Peternickols

TIMMY WILLIS Information about soul vocalist Timmy Willis has always been sketchy but the singer’s “Easy As Saying 1-2-3” is such a monumental slab of deep-soul that I thought a little digging was in order. Of course, the Northern fraternity will doubtless prefer his “Mr Soul Satisfaction” and that’s their prerogative for it’s certainly a fine uptempo stomper. Timmy was born Henry Lee Sapp in or close to Columbus Ohio (date unknown but probably circa 1947/8). In 1966 the would-be vocalist encountered Eugene and Walter McMahan at the local Preview Lounge, the McMahans being teenage musicians from a large local family (they apparently had 13 other siblings!) who had already managed to secure for themselves a residency at the Lounge. The three guys all soon hooked up, Sapp perhaps wisely changing his moniker to Timmy Willis while his back-up friends were already known as the Show Pushers. Managed by Roy Hoover, Timmy Willis & the Show Pushers soon made it to Detroit, where, in 1967, they made contact with the local well-respected drummer, arranger and producer George McGregor. McGregor’s interest in music had begun in his early teens at Hutchins Junior High School on the west side of Detroit, where his fellow pupils apparently included Popcorn Wylie, Barrett Strong, Smokey Robinson and Aretha Franklin. George McGregor says that he cut Timmy Willis’ first recording of the potent "Mr Soul Satisfaction" in Muscle Shoals at his own cost, chiefly to get that southern-soul-horns sound on it. Some say the rhythm section sounds more like a Detroit crew so I guess it’s possible that just the horns were added in the Shoals but this isn’t what George says. Anyway, it’s certainly a great dance record and it would be coupled on a 45 with the plodding and rather gloomy McGregor song “I’m Wondering”. George would take the finished master of “Mr Soul Satisfaction” to Sidra and do a deal with them for it. They duly released it on Sidra 9013 in November 1967 and subsequently licenced it to Veep whose version (#1279) was released in January 1968. The success of this 45 (it made No.39 on the R&B chart and bubbled under the Pop one at No.120) was the reason that George was awarded a position as Sidra’s A&R director. Timmy Willis -Mr Soul Satisfaction George knew of the Sidra group called The Precisions from when they were on the D-Town label but he had not yet joined Sidra when their "Such Misery"(arranged by Dale Warren) was released in 1966 on the Sidra subsidiary Drew (#101). Once he himself took charge of producing the group, George decided to base its sound around Billy Prince as lead vocalist and co-wrote "Why Girl" to capture the sound he envisaged. At the time copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" c/w "What I Want" had been pressed as promos for the second Drew single by The Precisions but the discs were ‘off-centre’. So, rather than re-master them, George took the chance to get rid of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" which had been put together by Dale Warren as the A side of the single and replace it with "Why Girl". I imagine any spare copies of "Sugar Ain't Sweet" were junked and this is why they are so rare. Strangely, in another quote (from an interview of George by Soul Source’s Rob Moss), McGregor says “we did 'Such Misery' on Timmy Willis first but then decided to put it out on the Precisions to kinda launch them”. However, if he arrived at Sidra after the Precisions first Drew 45 of the song had been cut he could hardly have been that involved, albeit in yet another quote (this time from his sleeve-notes to a Precisions Outta Sight CD) he says “the first version recorded of ‘Such Misery’ was tried using Paul Merritt (so apparently not Timmy Willis) on lead vocals. He left the group shortly afterwards and his version was not used for the first Drew 45.” The Merritt version was the one much later released on a Joe Boy single, wrongly credited to Timmy Willis due to duff information. This UK single was a year 2000 one-sided commemorative release on JBA-007V3 relating to the Northern Soul nights held at the Lea Hall Social Club in Rugeley in the UK, a long-time local facility, originally opened to serve the area’s coal-mining community. Joe Boy was a UK indy label run by graphics designer Glenn Gunton, who sometimes used the name ‘Joe Boy’ as his own alias, and who would go on to become a director of the aforementioned Outta Sight Records, along with long-time Northern Soul guru Tim Brown. In 2010, Outta Sight would release “The Sound Of Sidra” CD (OSCD 011) which included Willis’ “Mr Soul Satisfaction” and three Precisions tracks – and later they would release the Precisions CD compilation referred to in the previous paragraph. McGregor explained to Rob Moss that “Sidra was owned by two white guys, Ray Jackson and Joe Casey, and a black guy Joe