I was pleased to note that my Goldmine interview with Devora Brown was quoted five times in Mind Over Matter. As I wrote in the article intro, “stories of sessions being cut in dirt-floored backrooms with sax players stepping over frying burgers to blow their solos into the studio’s one microphone have only added to Fortune Records’ allure.” Although Devora told me that in fact she “very rarely cooked over there”, she did recall often bringing Nolan Strong sandwiches. By most reports the studio floor actually was carpeted, but conditions were undeniably primitive. Funny story here: in the course of our interview I mentioned that I had worked on reissue projects for various labels. Devora told me she had been talking with Ace Records, Charly and Bear Family about a possible licensing deal, and asked if they were reputable. I told her that my opinion was that Ace and Bear Family were quite reputable; but Charly less so. Turned out they didn’t go ahead with any of them. Would have been a fantastic series…I can only imagine the condition their tapes must be in by now. A little tickler for Motown / Temptations fans – in their pre-hit days, the group put out a rush cover version of “Mind Over Matter” under the name “The Pirates” on Gordy’s obscure Mel-O-Dy imprint, when the Diablos’ release was delayed at the pressing plant.
Here is the link:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mSJRuRbUTus&ab_channel=BobSeger1981