Roburt

Another famous US store chain ... this time based in Boston .... .... Skippy White also ran record labels & cut local artists in the studio .... ... lots of the acts he got involved with had impressed him while playing live at the top local soul club -- the Sugar Shack.

Here tis (off the net) ........

The Alan Bown Set were always a popular draw at the Mojo ....

Thanks for that, so both versions do exist. Wand #11293 is a Part 1 & 2 affair .... so are they just cut down versions of the 5min 34sec track on #11283 or a re-recorded version ??

The things Lou lets slip in conversation .......... ....... so he's had a tidy up in his computer room & he's come across this TV mag from back in 2003. Apparently the American Idol team were looking to expand their influence back then & had come up with a similar idea ... a song contest ... BUT ... this time for seniors looking for a 2nd chance at fame. Lou was persuaded to enter & went on the show. He was filmed singing "Up On The Roof" & / or "Under the Boardwalk" and scored really well. The contest progressed & Lou ended up winning it (& the $25,000 prize). The producers sent him a form to fill as they would now be marketing him & getting a cut from any gigs he landed. ... BUT ... the form asked HAVE YOU HAD ANY COMMERCIAL SINGING CONTRACTS IN THE PAST ..... ..... his own label outings didn't count but his recording with 7 Miles High that Warners released did, so he had to answer YES. This disqualified him from the contest and he lost the prize & the publicity that would have been generated. BET he was cursing that WB 45 even though it turned out to be a very popular track in the UK ....

You're right, the #11293 version appears to have been put out a year later ( & with the revised artist name). So has anyone got a copy of Wand #11283 or is that another 'missing in action' Wand release ??

We have been promised a book on the Wand label but so far it hasn't materialised. In the meantime, lots of weird happenings at the label still cause us collectors worry. I made mention on another thread of Gene Toones 45 on Wand from December 1974; "Baby Boy" (Wand 11293). On the label this cut is credited to Gene Toones & Chapter IV (a Randy Muller / Jeff Lane track). But in 2 different December 74 editions of Billboard the 45 is listed as being released but credit there goes to Gene Toone & the Cherabin Choir ?!?!? Did any (demo?) copies of the 45 actually escape with this artist name ??

Whilst working in conjunction with Chumley Records (of NY), John had stuff licensed by Paramount Records (Fred Gripper --1974). Chumley had stuff out by the likes of Lily Fields & Fred Gripper (+ Gene Toone, Troy Keyes). BTW, Gene Toone also cut "Baby Boy". John B obviously took tracks to Paramount like the Fred Gripper 45 and cuts by Bad Bascombe, Lloyd Price, Shilot Pentecostal Chorale, Ken Munson & Billy Gordon. A few are jazz guys so maybe they hooked up with John B via Wilbur Bascombe. It seems like there was a bunch of NY based music biz guys that worked together (sharing contacts, etc.) to get indie recordings onto local major & indie labels.

Spectrum #142 ...... BTW, He's still registered with BMI & the address above seems to be current ....

It's a pity I didn't ask Hoagy Lands about his work with John Bennings when he was over here for the Cleggy Weekender. Ady / Dougie were a bit concerned for Hoagy that weekend as he wasn't in the best frame of mind or health. So I was taken along to chat with him & travel with him to the venue. We chatted about lots of things related to his music career but I never knew to ask him about John B.

John Benning started out as a singer, first in gospel & then in the R&B field. He recorded a gospel 45 for Savoy in 1958 & a secular 45 for Clock in 59. In the late 60's, he was operating Fun City Records of 1674 Broadway, NY, they released an Eddie Long 45. He obviously also had some sort of tie up with Paramount Records in the early to mid 70's. He wrote lots of songs and worked with the likes of Teacho Wilshire & Robert Banks. He seemed to have a long standing relationship with the Shilot Pentecostal Church which was based in many US locations but John seemed to be linked with their Brooklyn & New Jersey churches. I'd bet that Lily Fields came out of the gospel world where John had met her & that Lily Fields was not her real name (just a stage / recording name). John also worked with Bad Bascomb for a number of years. BB was really jazz funk bass player Wilbur Bascomb. He played (on records) with the likes of Bobbi Humphrey, Melvin Sparks, Marlena Shaw, the Joneses, Roy Ayers, Luther (LVD), Pretty Purdie, the Tymes, Idris Muhammad, Herbie Mann, Major Harris, Don Downing, George Benson & many, many more. Spectrum #142 was Sharon Harley & Shilot Ensemble singing Robert Bank's song "Baby Boy".

Seems that in the summer of 68, EMI's main man in Turkey decided to give a big promotional push to SS7 material in that country. No doubt some of the soul 45's released there would have been pressed up in neighbouring Greece (where EMI had a long established pressing plant in Athens). Anyone here got any Greece / Turkish (or even Lebanese) EMI related SS7 / Monument 45's from this period ??

You're right there Derek. I used to post a lot of stuff on Dave Flynn's 'Soul Talk' site. Did my research on numerous subjects & posted the stuff up on his goodly site. Course, I didn't make copies of much of the info I posted there, just gathered the info on scraps of paper, collated it & posted it up. Lost loads of useful info when the site was discontinued (lots of scans out of old publications like Billboard, US mags & newspapers + other sources).

Those damn silly Canadians. Seems that shortly after the label put out a Moments 45 (1970), they stopped releasing US sourced product.

I (like many Brits) used to buy (by mail order) from Ray Avery's Rare Records in Glendale (LA). I had orders outstanding when his shop was hit by a big earthquake in 71.

The I-95 in Nth Miami didn't get this place .... the Climax Recording Studio, NW 123rd St ..... it was only yards from the highway though. The studio must have utilised an old building that had fallen vacant due to loss of local residents or the noise / disruption caused by a major highway being so close (plus all the east-west streets in the area had been severed by the I-95 and so were now cul-de-sacs). The studio was set up here in 1970 and moved on to a new location after 1974. It must have been a little indie set up and it had it's own record label at times .... a Jeb Stuart 45 escaped on Climax Records in 1971 ....

AND a few more bits .........

A montage showing more bits ...........

Sorry, I've strayed back into the 60's .... here's a 70's one ....

Waxie Maxie's in DC after the arson attack that followed MLK's murder .... and in earlier times (1964) ....

I used to get Randy's Record Catalogue sent from the States in the late 60's / early 70's ..... always a good read ....

This is of course a great rekkid .... BUT .... for those Brits around & into soul back in Autumn 1965, the hit version that we heard on the radio everyday was Otis Redding's take on the song. So I always have had a soft spot for the Stax version.

Well there's a Facebook page for the group's leader Sonny Daye, so someone could easily ask on there what the full story is. My GUESS is that Sonny Daye kept the original stampers (as he owned / ran the record label) and simply organised a re-press when the opportunity to sell extra copies presented itself. How many releases were there on Bad Boy in all; 4 x 45's & an LP ?? Some info on the group, it's members & a later record of theirs on this youtube clip ..... seems that there were 2 versions of the group in the recent past (& that's ignoring the more famous Cleveland group with the same name) ........

A new recording by Lou & the Ink Spots ..... based on a famous old tune ........

But Boddies has been involved in the discussion throughout this thread ... so how does putting up info on Boddie's work muddy the waters .... if anything it shows exactly what Boddie was doing in this period. Loads of the Way Out data just states NA meaning info not available .... I have a load of Way Out releases but ain't got the time to pull everyone out and examine the run out grooves with a magnifying glass.