Seano

Shades Of Soul #7 April 1986 - Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others ** GLENROTHES Y.M.C.A. 1st ANNIVERSARY MARCH 1st 1986 ** To celebrate their first anniversary all-nighter Steve & Alan Walls broke with the tradition of giving away free badges and stickers and instead personally presented everyone with a photo-copied hand written leaflet· outlining the Right Track Soul Club's aims.Madly generous these boys. Clutching this future collectors item,I entered the normally dark hall which was awash with light,for the benefit of a video team,not that this affected the atmosphere as opening DJ Spike had the floor full.Brian Welsh followed and also played a mixture of sixties and seventies where-as the next two stuck purely to sixties-Right Track stalwart Keith Whitson and new boy Colin Law.While Colin was on the sound cleared up a bit so that it was merely painful(can nobody turn down the treble ?),the announcements remaining unintelligible.Dave Thorley came on followed by unexpected guest Guy Hennigan,the man for whom all the chopping and changing was necessary(it was still only 4am).Next was Alan Walls,Dave Thorley re-appeared,then Dave Evison.I missed the last two as i was in the office preparing to give a novice punters view of northern soul. Mercifully the camera refused to work and i headed back into the hall for the last hour.Brian did another spot,then Keith & Alan rounded off a superb night with a few favourites. Its not just chauvinism that makes me urge more English soulies to make the long haul north,you'd be hard pressed tn hear better sounds elsewhere(with the obvious exception of Stafford/Notts Palais).My only gripe is that the flair and imagination that's shown in the selection of sixties items isnt repeated for the newer sounds.Best records of the night for me were Oliver Norman "Drowning in my own despair"(Decca),Troy Dodds "Try my love"(El Camino),Larry Wedgeworth & Clique "No more games" (Grovehall),Eric & the Vikings "Hurting for your love"(Studio Acetate) and Johnny Moore "Lonely heart in the city"(Blue Rock).If anyone from the West of Scotland is interested in going,phone Brian Welsh(Blantyre 829928) or myself (041-649 5255). Peter McKernan March 1986. ---------------------------- * DENLATRIN RECORDS** This small Knoxville,Tennessee label is a family run affair,lead by Dennis K.Hardison(the principal),his wife Patricia,their daughters Trinette and Lanise and George Saah(the vice-president) who;s the only non-family principal.The name of the company-Denlatrin was created by combining parts of the family's christian names.Based at Southern Sound Recording Studios, 8616 Kingston Pike,the company acts as agents for several musical groups and arranges and records music. Lanise,Trinette and Dennis K.Harding perform under the name of The Hardisons, whose act features a mix of singing,dancing and comedy routines. Patricia acts as their manager.Although the groups done few paid performances they've presented many benefit gigs for senior citizens,schools and church's throughout Detroit,Windsor,Ontario and parts of Kentucky. Dennis was born in Detroit,Michigan(his oldest brother,Ira cut a couple 01 discs that received air play in the Detroit area) and at the age of ten formed a group called the Rotations with his brother Calvin aged 7 and a friend called Adolph. During his teens he worked at Motown Records setting up the equipment for Chairmen of the Board,then went onto become a small time promoter.He met and married Patricia then decided to move down to Knoxville-where his wife's family were based ••• "I was struck by the fact that even though the place was close to Nashville(Ed: 200 miles to the West),there was no real music industry here, we have more room to grow here.In Detroit i was like a small fish in a big pond,down here i can be a big fish in a small pond" says Dennis. The company also manages Katie Griffin -K-Trans bus driver -whoss 45 "Stop look and listen"(DLT-1011)apart from gaining air play on radio stations in Detroit,Atlanta and Cincinnati received favourable comments from collectors this side of the Atlantic(see pg 18,issue 6).Dennis is currently negotiating a national and international distribution deal on this disc.Also on the books are Venuz a female duo comprising of Doris Parker and Brenda Gaskin who'll be singing back-up for a 12 inch single which the Hardisons are due to record soon. Dennis Hardisons ultimate goal is to make Knoxville a national music market,to establish a base of local performers with national recording contracts and have their sounds receive air play across the country. "I'd love to do for this town what Berry Gordy did for Detroit" wishes Dennis •••• if he manages to achieve only a fraction of this ambition he'll keep us soul fans happy for a very long time. Derek Pearson (Feb 86) *WARRINGTON PARR HALL 1st ANNIVERSARY 2nd Feb 186 Arrived at 1.15am had to queue till nearly 2 to get in,pushing 'n'shoving. All the elders compared it to getting in at Wigan.Pushing and Pulling (check the Lovemasters on Jacklyn for disc of same name).The Promoters knew they were gonna have a big turnout why didn't they organize the door better? Moan,moan,moan.The place was heaving, the dance floor was solid the music as mixed Imagine being in a packed record bar at an allnighter, music blaring away in the background and there in a corner you spots a group of lunatics crouched round a portable battery run record player listening to discs.Boy,do we live in a crazy world.I spent six hours looking at,talking about ~d trying to sell discs,discs and more discs.Picked up Joseph Moores get to you"on MarVlus and went heavily into debt.