David Meikle

see above

Raynoma's book is one of my cherished pieces on American Soul Music. I even bought the spoken word version for goodness sake. My only regret is that Miss Ray didn't elaborate more on her collaboration with Eddie Singleton at Shrine in Washington DC. However, Andy Rix's detective work and interviews provide superb notes on this wonderful record label. Here's some more label scans which help confirm that Miss Ray was a multi-talented music lady. Miss Ray RIP

The Twisted Wheel in 1970 was definitely dominated by males. I remember dancing in a circle of 10 at the deejay spot and there was only one girl in it. I would say record collecting was the key to the development of this male dominated scene. There was no chance of picking up girls at the Wheel we were purely going there to hear and dance to the wonderful records being played. I remember going into Rowntrees Sound one evening and talking to a crowd of girls who said they were scared to visit the Wheel. Does anyone remember the sisters who sat in an alcove in the Wheel dressed in black week after week? I can picture them to this day. Whatever happened to them after the Wheel closed?

Does anyone have a photograph of Eddie Thomas during the Curtom era (or whenever). TIA David

If anyone will know it will be baby boy.

Since the late Bob Babbitt is now being dragged into this, make up your own mind from this youtube video in which Babbitt inducts James into the Fender Hall Of Fame. Go to 1.00 minutes

This is from George's own website. https://www.georgebensonmusic.com/about.htm

https://chnm.gmu.edu/courses/magic/kaye/ More detail which should end this fantasy once and for all. James Jamerson RIP

This from Soulfuldetroit in 2002. Allan Slutzky's words. That case was dropped when Carole's lawyer was presented with the proof we'd obtained that disproved her claims. (Subpoened union contracts, Motown studio logs that contradicted her work logs, signed notarized affidavits from Motown producers, etc.)

The Minit label has everything including more than 100 superb soul sides.

I am interested in music history and not record collecting. The latter stopped circa 1975 at 3,000 discs most of which are long gone. Graham Finch took me to Bob May's in 2001 and I recall he left with zero. He encouraged me to buy a Timmy Willis 45 probably out of loyalty to Bob. Cost me $5. I've still got it. We then headed to Johnnie Mae's home which was a lot more interesting than Bob May's.

Great labels, great music

Aki Aleong appeared in a number of movies. Do a Wiki search. He also produced a personal fave of mine in Soulin and Rollin by the Trensaitions on the Minit label. He may even have been part of the group.

Thanks for the review which has persuaded me to buy this cd. ps is it possible to edit Bob's surname to Abrahamian?

JoAnne told me this 15 years ago.

Sometimes a simple design can be very effective. This one was named after JoAnne Bratton's son Derek who tragically died in an accident in 1962. JoAnne's nickname for Derek was Ric-Tic. The label mesmerised collectors. I yearn for those innocent days.

I always loved the colour scheme and text design on this one. The music helped too!

I found this on the DetroitYes forum. I was in Bob May's west side store in 2001 but found it uninteresting. 25 years too late no doubt! 'Bob Mays, proprietor of a bona fide record collector's store. His shop was on E. 8 Mile near I75, first on the eastbound side, then, for a few years until he was finally forced to close, on the westbound side almost across from the original. When I went in around 1968, Bob looked old to me (most everyone over 30 looked old to me, I was 18) and seemed to drink "a bit." He had a solid grasp of jazz records and their worth. I bought my first 78s from his store - a Bird Dial, and a Tatum Decca - and went back many times over a 30 year period, until I actually had most everything I wanted due to the advent of CD's. Bob is one of those guys who seemed designed for and destined to sell used records. He would have looked odd selling groceries, or car insurance, but was totally right for the record job. Thin as a rake, long bushy beard, smoked a lot, always dusty boxes piled high in corners and most everywhere else in his modest sized space. To borrow a quote about Duke Ellington, Bob looked like he'd seen it all, and done most of it. He still has a table at record collector shows. Now Cappy was different - stocky guy rough voice, friendly but didn't take crap from anyone. Always thought Cappy was an ex motorcycle gang member for some reason - just had a slightly menacing air about him, but once you talked with him for a while he turned out to be a really nice guy. And he knew his records, especially his Detroit records. I asked him once if he had any disco records, and he looked at me in disbelief before bursting into laughter for a solid minute. I wasn't joking, but I was too insecure to fess up and tell him I wasn't joking, and we moved on to other topics.Cappy had to pack up most of his 'special collection' for some reason which I've forgotten, and wasn't in a big hurry to unpack them - if you've ever moved a lot of records, you know the effort involved. Cappy closed his shop a few years ago, and I that was a major loss for Det record collectors. I only hope he gets the chance to channel his amazing knowledge into a Det business of some sort - maybe selling records?? LOL.' Subject was posted 6 years ago.

John Harvey is definitely deceased. I would say sometime in the nineties. I recall him being in Silverdale's record shop in Glasgow's Argyle Street in the mid seventies. John Anderson sold a lot of records to Silverdale's possibly before he moved to King's Lynn, hence the attraction. Kojak held a small meeting in a hotel in Sauchiehall Street around that time outlining some plans which I recall as being a bit OTT. Honestly cannot recall what they were however. If anyone has a huge amount of spare time on their hands they could ruffle through Blues & Soul mags circa late seventies to find out why Kojak upset Dave Godin rather much. Again, I can't remember why.

Barry's Record Rendezvous, Manchester Blues and Soul, Hanway Street, London (aka Contempo) Soul City, Monmouth Street, London (may have closed around the Torch era)

If you are still around, that would probably have been the late Pete Lawson.