Roburt

Andy Belvin wrote quite a few songs and most of these were assigned (in the 60's / 70's) to Lawana Music (still registered with BMI). He had stuff cut by the likes of the Carter Brothers (Celeste), the Creators (Misty), the Birds of Paradise (Newman) and in the 70's by Don Thomas & Tommy Bush for Cal State Music Records. King Solomon (who cut for LeBam) also worked with Frank Wedlaw on other labels. 45's released by him on Don J (prod & arr by Frank Wedlaw), Cadillac (a Wedlaw/ McDaniels Prod), Magum and Resist were assigned to either Wedlaw Music or Lawana Music. Wedlaw also wrote the song he cut for Checker in summer 1961.

A question was asked on another thread about the above outfits. The 1st evidence of a LeBam company involved with the music biz came in the early 50's when LeBam Music Publishers of Sacramento (Cal) was formed. They existed through to at least the mid 50's, probably longer. A large educational campus in Sacramento was / is Cal State University. The LeBam Record label itself sprang into life around 1963/64 (to my best of my knowledge) and were Calif based (LA ?). Two of the main guys on the technical / music front at the label were Frank Wedlaw and Andy Belvin. Andy Belvin was a recording artist in his own right on Candix (62), Flashback, Vault (Atco), Rayco & Gee-Kay. Later (in the 70's), he had 45's out on Cal State Music. The Rayco label he cut for was owned by Floyd Ray and is known in NS circles for Nathan Mckinney & Valleyites "Oh How I Love You" (which was cut in Calif and featured the Chambers Bros on backing vocals). Acts who cut for LeBam included the Rocking Royals, the Vowels (aka Vows -- Morris Chestnut was a member), the Singers (who's 45 was picked up for national release by Loma), King Solomon and Don Pierce. It seems too much of a coincidence to me that Andy Belvin ended up on the Cal State Music label in the 70's, when LeBam Music had been based out of Sacramento where Cal State Uni is based. Little else about the label comes easily to hand, it seems to be another of those record labels who's output was largely ignored at the time and that knowledge on has now slipped away in the mists of time.

IPG must have had big plans in 63 as they also took on the distributing rights for an established label ... CLOCK ....

More bits on the set up & their associates .... It seems that IPG group Harry & the Keyavas was led by Harry Starr. AND ... that VIVID RECORD's L. B. Wilson was really Danny Cannon (aka Lenny O'Henry) and his cuts featured the Four Seasons on backing vocals. Danny / Lenny / L B had started out in the Vibraharps along with Donnie Elbert.

This set up has been discussed on here in the past (mainly with regards to the Velvelettes 1963 45) but very little definitive info was unearthed about it's operations. It seems that one of the main men at IPG was Paul Robinson, he worked directly for IPG in a management role ( helpng 'buy in' outside productions) and also directly for their own labels :- VIVID & RECONA RECORDS. The outfit hit the road running in 1963 but had just about run out of steam by the end of 1964. The music press states that Vivid was their own label though every release on the inking was a Bob Crewe production ... so did they set it up & then hand it over to Bob ?? Their 2nd label was Recona, but that only enjoyed two releases (from Linda Laurie & Ruth McFadden). By November 64, Paul Robinson had jumped ship to join RCA. There, he produced the likes of the Geminis, Kenny Carter, Willie Kendrick & many more. He then went on to be invoved with GWP at the end of the 60's. Bob Crewe, of course, spread his productions around, having acts on Vee Jay, ABC, Smash, Atco & more. He started up his own Dynovoice label after Vivid died off but srtill kept some outside work. So IPG was a short lived enterprise that's still shrouded in a bit of mystery. Anyone with additional knowledge please add it in on here ...

Lloyd Eugene Stallworth ('Baby Lloyd') was originally from Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He hooked up with JB initially as his valet / driver but when lots of the Famous Flames quit in the late 50's, he became one of the replacement members of JB's backing singers. He had 3 solo 45's out (all on different labels, his 1st solo recording being for Dade / Atco) and stayed a member of the Famous Flames till 66. I believe he's one of the backing singers on this clip ...

The Younghearts / King of Hearts / New Younghearts story is equally as baffling as the story behind this track of theirs. Bobby Sanders (who's started out singing in Doo Wop groups) had obviously learnt well during his performing days and by the mid 60's had taken to messing the acts he'd signed about. So, members of the group (the whole line-up at times) would quit his management and go out on their own. At times, there would be two versions of the group playing gigs just down the road from each other in LA. When one set quit, he'd just approach another soul group, sign them to a deal and start cutting them as the Younghearts. He set on one Cleveland soul group, right after they'd relocated to LA, as a new version of the Younghearts. But on one of their 1st LA gigs, they met up with the old group members, heard their story and immediately quit themselves. So, the group's history is most complicated too ...

A GOOD and an UGLY with one inbetween ... you make up your mind which is which ...

Got to be the Cleggy Weekender experience for me .... that applies for 2017 and each year back in time.

