Yann V

OUT NOW! Previously unissued version of the modern / northern soul classic Girl Don't Leave Me by Ray Williams & the Majortones, Lil Major Williams brother EPS009 Limited Edition 7" : Re-Mastered by Steve Fuji A: GIRL DON'T LEAVE ME (short version) B: GIRL DON'T LEAVE ME (extended version) Listen: Buy it now: https://www.epsilonrecord.com Shipping today!!! FROM RAY WILLIAMS: As a young kid I always wanted to be a musician especially with my brothers. My Dad, Major Williams Sr started it all with my Brother Lil Major Williams and Garland Williams. They would travel and play music at venues all over Texas and surroundings States. I myself stared playing the snare drum in Junior High school and eventually started playing with the Majortones Band which was my dad and brothers group. I remember the first time I ever sat behind a set of drums it was like a dream come true. We were playing at this club in Houston, called the Green Parrot. Garland which was the drummer at the time, I think he got sick or something happened, that's when my dad came to me and said this your time Ray. I was so scared , keep in my I was only 11years old, anyway I played that night if it had not been for the Bass player (Fox was his name) telling me how to work the foot pedal and high hats snare we wouldn't have made he just kept telling me to stay on the one, at that time I was wondering what was the one Lol. As time went by I started really getting the hang the thing call music. Little Major was a big James Brown fan, so we played a lot of Brown's music and if I tell you we were tight and right. Major wrote Girl Don't Leave in 1978 and I can't remember the real reason for the title of song but it did really good lot's of air play. As time went on Lil Major, Garland and my Dad passed away. That's when I started managing The Majortones Band and to this Day it's still going strong. I re-wrote Girl Don't Leave Me and released it a few years ago which was the best thing I could have ever done. I feel like it's my time in the music industry, I've been playing for over forty years and I'm still in love with it and still having lots of fun. Ray Williams!!!

Tesla Groove, Cannonball Records and Epsilon Record Co. join forces to create a little imprint dedicated to bring a STREAM of the most elusive sounds on Earth to the decks of Black Music fans around the world. We’ll pick from our collections, we’ll license directly from the Artists or the rights holders and we’ll deliver to your turntables at the best sounding conditions we are allowed to pull. One in every home! STR001 - Johnny Horton and Nature “I’ve Got You” b/w “Shake Your Booty” Fully Licensed 7”/45 rpm - 200 copies - out February ’22 Free Digital Download included! Listen: Preorder: https://cannonballsoul.com/streamrecords/ Preorder: https://www.epsilonrecord.com IMPOSSIBLY RARE and extremely obscure 45 that almost never turns up. A monstrous modern soul dancer with a funky edge on the a-side and a great boogie banger on the flip side now available to soul and funk fans around the globe at the price of a pizza for one. This version comes out of a fortunate demo on a 1/4” reel tape which is the only recording that survived a car crash Mr. Horton was involved in many years back. Johnny kindly allowed us to license this beautiful piece of music and we are very proud to bring to your decks such a testament to the Alabama sound of the seventies. One in every home! STR002 - The Nombres “Trivialities” b/w “Todos” Fully Licensed 7”/45 rpm - 200 copies - out February ’22 Free Digital Download included! Listen: Preorder: https://cannonballsoul.com/streamrecords/ Preorder: https://www.epsilonrecord.com One part War, two parts Santana, and a dash of Motown, immersed in a rich Puerto Rican stock, Los Nombres were the undisputed kings of Northern Ohio’s Rust Belt barrios. Following successive explosions of brown-eyed and Latin soul in Los Angeles and New York during the mid and late ’60s, Willie Marquez led a rotating cast of Latino teens through numerous underfunded recording sessions for the Day-Wood, Beth, and Lorain Sounds imprints. “Trivialities” was initially recorded in 1972 for release on Beth label and was again re taken in 1977 for the Lorain Sound imprint. Both releases are today as rare as Caribbean pirate’s doubloons and were backed on the flipside by the incredibly groovy barrio banger “Todos”. Here we present the 1977 version of Trivialities and the only existing take of Todos, finally affordable. One in every home!

