Roburt

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.

More ZTSC related stuff ..........

1960's trade ads to attract customers to use their facilities ...

Back in the late 60's / early 70's, to find ZTSC stamped into the runout groove of a 45 you didn't know meant that you had to take the risk & buy it blind (if on offer for cents) .... With the passage of time, we've learnt that the ID had a more mundane reason for it's use ... it just identified every 45 that had been mastered at Chicago's Columbia Recording Studio complex at 630 North McClurg Court. CBS had bought this existing building in 1954 and moved it's local studio there in 56 from the famous Wrigley Building (Nth Michigan Ave) skyscraper downtown. Chicago, along with the New York & Hollywood complexes were Columbia's main hubs of operation (record wise). The Chicago building also housed their local TV & radio stations (WBBM). Before CBS took over, the building (originally built in 1922) had been used as offices and as the Chicago Arena (a sports complex) and originally by the Chicago Riding Club (as stables & display area). It's common sense that 45's on Okeh would be mastered there but why the likes of Motown, Golden World, Palmer, Impact, Inferno, Correc-tone, Boo, Baracuda, Dearborn, Drew, Groovesville, Giant, Crajon, One-derful, Chess, Lovelite, 4 Brothers and all the other labels would select Columbia as their 1st choice for mastering is not so obvious. Obviously the team housed in the complex were good at what they did but the management there also marketed their services quite aggressively. Couple that with the fact that after tracks had been mastered by Columbia, they could easily been forwarded onto the company's pressing plant in Terre Haute, Indiana for the actual singles to be pressed up and you had a great one-stop 'record making' shop. There don't seem to be too many pictures definitely taken inside the complex on the net, but old Columbia trade ads feature pictures that show what went on inside their NY, LA & Chicago buildings. Oh, to have been allowed to tour the place between 1964 and 1974 (when it closed as a mastering facility). Pictures of the building back in it's Riding Club days & then towards the end of it's life ... ...