Robbk

Thanks, yes, I knew that. I supplied a missing Sprout record for remastering for a Kent CD, and have or have seen most of the Sprout records. But why did you quote my post about Ted Taylor's and Austin Taylors' biographies saying they were the same person??? Your statement seems a lot more related to my earlier post, about Taylor's Sprout record.

And what's all that garbage about Austin Taylor having actually been Ted Taylor under an alias??? The public is getting more ignorant as time moves on. Their voices are nothing like each other's. Austin sounds like he was born and spent his youth on some British Caribbean island (NOT Jamaica), and then spent most of the rest of his life in New Orleans, before moving to New York. Ted was from somewhere in Oklahoma (Muskogee?), and then lived in California during most of his singing career. Because someone who is speculating, writes it on The Internet as a FACT, it becomes a general knowledge "FACT". I've even seen totally ridiculous so-called "facts" about myself.

I bought Taylor's big hit, "Push, Push", plus 3 other of his Laurie 45s. But, I never saw "Why Oh Why", even among some rare Sprout records. So, it must have always been quite rare. I But I don't like it at all. He sounds drunk, like Screamin' Jay Hawkins did on his entire "I Put A Spell on You" LP session (which sounded weird and interesting-and decent on the ears-but "Why Oh Why" as a drunk just doesn't come off well to my ears). The A side is a really nice New Orleans-style ballad. If I had seen it I'd have bought it for THAT side.

I didn't mean to imply that they sang the song better than Rita and The Tiaras. I just meant that their delivery was a more Soulful sound than ABBA's (which wasn't at all very "Soulful", and that I had never before heard the remotest link to decent singing or anything to which I could listen without having the urge to vomit, from a "Heavy Metal" song.

That's the first heavy metal song I've ever heard with actual singing (not screaming), and they actually can carry a tune! Too bad about the awful instrumental. The drummer was good, however. Their singing is more soulful than ABBA. It's not really heavy metal. It's "Light Metal"!

The Drifters' "Money Honey", The Five Keys' "Glory Of Love", and The Checkers' "The White Cliffs Of Dover". They were all songs I heard on Al Benson's R&B show on WGES, and they were all huge and heavy 78 RPMs that I played on my parents' Victrola. I replaced them all with 45s a few years later, after having dropped two of my burgeoning collection, and breaking them, and finding out that I could have my pick of hundreds of 78s and 45s for 10¢ a piece, or 5 ¢ a piece at charity shops, if I put a lot in a box, and in 3., 4, and 5 for a Dollar bargain bins in record shops. They were 59¢ each brand new, back then (which was a lot of money considering the average father was earning maybe $35-$40 per week.

I can't remember buying a record after 1993 or so. But, I could list my favourite 3 records I bought in 1953.

There was a Grier listed as a songwriter on a couple songs on records related to Larry Johnson. Also, James Conwell was a writer on one, (a Bobby Mac song) as well. So, Johnson crossed paths with several key L.A. music production people.

I agree! Little Larry Johnson was a child protege of James Brown while producer, Larry Johnson was an adult, writing songs and producing records. Did ANY of you ever Dance "The Elephant"??? I've never yet seen it done!

From when he lived in Texas, before he moved to L.A. Run-of-the-mill Rock & Roll song, other than the fantastic sax solo in the extended break in the middle.

You heard a rumour that she was in that Gospel group? But you couldn't find a list of their members? Can't help with that. I know a lot about Chicago and Detroit Gospel groups, but very little about Los Angeles groups, other than The Cogic Singers, because I knew Gloria Jones.

Stands to reason.

Here are the last Vended record we have to show, plus the 2 Garlon Davis records Johnson joint-ventured and co-produced with Zeke Strong. The Garlon Davis cut "Oh My Soul" is a super Bluesy R&B song, with a fantastic Blues guitar solo in the break. Everyone should take a listen to it on YouTube. It's L.A. Bluesy Soul at its finest.

There were at least 7 singles on Vended Records operating throughout most of 1962 and 1963, all produced by Larry Johnson, and all published by his own, Vendo Music. Vended Records was located in Hollywood, at 1000 Cahuenga Blvd (a few blocks from where I and ex-Motown sound engineer Mike McLean worked at Hanna-Barbera/Turner Feature Animation, some years later). Vendo Music was located at 859 N. Wilcox Ave. in Hollywood. Garlon Davis' was on the first release(101), "Oh My Soul". And that song also appeared on the flip of another Garlon Davis record produced by Johnson, on Zeke Strong's Progress Records. Both cuts were published by Johnson's Vendo Music. Strong also released a Garlon Davis record on Strong's Kick Off Records, and Strong and Johnson shared the publishing on both of those songs. So, it appears that Davis was Johnson's signed artist, and the latter leased his production of Davis's songs to Strong, who paid for the pressing and distribution. 102 was by Anita Tucker, 104 by Bobby Mac (who had a local hit with "Walkin' Together" on Moonglow and Original Sound Records), 105 was by The Lashons, 106 was by The Roscoe Weathers Quintet, Len Johnson and The Hi-Lighters sang on 107 (scanned above by The Yank). I'm pretty sure Johnson was the Leonard Johnson who sang "The Bug" on L.A.'s Arvee Records. I have no idea whether or not he was related to Larry Johnson, but my guess is that he was (maybe his brother?).