We head off on our winter break in Florida in less than a month. On this trip we're also taking our usual Caribbean cruise. For the 1st time, we've booked a cruise with Holland America. Seven of their ships currently have B.B. King's Blues Clubs ........... see info below ...... B.B. King's Blues Club on Holland America ships is a musical experience that takes place in the Queen's Lounge six nights per week. An eight-man band (two vocalists backed by a drummer, bassist, guitarist, saxophone player, trumpeter and organist) plays a variety of blues tunes and rock 'n' roll, ranging from fast and funky to slow and soulful. During the roughly 45-minute performances, passengers take over the dance floor and are entertained with hits like Aretha Franklin's "Respect." It's not uncommon for people to attend more than one show per cruise .... The venue itself takes on the look and feel of the popular namesake club, with a replica of its famous neon sign & pictures of B.B. King himself. Three show times are available each night (8:45, 9:45 and 10:45). Additionally, the band occasionally performs in other areas of the ship. There is no cover charge for the B.B. King's Blues Club experience, though alcoholic beverages will cost you. B.B. King's Blues Club is found on the following ships: Koningsdam, Eurodam, Nieuw Amsterdam, Noordam, Oosterdam, Rotterdam, Westerdam & Zuiderdam. I've visited on-shore BB King's before but never experienced one of these shipborne venues. Anyone here got experience of them ?? View of the venue from the stage ...

More Canadian rubbish .... any similarity between the 1st track and "Cool Jerk" is purely intentional ...

Yet another UGLY ...

A bit from the book about Al's part in Jackie Wilson's early career ...

Think everyone would put these (& similar on the label) in the UGLY slot ...

Back in the 60's, a UK act would scan the US charts, pick a great track, cut a quick COVER and get their 45 into UK record shops before the US version escaped here. So the likes of the Love Affair had hits that were just copies of US soul tracks. Many other examples too from the likes of the Searchers, Hollies, Moody Blues & many more. They were what was commonly known back then as COVER VERSIONS ... as their aim was to 'steal' the hit from the original version. Songs redone some years after the original (many times with a different feel) were usually called a REWORKING. Probably, with the passage of time, that more precise definition has faded away BUT I'm ol skool.

Another US version of "Open The Door" ... don't think it can be called a cover as it came later ...

I seem to recall that the highlight of UK group the Move's live act was "Open The Door To Your Heart". UK band Amen Corner also included numerous soul songs in their live act. They cut some of these for their 1st LP release ... https://www.discogs.com/Amen-Corner-Round-Amen-Corner/master/90600

Lots of 60's hit soul songs were covered by other artists (& I'm not just talking about the numerous different acts Motown got to cut the same songs). Back then, LP's by soul artists were mainly an after thought, put together quickly to cash in on a hit single. Many times the acts involved just recorded songs that they were currently including in their live stage act. Most songs, apart from their own, that they would add to their live show were recent hits by other artists. Thus, around summer 66, an act who was asked to lay down enough tracks for a hasty LP release would cut versions of songs like "Open The Door To Your Heart". Lots of versions out there and not just by US Acts. At that time it was still fashionable for numerous UK groups to included covers of US soul hits in their acts and so some of them even cut covers that mainly escaped on one of their albums. Some examples of US cover versions ...

Anyone got the book on the Detroit soul scene written by Al Kent. Recommend it ??

Both of above tracks were included on the Acid Jazz CD 'Modern Northern Soul'.

Unfortunately 630 Nth McClurg (the studio / mastering facility) has been demolished & the pressing plant closed in 82/83 (for vinyl manufacture / warehousing).

I believe that Ronnie's 45 escaped in March 65, whereas the Peps version was two months later (May) ... perhaps the guys at the label believed in the song & after Ronnie's verion sank without making it's mark, they tried again with the Peps. BTW, Ronnie only had a very short recording career but went on to do great things as a writer / producer at Motown, Invictus, Hot Wax, etc. Guess his life story has been told by one of the UK Detroit experts. Getting back to the song, of course, one of the local radio DJ's may have been asking for a theme song for his show or something along similar lines.

Well spotted. Got picked up for national release & I'd spotted the Cub 45 but that didn't have the film credit on the label. The vocals on it are a bit rough though. Wonder what happened to the Production Co's other tracks.

Yet another soulful Jimmy Jones, this one out of the New York area in 1970/71 ... many soul 45's got little or no promotion; Jody (Jodi) Records were pushing both sides of this 45 over a period of 13 months, placing numerous trade ads BUT it still failed to make any impact .....

The above ads will also feature info / pics taken in their NY & Hollywood buildings. The NY complex was based out of two locations betwwen the early 60's and 90's ... buildings on 7th Avenue and East 52nd Street. Here's a picture of one of their NY studios, no doubt the Chicago studio would have looked similar (though most of the ZTSC soul 45 output was actually recorded elsewhere). I always find it kinda weird that these facilities were major indutrial complexes that existed for many years and undertook a major role in the then dynamic recording industry, yet few photos seem to have survived of them at work.