TAXIE EPS008: ROCK DON'T STOP/ I THINK I'M FALLING IN LOVE Epsilon Records Co T.A.X.I.E In 1978 ,three friends. Woody Whittaker, Ronnie Arch, and Wayne Chatman Came together with their musical ideas and talents to form the music production company, “Cabfare Productions”. Under that parent company, the performing group T.A.X.I.E. Talented Artist Xclusively In Entertainment Archwoods Productions and Archwoods Publishing was born. Eventually adding musicians/song writers, Charles (Ice Cream) Williams, Oneida James, and the amazing vocalist, Carlita Durhan, the original guitarist for the R&B group Taste Of Honey. T.A.X.I.E. performed many engagements through out the Los Angels Hollywood circuits. Opening and appearing with renowned artist such as Stevie Wonder, Dennis Edwards, and the Mary Jane Girls. The members of T.A.X.I.E. are not only great musicians and performers, but also are very talented and awesome song writers. Some of their compositions have been performed and recorded by, Grammy winner Diane Reeves, Tahj Mowry, AlfredaJames, Greg Rose, and musical groups such as Infinite. Archwoods Productions also produced, published and promoted music and live concerts throughout the United States and Europe. Over the years, this partnership has developed a music catalog of over 100 songs, compositions, and videos. In the future, they will continue to write and produce excellent music, promoting new and established artist. Buy it now: https://www.epsilonrecord.com Contact: epsilonrecord45@gmail.com Limited Edition 7" : Alternatives Mix Re-Mastered by Steve Fuji

Out Now! Epsilon Record Co. Proudly presents its latest release: EPS004 Realside A: WHEN I SEE YOUR SMILE B: WHEN I SEE YOUR SMILE (EXTENDED VERSION) “When I See Your Smile” is a truly beautiful and elegant soulful song, which was recently recorded in Jackson Mississippi in March 2021 for Epsilon Record Co. Listen: Buy it: https://www.epsilonrecord.com/ REALSIDE Born in 1942 in Jackson Mississippi, Walter Johnson began his musical career as a singer in a doo wop group in 1958. A true veteran in the music business. He met bassist Greg Smith in 1974 in class at Jackson State University in Jackson MS. They started connecting and discovered that their mothers knew each other. At this time, Walter was the leader of a group called Rock-Bottom. He asked Greg to play in the group. They both moved to Kansas City in the early 1980s for work. They formed a new group and called it Realside, They just wanted to be real when writing their songs, music that touches you deep in your heart. Walter was the lead singer at the time. They wrote "Hang Loose" and “Flyin High” as well as "I got a Jones for you" on their own label called Walterhouse Records, all of which are extremely collectable these days. Their records were well received locally and unknown to them, “Flyin High” & “Hang Loose” were bootlegged in 1984 on SBR (Song Bird Records) records. They only recently found out via the internet. Walter got in trouble in the mid-80s and that was the end of Realdside. Greg and Walter separated for almost 35 years but never forgot that they always loved music. After living in Dallas, Texas for a few years, Walter returned home to Jackson Mississippi. He found out that Greg was still living there and talked to him about getting him into another group. They teamed up with a singer by the name of Tommy Johnson who they now work with almost every weekend. Walter is now almost 80 years old and Greg 10 years younger. They decided to make music until they die. They hope people will love “When I See Your Smile” and have many more songs to share with soul music lovers. This is REALSIDE

