Robbk

This clip was a bit muddier, but still clear enough to understand. If most of it is that good, it is well worth dubbing into an MP4 for uploading to this forum.

The sound quality of that 5 seconds is fine. It was clear, and I understood every word without straining to hear (I'm 77 years old and have been begged, for the past 10 years, by my younger siblings to get a hearing aid. That sounds crisp and clear, considering you were on the opposite side of the room. Luckily, no one else was talking at the same time. Considering that no one else seemed to have been in the room, why were you so far from him? Was he ill with a communicable disease, at the time?

Great interview! Thanks very much for uploading it, and all the rest.

Thanks Graham, Did Al mention for which record company and which producer he recorded it, and in which studio? I assume it was recorded in New York. I'd like to hear it, and match it against Jackie's 1965, later, slow ballad version.

That's precisely why I stated that Kent's Wizard was a New York label as opposed to L.A.'s Wizard for whom Hal Davis recorded.

Al wrote "Am I The Man" for Jackie Wilson, which is one of my favourite songs by both Wilson and Kent (who recorded it for New York's Wizard Records (not to be confused with L.A.'s Wizard, for whom Hal Davis recorded). I thought I had ALL Kent's records, but don't remember him having a release of "Lonely Teardrops". Although I have "Dat's Why I Love You So" and "Am I The Man" on commercially issued records. He DID write in his book that "Lonely Teardrops" was the 3rd of the 3 songs he recorded before Jackie. So, apparently Billy Davis had Al sing the recorded demo for Jackie to use as a guide (unless somehow I've forgotten it is on the back of one of his records I have, or I somehow missed one of his releases).

Thanks Graham. Yet another great interview. I enjoyed it as much as all your others. Nice to hear things about 1960s Detroit right "from the horses mouth", instead of 3rd hand hearsay.

Hi Graham, thanks for providing the information on Don. I assume his talking about his time outside Detrroit, was mostly about when he and his Jazz combo, the Don Davis Trio, was touring The USA and Canada. I, too, look forward to hearing the interview.

Yes, Martha Jean was one of the biggest DJs in Detroit. But, I never knew she was ever a partner in Don Davis' Groovesville records. Wouldn't that have been a "conflict of interests", and illegal, by 1965, if she played their records on her radio show??? I do remember lots of DJs owning record labels. But that was mostly during the 1940s, '50s, and very early '60s, which I think was before the law went into effect (which, I believe was what brought it on). Furthermore, I don't remember Martha Jean Steinberg or Roger Brown being involved with Don Davis' and LeBaron Taylor's Solid Hitbound Productions and Revilot and Solid Hitbound Records. Maybe they just became junior partners in Davis' new Groovesville Records (turquoise label), whose ownership was not shared by Taylor, but only had its distribution handled by Solid Hitbound Productions; while both Revilot and Solid Hitbound Records were each 50% owned by Davis and Taylor. Or maybe they were just a stop-gap funding and connections source, and Davis broke off his partnership with them before partnering with Taylor? And LeBaron Taylor was still a popular Detroit DJ when those labels were operating. So, I guess it was no problem for Martha Jean to have been a minority owner in Groovesville. I guess the payola scandals of the 1950s installed such regularly-formatted rules about how radio station playlists are formed, and such scrutiny on their business income and payroll book records, that DJ record company part-owners had nothing to fear or hide. Now that I think about it, I could probably name more than 75 DJs who had part or full ownership in record companies between 1945 and 1970.

If so, that situation must have occurred when Davis was finished with his working partnership agreement and distribution deal for his new Groovesville Records (2nd incarnation), with Ed Wingate and Golden World/Ric Tic Records, and before he started his new partnership with LeBaron Taylor, in Solid Hitbound Productions, his revived (3rd incarnation of Groovesville Records, and partnership in Revilot and Solid Hitbound Records. Sonny Sanders was the arranger, Ronnie Abner was a songwriter on Whirlpool (both co-workers and former partners); and Mancha was also a former Davis affiliate (having recorded for his Golden World-distributed (white Groovesville). Groovesville and Mah's Music shared the publishing. Based on what Davis said in his interview, I'm guessing that this may have been Davis' partner, Roger Brown, going to Mike Hanks to make a pressing/distribution deal, because Davis was short of cash, being in between operating his own labels, and they wanted to get both the Mancha and Jimmy Gilford records out quickly. I'm guessing that Roger Brown was the all-Pro defensive tackle 7-year 1960s player for The Detroit Lions NFL US football team, joining Rosie Grier(NY Giants/L.A. Rams) & Roosevelt Brown(NY Giants), Jim Brown(Cleveland Browns), and the 4 L.A. Rams who also were partners in Soul Music record labels.

All of them were D-Town artists at that time. And NONE were used by Davis' Groovesville Productions around that time, although Tom Storm and his Peps were some of Davis' favourites and most used BG groups when they worked for him when he had managed and co-owned Thelma Records. So, THAT tells me that this Don Davis production wasn't a totally, Don Davis Production run totally inside HIS Groovesville shop, recorded at United Sound, and just leased to Mike Hanks' Wheelsville USA. It was likely Don Davis working inside D-Town/Wheelsville, probably as a joint-venture, with Hanks having at least a little active part, and the recording possibly done in The Pig Pen. So, the BG group likely was formed using D-Town/Wheelsville singing artists. The grouping of singers used in the Cody Black session is as good a guess as any to have been used on this one.