Brown. Joe Casey's kids recorded for us. They were called Ronnie and Robyn. Sidra gave me a chance to recruit artists, write and produce, so I got right to it. We had the Precisions, Barbara Mercer, and Timmy Willis and I used Mike Terry to arrange. Our tactics were to see what kinda thing Motown were putting out on the Tempts and then do the opposite with the Precisions – if they put a ballad out we would put something out up-tempo. If they put out something funkier, we would put something smooth out, and it was working. It was driving them crazy over there. Paul Williams and Otis (Williams) of the Tempts told me this themselves. On the third release we kinda got hijacked 'cause Mike Valvano and Charlie Basaline came in and convinced Sidra’s owners to cut one of their songs, 'If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)' on the Precisions. It should never have been released as the A side – we should have gone with 'You'll Soon Be Gone'. We lost momentum. I was told later that Motown had paid Mike and Charlie $10,000 to go over to us to wreck the system, by putting their song out on them. The Precisions were as good as the Tempts and should have been a lot bigger than they were. In the end, there was a lot of politicking that destroyed us (Sidra) – I guess that's what Motown wanted.” Anyway, back in the late 60’s, buoyed by having a modest hit with Timmy’s first 1967 outing, Veep duly put out two more Willis sides in July 1968, this time clearly cut in Detroit, namely “Gotta Get Back To Georgia” and “Don’t Let Temptation (Come Between You And Me)” on Veep 1288, both co-penned by long-time producer (and husband of Kim Tolliver) Fred Briggs and the aforementioned Mike Valvano. The “B” side was a stunning piece of emotional slow-to-mid-paced soul with Willis singing powerfully and impressively, whilst “...Georgia” was a driving piece of swampy funk, again with Willis performing really strongly, albeit things get a tad messy mid-track when he ‘fights’ vocally with the could-be-better girl back-up singers and the tune loses a bit of direction until it returns to its strong main groove. Sadly, though, this 45 failed to chart. Interestingly, in a August 17th 1968 special Billboard World Of Soul edition, Timmy Willis’ personal manager is listed as Sidra co-owner Ray Jackson with his booking agent shown as Phil Walden, who was of course more usually associated with southern-based singers. However, Timmy stuck with George McGregor as a producer with further writing ventures and recordings duly resulting. George again takes up the story, explaining how he recorded stuff with a view to leasing it to the national labels: “If I produced a session I usually would not play drums on it 'cause I couldn't see the big picture and might miss something on the recording. At that time, we would cut the session first and then shop it to different companies later. If I came up with songs, I would assemble the musicians on the understanding that if I got a deal they would get a share of it. We had a real tight bond and trusted each other, so there was a lot of honesty amongst us. We supported each other. I would usually go to New York to get a deal 'cause that was the closest and best place to get to the record companies. I got a deal for Tobi Lark at Cotillion (as Toby Lark in 1969 she cut the old Joe Morris-penned standard “Shake A Hand” and McGregor and Mike Valvano’s “Twenty Four Hours”, both sides produced by McGregor, Valvano and King Curtis on Cotillion 44025); Gwen Owens at Jubilee (actually at Josie, the Jubilee subsidiary, Timmy Willis and McGregor co-penning her Josie 1009 August 1969 No.40 R&B hit “Keep On Living”); Rena Scott at Epic (“I Finally Found The Love” and “Testify”, coupled on 1972’s Epic 5-10864, were both produced by George who also solely penned the ‘A’ side and co-penned the ‘B’ side); Almeta Latimore (real name Hattie Almeda Latimer) at De-Vel (“La La” on De-Vel ZS7 6754 from 1973) but we went down to Memphis to record that one 'cause I wanted a different sound. We went to Stax. She was a good writer and had a hell of a voice; Bettye Lavette at Epic (Epic 50143 from 1975 saw one side, “Thank You For Loving Me” penned and produced by George while #50177 from the same year saw one side produced by George and Ron Dunbar, namely Kenny O’Dell’s country-song most associated with Charlie Rich, “Behind Closed Doors”); and Ruby Andrews at ABC (George co-penned and produced 4 of the 9 tracks on Ruby’s 1977 Detroit-recorded album “Genuine Ruby” # AB-1002 having also co-penned and produced her earlier 1976 ABC 12215 single side “I Got A Bone To Pick With You”. From the album, George’s “Queen Of The Disco” also saw 45 release for Ruby in 1977 on ABC 12257 and the same year his “Cinderfella” also made it to the ‘B’ side of Ruby’s ABC single #12286). But back in the late 60’s, it was McGregor’s connection