(only Joking Gillian if you're reading this).Me remembers the Promoters-3 Voices Soul Club slagging off Sean Gibbons the main man at Morecambe for increasing admission prices at big events such as when groups were performing live at his venues.When Holman and Wylie did Stafford the 3V's held down the admission price and kept it at normal rates.Warrington's regular rate is £3 members,£3.50 non members,tonight it was £4.50 members, £5 non members •••• a bit over the top me thinks,still as a consolation we all that pathetic badge-hell i wouldn't even wipe my arse on that badge. Don't they realise that the era of badge wearing went out with baggy pants and long hair.Best discs of the night that i can recall were Jack Montgomery "Do you believe''(Scepter)-flip to "Dearly beloved" and Chuck Jackson's "Hand it over"(Wand)-released twice on this logo,first on no.149 then 169 also on UK Pye 'live' EP. Derek Pearson 2/86. Thanks to Ian Clark of Guildford for sending the above 3 pics •• Ed:according to the Blue Rock listing in Rod Dearlove's Midnight Express No.6 The Chilites "Never no more/She's mine" was released on B-4037.Check their version of Samuel Moore's-Chicago label-DJO 3004 outing "I'm so jealous" on Blue Rock 4007(released Jan 165).Wasn't it issued as by the Hilites? Back to the Blue Rock listing,there was a gap for release 4035 which was the number for Jimmy Hart's "Tea house in China Town" the flip "Sugar baby" was penned by A.Williams(who also arranged it)& B.Goldberg.Does anybody know if it was ever issued? Fascinators: what a disc,mid tempo Xcellence-too much-too rare.But what a crappy label design,is that just the worst you've ever seen? What was it that Berry Gordy said 'Its whats in the grooves that counts•.Ian also sent a p.copy of his Maltese W.Demo of Norma Jenkins "Airplane song".The second known copy,however its rumoured theres a 3rd copy in Kev Roberts collection

Shades Of Soul #6 Dec 1985- Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others

Shades Of Soul #5 Aug 1985- Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others

Shades Of Soul #4 Dec 1985- Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others

Shades Of Soul #3 Dec 1984- Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others

Shades Of Soul #1 Jan 1984- Fanzine Scan Editor Derek Pearson aka @Derek Pearson site note A quick intro to a new ongoing series of pdf based reference articles This and other fanzine scans were originally posted in our forum by our members As time allows work is ongoing to convert the pdf scans uploaded of various fanzine/mags to a lighter and a more searchable format and then present them in a stand alone user friendly format As you can see you can now search these articles fanzines content and copy and paste the text (though results may be mixed depending on the original quality) Where possible the member who originally posted will be given authorship of the 'new' article It's an ongoing affair but hopefully will build up to a quality reference Credit and deserved thanks go to the members who scanned and cataloged/grouped the uploaded forum scans/posts including Bob, Sean and Chalky @Theothertosspot @Seano @Chalky plus others site note - the below rough text has been added as a reference aid (it adds the text to the soul source site search database) best to use our inbuilt pdf viewer at the top of the page for viewing, saving, printing the issue EDITOR -Derek Pearson, 17 Crooke Lane, Wilsden, Bradford, West Yorkshire. BD15 OLL Cullingworth 273758 CONTRIBUTORS -Stuart Raith, Darren, Geoge Sharpe, Dave Hitch, Eddie Hubbard, Pete Gregory. Welcome to Issue 2 of Shades of Soul; if you're buying this for the first time I hope you find it interesting reading; if you bought Issue 1, I thank you for your support -all copies of the first issue have been sold. I may reprint a limited number of 'numero uno' if there's sufficient demand. (ISSUE 3 out NOV/DEC 1984) Sub-standard new 60's -ah, here's a subject that raises controversy, now I would be the first to 'jump and down' and 'get hot under the collar' if people tried to tell me there weren't any 2nd rate new 60's sounds being played. However, not all the 'new 60's' (a contradictory term if ever I heard one -but we all know what it means), are as bad as claimed. Amongst these sounds there really are some excellent new items; I won't go into listing these sounds as they are purely my own choices, remember everybody's opinions differ (and always will do), the term 'music is taste' probably sums the whole situation up. Whether somebody likes only 60's or only 80' s doesn't mean they're wrong, we've all got different tastes -who's to judge the rights or wrongs anyway -'each to his own ' that's my philosophy. I mean I regard Freddie Chavez "they'll never know" and Terrible Tom "made for each other" as 2nd division items, and yet look how many people rate them highly . 2nd rate sounds have always been and will continue to be spun, depending on one's own tastes. 'Having a go' at 60's newies D. J . 's is an easy trap to fall into, these guys put a lot of time and effort into digging deep into the mine of Soul music to reach the disappearing seam of unknown black nuggets (topical eh!) Remember this is 1984 not 1974,new sounds are a damn sight harder to find these days, 10 years ago the scene was turning out dozens of sounds many of which went on to become the classic oldies of today. I've a great deal of respect for D. J.'s who prefer to ride the 'bumpy' road by spinning new sol.Dlds (be it 60's, 70's or SO's) rather than take the 'smooth' road by spinning known and accepted sides. I take the view that a D.J. is there to entertain and educate the crowd. Finally, oldies D.J.'s have just as equal a place on the scene today as they always have had and will continue to do so, let's just programme a few different sounds eh chaps! O.K. the Reverend Pearson has had enough of preaching, I'll get down off my pulpit and onto less serious things (the church roof's in urgent need of repair -sorry wrong magazine). If any of you wish to buy Issue 3 (you mad fools you) remember when sending your monies to enclose a s.a.e. (12 x 9 inches) also if you include 50p as an advance for Issue 4, don't forget to include a s . a.e. for that Issue as well or I will get very angry and you won't like me when I'm angry. The alternative to sending 50p and a s . a . e. is to send just 75p and we'll mail the mag to you via 2nd class post. In fact the correct postage rate to send 1 copy throughout the U.K. is 21p (2nd class) and 29p (1st) (no, I don't work for the Post Office). The majority of s.a.e.'s I recei ve use a 16p stamp; I don't know of anybody that's had any problems. Q Q If you have any suggestions for articles you would like to see in this mag, or think you may be able to contribute an article, don't hesitate to contact me , remember this mags only as good as the information it receives, the more you provide, the better it will be for all of us.