Roburt

At the time, I was in touch with Stuart Bascombe on-line & my son worked in New York back then. I mentioned I was visiting & he asked if I wanted to meet up while there. We arranged to meet at the rail stn in mid Manhattan which was the end of the line for the PATH (from Hoboken). We met up & went for a coffee and he fetched the other 2 Black Ivory members with him. He was keen to try to forge a UK connection as Leroy had gone solo and the other 2 were trying to find a place in the music biz still. Leroy already had a good number of decent UK contacts so was a bit bored with the whole meeting. I interviewed em about their days in Black Ivory & music biz happenings since. All 3 were good but Leroy didn't need any help, so was less interested in the meeting.

I'd have loved to have seen Ashford & SIMPSON live back in their prime (70's / 80's) ... It seems that, though there are numerous clips from that TV show up on youtube, no one has seen fit to put the bit with A&S in it up there ...

Mr Searling use to feature this track (& at least one other off the LP) on his radio shows / club DJing spots back when it was a new release. Was this one his main play, my memory is slipping away quickly ... of course, Expansion packaged both his LP's together on a CD release about 3 years back.

Ahead of it's time (sound wise) ... summer 1961 & a 45 on Craig ...

Surprised no one has yet suggested any Philly International cuts. Can't go wrong with tracks on the label from the likes of the O'Jays, 3 Degrees, Harold Melvin & B Ns, Intruders, Tramps, Peoples Choice, MFSB, Archie Bell & D's, etc. .... ohh an O'Jays 45 recommendation just beat this post onto the thread.

I don't know why (even after all these years), but UK copies on Cameo Parkway of Bunny's biggie "Let The Good Times Roll" dried up within just a few weeks of the 45's release. By then, the 45 had taken off in UK clubs and demand from soulies was growing stronger. Again, I know nothing of the industry politics behind the move, but EMI went to their French associate and mass imported French Stateside copies of the release. This 45 was probably the first import soul single that many UK soulies ever bought (coz you could just go to your local high street record shop to obtain a copy) ... even today, if you go on Discogs, around 80% of French copies of the 45 are on offer from British sellers rather than French sources.

Going way back to 1959 ... this single obviously had it's admirers back in the early 60's as copies of it were pressed up again towards the end of 61 & it was re-promoted as a new release .... maybe his 45 on Craig was doing well locally in Philly and so they reactivated this old 45 to catch a few easy sales.

I take your point so I've made a minor adjustment to the pic. Rudy is actually the guy at the bottom of the picture, seated talking with Clayton Ivey. ALSO, James Gadson really should get a better wig.

The Rudy Love name is attached to the entry above it & to the left of it ... i.e. it's his name as shown on the BBC RadioPlay LP 'The Right Feeling' ... so it doesn't need to be dragged anywhere. I know the picture is of Norman Jay as I made up the montage of stills from the film.

Rudy Love continues in the music biz & a documentary crew teamed up with him over 2 years back to document his career and the many diverse things that have happened to him since he kicked off in the industry in the 60's. He's had his ups & downs, spent time supporting other band leaders (Sly Stone), cut tracks as himself for release and numerous tracks as demo's to help sell his songs to other artists .... anyway, the documentary is just about complete, the final cut is just being finished off. The team undertaking the project have been quite thorough and so it has taken time to get all the interviews they wanted .... included in the documentary are contributions from the likes of Mick Fleetwood, Norman Jay, James Gadson, Clayton Ivey and more. There's also footage in there of Rudy's dad (Bob Love of Don & Bob on Chess Records -- "Good Morning Little Schoolgirl", the song the Yardbird made famous over here in the UK). Not long to wait now until it should be available to watch ... some stills from the documentary .....

One of his many gems .... with a topical theme for NS niter / dayer goers.

Tom Moulton just posted this message ........ I can't believe this? My Good Friend The Great Bundino Siggalucchi aka Bunny Sigler has passed on. Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Jerry Ross did a huge number of great tracks but not everything worked out so soulful ... in 1969 Jubilee appointed Jerry Ross as the new producer of pop group the Happenings. Back then Ray Dahrouge was a very in-demand song writer. He'd had more success with his songs when cut by soul artists than by pop acts, so he decided to go down that road once again. So Ray wrote a song that he thought would be a perfect cut for Archie Bell & the Drells (titled "Young Girls Want What They Can't Have"). He cut a demo of it in the style of AB&D's and waited to see who would pick it. Jerry Ross came calling and with his track record with the likes of the Festivals, Bobby Hebb, Jerry Butler, Dee Dee Warwick, Showstoppers, Jay & Techniques, etc. Ray was happy when Jerry took the song away with him. BUT, he decided to try it on the Happenings, it didn't fit them well, went unissued and the song just died off.

Tom Moulton has announced that Jerry Ross passed away last night. ANOTHER SAD LOSS. Tap to view this Soul Source News/Article in full

Only mention the Casino ever got in the main Billboard mag (also from 78) ...

Met up with him (& the other members of Black Ivory) in Manhattan around 1999, didn't take any pictures that I remember though.

From Billboard mag at that time ...

Rudy in his most famous role .... as DOLOMITE .... watch the great realistic fight scenes staged in this movie ... Gettin off topic a bit but a funk band is featured in the film playing LA's Total Experience Club ... the band features JAMES INGRAM amongst it's members & the guest singer who fronts them on one song is MARY LOVE ...... you see them both in this clip ... ALSO Rhetta Hughes has one of the main female acting roles in the movie.

The passing of Cleveland soul guy Kenneth Redon (Kenny Red to some) was announce earlier today ... he was one of the main members of Cleveland band 9th Street Exit. As well as cutting tracks in their own right, they backed up other local artists in the recording studio. ANOTHER SAD LOSS ...

I'm almost sure the UK Atlantic copies are boots. The track was always a Jewel recording that (if my memory ain't playing tricks on me), stayed in the vaults at the time. Paul Mooney used to visit the labels HQ to buy 45's & other stuff. He heard it, got them to press up some copies & sold them exclusively here in the UK. This is a good few years back but more like 1980 than 1968. Sure this topic has been touched on here (& elsewhere) in the past.

A well written & thought out article. I've bought gospel stuff since the 60's & today still buy old & more modern stuff. Of the more recent artists, I really like the Winans, Yolanda Adams, Mary Mary, Sounds of Blackness, Donnie McClurkin & more. To get into the genre there are quite a few good compilationn CD's available: Soul Gospel Vol 1 & 2, Christians Catch Hell and my faves, the US series WOW Gospel which had an annual release from the late 90's thru to the present day. YOLANDA ADAMS turns soul to gospel ....

I love deep soul, which to me is the style you're on about; sad stories told with feeling in song, many times with a great soulful lead vocal. I'd pick some already mentioned; Soul Children, Randy Brown, Luther Ingram ... my faves also include Sam Dees, Tommy Tate, Lorraine Ellison, Knight Bros & many more. SCHOOL OF LIFE by either Tommy Tate or Corey Blake is a fine example ....

Charles Dawson - Super Natural Girl > Falsetto Sweet Soul Modern Soul 45 $15.50 3 Bids - SOLD Location: Jeffersonville, Indiana, "Super Natural Girl" should find fans among those who collect sweet soul cuts. His voice is just too feminine for me though (more Stylistics in sound than Delfonics if that makes sense). "Forever Yours" IMHO is a better song but I still can't take to his vocal style, way too sickly sweet & feminine.