Robbk

It's tough to figure out what the "X" code was used for. Unfortunately, because I didn't buy most of my Savoys new, but found them in thrift stores and junk stores and oldies bargain bins (albeit during the '50s, but a lot later than their issue), I can't place them accurately chronologically, due to mixing in of the additional factor of there being other differences stemming from pressing plants using different label paper, colouring, label design and fonts. But, it seems that they went to a new code from X20 to X20X in about 1957. The double stripes are probably a pressing plant difference, seeming to be an East-Coast feature (but, they only ran a 3-4 year stretch, so there could be a chronological component/factor, as well). It's a New York label, so my knowledge of it (as mine of all East Coast and Southern US labels is much less than that of Midwest and California labels, as i had lived in Chicago and L.A, for many years, and picked up a lot more records from those areas(Chicago/Detroit and L.A.), met a lot more knowledgeable collectors from those areas, and met some music industry people in those areas. We need a New York '50s label expert on this one. Any of you frequent any R&B/Doo Wop forums?

Originally I thought the The X20 code changed to X20X, when the label colour changed from maroon to red, and the labels lost the circular lines of writing "Not licensed for radio broadcast". I looked at all my Savoy records. I have most of the issues from 1128-1197. All my later, bright red issues have "X20X" on them. The earlier maroon issues, which also had the text, invariably had just "X20" as the code. But, I also have a maroon, older looking issue of Savoy 1138 - Wilbert Harrison's "Don't Drop It", which has X20X. So, the colour change wasn't coincidental with the code change. I also have a couple with "X20CA" - apparently a press run from California.

I found this website with a review of a few albums of Powell's. https://bebopwinorip.blogspot.com/2013_02_01_archive.html Apparently, he sang a lot of his own vocals, despite also being the featured instrumentalist on tenor sax. That was fairly unusual for band/orchestra leaders in the 1950s. I'm secretly wondering if he didn't really have another male vocalist do uncredited singing, as Ray Pollard did for Hector Rivera and all The Big Bands did ((a la Joe Williams with Count Basie, etc.), and that these new reviews have come so long after the recordings were made that no one is around to remember that the vocalist WAS, indeed, some young kid, and NOT saxaphonist/bandleader Jesse Powell? Often times, the vocalist was not listed, and the orchestra/band leader and his orchestra got the artist credit. Years later, researchers see specific listings for vocalists on some recordings, and the name of the band leader on others, and assume that the band leader sang the vocals on those. It may not necessarily be so. I KNOW that the singer, although sounding like Joe Williams, was NOT the latter, as he had been with Count Basie for many years, and finally went solo, and was with gangster affiliated Roulette Records in 1960, and so, not likely to have been "moonlighting" with Jesse Powell's Orchestra. Furthermore, there were already vocals by a man with this same voice on Powell's records on Jubilee and Josie Records in the mid to late 195os, and on their Port Records subsidiary (by The Goofers) in the early '60s. So, I suspect that this vocalist could well be Jesse Powell, himself. I really can't decide which is more likely to be true. But, until we have any evidence that it was another singer, I guess we should assume that the singer on this song, and many of his orchestra's male vocals from 1955 through 1960 was Jesse, himself.

Jesse Powell was one of the major R & B band leaders, arrangers and tenor sax players operating out of New York during the 1950s. I have LOTS of R&B group records and records with Jesse Powell and His Orchestra as the featured artists on Atlantic, ATCO, Cat, East-West, Jubilee, Josie, King, Federal, DeLuxe, Fury, Fire, Rama, Savoy, and many other NY and East coast labels, as well as Chess and other labels that leased product. He had several vocalists with his orchestra over the years. Fluffy Hunter was with him early, along with Dan Taylor. He had a few different male singers, I'll try to find out who was with him around 1960.

I have most, if not all of the Nappy Brown 45s on Savoy (a whole boatload by Mr. prolific), often with 2 different pressings. I'll be able to tell if it's just a variation due to individual pressing plants, or if it's a re-pressing on a later Savoy label design/font style.

It sounds very early in style. There wasn't much like that being recorded as late as 1960. The vocalist has the style of Joe Williams. But the voice isn't quite "rich" enough. I've forgotten who Jesse Powell's male vocalist was at that time. But, I'll bet I will recognise the name once we find out.

Post a scan of the label. I have a large collection of Savoy 45s. I may be able to tell by the label font and design if it is a later pressing.

Ha! Ha! Good Ol' Steve! I have lots of fond memories of fighting over records with him in Long Beach and L. A. Harbor Area thrift stores. He has become a surprisingly good writer, and it's good that a lot of his vast knowledge has now gotten written down for posterity in his books. Nobody has a better knowledge of the COMBINATION of L.A, Rhythm and Blues, Vocal Harmony Groups and early Soul groups and solo artists as he. That book should be a MUST for any R&B Soul collector.

I agree. I think McLaughlan's labels stopped operation by late 1968 or 1969 or so, and The Volumes and Jimmy Soul Clark were a "revival" of Karen in late 1970, or perhaps early 1971 for the Clark release. He used a new pressing plant, which used a different printer for labels. His catalog numbers often varied even during the same label run (that sometimes was related to use of a different pressing plant, (but not always).