Out Now! Epsilon Record Co. Proudly presents its latest release: EPS007 Ira Raibon Shake it off (Live) / You’re my dream (Live) 2 Sophisticated Modern Soul winners live performances that have never been released on a 45. (limited to 300 copies only) Listen: Buy it now: https://www.epsilonrecord.com/ Ira Raibon..." Is the musical genius behind the "Indiana Funk" sound that was heard throughout the world. He shares songwriting credits with Gene Rogalski (Brady Bunch theme writer) for the 'Nursery Rhyme Song recorded by 70's teen idol/T.V. series 'Seattle', Bobby Sherman as well as songwriting credits with Freeman King, from the original "Sonny and Cher Show" for the "Vanguards" hit, "Gotta Have Love". Ira is also the writer, singer, and saxophonist for the "Fabulous Souls" hit, "Take Me". The song and group credited for starting the"Digital Underground" (music on the internet). For years historians and archivists believed he was from Indiana but the truth of the matter is Ira Raibon is from San Diego's North County, Oceanside. Ira started playing instruments and singing at a very early age. My mom said, I was singing at 2 months and she could put me down and I would just sing myself to sleep. At 3-5 years old, I remember listening to the old wringer washing machine and making up songs to the different rhythms it would be throwing out. At 6-7 I rode a bus to school with high schoolers and I remember blowing their minds making up songs on the bus as we went to school. I started my instrumental study at 7.5 years with the clarinet although I had taken piano lessons from my mom prior to this. I remember I could already play and didn't understand why I had to learn how to read music. So I threw all my books away and that had ended the piano lessons. Today Ira performs and plays 40 instruments and performs all instruments on his recordings.

BREAKING NEWS !!!! After long months of gestation and being overdue, the baby finally arrived… ..in fact they are twins !! Welcome to the Epsilon’s family EPS005 and EPS006 Four fantastic unreleased tracks on two singles from Kenyatta, New York 1975. These are certainly amongst my best discoveries. KENYATTA 1975 NEW YORK EPS005 A: Let Me Love You / B: Ain't Doin Nothing (previously unissued) EPS006 A: If We Only Had / B: Didn't I Treat You Right Girl (previously unissued) Available now to order. Please check out my website for the sound clips, you'll be blown away if you like obscured and unknown killer tunes https://epsilonrecord.com/

Epsilon Record Co proudly presents its latest release (EPS003) Heaven Scent / Henderson & Jones Limited edition / Re-mastered & remixed by Steve Fuji Two sublime obscure modern soul winners! Side A: Heaven Scent: I'm Gonna Get Ya (1983) Re-mastered & remixed version Side B: Henderson & Jones: I'm Gonna Getcha (1982) Re-mastered & remixed version Pre-order it now ((Available end of March 2021) https://www.epsilonrecord.com Listen & Watch: Henderson & Jones story by Alfonso Jones In 1980 while serving in the military at McGuire AFB New Jersey, Ken and I met at the NCO Club and I sang a song that was chosen off of the juke box by Heatwave for him. He told me that he had songs that he had written and asked if I would be interested in working on them with him. That was the beginning of our musical venture. We went to 8 track studios to get a basic structure of his music. The vocals that had been recorded were replaced by my vocals. We became friends a show together for exposure. We took our songs to Arista Records in New York and after a month of not hearing from them we retrieved our tape. We met with Landy McNeal, a producer in New York listened to our songs and said that there was no hook line. We went to Philadelphia to see another producer name Norman Harris. He liked what he heard but suggested that we should go to California because it would be a better area to launch our music Kenny got an assignment to Norton AFB in San Bernardino California and he sent for me on a 3 day bus ride. Ken had hand picked musicians out of Los Angeles to record the songs and we went to the studio in L.A for me to meet them and start laying tracks. We had a guy named J.B. Bell who wanted to help produce and promote us. After getting the record pressed we obtained a Masonic Hall for a weekend to perform the songs. After that we went to KGFJ in L.A to talk with the Program Director named George Moore. He listened but nothing came out of it. In 1983 We got a band together and started performing in the area and decided to do the song again on the 12”. We called the group Heaven Scent and we used members of the band in the studio. After we completed that project, we took promotional pictures for the record. We had only 100 copies pressed! After that things slowed down and Ken got out of the military and married a girl that had just gotten out of the service and they moved to her hometown in Sarasota Florida. I stayed in California for about another year and went to school. After 2 semesters I decided to go back to Columbus Ohio. I got a job and worked and went to School for Travel and Tourism. Ken and I remained friends and occasionally we talked but years passed before we saw one another again. After his wife passed he moved to Columbus Ohio. He performed with bands and at one point he was a one-man band. He played piano for a church that he had joined and after spending several years in Columbus he moved to Las Vegas. Ken stayed there for a few years then moved back to New Jersey where he was from. He went from there to Jacksonville Florida and I moved there. I stayed one year and my nephew was murdered so I moved back to Columbus after that. Ken got married and moved back home and I visited them on one occasion. He and his wife split up and he moved to northern California to be with his oldest son and his grandchildren that he had never seen before. While he was in California he sent me on the internet the 45 version of I'm gonna get ya and I just need someone like you. I hadn't seen or heard the record since 1980’s, so I was excited to see the record but I couldn't hear them. So I emailed Yann Vatiste to see if he would send me the songs and that is when Ken and I re-connected!