No doubt about it. Larry Johnson is listed as co-producer, and Vendo Music shares the publishing. Johnson probably worked on a lot more joint-venture projects than those which were his alone, probably because of a need for obtaining financing. I've seen several more Vended records, which I will show below, and certainly, more Tokens, Gold Tokens, and Lucky Tokens.

Ruby Johnson was Ruby, Ruby Jean, and Ruby Sherry. As for Vendo and Vended Music,- William Larry Johnson (AKA Larry Johnson) seems to have owned Vendo Music, while Vended Music may represent Larry's partnership with either his wife, or an associate (perhaps a money partner?). I have the following other records published by Vendo and Vended Music, in addition to those above: Both The Charmers and The Tri-Dells were well-known groups in L.A. when I got there in late 1965. Larry Johnson was a small-time, reasonably successful, local producer (in the burgeoning L.A. Soul local production scene). The Charmers' double sided chart record ("My Love"-Great Mid-Tempo late R&B/and Flip Low-Rider style Ballad) charted well, and were minor local hits. The Tri-Dells never had a big hit, but charted a few times, and were gigging favourites in local venues. Tommy Reed and The Runaways didn't get airplay, and is very rare. Token Records evolved first into Gold Token, and then, Lucky Token Records. Token 105 was a Henry Dixon record (Not Detroit's Hank Dixon, who sang with The Five Stars, Voice Masters, and The Originals) - but L.A.'s Henry Dixon, who, if I remember correctly, had recorded for my old boss' husband, John Dolphin's Money Records, among a few other L.A. labels. The Crossfires later became The Turtles. Robert McGlothin, Grier, and Crain are some additional names of people involved that ring a bell in my memory from other credits on records not involved with Johnson. I wonder if Grier was Rosy (Roosevelt)Grier, the pro football player, who produced a fair amount of records in L.A., wrote songs, and had a Soul singing career, as well? I've seen Crain's name a fair amount on L.A. records. I wonder if he was also the original owner of Crain's Records on Adams Boulevard, where I made my best "killing" on buying several thousand individual mint Soul records, at 10¢ apiece, at his closing out sale in 1967? I also notice that Johnson worked with Fred Smith, manager of The Olympics, and prolific L.A. long-time producer, in his own right. Also, I wonder if these Imus Brothers are related to celebrity radio personality Don Imus, a DJ who became the dean of talk-show radio hosts in L.A., and an L.A. institution?

I've always thought it was a New York recording. It sounds like a New York recording. I hear no Detroit musicians on it. There is no evidence of any Detroit involvement in the credits. Until I see some evidence of that, I will be skeptical.

Can you then correct our information for us? We'd all be glad to know the true history of the group.

So, given that Berger was Terri's manager with New Direction, and he was also The O'Jays' manager, it was probably Berger, who was Terri's manager AND The O'Jays' manager who got Terri the contract with MGM, AND the deal with Avant, - and had the connections with Don Davis and George Kerr. So, as I surmised, the original connection was Terri and The O'Jays coming up through the ranks in the music industry in Cleveland, and one or the other introduced the other to Berger. They both became managed by him. And then their career paths were linked through him all during the period he managed both.

Here's a soundfile. It sounds a lot like the West Virginia group, and a LOT less like George Clinton's group.

How forgetful of me. I HAVE the record, and the pressing number starts with a 66 for the year, just as I got the 64 from The Johnson Sisters' record. But, I should remember which year was 1964, and which was 1965, and which was 1966. Those were my "Golden Years". My favourite year of my 74 was 1964. 2nd was 1965, 3rd was 1966. Those are the years from which I remember the most.

That so-called "red" copy looks like a white DJ painted red with a magic marker!

Yes, silver Broadways and Easterns sometimes had bars on them. But Winsford Soul mentioned there were SILVER bootlegs. The bootleg posted above is just a normal black on white. Can we see the silver boot, too? I don't remember ever seeing one of those.

Here's an example of a legit silver Broadway, which I bought in 1964. I deliberately used a record I can't imagine would have ever had a market worth making a bootleg. I have seen quite a few Broadway and Eastern 45s on silver (and from my memory, they were quite a bit more common than the gold. There were some Crackerjacks on silver, as well, and I think I remember a couple Symbols, and maybe even a Juggy. I think they were mainly in late '64 and early '65. I don't think I ever saw a silver Sue record.

For Sandra Phillips, there was a silver legitimate Broadway issue as well, from a different plant. Juggy had silver issues on several of his different labels for a several month period or about a year. But none of that matters, as he has a gold copy, which was legit. Yes, the Forence Devore boot was only black and white and the legit copy also has pink and powder blue in the background of the Phi-Dan logo. The black on white bootleg looks obvious as taken from a poor photocopy, with light spots (disintigrated pixels) on many of the letters, and on the stripes on the Phi-Dan logo.