Roburt

Recorded in the UK (released here on Pye's Piccadilly label in 66). Also released in the US & Europe (Holland) + as you know Aussieland. She had 4 x 45's out on Piccadilly in the mid 60s. I believe this song was written by Gordon Mills (Tom Jones, Englbut Humpafunk's manager) The backing track on the cut sounds a bit like a UK TV show theme tune (the Avengers or sumat in a similar vein). Her photos on the Dutch release's piccy cover. It was one of the many poppy dancers played at the Casino I believe.

Shiela, can you tell us much about the record label, Arthur Rollins, the studio used to record the tracks, etc. Would these tracks have been cut at A & M's LA recording studio around the mid 70's ?? Sorry to learn that your mother recently passed.

In 67 I was still a young (& very innocent) lad of 17 who had only discovered niters a year or so earlier. But for a while, May to early Dec 67, I was a regular at the Nite Owl niters in Leicester (the niter sessions were banned due to drugs on 4th Dec). We got to know 2 girls that shared a flat in the city and used to go there & we also used to hang out at the White Cat. It was usual for me to ask for a pass-out at least a couple of times a session @ the Owl (too hot, music too loud, etc.) so the bouncers got to know me well. One night, I was coming back in about 6am & a bouncer took me aside (he must have thought I was a dealer on the side) to ask me if I wanted to buy a gun !!! . . . God, I nearly ran straight out of the place.

I don't think the studio costs involved were the real issue when it came to what escaped on a 45 back then. The only effective way in the 60's to get the word out about a new release was via radio plays. Radio DJ's / programme directors were careful not to feature too many tracks on the same label at once (payola charges being about). ALSO the distributors only had the resources to push a certain number of releases (to get them to radio stns, etc). So, the number of releases on each label was rationed in a way. That's one of the reasons that Motown ended up with 5 or more different labels ... a DJ would happily feature a track on the Tamla, Motown, VIP, Soul, Gordy labels at the same time but couldn't really play 6 singles on (say) Motown on the same show (also different labels were assigned to seperate distributors, thereby keeping their staff on their toes & on the job).

I don't think it was ever established how this song ended up with the Carrolls' producer. By all accounts there was an acetate floating about many years back which featured Valerie doing the demo version of the song, perhaps that's how Chris Parmenter came across it (though he didn't have too many industry connections as he was only a producer at Polydor for around 2 years -- 66/67). Anyone know who ended up with Val's original demo acetate ?? It doesn't appear to have been registered as a Jobete song till around the time A & S started working for BG's organisation. When Diana R cut a later version of the song (with A & S as producers), it seems Nick redid the demo so as not to present Diana with a pilot version that featured a female lead.

They were always going to turn the old Chess Studios into a Chicago Soul Museum, but as always, the folks over there didn't appreciate what they had. I recall talking with Barbara Acklin about the proposal & she just said ... there's nothing special about that building ... . . . I told her, the Stax Studio was just a converted cinema & look what great music was made there. The local city council knocked the building down & then (years later) rebuilt it . . . . She sort of got my point & said she'd have a word in a few ears when she got home ... BUT nothing really happened until... .... Willie Dixon's widow bought the place & made it into the Willie Dixon's Blues Heaven Foundation. Don't know if it's open to the public though.

Shot at a J&R's (New York Music & Computer store) live show event. They used to stage a few of these each year. I attended one when Dianne Reeves was the live attraction. The store, which was between the Brooklyn Bridge & World trade Centre, is long gone unfortunately.

I'd love to hear A&S's demo version of this TUUUNNNEEEE ... and their version of "California Soul" (so many great versions of that song).

I'm always amazed that though Motown put out 20 or more solo tracks by Valerie in 71/72, hardly any of them were uptempo outings. I guess they were keeping the most commercial Ashford & Simpson songs for their top selling artists.

My fave from A & S ....

Here's Sammy, enjoying himself on the dance floor at the event (ALSO he really did like beer !!) ...

Didn't Sean Gibbons organise a Weekender in Morecombe in 1990 ?? I know I took Lou Ragland to perform at a weekender in Morecombe around then; Sammy Ward & Francis Nero were also on the bill at the event.

MGM, I'm just up the road in Abingdon. They didn't have any copies of 'Young Soul Rebels' in there did they ??

I checked the availabilty of Young Soul Rebels in my 10 nearest branches of THE WORKS ... sold out in everyone.

Mark, have you stocked Tony Newton's book (Gold Thunder) ... I got a Kindle version free off Amazon (this only works if you have a US address) & it's a good read. How about the book on Duck Dunn - Soul Fingers ? ... though it seems a lot of the book space is taken up reproducing sheet music.

So was this where you headed on Thursdays ...

Same ladies as in the above pic (early 80's ) ....

NOT CONNECTED TO THE ACTUAL GROUP ...... BUT .... if you do a google search using their name & soul .... just about the only thing that comes up are articles about the Brodway show of that name (which was based around Duke Ellington's music). Incidently, one of the stars who had leading roles on that show was Phyllis Hyman ... CHECK THIS OUT THOUGH .... https://www.uncamarvy.com/Bobbettes/bobbettes.html .... an extract .... 1977 saw some releases as the Sophisticated Ladies. These were 12-inch 33 1/3 dance mixes, released on both Bareback and Mayhew (with the same record numbers), one record was "Check It Out, Parts 1 & 2), and the other was "Check It Out, Part 1," backed with "Good Man."

One last Miami club ad ... this one mainly features nationally famous acts but it does illustrate the strength of line-up that appeared locally a lot back in the mid 60's (before the Overtown area was destroyed by the local {white} council's urban clearance / highway improvement schemes) ... The Miracles didn't even get a featured picture or a high place on the billing .....

A publicity pic for another local show staged in 66 .... pity the book doesn't seem to touch on the complicated Marvel(l)s / Fabulettes story.

Not only were there numerous local soul singers playing the club circuit, but lots of visiting acts would come down (mainly over the winter period) ... Guess the book only really deals with the local scene (clubs / acts) & not the visitors ... but here's a club ad from 65 ...

This new book looks really interesting .... the Florida & Miami soul scenes back in the 60's / 70's was a really fascinating & diverse entity ... don't know if this book truly captures the full picture but I hope it does ...

The Small Faces back when they played mainly soul numbers in London clubs ...

The Marquee back then ....

A top London soul club back then ...