Out Now! The Kopestetics / Don't Put Offa Day - Epsilon Records 45 Limited Edition 7” Previously Unissued / Epsilon Records Co. ESP002 Catchy & Uplifting Previously Unissued Soulful Tunes from 1979 A Must-Have in your record box! Listen & Watch: Buy It Now: (order will be despatched from Tuesday) https://www.epsilonrecord.com The Kopestetics / Paterson New Jersey Interview with Leon Moses: I come from a great musical family back ground. My dad was a Gospel music promoter who discover groups like the Mighty Cloud of Joy. He was also Sam Cook's road manager. I did music my all life. I could talk to you all day about music. The Kopestetics started in high school, EastSide High School in the early 70’s in Paterson New Jersey. You might know the famous movie called "Lean on Me", that's where it took place. The group really consisted of my family, my brothers, my nephews, my cousins, basically people that I grew with. We were was a family group! We started under the director of William Butler. We’ve started playing in lots of clubs across New Jersey in the early 70’s. We were doing lots of talent shows across NJ. I recall one day we got beat out by a guy that we’ve previously won in a different talent show at the Apollo Theatre. We didn’t know who he was at the time, his name was Luther Vandross. We were named the number one band in NJ from I would say 1975 till 1982. We were tutted by a really famous deejay called BK Kirkland, he’s a really famous person in the music business, BK replaced radio legend Frankie Crocker at WBLS in 1976. He was the deejay and we were the band! We’ve end up opening acts like the Funkadelic, working along side of Sister Sledge, they were friend of ours from Philadelphia. We’ve also worked with Sammy Turner also from Paterson. We’ve auditioned with Jackie Wilson at Brunswick Records. We were opening act for Melvin & the Blue Notes, Teddy Pendergrass, The Manhattans... We were like the openings acts for so many bands. We’ve also played in all the major colleagues across the united states at this time. As some point we’ve changed the spelling of our from the Copestetics to Kopestetics with a K. I had a solo act from CBS associated Records Catawba, records called She’s too Serious by Leon Moses, Jimmy Castor from Jimmy Castor Bunch was my producer. All my life was surrounded by music, I am actually one of the last guy from the group who is still singing. I do a live stream at my church every Sunday. This particular two songs never came out on vinyl back in the days. We are all really excited about this project! At the time of those recordings in 1979 those people were in the Studio West Orange New Jersey. Produced and arranged by my good friend Ronald Foster. Vocals: Chucky Pinchom Joseph (Fuzzy) Stevens Leon (Farmer) Moses Larry Cox Music: Bass: Sam Mack Guitar: Kenny ((Satch) Pearce Guitar: June Moses Drums: Joey Moss Congas: Charles Byrd Keyboard: Ron Foster