-------------------------­ . SIGHT 'N' SOUND -Read about the records, then listen to 'em! Send £2 . 50 (cheques/ p.o. payable to D. Pearson) and I'll mail you a quality TDK D-60 tape with the following 60's, 70's, 80's sounds on•Side (A) 1) Tempests ''What you gonna do" , 2) Renaldo Domino "Don't love me no more", 3/4) Irene and the Scotts "Stuck on my baby/Treat me like you do", 5) Jimmy Delphs "Almost", 6/7) Commands "No time for you/Hey it's love", Darrow Fletcher "What good am I", 9) Lovemaster's "Pushin' and pullin', 10) Groovers "Bashful guy", 11) Traits "Too good to be true" , 12) Little Charles "Its a heartache", Side (B) 13) Lew Kirton "In the afternoon" , 14) Cody Black "Keep on trying", 15) Skip Mahoaney "Running away", 16) Walter Jackson "Touching in the dark", 17) Jeannie Reynolds "Hit 'n' run", 18) Goldie Alexander "Go back", 19) Atlantic Starr "Circles", 20) Scott/Benson "We'll.make .it". All editorial correspondence should be sent to the above address, remember to enclose a s.a.e. with all letters requiring a reply . Front page -Johnny Rodgers -ex. Chandlers c/u 1984, San Fletcher -ex. George KirQy , 1983, (.both .© George Sharpe) . DAY AT THE RITZ After a one hour bus journey from Bradford to Manchester, we made our way down Whitworth Street to the Ritz oldies all-dayer. After paying £3 admission we entered the main room, a large square room of similar size to Rotherham's Clifton Hall, the elevated dance floor occupied 3/4's of the floor space with clusters of chairs and tables down 2 sides, being a Mecca venue, it had the compulsory balcony on 3 sides and its decor was typically red -carpets, upholstery and wallpaper. Didn't notice any of the infamous plastic palm trees, yet did notice typical Mecca bar prices -45p for a small glass of coke, and no cider. Les Cockell was on when we arrived at 3, and played mainly 70's oldies such as Vickie Sue Robinson "Turn the beat" 12", Montclairs "Hung up", Carstairs "Hurts me", Barnaby bye' live this way", voices of East Harlem "Cashin' in", Moments "9 times", Rimshots "Do what you feel" 12", plus a few 60's like Seven Souls "I still love you", Eula Cooper "Let our love" and 4 Perfections "Strong enough" . Siz was next on for half an hour and played a mixture of 60's and 70's such as Adams apples "Out of this world", Ronnie McNeir "In my class", Kenny Smith "Lord" , the Commodores"The zoo" and the Philly All Stars "Clean up the ghetto". By now the place was quite full and the dance floor stayed reasonably busy all the time, by the looks of things many people had been to either the Stafford 2nd Anniversary or to Hinckley to see Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie the night before. I thought it was a crazy situation to have 2 big events on the same night within 50 miles of each other, surely in the interests of the punters one of the events could have been brought forward or put back to avoid the clash. Full credit must go to Chris King and the Weekend Soul Club for bringing 'Popcorn' to our shores (and also for the stars he has brought in the past and hopefully will continue to do) yet I was rather cynical as to what the guy was actually going to sing, after singing his only northern hit "Rosemary what happened" was he going to perform all the songs which he helped write and produce such as "Get it baby", "Sister lee", "Yes I love you baby", "Friday night" and countless others. By all accounts the attendance was around the 300 mark and Mr. Wylie put in one hell of a show singing everything he'd had a hand in, backed by a very competent backing group. Pity there weren't more people there and it's a pity Mr. Wylie didn't record more songs throughout his long association with the Detroit music scene. Is there only me that thinks that there's something not right to bring over a man more known as a producer/writer than a singer to do a show singing his versions of the songs he wrote (when's Frank Wilson coming over). Was told that Stafford was packed to the roof with 60's newies in the main room and an oldies room upstairs, not everybody had a good time as one guy complained to me that there wasn't a 'modern' room and very few 'modern' sounds were played. Admittedly there wasn't a 'modern' room advertised but as the event was supposed to play 'memories from the past 2 years', I was surprised more 'modern' sounds weren't played as many new 80's sounds were first broken at Stafford. At 5 Dave " as long as it's Soul, I'll play it" Evison came on and during his l½ hour spot played a wide range of interesting records, some 60's, some 70's, some obscure,some well known. Dave who's known as 'Mr. Oldies' has branched out considerably over the last few years by playing anything from the 60's to the 80's. He started with Southside movements "Do it to me" and finished with Oscar Perry's "I got what you need" and inbetween these spun 70's sounds like General Johnson "Can't nobody love you like I do", Ivan Neville's "Dance your blues away", Pockets "Catch me", Don Thomas "How can I help you", Montclairs "I need your love more than ever" (originally released on Paula in 1972 and due out on Charly records forth­coming Rare Soul L.P.) . Ila Van "Made me thi.s way", Jackey Beavers "Trying to get back" and Crystal Motion "Mainsqueeze" on Sound Gems -I'm trying to compile a listing of this Philly label, all info. appreciated. He also mixed in 60's sides like Terry Collier "Look at me now", Emanuel Lasky "Peace lovin' man" (there's a guy I'd like to see in concert) . Mikki Farrow "Heart at ease", Lillie Bryant "Meet me half way" , prior to spinning Sam Ward's "Sister Lee" he mentioned that 'Popcorn' Wylie was the best live act he'd ever seen and sang many of the songs better than the actual people who originally recorded them. Also played Pookie Hudson "Gets to me", Jackie Lee "Would you believe", Ritchie Adams "Can't escape from your love" (has got a backing track very similar to something else but can't think what). Skip Jackson " I'm onto you girl" and Mickie Laney "I 'm gonna walk" -after a spot like that who can honestly say that the oldies scene is a stagnant pond, it's a flowing