced the song direct from Miller & Atkins in New York, most likely via the pair's UK music publishers and Geno's take is the original (& only) version of the song out there (apart from no doubt, the writer's own demo version). Am I wrong and there is (are) other versions of this song ? BTW, it seems Geno recorded a version of the song with Italian lyrics, but no idea who did the translation. Though the UK music press reported this fact, I don't think the Italian version gained a release (unless you know different).

I believe Ady used to frequent these nights ... would the guy on with Herbie Goins (Howling Robin) have been the old Nite Owl DJ Owling Robin ? + a big night @ Chareau Impney ...

An Irish guy named Jerry Butler has definitely just passed away. Our soul guy ?

Seems like John has started a trend ...

An LP originally sold via local black newspapers ... back then (1968) it would have cost you $2.98. It costs a bit more now.

Do you mean 76 Club in Burton ? Retford's Broken Wheel has a book detailing it's life. I'm also attaching a few more old club ads -- wonder how the group appearing at the Welsh club in late 1966 came up with their name ?

I used to attend nights @ the King Mojo and have written about it in the past. Ahead of the Mojo, there was the Esquire (in the same building as the Leadmill). That was the 1st venue to book / play blues / R&B in Sheffield to my knowledge. The Leadmill crowd didn't like the Mojo lot. If an act they wanted to see was on at the Mojo instead of the Esquire, they'd rather go see them a few days earlier / later at the Wheel. There are books about the Esquire & Mojo and a couple of Facebook pages related the the Mojo. You'll find lots of info about the Sheffield soul scene on those. Of course, after the Mojo, the Stringfellows opened Down Broadway and the Penthouse, which both played soul stuff. The Mucky Duck (Black Swan pub) also used to host soul nights in the late 60's (after playing host to lots of Joe Cocker live R&B shows earlier in the 60's). The FABULOUS PLATTERS (really the Steinways) played live @ the Black Swan around 1968 (it'd be good if someone local to Sheffield would search thru old editions of the Sheffield Star. I'm sure many on here will have stories about Samanthas.

The wife was from Hull & she used to hitch up to Brid to see the likes of the Who, Small Faces & Spencer Davis Group @ the Spa ... but later in the 60's, they used to book US soul groups to play the venue. The Mandrakes were on there a lot too (they were from Scarboro), at that time Robert Palmer was their lead singer (ahead of him joining Alan Bown).

Seems things are getting no better for Dave & his wife. Their flight home to the UK has turned into a giant 'cock-up' now. You have to feel really sorry for them as this was supposed to be their dream holiday to celebrate his retirement.

AND I informed him I was putting it up here (before doing so). I believe he flew back to the UK overnight.

Nottingham was quite unusual back then as it had around 5 soul venues, all going at the same time (mid to late 60's). There was the Beachcomber, the Dungeon (that has it's own Facebook group I believe), the Boat Club, the Britannia Rowing Club and the Palais. In addition to their local clubs, the Notts crowd used to travel to attend allniters in Sheffield, Leicester & Manchester.

In passing, just noticed that a UK beat group seemed to be getting some high profile gigs back in the mid to late 60's -- at soul venues such as the Gliderdrome, Boston (alongside Otis Redding) and with the Orlons & Bluesology (Elton John's outfit) at Aylesbury Assembly Hall. Never came across them myself at a live gig and their 45's never registered on my radar (though they do seem to have loads of fans out there) ...

This place has a decent profile these days due to the NS weekenders staged there. It was also a popular venue with mods / R&B and soul fans back in the 60's ...

As the 1960's London Mod / Soul Clubs thread has seen renewed action recently, thought I'd post up this related thread. Some local soul clubs grew in stature & went on to become famous soul venues (the Place, Hanley for instance), others were known of because live soul recordings were made there (Birdcage, Portsmouth, Bolton Casino, Nite Owl, Leicester, etc). Some hosted R&B / soul nights in the 60's / 70's and have returned to the spotlight due to more recent events staged there (Brid Spa). But many have just slipped away in the mists of time. Never to be written about like the Wheel, Casino, Blackpool Mecca, etc. Some local clubs did become iconic to the crowds who attended their soul nights and so have registered in print (the Broken Wheel, Retford, California Ballroom, Dunstable; Gliderdrome, Boston & more). But venues such as the Skyline & Gondola, Hull; the Boulevard, Tadcaster; Plebeians, Halifax; Attic, Doncaster; Clouds., Derby; Assembly Hall, Aylesbury; Central R&B Club Gillingham and numerous other soul clubs are all but forgotten these days. Even some clubs that staged niters seem to get little attention these days -- Va Va's Bolton, Chateau Impney, Droitwich & Up The Junction, Crewe being amongst these. It would be good for folk on here to make mention of the venues that meant a good deal to some back in the day in places such as Birmingham, Northampton, Bristol, Cardiff, Grimsby, Liverpool, Newcastle (the Club A GoGo being the only one there with a profile) & any in Scotland.

Dave has just completed a Caribbean cruise on Holland -America's ROTTERDAM ship. Whilst on there, a bad outbreak on Norovirus occured. Both Dave & his misses came down with it & had to be 'isolated' in their cabin (standard procedure as it's so infectious). Anyway, he's back in Miami now & watching himself on a news clip about the incident ... he's recovered now BTW ... The news clip is on-line & so I'm posting up the link to it -- think that's Dave in the background 1 minute into the piece. https://www.nbcmiami.com/on-air/as-seen-on/norovirus-outbreak-on-rotterdam-cruise-ship-leaves-169-people-ill/3544809/

Don't know if this is soul or gospel but this guy is establishing a bit of a profile of late ... (he's doing a concert @ the Kennedy Centre in DC on March 13th) ...

He lived in God's country (Yorkshire) for many years ... a great guy ...