Robbk

Somehow. My instincts tell me that this REO artist is NOT the famous NYC musician, Paul Griffin, singing an unprecidented solo; but, rather, a Canadian, - OR an American singer from Detroit, Cleveland or Buffalo, who recorded in Toronto, while gigging in southern Ontario, - similar to Jackie Shane's, Tobi Larks's, Marva Josies' and many others' situations. I left Canada in 1963, so I wouldn't know which American singers were singing in Toronto Area clubs in 1968. Maybe some others here can provide some insight into this question.

From all those photos, Darryl Banks looks more like Clifford Binns than does Hamilton. So, do we have a theory that all 3 were the same man?

All the signs point to it being a Canadian production. I seem to remember REO having some Canadian productions. Manitou is the Algonkian word for "highest God". I don't recognise Mel Harrison and Howard Collins as US Soul producers. I've looked through millions of US and Canadian 45s. I don't remember seeing those 2 cuts on a US 45. I DO remember seeing some US Paul Griffin records, but forget the label. There is no reference to a US music publisher or an original US company production on the label. My guess is that it was a Canadian production. I'm a little jealous. I'd really love to hear "The Wonders of Nature and You".

You should be able to tell if a cut was really The Monitors. Richard Street's voice is unique, and easily recognisable. I don't believe any other male member of that group led on any recording until their Buddah release, after Richard left the group to join The Temptations.

This is correct for the Conlo and Chess US releases.

That's WHY it was listed as a Detroit record. Toledo is essentially part of the greater Detroit metro Area, just as Camden, New Jersey is part of metro Philadelphia, Newark, Hoboken, and the rest of Northeastern new Jersey are part of the greater New york Area, East Chicago, Hammond and Gary, Indiana are part of Chicagoland, The Kansas suburbs are part of greater Kansas City and so on. Lots of Detroit singing artists, session players, songwriters producers came from Toledo. Most artists from Detroit and southeastern Michigan played venues in Toledo, as well.

I have never seen any evidence of a Monitors' recording of that song. As far as I know. there were only the two different versions by The Originals.

That doesn't sound like King Curtis, nor Eddie Harris/ It sounds pretty pedestrian. No flair.

Probably so. Most of the Virtue sides were previously unreleased from master tapes. This one is clearly an unfinished recording.

Yes Virtue Records are all recent 1980s + releases.

So do I-very much. It's one of the best and most soulful versions of that song.

Here's a link to a German website with lots of information on the label and scans of all 8 of the found 45s that are known to have been released. They state that Ruby-Doo #8 and 9 are not known to have been released: https://www.musikalischerzirkel.de/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=459

12 and 15 are the pressing code numbers for one side of the records on Ruby-Doo 6 and 10. Lars, can you please post The Peppermints' producer's name-or is that the engineer? It appears to read "Wilbur something". It's too blurry for me to read. The Peppermints' record catalogue number is 3 -CJ-9 is the pressing code #.

Was the Garage song by The Trippers? They had 2 releases on Ruby-Doo. Both were garage/Soul/funk mixes, and both were picked up by larger labels for national, or, at least, West Coast regional distribution ("Dance With Me" by Dot, and "Taking Care of Business" by GNP Creschendo). I've heard those 2. I haven't heard the 1967 and 1968 Cuts by Soul Benefit and Joint Effort. Those may be Soul/Funk records. I put up what I know on a discography of Ruby-Doo Records on a thread in the "Look In Your Box" SubForum. Check it out.

After you return home, can you PM me an MP3 of "Don't Hurt Me Baby", so I can better tell if the singer is Barbara Wilson?

So, The CJ matrices are the only pressing code numbers? There are no Monarch or ALCO Delta numbers in addition?

Here is what I have so far on Ruby Doo Records: It ran from early 1966 through 1968. It ran, at least from catalogue numbers 1-10 (but, I only know of 6 issues). It was run (an at least co-owned, if not owned outright) by john Marascalco. It had a pressing code (with Monarch?) of CJ-same as Marascalco's Cee Jam Records. Of the 6 releases I have seen, only Barbara and The Castles includes a Jobete Music song. That is, apparently, also the only outside producer (thus, leading me to believe it was recorded in 1965, just after it was written, as the demo to send to Motown (to use for priming the eventual Motown artist, and for the Jobete Music song ownership proof). That also leads me to be more confident that the singer may be Barbara Wilson. Discography: 1 Trippers - "Dance With Me"/"Keep-A-Knockin' " Prod. John Marascalco 1966 (picked up by Dot Records) 2 Electras - "Little Girl of Mine"/"Mary, Mary" Prod. John Marascalco 1966 3 Peppermints - "My First Love"/"My First Love" Prod. Can't read - scan too blurry 1966 4 Luis Alvarez - "Samba de Orpheus"/"El Corrido" Prod. Can't read - scan too blurry 1966 5 Trippers - "Taking Care of Business"/"Charlena" Prod. John Marascalco 1966 (picked up by GNP/Creschendo) 6 Barbara & Castles - "Don't Hurt Me Baby"/"Stoney Face" Prod. Chester Pipkin 1966 7 Soul Benefit - "Yes, Sir, That's My Baby"/Charlena (inst.) Prod. John Marascalco 1967 10 Joint Effort - "Loving You Could Be Magic"/"Coming Home To You Baby" Prod. John Marascalco 1968