river if allowed to be! There were quite a few boxes of records for sale which included4 Connie Questrell "Give up girl" Decca demo £20, Gene McDaniels "Walk with a winner'' UK Liberty £17, a load of UK demos such as Mary Love "Lay this burden down" Stateside demo, Fascinations "Girls are out" Stateside demo and a mass of UK Tamla Motown Red and Whites. Les Cokell started his 2nd spot at 6.30 with Gentlemen and Lady "Like her" and proceeded to spin mainly standard 60's outings like Belles "Don't pretend", Edward Hamilton "Don't you weep", Freddie Chavez "Never no why" (I'll never no why it's played!) Lou Johnson's "Unsatisfied", Ambers "Potion of love", MVP's "Heartbeat" (the groups name is an American sports term -most valuable players) and ended with a record which he claimed probably nobody will know:-The Scientists of Soul "Be that way" on Kashe. Richard Searling took to the decks at 7.30 and opened with Billy Woods "Let me make you happy" then went onto play Moments "9 times" (that's nearly how many times I heard it!) and Al Kent's"Way you been acting!" We left at 8 to the sound of Marvin Gaye's "Lonely lover" with mixed feelings -happy 'cos it's a great sound, sad ' cos the guy's no longer with us . When we left the venue was very busy so if you like to hear a cross section of sounds with the emphasis on 70's oldies, try make it the next one.__ FANZINES PART II In the article on Fanzines in Issue 1, I mentioned several mags I'd heard of but never seen, since that article I've been lucky enough to be loaned copies of the following -Eddie Hubbard (Banbury) loaned me copies of "It's the beat No.1' and 'Nitelife No. 1'. Both mags were edited by Dave McCadden of Manchester, only one issue of 'Nitelife' was released (late '78) and reviewed Twans "Can't see him", Paula Parfitt "Love is wonderful", Billy Arnell "Tough girl" (never liked this record), Marie Knight "Treat a girl" , Paula Durante "If he were mine", Eddie Parker "I ' m gone" (a goddie) and the Showmen c/u "Put that woman down" (which as we all know turned out to be the still very rare John Leach on Lawn -was told it only sold 700 copies on U.K. Destiny). 'It's the beat' ran to 3 copies, Issue 1 was out March '79 and featured a U.K. reviews page and Richard Searlings current biggies -also had a list of the editors top thirty 60's newies -the top 5 were ­1) Joe Mathews "Don't like to lose" c/u. (The Group feat Cecil Washington on Prophonix still £60), 2) Delights "Lover" (Cuppy), 3) Construction "Hey little girl" (Sync 6), 4) Tamala Lewis "Won't say nothing" (Marton), 5) Patrick Bradley "One more chance" (Inst.) (Decca). Dave also released 3 issues of'Soul Time' in 76/77 period (Issue 1, Nov. 76), Issue 2 featured a U.K. Minit listing and contributions from Russ Winstanely, Frank Elson, Dave Withers, Dave Evison and Martin Koppell. Dave Hitch (Walsall) loaned me Issue 5 of 'Right Tracks' which was out early '83 and edited by Ian Stabbing of London, it featured articles on Ric Tic, Chess and Wand labels, Impressions, Jan Bradley and a Ben E. King appreciation article. Basically it was a mod fanzine, yet 8 of the mags 18 pages are of interest to Soul fans. Chris Savory's 'Hot Buttered Soul' mag ran from Issue 1 (Oct. '72) to Issue 52 (Sept. '77) -I recently bou~ht 10 copies of this highly recommended mag, so here's a brief review -No. 33 Jimmy Holiday discog., No. 35 North Bay, Chariot listing -mentions the rumour about Tony Turner "these rooms of mine are only 6 x 6" (Musicor) as being the vocal to Earl Van Dyke's famous instrumental although slightly slower, No. 44 Mab's, Ric Tic listings, Buddy Lamp discog, No. 45 May '76 Veep,Crimson listings, No. 46 July '76 Eastern listing, 8th day and 100° Proof discogs., No. 47 Sept. '76'Detroit special' included Brute, Burt, Cool School, Dotty's,Geneva, D-Town, Golden Hit, Grand Junction, Impact, Inter/Soul, Inferno, Kool Kat, Mid-Town1Northern Della, New Moon, Ram Brock, Soul Hawk, Sir-Rah listings (phew-and that was only the front page! ) No . 48 Dec. '76 Westbound, De-to, Music now listings, No . 49 Jan '77 Seventy Seven , Sound Plus, Luna listings (also printed in Steve Bryants ' Souled Out' No . 6) , No So March '77 Neptune, Loma listings (the latter one also printed in Martin Scragg's'Sound of Soul', No's 3/4), No. 51 May '77 Calla, Artie listings, No. 52 Sept '77 Venture, Maverick, Fame, Red Coach listings and Carl Hall discog. You can probably now understand why it's so hard to find a label which hasn't been listed before, never mind actually preparing the listing -any ideas on previously un-published listings that you would like to see? I've extracted the following info. from several letters, mainly John Clarke (London) and Colin Dilnot (Merseyside) which adds details about some mags mentioned in Issue 1 and also sheds light on many obscure mags from the late '60's and early '70's. Perhaps the longest running and most authorative mag of this era was'Shout' which covered most aspects of black music and was produced by Clive Richards the mag started under the name 'Soul Music' in the autumn of '67, became Shout at Issue 34 and carried on till Issue 112 in July '77; it featured many well-known scribes such as Tony Cummings, 5 Charlie Gillet, Bill Miller, Ray Topping; Roy Stanton, Kurt Mohr and Dave Godin. In fact Roy Stanton ran the Black Wax record shop in London and during the period Jan to July 1973 released 6 copies of the mag 'Black Wax'. The mag'S.M.G.' was edited by Barry Lazell of Mansfield (later by Chris Savory) and whilst featuring mucho pop music had articles on '70's Soul and Doo-wop (Sept '77's issues featured an article on Ric Tic records) -ran to at least 6 issues. It's interesting to note that H.B.S., Shout, S.M.G. and Black Wax were all members of a specialist magazine organisation entitled1 Rhythm and Blues magazines incorporated (R.A.B.I.N.C.). Just a quick mention of a new mag entitled 'Soul-Scoot' which emerged late '83 edited by Terry Smith of Hermitage, Berks. , it's aimed mainly at scooterists, who happen to like Soul music. Just less than half of the magazine is of interest to Soul fans, amidst the articles on Lambrettas, there's a Sound of Chicago article re'Lance/Chandler/Butler, record reviews and an informative James Brown article. Issue 