G F

This discography has it as the same guy. Apparently he was also in The Midnighters... https://www.discogs.com/artist/510674-Cal-Green

Thanks for the positive feedback. It took me quite a while to edit the audio files -- around 100 hours to come up with that video. I tried to get it in some sort of chronological order, but our actual conversations would inevitably jump around from topic/year to topic/year. Joe was prolific and the interview scratches the surface of what he was involved in. I've just listened to another interview I did with a guy called A.J. and he said that he and some teenage friends were the Hit Men backing Lee Jennings, and that Joe was the main man on those sessions. I imagine Joe was behind those Dotty's and Star Track etc sessions for label owner Sonny Marshall. (BTW - Sonny's wife was called Dorothy). Ady --re Boom Boom: it sounds to me like Joe had finished recording a song - with Dave Hamilton, Big Bubbles and Jamerson - and John Lee Hooker was there listening as they ran it down. The riff was something that his manager picked up on and they then recorded it as Boom Boom. Do the session notes credit Joe and Jamerson, and names United Sound?

Joe's interview in now on YouTube....

I know Kingfish wrote the song, but I just wondered who wrote that sheet, as he told me he had a problem reading music.

That's a great piece of ephemera! I wonder who actually wrote it?...I don't think it was Fish.

Thanks to all for the positive feedback. I've just realized there are two recordings involving The Sterophonics (spelling varies) and The Debonaires that didn't get mentioned: Timmy Shaw's 'I'm a Lonely Guy' (Audrey and Wand) has The Sternphones backing and this is possibly the group that Charles Stokes was managing. I did track down the lead singer, who married Charles when she was just 16, but her memory was vague. Charles died a long time ago in a house fire. The other 45 is also a Johnnie Mae Matthews production - Spencer Sterling's 'Tell Me Right Now' / 'I Wish You Were Mine' (also on Audrey), which has The Debanaires (sp) backing. I'm sure I asked Elsie about this, but it must have been during a different interview to the one used for the YouTube video. I'll have to dig it out to hear what she said.

I've just uploaded another Detroit File to YouTube - this time there are two interviewees combined into one video...

"Put a smile on my face is just wonderful - was he the lead singer." No, E.J of the Echoes (see their photo) sang that song. I did ask Fish about John Perry - another writer/producer - but he couldn't recall much about him, which surprised me. Kingfish did said he thought John Perry did some stuff at Motown, but I don't think so. I'm glad you enjoyed hearing the interview, and, yes, Kingfish's 'I Won't Hurt You Anymore' is a gem.

I can imagine David Ruffin singing that Chuck Jackson song.

Sorry about the quality, Robb. It's a shame it's not very clear as I would have liked to include more of his personal details that he shared with me in that first interview. Kingfish was heavily involved at Riley's at the start, but left in 1968 and got a job in Chrysler's. It was Hazel Coleman who got him in the Gold Room at the 20 Grand - but he was already playing there with Levi Mann in the house band. That included Lefty Edwards (sax), Pistol on drums and Levi Mann on organ - no bass player. Martha Jean began the Monday Night Swing event there in 1964 and she was generally involved in promoting Thelma acts elsewhere. Imagine being in the Gold Room with all those live acts and a crowd of 1200!.. And for just 50 cents!! Thelma Gordy/Coleman went to see her ex-husband and he complained about certain Thelma songs being too close to his Motown hits - by Marvin Gaye and The Four Tops. As you know, Thelma Records got bought up by Berry about a year or two later. Kingfish went from Thelma Records to Golden World (for Solid Hitbound Productions working with Melvin Davis and Steve Mancha) then worked at Riley's - all in the mid-sixties. Before all that, Kingfish had been with Motown, but it was Andre Williams who took him there. Kingfish was basically ignored there and was earmarked to go on a 50-night tour, but he couldn't read music and Sonny Sanders rejected him. The tour was with Hattie Littles and The Vandellas - so I guess it was around 1961. Kingfish then got a release and did that recording for Check-Mate. I don't think he played much else, if anything, for Billy Davis because that was the last 45 on the label. Hopefully that gives you and others here some clarification.

It's a shame the first interview has such poor sound quality -- not sure why is sounds so muddy. He told a good story. The second interview has better sound quality, so is easier to understand, and I would have had two 15-minute videos if that first recording was better. In the first interview, he talked about living in Highland Park and going to school there - it was a white area at that time. He became a pro boxer for a while, and told me about his early touring experiences. He was born on Feb 25th, 1938. Anyway, hopefully you learned something.

Glad you like it. I should get another one done pretty soon.

I've uploaded an interview with Joey - the sound quality is iffy for a few minutes, but it gets better. He had an interesting life and worked at Thelma and Riley's...

Me neither, Robb... it was predominantly mid-sixties stuff that I bought. It was also good to learn about the late fifties and during the research I got more into that early soul sound.

Here's part 2:

Thanks, Robb. I'll upload Part 2 soon and hopefully you enjoy hearing about the move to LA and joining Motown.

I just think that Tommy had first known the song as 'Alone' and that title just stuck in his head. 'I Love You' and 'That's The Way Love Is' was the group's first Ge Ge record. The group's second one on Ge Ge didn't credit Tom Storm.

I know he changed the spelling when African Americans began to reject slave names in the 1970s. I've used the first spelling as that's what it was at the time of these 1960's recordings. (When he was at school, his teacher asked him what he wanted to be and he said a doctor, and after that he classmates began teasing him and the nickname stuck.) I'll amend it on Part 2 - when he was with Westbound and Motown in the 1970s.

I don't think it was ever recorded - there was the basic structure/lyrics for the song, which Don Davis and Lee Rogers changed. I see 'That's The Way Love Is' is credited to Rogers on the Ge Ge label.

Hi, Robb I just found this interview with Joe Harris: In the summer of 1962, one month after graduating from Northeastern High School, Joe was taken by a well-known artist named Lee Rogers, to a club in Detroit called The Village. There he met with Thomas Hester (aka Tommy Stone), Richard Street, McKinley Jackson, and Ronnie Abner to form the Fabulous Peps. They were immediately signed to the Thelma Record Label in Detroit. Their first recording was a song track written and produced by Norman Whitfield on Tommy Stone. The song was originally titled “Alone”. Don Davis and Lee Rogers rewrote the lyrics and called the song “This Love I Have for You”. The A Side was a song called “I Love You Baby”. It's here: https://www.therealundisputedtruth.com/joe-pep-harris

Harry Gates died a long time ago, but I did interview one of the singers from The Caravelles - Harry was the lead singer on that Star Maker 45 and as said, he also recorded on Enterprise as Lee Gates. The Caravelles joined Dave Hamilton and were about to record under a new name - I have a photo of them in uniforms - but it all fell through. I should have asked about The Dramatics' recordings as I now believe Toy Soldier is by 'The Caravelles', led by Harry Gates.

Here's another one now on YouTube....

Glad you enjoyed it. I've now put the first part of my Calvin 'Doc' Stephenson interview online and hope you like that, too...

I'm now editing my interview with Calvin Stephenson, who recorded with The Magic Tones on Ram-Brock - and other labels such as Wheelsville USA and Westbound. Hopefully Part 1 should be done by the weekend.

I wish I'd asked Cody if that's Mike Terry playing bari' sax on 'Going Going Gone' - it probably is.