with Jerry Blaine’s New York label Jubilee that would provide the outlet for Timmy Willis’ own next two 45s. In May 1969 Jubilee put out “I Finally Found A Woman” (#5660), a self-penned, high octane, drum-propelled dancer complete with Pickett-esque screams, the side hitting No.44 on the R&B chart coupled with the pretty impressive country-soul styled mid-pacer “Neveruary” (a track co-penned by Willis and McGregor). Then, in January of the following year, the ultra-deep and absolutely top-drawer piece of emotional soul “Easy As Saying 1-2-3” (#5690) was released and made No.46 on the same chart, coupled with the strutting, powerfully-delivered “I’m A Man”, both these sides being solely penned by Willis. Timmy Willis - Easy As saying 123 “Easy As Saying 1-2-3” made No.4 in my all-time Male Deep Soul Top 50 and is much-revered by deep fans, not the least of whom was the late, great Deep Soul guru Dave Godin, whose description of the track in his notes to UK Kent’s 1997 CD release “Deep Soul Treasures Volume 1” (CDKEND 143) sums it up perfectly: “ A superb deep church organ opens with a few sparse chords that are soon joined by a sharp and cutting guitar - and Timmy Willis’ exquisitely sweet, light yet rasping tenor declaims the lyrics with an intense and magical conviction. Obviously under the spell of the winning musical formula of the late Otis Redding, Timmy’s voice is actually much more pure and assured. Stunning brass work...cascades across the vocal patterns in an almost independently-minded way and the end result is an outstanding Deep Soul classic....and in order to ease the emotional pain that this presents you with, what do you have to do? Why, spin it again...and again...and again.” Now, looking at the labels of Timmy’s two Jubilee 45s all one sees is reference to them being Gee-Mac Productions (i.e. George McGregor) with the publishing chiefly in the hands of Jerry Blaine’s Jubilant company. Therefore at first glance they appear to be no more than George McGregor-produced Detroit sides leased out to a New York label for national distribution. However, well-informed southern soul fans, including John ‘Sir Shambling’ Ridley and UK Ace/ Kent regular compiler and annotator Tony Rounce have long been convinced that these sides were cut in Muscle Shoals, with Ridley certain the players on the session(s) were Eddie Hinton, Barry Becket, David Hood and Roger Hawkins. To my ears, “Neveruary” has the most obvious Shoals area sound of all of these fine recordings, a cut which aurally just couldn’t have stemmed from any Detroit studio of the time. Rounce also suggests that Willis’ second 45 from 1970 could have been cut in the Shoals a year or two earlier than its release date. Now, Willis’ first Jubilee 45 saw release (as already noted) in May 1969 and I personally think both of these sides plus both of those on the second Jubilee release were probably all cut at one and the same Shoals-based session as it seems unlikely to me that George McGregor would send Timmy – a singer with only one small hit under his belt at that time – all the way down to Alabama on two quite separate occasions. It is surely more likely that four or more tracks were cut at this session, four of these seeing release on the two subsequent Jubilee 45s. However, the next question is - where in the Shoals would such a session have been held? Well, most people would look at the personnel allegedly present (as stated by Ridley) and plump immediately for Muscle Shoals Sound – but that studio had only been opened by the guys soon to be known as The Swampers on April 1st 1969 (this date is confirmed on Page 14 of Section 8 of the MSS entry to the US National Register Of Historic Places, the first time I have found such confirmation as no researchers seem to have suggested a single date before). Of course, April always seemed likely to be the month the studio opened as the first noted visitor to record there was Cher, brought down to Alabama to cut her first solo album at a session commencing on April 21st by Jerry Wexler, who had a major interest in the studio, wanting to retain access to the same Shoals musicians he had recently been using at Fame and having therefore paid towards the cost of its new 8 track system, Atlantic’s engineer-supremo Tom Dowd having first ensured that the proposed MSS set-up would be fully compatible with Atlantic’s own system back in New York. So if Willis’ first Jubilee 45 was already on the market by May of that year, it is clear that the two tracks on it must have been cut in April or earlier and therefore, whilst they indeed could have been very early products of the new MSS studio, I can now confirm (I believe for the very first time anywhere) that they were not - and that in fact these tracks (and most likely Willis’ other two Jubilee sides, including “Easy As Saying 1-2-3”) were cut at Fame