Yes, I know about the Vicki Nelson version. I don't like that one as much as Mary Love's or Barbara's.

Thanks. That source gave me one record I didn't know about. Can someone please zoom in on the image of "Don't Hurt Me Baby", and list for me the songwriter and music publisher and producer for me? My pop-up blocker won't let me do that, and I don't dare lift it, as I'm prone to forget to turnb it off again, and don't want to pick up malware. When I zoom in from my browser, it gets too blurry. I CAN see that the music publisher CAN'T be Marascalco's own, Robin Hood Music. It COULD potentially be Jobete Music, but i can't tell. The writer seems to look like "D. Peoples", but it's way too blurry.

Do you remember the title of the flip song, and if it was published by Jobete or Finesse Music? I'd like to get all the credits information on it, as well as all the other releases on that label. I don't know how I missed it, as I was living in L.A. for 9 months per year during 1965-69, and working in South Los Angeles, and hitting all the Ghetto record shops and thrift and junk stores regularly. I found all the other L.A. Jobete-related releases.

I would like all of us Anoraks and major collectors on this forum to contribute record label information so that we'll be able to see who was producing sessions, singing the songs, writing the songs, arranging, publishing the music, and where that music was recorded, for that label, as it seems to have had some level of connection to L.A.'s Jobete Music (Motown) Office, in the mid '6os. We know that Chester and Gary Pipkin produced Barbara and The Castles' "Stoney Face" for Ruby-Doo CJ-12 for that label, and it seems to have been issued in early 1966. It may or may not have been recorded earlier. It was published by Jobete Music in 1965. As "Hey, Stoney Face", that song was recorded in 1965 by Mary Love for Modern Records. I have seen no evidence of Motown recording any of their contract artists singing that song, during my time at Motown, nor from any other source. Some posters hear stated that "Barbara" sounds like Brenda or Patrice Holloway. But I disagree with that. I think she sounds a lot more like Barbara Dedmon (nee Wilson), Frank Wilson's wife, who sang the demo for Brenda Holloway's "Every Little Bit Hurts". Both Barbara Wilson and Mary Love worked with Hal Davis and Marc Gordon's L.A. Jobete Music operation during that period. It has been stated by a poster that John Marascalco (owner of Cee Jam Records) ran/owned Ruby-Doo Records. I haven't seen the source of that information. But, it is very plausible, (1) because the pressing code for "Stoney Face is CJ-12 (same as the CJ code # for Cee Jam Records), and (2), because Marascalco had a working relationship with Davis and Gordon and The Pipkins of Jobete L.A. at that time, producing records on L.A. Jobete back-up singers, on songs published by Hal Davis' Finesse Music (which was the publisher of all the songs written by The L.A. Jobete writing crew, that did not end up being purchased by Motown). Pat Hunt, who sang backup with The Holloways, Mary Love, Jean King and others on Jobete demo sessions, was among those produced by Marascalco (who also got writing credit on some Jobete published songs (released by Joker Records). He produce Hunt for modern's Kent Records. He was also a producer at Joker, and may have been the liason between the two companies (along with Vince Love-who also worked for both). Please post here any information on other Ruby-Doo releases (and the flip of Barbara and The Castles), and anything on the ownership, producers, where they recorded, and other aspects of that label's operation. Thanks.

I can't see paying 1,000 Quid (25% of mint price) on a collection "filler". That doesn't look and sound like a record to play and listen to.

I'll be waiting for the answer with baited breath. But I KNOW that can't be her.

"Suspicion", "Never Too Late", Lollipops, Velvelettes and those early '80s "finds" came from Rod S's tape off me. "Reconsider" was "discovered" in the early '90s from a recently auctioned, "lifted from Motown", acetate. Several others were auctioned during the early '90s, many of them had been acetates that had been in Tom DePierro's office when we were working on "From The Vaults", but Rod hadn't heard and so, hadn't taped in the early '80s.

Did you use the close-up tool to magnify the image? It looks like the real record, with the inner shadow of the thickness inside the hole. It doesn't look at all like a drawing to me.