2 should be out by the time you receive this mag. Due to a lack of space this article has had to be 'chopped' in half so that's it until Issue 3. Please send in any info. you have on fanzines (no matter how small) and remember I buy and collect any fanzines which have a Soul content. The L.A. Coupe label -I know of 4 releases, I have 2 of them, and I suspect there's more -the label looks like an import, yet has 'made in Britain' printed on it -American boot-leg label perhaps? Did the Aristocrats "Let's get together" have a U.S. '45' release? Please send all info. to mag address. Soul -WHAT IT MEANS TO ME The previous 'What Soul means to me' article in Issue 1 featured Eddie Parker's 'Crying Clown' on Triple B, the record under review this time is another Detroit item. Jimmy Delph's 'Almost' on Karen 1538 is a fine example of the ballads that were produced during the late 60's in one of the USA's premier music cities. Jimmy's controlled voice sings the simple lyrics (written by Harold Thomas and Leroy Mason) with conviction over a steady backing beat, with little help from the backing vocalists, a simple 2 mins. 20 second song, but very effective. "Ooh, the saddest word that I ever heard is almost, 'cos it means what ever-· you tried to do, you didn't make it, oh no, but baby you almost, honey you almost, now take a man who's saved and plans his whole life through the years, only to find he ran out of time, he didn't live to see his dreams come true, oh baby but he almost, he almost, he almost, now listen everybody what I have to say, it happens to all of us sometime there's some kind of way, baby she almost, not quite, but almost, Now you take a girl who's in love with a guy, but she's too shy to show it, and when she finally wants to tell him so, another girl has him going, so you can see, she almost, yes baby, she almost, .-----~ she almost, oh baby, she almost, not quite but almost, she almost." The producer on this record and owner of the label was Ollie McLaughlin, who also owned Carla records. 'Almost' was also released on Carla 2535 with 'I've been fooled before' as a flip, whereas the flip on its Karen release was 'Don't sign the paper baby'. Betty Lavette had a female version of 'Almost'/'Love makes the world go round' released on Karen 1540 DARROW FLETCHER Darrow Fletcher was born in 1951 in Inkster, Michigan and at the age of 5 his family moved to Chicago. He showed an interest in music at a very early age but had to wait until 1965, when at the age of 14, he made his recording debut for Inc. «IMII HOT FOa SAU Groovy records of New York, with the National hit "The pain gets a little deeper", (also issued on UK London HLU 10024 -his only UK release). Whilst he DARROW FLETCHER recorded many quality sides for a variety of labels, he was never to achieve the chart success of his first release. After two releases on Ray Charles's "Crossover" label in 1974, he faded into the depths of obscurity, like so many of our 'northern' heroes. GROOVY ( B.S. -Both sides) 3001 "The pain gets a little deeper" (T. Daniels/D. Fletcher) KSG 001 "My judgement day" (M. Simpkins) KSG 002 3004 "My young misery" (D. Fletcher/K. Rudman) KSG 007 B.S. A 'Fletcher production' "I gotta know why" (M. Simpkins) KSG 008 B.S. produced by Ted Daniels 3007 "Gotta draw the line" (Richard Barret) KSG 307A A 'Solid Hitbound production' "I gotta know why" (M. Simpkins) KSG 008 Produced by Ted Daniels 3009 "That certain little something" (Karl Tarleton) KSG 3007(8.S. sides produced b!J "My judgement day" (M. Simpkins) KSG 002 (Ted Daniels JACKLYN 1002 "What have I got now" (M. Simpkins) 1002A (B.S. produced by "Sitting there that night" (J. Haygood/D. Fletcher) 10028 (Ted Daniels 1003 "Infatuation" (M. Simpkins/D. Fletcher) 1003A (B.S. produced by "Little girl" (J. Haygood/D. Fletcher) 10038 (Ted Daniels 1006 "What good am I without you" (McNeir/Mancha/McNeir) V4KM 7329-2. Produced by Don. Mancha and arranged by Mike Terry "Little girl" (J . Haygood/D. Fletcher) 1003B Produced by Ted Daniels REVUE 11008 "The way of a man" (M. Simpkiss) 514 (B.S.produced by D. Fletcher/ "I like the way I feel" (M. Simpkiss) 515 (M. Simpkiss and arranged by (Mike Terry (A Haygood production) 11023 "Gonna keep lovin' you" (M. Simpkiss) 543 (B.S. produced by D. Fletcher/ "We can't go on this way" (M. Simpkiss) 544 (M.Simpkiss and arranged by (Mike Terry (A Haygood production) 11035 "Those hanging heartaches" (M. Simpkiss) 567 Prod. by D. Fletcher/M. Simpkiss "Sitting there that night" (J. Haygood/D. Fletcher) 568 Prod. by T. Daniels UNI 55244 "When love calls" (J. Moore/T. Daniels) 492 (B.S. prod. by Haygood "Changing by the minute" (L. Hanks/Z. Grey} 493 (& arranged by Tom Tom 55270 "What is this" (J. Moore/J. Daniels) 544 Produced by J. Moore "Dolly baby" (D. Mancha) 545 Produced by Haygood CONGRESS C6011 "I think I'm gonna write a song" (D. Mancha) 8001 Produced by D. i11ancha (A Haygood production) "Sitting there that night" -(J. Haygood/D. Fletcher) 8002 Produced by T. Daniels (A Haygood production) ~~ 7 1002 "Now is the time for love" Pt. I (J. Moore/B, Reed) (B.S. prod. by J. Moore "Now is the time for love" Pt.II (J. Moore/B. Reed) (B.S. A Haygood production) CROSSOVER "Try something new" "It's no mistake" 983 "We've got an understanding" "This time I'll be the fool" Thanks to Roger Nicholls (Willenhall) and Bob Hitchcock (Ormskirk) for information. Darrow had a hand in writing and producing many of his own releases during his career, which considering how old he was at the time is quite amazi ng. His father Johnny Haygood produced many of his releases and it's interesting to note that certain other people helped Darrow throughout his recording career, e.g. Ted Daniels (with or without the!_) has produced his records for several years, Maurice Simpkins (M. Simpkiss) wrote many of his releases on Groovy, Jacklyn and Revue also Johnny Moore ' s name crops up regularly on writing/production credits. The ballad "Sitting there that night" was released on Jacklyn, Revue and Congress and all three releases have the same arrangement and length. Darrow's male version of "Gotta draw the line" was originally recorded by the 3 Degrees on Swan/UK Stateside, his version omits several words from the song which was written by Richard Barret who was the 3 Degrees manager . None of Darrow's release are expensive, they should all be in the £1-3 bracket, however, many of them are very hard to pick up. Anybody know of a) any other songs which Darrow wrote for other people, Darrow Fletcher's Blues and Soul U.S. Top 100 entries ­ 27. 