Thanks for clearing that up for good. I had heard that The Professionals had only recorded one song, so the Steve Mancha cut was thrown onto its flip. But that it was confirmed at that time. I also never heard the confirmation that Mancha had never been a member of The Professionals. There was a back-up group Don Davis used on this version of "Did My Baby Call". It doesn't seem to be the same take of the back-up track used on the Wheelsville USA track. Does anyone here know who Davis used as back-up singers on the two recordings? I assume they were the same exact collection of singers on both, during the same recording session. I heard one or two females and at least 2 male voices, if not 3. I wonder if Melvin Davis was one of them, as he and Steve Mancha were his right-hand-men at mid '60s Groovesville. And Davis used The Holidays a few times.

I always wondered if Steve Mancha was one of 2 lead singers for The Professionals. They both were artist/groups in the Don Davis stable, and that group wasn't together very long at all. I think I do remember seeing a venue poster for an appearance in Detroit, however. So, I assume they weren't just a studio group for Davis to release 2 different records on Mancha at the same time.

Thanks for the link. It was interesting to hear him talk about his whole career. I would have liked them to play a couple Five Jets songs, and a couple of CP's Big Top cuts, as well as his Exit cuts and also "Green Grow The Lilacs. But, at least they played my favourite version of "Suspicion".

I look forward to hearing what he said.

So, it seems Simon went back to Motown to buy more "lifted" records or just innocently get new tape recordings from employees there, even after Tom left, and sell them for play on The Northern scene. So, that means that those carvers sold to DJs may have been two taping generations away from the master tapes. Yes, I also remember seeing The Four Tops' Workshop Jazz mock-up LP jacket with an LP inside. Maybe that was a 10-incher. I don't remember. The jacket had a photo of them, in a Platters' crooning style pose, with their right hands reaching out into the air. I would have bought that when it came out, for sure. I also saw tapes with those recordings, and acetates for most of those cuts.

(1) Yes, it was an alternate title, which was written on a creme-coloured label on a Jobete Music "proof-of-ownership" acetate pressing from 1965. (2) I've never heard of, nor seen a pressing with a recording which contained the words "Baby Have Mercy On Me" (nor have I heard those words used in a tape version). I think that title was just a "guess" at the title for a tape that no label and had several songs on it, and so, that "title" was transferred over to a "proof of ownership" acetate. Once that error was found out, another "proof of ownership" acetate was pressed up (as I have seen at least one, if not two of those, with "Suspicion" as the title- one using the proper red typed ink, and the other, in normal black ink (another error?)). It's not that Motown's staff was so inept that they made hundreds of record-keeping errors during 1964-68. It was because of the unbelievable amount of recording activity that was going on 24-hours a day in The Snakepit, and in 1966, adding Golden World's studio. With that mountain of paper record keeping to handle in such a short period, and such a rush to get new product heard and reviewed, and decisions made on releases, and recordings pressed up and shipped to distributors, it's no wonder that a couple hundred errors were made. In fact, in some ways, it seems a bit surprising that they didn't make significantly more.

This is a Motown demo pressing, rather than the much more common Jobete Music "proof of ownership" acetates with the creme-coloured labels. This was made for Quality Control listening, to decide about the desired background mix and decide which version was better for eventual release. They made these listening records to avoid wearing down the master tapes, and it was easier to handle quickly, just popping it onto a turntable. I first saw it in 1976. It was removed from Motown's Vault by someone after we had moved on to Airwave Records. I think it was 1988 or '89. That large batch of acetates went on auction around 1990, if I remember correctly. I was surprised that people were just lifting records out of there.

Yes, that's a real '66 Motown pressing. I saw that very copy (and another). I saw this one BEFORE "Suspicion" was written on it with a marker.This is the one Rod taped off me. I liked it better than the other one (which most NS fans seem to like better. No accounting for taste.

That's as real as real can be. Just like the one I bought in 1965. This one looks right off the Long Island presses, with the proper centre indentation, Bell Sound Stamp, correct label printing process, correct plastic and groove cut. How could ANYONE think it was a fake????? There's nothing that is in the slightest question.

Great original version! I hope Melvin earns a boatload of money from it, and his health improves a lot from the medical procedures.

Nice find! Brings back old memories.

I have since, heard both Pat Smith cuts (taken off the tapes, or acetates, later found). But, I've never heard "Shake it Baby" by The Distants. Was that ever found among Don Davis' tapes (by his son)? I'd really love to hear that cut. Does anyone have access to it? I never saw it in The Motown vaults, unlike a few of The Distants'/Majestics Thelma demos ("Hello Love", "Cry", etc.) that Richard Street brought with him when he joined Norman Whitfield, leaving Thelma for Motown.

Sorry. I have no idea who at EMI requested the Isley Brothers' masters, but I would guess that Dave Godin made the original request that EMI, in turn, would request them from Motown HQ. Yes, thank goodness Fran was so careful as much as possible was transported from Detroit's tape library to L.A.'s new facility. Of course, a fair amount of acetates and vinyl demo records didn't make it there. Luckily, many of those were "rescued" from a worse fate, and eventually got into collectors' hands and mastered off the records, for inclusion in commercial CDs, or, at least, digital availability.

I only remember seeing the local, silver-coloured Steeltown issues back during the late 60s. I never saw nationally-distributed issues. I wonder if those Atco and Musicor issues were 1969 or early 1970s issues, based on deals Keith made AFTER the group hit it big with Motown, getting all that national exposure.