The Sound Of Indianapolis: The Words Of Wisdom And Truth Review Side A. Don't Need Your Love Side B. What You Do To Me 7”/45 rpm Picture Sleeve - Core Black OUT EARLY MARCH 2021 250 + 20 pressed It all started when Herman “Butch” Slaughter at 12 years old asks his parents for a professional tape recording machine for Christmas. Butch’s technical training in music came from being First Chair/First Chair Baritone in a few school choirs. He started to write song poems and dreamed the day he would hear his songs on the radio. Butch had several attempts at putting a group together, eventually leading to the creation of The Words of Wisdom with Karen Slaughter, Robert “Buck” Vaughn, Rosa Lunderman and Mabel Heart. They started earning some good popularity at the crossing of the seventies and eighties although experienced some quick lineup changes until they disbanded in 1982 short after cutting these two belters. Stable artists at the legendary Lamp - the so called “Naptown’s Motown” - these guys were part of the sparkling funk soul scene of Indianapolis alongside the likes of The Vanguards and The Fabulous Souls just to name two. Writers, producers, studio owners involved in these recordings all passed away except Herman Slaughter, founder member of the band and a blasting dj still active on his scene. The recordings presented on this release went lost until 2 years ago. It’s been necessary a massive audio repair/restoration, hope you will appreciate the job we’ve done. Ah, why the Sex Pistols writing style? Just because, FUNK WAS THE BLACK PUNK! - VIVA NAPTOWN! Preorder a Standard Copy or a Test Pressing https://cannonballsoul.com/cannonballstore/ Video Trailer

A new 45 release from Epsilon Records, limited Edition of 300, 7” Previously Unissued / Epsilon Records Co. PARIS FORD A: Boogie Down B: You Ask For It (Come & Freak With Me) Limited Edition 7” Previously Unissued / Epsilon Records Co. Modern New York Style Funky Disco Killer from 1977 Listen: Buy It Now: https://twilightrecord45.wixsite.com/website MORE ABOUT PARIS FORD: One of the most enduring Bassist of the past Three decade PARIS FORD ,has taken his place as one of the most groundbreaking “New Old School” session players in popular music, from sharing recording sessions with the likes of Marcus Miller and Anthony Jackson to Recording and/or touring with everyone from Punk/Funk R&B recording artist Rick James to Jazz Fusion Violinist Micheal Urbaniak to name a few. FORD’s early days of Junior High School in the Bronx, playing in local bands with a great deal of his influences Larry Graham, Graham Central Station and Francis Rocco Prestia of Tower Power to name a few, makeup the unique style of his bass playing technique. His production combines the undeniably funky soulful song writing skills of R&B Jazz/Funk and Hip Hop. Although PARIS FORD released several singles throughout the years in U.S. & Europe, this single remains close to his heart, straight out of the vault of his Master Recording, this is his very first recording, it was done in his teen years( In the 70s Disco era). Alberto Zanini & Yann Vatiste Cannon Ball Records decided to release it amongst the company of some major musician and friends, PARIS FORD, Back then he was known aka "Peewee" (Peewee Ford), it was Recorded in 1978 -77 in Brooklyn NY at Platinum Factory/MTR Studio Restoration Mall. In 82’' FORD was signed as a solo artist to Arthur Baker’s record label, Streetwise Records, there Ford released his debut Dance/Funk 12inch single ”Be My Girl” f/ JAMES ROBINSON(of the group "CHANGE"), charted at # 69 on Billboard's Top 100 R&B/Dance charts also playing Bass on most of the Streetwise hits, "Keep Dancin" was his follow up release also featuring James Robinson. PARIS FORD has played Bass for Rick James, The B.B.&Q Band, Johnny Gill, New Edition, Evelyn “Champagne” King, Lenny White, Tyrone Thomas& The Whole Darn Family, Norman Conners, Lonnie Liston Smith, Micheal Urbankiak, Urszula Dudziak, James Robinson, Invisible Man's Band, The Village People, Glen Jones, Vicki Sue Robinson, Jean Carn, Val Young, J Plunky & Oneness and many other well known major recording artist also playing on many Jingles.From Paris:“This Release is close to my heart, I was a teen when I recorded it, I've done many recording with groups between 1974 -77 But this was my very 1st solo project. Back then I was known aka Peewee Ford, it was Recorded in 1977 in Brooklyn NY at Platinum Factory/MTR Studio Restoration Mall” Special thanks to Alberto Zanini, Joel Maslin & off course my friend the exceptional bass player Paris Ford! Yann Vatiste https://twilightrecord45.wixsite.com/website