3.70 "I think I'm gonna write a song" Congress 71 23.10.70 "When love calls" Uni 43 22 . 1.71 "What it is" Uni 64 16.3.76 "We got an understanding" Cross Over 88 He also made the Billboard Pop and Soul Charts as follows (only pre-1971 info. available) -POP CHART 15.1.66 "Pain get's a little deeper" Groovy 89 SOUL CHART 1.1. 66 "Pain get's a little deeper" Groovy 23 7.3.70 "Think I'm gonna write a song" Congress 47 ( Pete Gregory) LOCAL'N' NATIONAL RELEASES This follow up article to the 'Double Detroit' article in Issue l concentrates on records released on a small local label then 'picked up' for national distribution by a large company. Generally speaking the releases on the local labels are rarer than the 'nationals', hence their higher selling price. track as Precisions 'Such misery' (Drew) 'Please stay' Despenza/Wand 1152 'That'a enough' Gerri/Wand 1125 'Black eyed girl' Columbus/Wand 1108 'Everything is everything' Sow:1.d of Soul/Wand 1169 'Carleana' Garrison/Wand 1144 'Let's get back together' Garrison/Wand 1141 records on Wand have never been seen, yet they appear in anybody confirm their existence with a photocopy. 'Humphrey stomp' (released on U.K. London 10121) 'Too i<)Od to be true' 'Without you baby' 'Because of my heart/ Feel I'm wanted' 'If that's what you wanted' 'Lonely in a crowd' 'Can't take it no more' 'Hey it's love' 'Bettin' on love' 'Bashful guy/Go for me' ' I'm no fool' 'Sweet sweet baby' 'Don't let it happen to you' 'Get out' 'New· love' ' One step at a time' ' Girl watcher' out in U.K . on Stateside 2126 Natural Four Nights Cliff Nobles Willie Tee Barbara Lynn Mark Putney Stagemasters Sam E. Sola Wonderettes Sons of Moses 'I thought you were mine' ' Let there be love' 'My love is getting stronger' 'Walking up a one way street' (out in U.K. on Atlantic 584.116} 'Take your love and run' (out in U.K. on Atlantic 2091.133) 'Today's man' 'Baby I'm here just to love you' 'Love is not a game ' 'I feel strange' ' Soul symphony' ABS/Garrison/Wand 1134 Pacemaker/Garrison Priority/Fairmowit Rouser/Fairmount Gamble/Sassy Dynamics/Westbound Whiz/Dynamic Dynamic /Backbeat Teri-de/Fontana Teri-de/ Minit Musette/Teri-de Teri-de/Highland Gemini/Phil-la-Soul Landa/Phil-la-Soul J.V. /Phil-la-Soul Fee/ ABC Northern State/ ABC Boola Boola/ ABC Little Star/ABC J. V ./ Atlantic Nola/Atlantic Jetstream/Atlantic Ovide/Atlantic Hit King/ Slide Ruby/ImperialRuby/United Artist s Soft/Coral Lenis Guess 'Just ask me' S.P.Q.R./Legrand Phil Flowers 'Discontented' Loft/Dot True Tones 'He's got nerve' Paul Kelly 'Chills and Fever' Al Wilson 'Show and tell' Danny White 'Keep my woman home' (out in the U.K. on Sue 4031) Nolan Chance 'Just like the weather' Soulville/Josie Lloyd/Dial Renfro/Bell Atteru/Atlas Bunky/Constellation I remember once being in the record bar at a Wigan oldies and after hearing Richard Searling playing his Nolan Chance on 'bunky' got very excited about the thought of owning it and in a moment .of near hysteria rushed up to him and offered him £100 for it, I was Chaumonts Shaine Hunter Ballads Denese Lasalle C.O.D. 's Dov Gardner Dynatones Shadows (previously covered up Jan Bradley Wooden Nickels Bobby Freeman Vala Reegan Charles Russel Wilson Picket Curtis Lee and KCP's Ral Donner E. Rodney Jones Formations Charles Perry Betty Webb Garland Green Rita Dacosta Sandy Wynns Herb Johnson Mel Williams Wall of Sound Hosanna Dobie Gray Ann Sexton Kenny Smith Del Capris Deuces Wild Band Betty Swann Volumes Jeanette White Fred Parris Bobby Mac Earl Cosby Incredibles Top Shelf Barbara Greene Chuck Jackson Calvin Williams Showmen Legends Fantastics politely refused. 'I need your love' 'Sweet things ' 'Can't see your love' 'Love reputation' 'Michael' (released on U.K. Stateside 489) 'Ain' t gonna let you get me down' 'Fife piper' (also released on UK Pye Int.25389) 'My love is gone' as Jimmy Georgetowns 'Stars above' 'Back in circulation' 'Nobody but you' 'Lies' 'Fireman' Bay Sound/·Caravelle Awake/Sue Wee/VJ Tarpon/Chess Emase/Kellmac Tru-Glo-Town/Sack St. Clair/HBR Golden Sounds/USA circa 81/82) Sound Spectrum/Adanti Omen/Vault Loma/Warner Bros. Bob Crewe/Atco (out in the U.K. on Atlantic 548.009) 'It ain't easy' 'Heart belongs to you/ Let me be your boy ' (also on U.K. MGM 1286) 'Everybody's going wild' (released on U.K. CBS 2717) 'Don't let it slip away' 'R'N'B time' 'Top of the stairs' (out in the U.K. 'How can I' 'I know' 'Rained 40 days 'Don't bring me 'Touch of venus' ' I 'm so glad' 'Can it be me' 'Hang on' 'Hip it' on MGM 1139) and 40 nights' down' 'Out on the floor' 'You've been gone too long' 'Lord what's been happening' 'Hey little girl' 'Keep on' 'Make me yours' (out in the U.K. on CBS 2942) 'Gotta give her love' 'Music' 'Dark at the top of the stairs' 'Keep on' 'Ooh honey baby' 'Another dirty deal' 'No second thoughts' 'Treated you right' 'Love lights' 'Lonely you'll be' 'Take it baby' 'Fear not' 'High ote Bionic/Psyche Correctone/Verve/Cub Wheelesville/Rojac Sunlight/Starfire Charisma/Tuff Bank/MGM Mutt 'N' Jeff/Magnum/MGM XL/MGM Gamma/Revue Pandora/Mohawk Doc/Champion Toxsan/Brunswick Astronaut/Modern Big Bird/Tower LHMA/Calla Thunderbird/Charger Impel/Sound Stage 7 Gar/Gold Spot Ronjerden/Kama Sutra Corby/Vault Money/Abet Astra/American Arts A and M/Vibrations Birth/RCA Original SoundjMoonglow Mirwood/Mira Audio Arts/Contempo Lolo/Calla Vivid/Renee Page/All Platinum Jam/Atco. B.B./Swan Locket/Red Balloon/ Commonwealth Copa/Sound Stage 7 Don Varner 'Tear stained face' Quinvy/Veep 1296 John Anderson (Soul Bowl) tells me he remembers having 25 white Veep demos around 1971 and selling them for the 'A ' side 'Meet me in church', 'Tear stained face ' was first played around 1974 . Can anybody supply me with a photocopy of the Veep release. Stanley Mitchell's 'Get it baby' Dynamo was rumoured to have appeared on musicor, also Sam Williams 'Love slipped' rumoured to be on a local label prior to the rare Tower release, might have only got to the