on March 14th 1969, with Eddie Hinton on guitar and David Hood on bass and with almost certainly Barry Becket on organ and Roger Hawkins on drums, as correctly surmised by John Ridley. This confirmation comes from David Hood himself who kept session dates in a book and has come up with this one, albeit from the hundreds of sessions in which he featured he cannot personally recall the occasion. He agrees from hearing MP3s of the tracks that it certainly appears to be Eddie Hinton on guitar - and long-term No.1 Eddie Hinton expert and Zane CD compiler/producer/owner Peter Thompson (who has released all those wonderful Hinton demos on his label and who also kindly contacted David Hood for me) similarly agrees this has to be Hinton. The one surprising thing is that in his interview with Rob Moss and in his self-penned notes to the Outta Sight CD, George McGregor never once mentions going down to the Shoals in ’69 to cut these particular sides and, seeing as he claims he had done just that somewhat earlier to record Timmy on “Mr Soul Satisfaction”, it seems very odd that he would not mention returning there at this later date. Anyway, three months after Willis’ “Easy As Saying 1-2-3” left the charts, Jerry Blaine would retire from the record business, selling Jubilee to a company called Viewlex - but as Timmy’s Jubilee outings had only been leases, this didn’t stop the singer hoping for more success, perhaps with other ‘national’ labels with which McGregor already had connections. However, this prospect seems to have come to nothing at this time and Timmy’s Detroit connections were soon more or less severed in 1971 when he returned to his native Columbus, Ohio to rejoin what was essentially an enlarged version of the Show Pushers. Eugene and Walter McMahan had most likely returned to Columbus from Detroit somewhat earlier, after it had become apparent that their services were no longer required in respect of Willis’ recordings with McGregor; but two of their younger siblings, Jerry and Ronnie, along with three of that pair’s classmates (Ron Johnson, D. C. Collins, and Cornell McLeary) had all got together to form the strangely-and-somewhat-psychedelically-named group the Suspicious Can Openers. On Timmy’s return to Columbus he duly joined this group as their main vocalist, his manager Roy Hoover and Eddy Parker forming a production team, named Mo-Soul Productions. By now this group was a full horn-funk ensemble and it duly recorded a couple of instrumentals, namely the tense funker "Fever In Your Hot Pants", penned by Parker and Willis and the slow "Tuesday In the Rain", penned just by Parker, which was actually a backing track designed for an unreleased vocal, possibly by Willis. This instrumental 45 appeared in 1971 on Mo-Soul 111123, having been recorded at Columbus’ Magnetic Studio. Around this time a photo appeared of the group: With six guys in the photo it seems clear that Willis was included in it along with the two McMahan brothers and their three pals and, as he was the featured vocalist and the guy now with three hit records to his name, it seems likely he is the person centrally seated in the contrasting predominantly white outfit. No solo photo of Willis is known to exist in the public domain so this may be all we have - but of course the guys in the photo are not actually named at all let alone by their positions in it - and so we can’t be 100 per cent certain that Willis actually is the guy sitting in the middle. It’s interesting to note from the sticker attached to the photo that the group’s agency for personal appearances in the early 70’s was based not in Ohio but in Pauline, Kansas and during this period the group regularly played club venues both in their local region and also more widely in the mid-west. There is another photo of the group, probably taken somewhat later in view of the even bigger Afros and the ‘flares’ being worn, which can be found in the Black History section of the Pinterest web-site. This though is somewhat blurry, albeit 6 guys still feature so Timmy may well be in there somewhere! Apparently the Can Openers finally disbanded in 1974. However, in that same year, Mo-Soul released another 45, this time by a certain Vikki Kenyatta (with Linda Davis) on Mo-Soul 481-28. This was a vocal version of "Tuesday In The Rain", apparently using the same instrumental recording that had been released by the Suspicious Can Openers. It's possible that the vocal had also been recorded earlier, although whether it is the one that was originally intended to compliment the Can Opener’s backing track is uncertain. The B side was again a purely instrumental version of “Tuesday In The Rain” apparently credited this time simply to the Mo-Soul Band. According to the Discogs web-site, The Mo-Soul team would next release a 45 on their Kandun label. It seems unlikely that any of the Can