I have seen a fair amount of different scans of it and then a couple copies in collections in The UK, and also at Anderson's (Soul Bowl). I think they were all blue stock copies. So, I'd guess that it was released to distributors and shops. I wasn't really interested in the Soul Music coming out in 1980. so I MAY have seen it in shops in Detroit, and just ignored it. But, I'd guess it WAS released, and just got no airplay and almost no sales. They may have pressed 500, but a lot of them got melted back down. I had thought there were about 35-40 original copies in UK collections, which is why I thought it may have also been booted. But, IF there are 150+, I guess there'd have been no reason to boot it. I had thought it was rarer than that. But, there were a LOT of stored warehouse records sitting around about which I had no knowledge nor access, which later ended up in The UK. So, like a fair amount of other records which I thought were extremely rare, this also had quantity turn up many years later.

The Wanderers started way back (I believe in the late 1940s (1948?). Ray Pollard joined them late in their run, (1956). They recorded for Savoy Records/ They moved to Onyx Records in 1957, and had a minor hit. Then, Onyx was bought out by MGM, and evolved from MGM subsidiary, Orbit Records, to Cub Records. The Wanderers were moved to the parent label, and then signed with United Artists in 1964. Pollard left them, and went solo. Then went to Shrine. As far as I know, The Wanderers broke up then (1964 or 1965?). Then, The New Wanderers appeared. Maybe a couple of their members came from Spanish Harlem. Maybe Pollard, himself did, and that's why he had a connection to Latin Soul. But, from the names of the original Wanderers, I would guess that NONE of them had Puerto Rican roots.

Anyone know if any of Ray Pollard's Wanderers were members of The New Wanderers?

I never heard it on Chicago or Detroit radio, and I never saw it, even in the big Detroit Soul record collections. And I drove to Detroit every other Saturday to look for records. It's a dead rare record. I don't like it, in any case, and agree with those who didn't like it and why it wasn't a hit. It's so rare that I'd have expected it to be booted. I haven't heard of nor seen a boot of it. But, if a gun were pot to my head to bet on whether it was booted or not, I'd guess that it was (or should have been).

The styrene is probably L.A.'s Monarch (West Cost pressing), vinyl would probably be the East Coast (RCA Pennsyvania plant?), and Midwest (RCA Indianapolis plant?) .

Huh??? I've always heard that line quite clearly as "She can be COVERED with a rash"-which makes a LOT more sense. I bought that record new, and I must have listened to it several 1000 times in the 50 years I've had it (plus the 5-6 times I heard it before buying it), and it ALWAYS sounded like "covered". Not trying to "blow my own horn" here, but just using simple logic and scientific method: I would trust my own ears here versus those of a Brit, as I am much more used to hearing and understanding US Midwestern "Ghetto speech (so-called "Ebonics") used in 1965, as I was living in South Chicago (half African-American at that time) at the time that song was recorded (only a few streets away from that district's boundary with The completely Black South Side). And, I worked on The South Side, and ALL my friends lived there. And, before we moved there in 1959, we visited family there for long periods each summer and during the Christmas 2-weeks since 1949. So, I understand that speech immediately and instinctively. I would be interested to read your comments after listening to it one more time, if you could be so kind as to humour this old, senile gaffer (whose memory sometimes changes what he's "KNOWN" all his life (the old "they changed things while I wasn't looking" syndrome).

That version of "Are You lonely For Me" by Freddie on Jay Boy, is NOT the 45 version on Shout that charted in USA. It's a an alternate take I've never heard. Was it on his Shout LP? - or is it just a US unreleased alternate take?

Yes, it was released on a 78. but only on ANNA, not on Tamla.

Jackie Wilson got a lot of "schmalzy" material from Brunswick. But most sources said that he LIKED to sing that stuff.

I bet that J.J, Barnes was angry at the poor material he got at Motown. And, I bet Chuck Jackson was also disappointed to get 2nd class material at Motown. Nevertheless, they did their best with it.

Mary Wells recorded a bunch of songs for Motown after she decide not to re-sign with them and she didn't have her heart in them. But she was such a great singer and professional, that only her biggest fans can tell the difference ("When I'm Gone" is a good example).

I'm not sure I could narrow down to 100. If I remember correctly, counting vinyl unreleased, there are more than 100 perfect recordings to my taste. And, if I had to lose THEM, or my top 100 of all other music for the rest of my life, I'd have a hard time deciding, and probably chose to lose all other music, and be able to hear my top 100 Motown songs for the rest of my life.

The only 45 from that LP was the boot. Wyncote was Cameo-Parkways budget LP label. I've never seen nor heard of a legitimate original commercial 45 pressed on that label.

Jerome Evans would have probably had more success had he not sounded almost exactly like Ben E. King. He was the non-novelty lead singer of The Lions on Rendezvous, Everest, and Imperial.

There were too many perfect Motown recorded songs to pick just one. I'll say "Ask The Lonely" by The Four Tops -today. Tomorrow it might be "Crying In The Night" by The Monitors. or "Truly Yours" by The Spinners, or "A Tear From A Woman's Eye" by The Temptations, or "My Girl", or "All I Do(Is Think About You" by Tammi Terrell, or "This Old Heart of Mine (Is Weak For You)" by The Isley Brothers, or "Suspicion" by The Originals, or "I'll Always Love You" by The Spinners, or "My Beloved" by The Satintones, or "I'll Come Running" by Carolyn Crawford.....or....

Those Cyclones were also on Flip records.