acetate stage though, can anybody confirm these rumours? The Okaysions line up in 1968, the year when they recorded 'Girl watcher' for the tiny North Carolina 'Northstate' label was Denny Weaver, Jimmy Hennat, Wayne Pittman, Bruce Joyner, Jim Spidel and Ron Turner. The Natural Four line up during their time with ABC was Chris James, Allen Richardson, Al Bowden and John January. As one can imagine this article only lists a very small percentage of sounds released on a local/national format, any additions would be welcome. I'd like to thank Cliff Steele (Northampton), Stuart Raith (Gt. Harwood) and Graham Anthony (Derby) for helping me to compile this article. Please don't 'bug' me for Frankie Beverley on Rouser, it's not mine it's Adam's, the Leicester D.J.'s, it's thought to be the only copy, there ' s that many people after it, the list looks like a London telephone directory, besides my name's at the top of the list .... .... isn't it Adam!! Mystery Record Does anybody know which country, this record was released in? (' cos I haven't a clue) (Ed -Australia,N. Z. , South Africa perhaps?) SUPREMES Sunday, 22nd April SUNNY SCARBOROUGH We arrived in Scarboro' mid afternoon,dumped our bags in the guest house and went for a Kentucky. After a quick phone call to Rudie's we were told the all­dayer had been cancelled due to a non-existent turn-out but the evening session was on; so come 8 o'clock we arrived at the door step complete with record boxes and long arms to be told that was off as well. We dumped the records behind the bar and went off to the Salisbury and Pickwicks -2 pubs just round the corner, where many Soulie's (old and new) congregate at Bank Holidays. Sure enough many familiar faces were seen yet non had ventured up to Rudie's, so Sunday's events were ditched. Monday, 23rd April After the compulsory walk up the sea front and a fish 'n' chip dinner (still can't beat good al' West Yorkshire fish and chips), the afternoon was spent chatting to many of the older Soul fans in Pickwicks who said they were going up to Rudie's in the evening. Popped into the all-dayer around 4 for an hour to find a dozen people present (I counted them -doesn't include bar staff or D.J. 's), this was possibly due to the sunny weather outside but most likely the fact that since the mods stopped their scooter runs to this east coast town about 2 years ago, due to council/police pressure, attendances throughout the day have slumped dramatically. Back to the Kentucky for tea (it's either that or Fish 'n' chips, still it's better than a Wimpy carpet burger). Back to the all-dayer for 7.30 pm to find the numbers hadn't increased at least they hadn't decreased. Nottingham's Rob Smith was on spinning the 70's version of "Just like the weather' by the Detroit Sounds and the inferior version of "What's wrong with me baby" by Little Harold (c/u?) then the poppy Main Change "Sunshine is her way" (Nebula) (ex. Rock Candy c/u -supposed to be only 2 known copies on Manships recently at £120). Rob stuck to the rarities till 8 . 30 which pleased us but not the other 12 as few dancers were evident as he spun the Magnetics "Lady in green" (Bonnie), Yvonne Vernee "Just like you did" (Sonbert) (both via Keith Minshull), Revlon's "What a love" (Toy Records from New York) and 2 records still under their psuedonyms Micky Valvano "She's fine" and the Chessmen "Like I never did" which as most people know are the C.O.D. 's and the eombination respectively (both on Kellmac). He also spun the recent U.K. Inferno release of the instrumental version of "Our love is in the pocket" by the Suspicions (quite good as instrumentals go,sax dominated), before finishing with a sound which whilst I don't like it I haven't heard for ages. Rufus Lunley's "Stronger than me" on Skyscrapesr. Yours truly was allowed to damage the decks for the next hour and a half -don't know whether it's good editorial practise to review one's own spot, never the less here goes -I played a mixture of sounds as follows -Keni Burke "Let somebody love you" (RCA. '81) , Luther Vandross "Never too much" (Epic '81), Denis Edwards "Thought I could handle it" (U.K. Gordy '84) flip side to funk club monster "Don't look any further"). Bobby Taylor "Roses somewhere" (Sunflower '72) . Little Johnny Hamilton "Oh how I love you" (Dore), Danny Woods "Had me fooled" (Correctone), Robert Taylor "Packing up your love" (Alteen '68) and Layern 'Bondage' Baker· "Wrapped, tied and tangled" (Brunswick). Atl> George Sharp took over the ruined decks for 60 mins and spun many of the sounds he played during his Bensons spot (see review) plus Lada Edmunds "Spellbound", Vonettes "Love is guaranteed", Cheryl Anne "Little things you do to me", Rober_t 'Red Top' Young "Aint that love", Charles Farren "Changed my life" (Hawk), plus a few rarer items like Vivian Carol "Oh yeah, yeah" Merben (ex. Roddie ~~ c/u circa 80/81), Dean Courtney "Love you just can't" (MGM) (current price around £30) and Vickie Baines "Country girl" (Parkway). By now the attendance had swelled considerably and there was quite a good atmosphere apart f~om some of the non-Soul section who were pestering girl's on the dance floor with their " 'ear do you want a dance darling" routine, these guys soon got bored and went off home to get a hangover and left us to listen to "Jinxy" and Nick Ward who shared the sounds alternatively for the last 3 hours and kept the dance floor busy by spinning both their all time top 5 sounds (see below) as well as Gwen Owens "Wanted", Micky Moonshine "Name it", Danny Wagner "Lost a true love", Willie Kendrick's "Change your ways", Frankie "Dynamite"crocker, Today's People "S.O.S.", Ann Sexton "You've been gone", Eloise "Love factory" Laws, East Coast Connection "Summer in the park" (about as Soulful as a bag of cri~ps!) Gene Chandler "I can take care", Jackie Lee "Oh my darling". (I remember buying a U.K. Jayboy demo for £2 at Wigan -happy days). Florence Devore "Kiss me now',' there were a few less obvious sounds played Lee Andrews "Never the less" (Crimson), Jackie Wilson "Since you showed me" (Coral), the excellent Tyrone Barclay "Man of value" (f'rhDSo,./& -hard to find now) before finishing with Charles Mann "It's all over" ) 2 (ABC). I must admit I did get slightly bored