Openers were involved as apparently the label credit is simply awarded to the Jupiter's Release Band and, in any event, the Can Openers had probably already disbanded by the time of this recording. The 45rpm records web-site’s list of Ohio label releases includes one further Kandun 102689/102690 release from 1977 by a certain Butch Johnson, which coupled “Everlasting Life (Everlasting Love)” with “Smooth Dancin’”. During his early 70’s spell with the Can Openers, in 1972 Timmy Willis also managed to secure what would turn out to be his final solo recording session, over on the West Coast and it seems he toured again as a solo act for a while after this release. The 45 on Epic 10934 coupled “Give Me A Little Sign” with “Don’t Want To Set Me Free” and was released in November 1972. Despite a Radio Action and Pick Single reference in the December 23rd edition of Billboard, the 45 never made it to the charts and, frankly, wasn’t quite in the league of his best earlier work. The record was produced by Marlin McNichols and Melvin ‘Wah Wah’ Watson (real name Melvin Ragin and best known as a fine Motown Funk Brothers guitarist) and these two guys got co-writer credits on both tracks along with Willis himself. The sparse staccato funk of “Don’t Want To Set Me Free” is well above average for this genre and the ‘A’ side “Give Me A Little Sign” is a stop-go ballad with a well constructed hook, Timmy certainly giving it the full treatment, especially at the climax when he really cuts loose. To my knowledge no further information about Timmy’s activities after the mid-70s has ever surfaced but if anyone knows different please help complete the Timmy Willis story. Peter Nickols

Joe Valentine by Pete Nickols When it comes to recording top-drawer ultra-emotive deep-soul, only a few exponents have managed to produce more than one supreme example in their recording careers and even the very few, like James Carr for example, who managed to produce several, usually released quite a large number of soul sides in total throughout the classic-soul era from which those few deep gems emerged. However, when we consider that, even including unreleased items at the time, Joe Valentine only put down some 14 tracks in the early-soul era between 1960 and 1968 and yet still managed to produce three stone deep classic performances (all of these actually recorded in the two-year period 1967 to 1968), this clearly says a lot about the man’s impressive voice and its ability back then to be intensely emotive. What’s more, Joe wrote all his own material – no external writers renowned for their ability to create such emotional soul (like Dan Penn, George Soule or George Jackson for example) were involved – and all of Joe’s deep-soul gems were originally cut for his own Val label out of Austin, Texas. Joe Valentine (Joseph F. Valentine), recording artist, musician, song-writer and club-owner was born on February 3rd 1937, the eldest son of his like-named father Joseph F. and mother Myrtle K. Valentine of Reserve, Louisiana, a community situated some thirty miles north-west of New Orleans on the east bank of the mighty Mississippi. Joe was born into a musical family with a history that dated back many years. His grandfather, Peter Valentine, played trumpet with a Dixieland band and his uncle, Kid Valentine (1896 to 1987) was known as Kid Thomas and became a significant jazz figure, his band playing regularly at Preservation Hall in New Orleans from the 60’s to the 80’s. Kid also toured Russia and other parts of Europe playing clubs and festivals. During the 60’s he recorded widely for the Jazz Crusade label both with his own band and with Big Bill Bissonnette’s Easy Riders Jazz Band. Kid would make more than twenty tours with the Easy Riders to the US North-East. By the age of 5 Joe was singing and playing piano in kindergarten and, while he was still in short pants, his mother Myrtle secretly stole her husband’s stocks and bonds – which she later duly replaced – to buy him a piano. Keyboards would remain his main instrument but he became a genuine multi-instrumentalist, being particularly adept on the saxophone. Joe began his professional career at age 14, as a featured vocalist with the Mitchell Lennox Rhythm Swing Band and was soon signed to Percy Stovall’s Continental Music Attractions. Stovall had run the Hurricane night spot in New Orleans in the 40’s and became a local promoter who also ran his own band, a band Crescent City soul-man, Raceland, Louisiana-born Willie West would later use when he opened shows in the area both for Otis Redding and Mary Wells. William Bell recalled Stovall fondly when he said: “New Orleans was the first city in which ‘You Don’t Miss Your Water’ went to No.1 and a promoter down there named Percy Stovall called me and said ‘I can do 10 dates on you from Pascagoula all the way to Opelousas’. I told him ‘Fine, just set ‘em up’.” Meanwhile the young Joe apparently supported an also young Ray Charles at one point and it wouldn’t be too long before he would form his own band, the first incarnation of Joe Valentine & The Imperials. When still only about 18 years of age, Joe moved to Baton Rouge and would spend the next 10 years there as a regular attraction at West Baton Rouge’s Carousel Club. He cut what is generally regarded as his first record, ”I Still Love You”/ “Young Lover” in circa 1960 for Merit Records (#1002). It is usually said that Joe was still only 16 when he made his first recording but, if the Merit sides were indeed his first songs on wax, then he was actually much older, closer indeed to 22 years of age at that time. He would go on to cut further singles through 1963/4 on Rachan 311 (“She’s Gone Again”/”Coming On Home” – reissued on Athens 209) and on Doug 849 (“Sweeter Than Sugar (And Twice As Nice)”/”Let It Be Love”). Of these sides, “She’s Gone Again” was a very good early piece of mournful deep-soul but not quite in the same league as Joe’s three deep winners yet to emerge later in the decade. The Rachan label was out of Winston-Salem, North Carolina (the very next single to Joe’s release, The Ascots with Bob Davidson’s “Have Gun (Will Travel)” coupled with “White House” on Rachan 312, shows this location on its labels). The Athens label was based at 1719 West End Building, Nashville. Not much is known about the Doug label but both the songs on Valentine’s Doug 45 were published by Red Stick Music, a company owned by Sam Montel (real surname Montalbano) who was based in Baton Rouge and who, around the time of this release (1963), had just launched Dale & Grace on his parent Montel imprint. Another of his labels was Michelle named after one of his daughters but he certainly created a number of other small short-lived imprints, usually using a person’s name, so it seems quite likely (as Joe Valentine was then living in Baton Rouge) that Doug might well have been a local Sam Montel-owned enterprise. In 1967, Joe relocated to Austin, Texas where he would remain for the rest of his days. Once there, he formed his own Val label and first recorded the moody, still Crescent City-styled mid-pacer “One Night Of Satisfaction” and the superbly deep “I Can’t Stand To See You Go” on Val 67119, these sides later picked up for issue on his Ronn label (#14) by Shreveport’s Stan Lewis. Next, on Val 7225, Joe cut the bouncy dancer later favoured by the UK Northern Soul scene, “I Lost The Only Love I Had”. This was coupled with the ultra-deep winner “Surely I Will Never Do You Wrong”, this latter track seeing a title-change to “You Got To Believe In Me” when eventually picked up (though not issued at the time) by Stan Lewis. However, Joe’s next outing appeared solely on the Ronn label (#30), this being another deep-jewel called “A Woman’s Love” which was coupled with the faster, would-be dance-crazer, “Hands On, Hands Off” As you will surely have noted, it was within this fine clutch of 1967/8 recordings that we find our three deep-soul gems. They were “I Can’t Stand To See You Go”, “Surely I’ll Never Do You Wrong” aka “You Got To Believe In Me” and “A Woman’s Love”. For years I have tried to decide which of these deep masterworks I prefer the most and it comes down to almost a tie between “I Can’t Stand To See You Go” and “A Woman’s Love”, with the latter track just shading it. In my all-time Top 50 deep-soul listing I have “A Woman’s Love” at No.12 and “I Can’t Stand To See You Go” at No.32. “Surely I’ll Never Do You Wrong” is just a tad tougher and rougher and is largely an almost spoken rather than sung piece. It doesn’t feature in my all-time Top 50 and yet its almost funerial approach is something which massively appeals to many deep-soul lovers, myself included. Looking at these 3 gems in a little more detail, “A Woman’s Love” has an almost regal beauty about it. It’s a super-emotive slow-paced paen to womanhood and the need a guy has to be loved - and when Joe lets go vocally (melodiously but powerfully) in front of the impressive brass it’s surely a goose-bump-inducing moment for any deep-soul fan. “I Can’t Stand To See You Go” is Joe’s most reissued side and the lovely, almost drifting organ work and the sparse but so effective guitar fills and runs beautifully complement the tear-inducing, oh-so-emotionally-involved mellifluous vocal. No huge histrionics here – one can just wallow unashamedly in Joe’s sheer involvement in the piece and his utter sadness at the departure of his loved one. The scene for “Surely I’ll Never Do You Wrong” is set by some striking but mournful brass work in the introduction and then Joe enters the fray, almost speaking rather than singing his demonstrative appeals to his girl to believe in him and to not ditch him for a third party. Then the emphasised parts of the vocal are sung before speech returns - but it’s a spoken plea which is so phenomenally soulful in its delivery that the listener simply becomes enveloped in Joe’s expressive prose. This is an outstanding listening experience rather than an outstanding song but it’s still ‘deep-soul heaven’. Also a consummate live performer, in his time Joe has apparently shared the stage with not only Ray Charles but also Chuck Berry, Joe Simon, Johnnie Taylor, Jackie Wilson, Eddie Floyd and Joe Hinton. In the early 70’s, he toured the U.S. and Europe with the late Joe Tex as both his bandleader, piano-player and additional featured vocalist. Around this time Joe also co-wrote the 1971 releases of "Wheels of Life" (King 6373 and People 2503) for Lynn Collins, who was a performer with the James Brown review from 1969 through the 70s and who enjoyed 9 R&B hits in that decade (2 of which were Pop hits too). In 1979 Joe cut a one-off solo 45 for Cocoa Studio (#0369) (see track-listing below), a release which put him closer perhaps to “country” than “soul” - but by the late-80’s Lynn Collins was touring with Joe Valentine’s own Band and on his 1991 album “For Ever And Ever” (recorded in Austin TX on Tee-Jay NR 18554) he duetted with her on 3 of the tracks (see discography below for track-listing).The recordings were produced by Ron Brown and Nolan Smith and Joe’s manager at the time is shown as Tobe Addison. His 90’s Tee-Jay sides would also include at least 3 duets with another female vocalist, Linda Green (see tracks 24, 25 and 26 of “Then And Now” track-listing below). An earlier also Austin-recorded Tee-Jay extended-play 12 inch album called “One Night Stand” (NR 17381) had emerged in 1988. This had contained just 4 solo Valentine tracks, 2 each of which had been also paired on two separate 45s (see track-listing below for details). By this time, Joe had also become owner of (and regular performer at) the Valentine’s Night Club in Austin which he had opened back in 1986 inside The Chariot Inn. Then in 1992 he would buy the 311 Club on Sixth Street where he played several nights a week with his brothers Boddie Valentine on drums and Tony Valentine on bass. Back in 1990, Japanese P-Vine had issued 6 of Joe’s Val/Ronn tracks on their various-artist CD named after one of those tracks, “A Woman’s Love – Classic Soul Jewelry #1” (PCD 2162) (see track-listing below). Then, in 2001, UK Westside issued four of the same tracks on their compilation “Soul Jewels Vol.1 – Losers Win Sometime” (WESA 912) and, in the same year, Fuel included “I Can’t Stand To See You Go” on their “From Chicago To Shreveport” various artists compilation (#2000). Fuel would also reissue the same Valentine track on their later “Jewel/Paula Story” CD in 2011 (once again, see discography below). Meanwhile, in 2000 Joe issued two CD’s semi-privately. These were “From The Soul” and “Love Is On My Mind” (see track-listings below). Then in 2002, he released a 2-volume CD set, "Then and Now" (subtitled “Singing In The Key of Love”). Volume 1 ("Then") contained 14 of Joe's best songs from the 60's & 70's, while Volume 2 ("Now") featured 15 Tee-Jay tracks from the 80's & 90's. These were issued as two separate CDs in their own individual jewel-cases, each being given the same issue number, Val 2001 (see below for track-listing). Joe sadly passed away July 13, 2018, aged 81 in the Eastside home he had built himself – shortly after telling his children it was his "time to go." He had been suffering from Alzheimer's, according to his son Joe Valentine, the youngest of his – wait for it - 22 children – and the fourth to be named Joe. His obituary stated: “Joe is preceded in death by his son, Leslie; parents, Joseph and Myrtle Valentine; and brother, Anthony F. Valentine. He leaves to cherish his memory his partner Sue Arledge; his children; and a multitude of grandchildren, great-grandchildren, nieces, nephews, cousins, and a host of others whose lives he touched in a multitude of ways.” "He was a one-in-a-million talent who knew how to make you feel what he was singing," said vocalist Lynn Field, whose 8-track Tee-Jay NR 18555 album “Take Me In Your Love” (recorded simply as by Lynn) was produced by Joe in 1991. Lynn (above) absolutely nailed it on the head. That great ability is precisely what shines through his finest performances. Sadly, we have to say R.I.P. to Joe Valentine– but for deep-soul fans the emotional involvement he poured into those special Val/Ronn recordings will live on forever. DISCOGRAPHY Merit 1002 I Still Love You/Young Lover (c.1960) Rachan 311 & Athens 209 She’s Gone Again/Coming On Home (1963 on Rachan, 1964 on Athens) http://www.sirshambling.com/artists_2012/V/joe_valentine/index.php (You can hear “She’s Gone Again” here by clicking its blue-text title but there are occasional bleeps in the recording inserted to avoid illegal copying of this track for commercial gain) Doug 849 Sweeter Than Sugar (And Twice As Nice)/Let It Be Love (c.1963/4) (Note: this Doug 45 was also issued with “I Need You” as the flip – but this song is identical to “Let It Be Love”). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZHrMjJSNkYM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8LjrTK9NNx8 Val 67119 & Ronn 14 One Night Of Satisfaction/I Can’t Stand To See You Go (1967) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mh40_9BIt10 Val 7225 I Lost The Only Love I Had/Surely I’ll Never Do You Wrong (= *You Got To Believe In Me – Ronn unissued) (c.1968) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=alpxeEq5YtM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-9MyAWPmbiA Ronn 30 A Woman’s Love/Hands On, Hands Off (1968) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3NnFqaLvXKc Ronn unissued: *You Got To Believe In Me (P-Vine PCD 2162 & Westside WESA 912) I Can Feel My Love Coming On Strong (P-Vine PCD 2162 & Westside WESA 912) Soul City USA (P-Vine PCD 2162). https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=WjR1fKX4GhQ https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bHjD-xGB8v8 Cocoa Studio 0369 Until The Real Thing Comes Along/There Goes Another Dream Of Mine (1979) Tee Jay NR 17379 One Night Stand/All The Love I Have For You Is Gone (1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=VkjLkoooGiM https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xy2tbpI90Gc Tee Jay NR 17380 Sharing Your Love/True Love (1988) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gYpI9szcEZA https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8E-yfvMphBo “One Night Stand” (Tee Jay NR 17381) (1988) track listing: Side 1: 1 One Night Stand 2 All The Love I Have For You Is Gone Side 2: 1 Sharing Your Love 2 True Love “A Woman’s Love” (Jap. P-Vine PCD 2162) (1990) various artist compilation. 6 tracks by Joe Valentine 1 A Woman’s Love 2 I Can’t Stand To See You Go 3 One Night Of Satisfaction 4 I Can Feel My Love Coming On Strong 5 Soul City U.S.A. 6 You’ve Got To Believe In Me. “For Ever And Ever” (Tee Jay NR 18554) (1991) track listing: Side 1: 1 Our Love Will Last Forever 2 One More Night With You 3 If You (duet with Lynn Collins) 4 Let’s Have Tonight (duet with Lynn Collins) Side 2: 1 Forever My Love 2 To Be In Love With You 3 You Know (duet with Lynn Collins) 4 Our Love Will Last Forever (instrumental version) “From The Soul” (Val 1937D) (2000) track listing: 1 Turn Back The Hands Of Time 2 I Can’t Give You More (Than All The Love I Have) 3 That’s What Love Is About 4 In The Name Of Love 5 I Should Have Known 6 This Time 7 I Had It All The Time “Love Is On My Mind” (Val 2001D) (2000) track listing: 1 I Need Some Lovin’ Tonight 2 Make Sweet Love To You 3 Let’s Make Love Tonight 4 Kick Me When I’m Down 5 You’re Bad 6 Since I Met You Baby 7 Come To Me Val 7225 I Lost The Only Love I Ever Had/Surely I'll Never Do You Wrong (2001) (Note ~ this was a legal reissue by Joe himself of his c.1968 Val 45 – see above) “Soul Jewels Volume 1 – Losers Win Sometime” (Westside WESA 912) (2001) various artist compilation. 4 tracks by Joe Valentine 4 You’ve Got To Believe In Me 9 A Woman’s Love 15 I Can Feel My Love Coming On Strong 25 I Can’t Stand To See You Go “From Chicago To Shreveport” (Fuel 2000 3020611452) (2001) various artist compilation. 1 track by Joe Valentine 6 I Can’t Stand To See You Go “Then And Now” (Val 2001) (2002) track listing: (Disc 1 – Vol.1 - 60’s & 70’s) “Then” 1 I Lost The Only Love I Ever Had 2 Surely I Will Never Do You Wrong 3 Woman's Love 4 I Can't Stand To See You Go 5 One Night Of Satisfaction 6 I Can Feel My Love Coming On Strong 7 Soul City U.S.A 8 Another Dream Of Mine 9 Until The Real Thing Comes Along 10 Our Love Will Last Forever 11 You Know (Joe Valentine With Lynn Collins) 12 Let's Have Tonight 13 Our Love Will Last Forever (Instrumental) 14 Hands On Hands Off (Disc 2 – Vol.2 - 80’s & 90’s) “Now” 1 One More Night With You 2 If You (Joe Valentine With Lynn Collins) 3 Forever My Love 4 To Be In Love With You 5 One Night Stand 6 All The Love I Have For You Is Gone 7 Sharing Your Love 8 True Love 9 If You Let Me 10 Look What We've Done (Joe Valentine With Linda Green) 11 Let Me Be There For You (Joe Valentine With Linda Green) 12 Don't Know How to Live Without You (Joe Valentine With Linda Green) 13 Come to Me 14 Let's Have Tonight (Joe Valentine With Lynn Collins) 15 First Day of Your Life (You will find many if not all of these tracks on You Tube. Two of them are the same two songs that appeared on Joe’s Cocoa Studio 45 but I have never heard the original disc so I am not sure whether the versions on this compilation are the originals or re-cuts). “Jewel/Paula Story” (Fuel 2000 3020618972) (2011) various artist compilation. 1 track by Joe Valentine 8 I Can’t Stand To See You Go