with this type of musical format,but everybody else was having a good time so who's to argue. John 'Jinxy' Lofthouse who's organised the Soul events at Rudie's for the last 4 years gave me his all­time top 5 (_no particular order), as Mel Britt "She'll come running back", Imaginations "Strange neighbourhood", Alfie Davidson "Love is serious business", Majesties "Hurts me girl" and Doug Parkinson "I'll be around" (Australian "South star").Nick Ward who used to run the Scarboro' coach via Leeds to every Wigan oldies gave his ·ATT5 -a:s Detroit Ex' s "Cool off", Embers "Watch out", Triumph's "Coming to your rescue", D.D. Sharp "What kind of lady" and Edwin Starr "Back street". Other D.J.'s were Ron Pedley, Graham Kelly and Dave Knight all from York. Finally, Jinxy cannot be expected to organise all-dayers indefinitely~to see them reduced to entertainment, will there be any more? Hi folks, yes it's another boring old Detroit review. Over the past 6 months the price of northern originals seems to have risen sharply. Records of Detroit origin have been no exception to this upward trend. In fact Detroit items seem to be going up in price more than anything else. From that observation alone , it doesn't take much to work out that Detroit is in demand and the Motor City Sound is as popular as ever: The Sequins "Try my love" Detroit Sound 503 This rare Detroit stamper starts with the Sequins breaking straight into the chorus after a short powerful piano intro. Lyrically the record isn't too brilli ant , but I've heard much worse. The record moves on at a great up-tempo pace making it an excellent dancer, with a catchy beat. Recently had a few spins as a rare oldie , still plenty of 'air play' left in it. One of the rarer Detroit items , it may cost £40 + 'these days', that's if you can get one. B-sides pretty good too. Atlantics "Baby I need you" Marquee MQ 444 Another up-tempo girlie group sound, if anything slighter faster than the Sequins. The Atlantics from Detroit sounding very much like the Twans from Miami. The record starts with a thumping very deep bass beat which is maintained through­out the song, the high pitched vocals makes some of the lyrics difficult to understand, however, there's a nice chorus which when added together makes a classy Detroit dancer. Very rare again and would probably cost around £20 . Gene Cooper "Go go in" Hi-Q 5037 A very early sounding record not unlike The Executive 4 (one off) "I've got a good thing going" (ex. Robert L. Martin c/u) but nowhere near as rare. Gene and the Voices are singing the praises of the "Go 0 go in". •They got a back street beat that makes you put your feet' is one of the many virtues of the 'in' crowd. There's a nice guitar and piano backing very neat but not too heavy. The neat harmonic vocals help to make up for the corny lyrics. Quite easy to get hold of; should cost around £5, well worth looking out for . Art 'Posey "No more heartaches" Scope A great finger snapping mid-tempo. Collectors gem, which starts with Art Soulfully singing the title/chorus with his female backing. A good production compared with some Detroit sides, the record being complemented with strings, horns, drums and very theodore coffe sounding guitars, with a great mid-tempo beat maintained throughout. Well worth picking up 'Soul Bowl' has it often listed at £4. Publications BMI Tim• 2:00 91Sf.5037 H KM-6196 LOST IN THE WORLD GO GO INN · OF ADREAM GENE COOPER THE SHARPETS ond The Voices featu""9 tt.• SynchrofflCltiC Sound Sharpets "Lost in the world of a dream" Sound City SC-001 This was a monster side in 1978 for Soul Sam and others and was fetching £40-£50, then it was bootlegged and hasn ' t seen much of the turntable since. Compared with the last record, the production on this one stinks, the whole thing seems to be held together with a thumping bass guitar and sounds like it has been recorded in someone's back garage. However, all these short-comings seem to add to the character of the record. The lack of technical brilliance is in a way, what helps to make the record, one can almost picture the girls singing away in some makeshift recording studio somewhere in Detroit, circa mid-60's . Recently saw a copy on sale at £15, but if ever the record was played again, I feel the price would rise due to rarity. P.S. -the original bas a %TSC matrix stamped in the run-out groove, the bootleg matrix is just scratched in. George Sharpe Pl Recommended reading -Midnight Express No. 7, Send 60p and s.a.e. to Rod Dearlove,LJ 39 Back Lane, Burstwick, Nr . Hull, HU12 9EG. The Drifter No. 5, _Send 60p and s.a.e. to Gary Evans, 7 Linstock Ave, Riverdale, Cockermouth, Cumbria. CA13 9ES, (Issue 6 will cost 80p and s.a.e.), Souled OutNo. 7, Send 50p and s.a . e. ·to Steve Bryant, 141 Pembroke Road, Seven Kings, Ilford, Essex. IG3 SPF, Otis Redding File, No. 1, Send £1 (no s.a.e.) See ad, Soul Scoot No. 2, Send 70p no s.a.e . to Terry Griffith, Gabled House, Hermitage Berks . RG16 9RG (See review). QI couldn't let Issue 2 go to print without passing my own personal tribute, to another 3 of the Soul Scene's greatest singers Jackie Wilson , n Hill, and Marvin Gaye on tbeir sad, premature and untimely departure -spare a thought also for the 'Larry Clinton/ Jimmy Burns' of the scene, guys who record only once or twice, never to achieve fame, or even session men/ producers/writers -how many of our northern heroes have passed on without so much of a brief obituary. OUT OF THE PAST RECORDS AFFLECK$ PALACE ANTIQUE MARKET, CHURCH STREET, MANCHESTER. OPEN MON -SAT, 11am-5pm WHERE TBE PRICES ARE AS GOOD AS THE SOUNDS. BRATFUD REVISITED Saturday, April 21st We arrived at Bensons around 12 to find the usual small queue, the nighters have been running at this venue since around Sept. '83 and tonight was the last one so I was surprised not to see hundreds trying to get into the venue which by many was regarded to be the best all nighter in the North partly due to its geographical position but mainly because it catered for all forms of soul music, be it 60's, 70's or 80's. The night started well with a group in front of us in the queue trying to explain to a bemused French couple what was going on -"We dance all night to Soul music and drink pop 'cos there's no bar. " -Steve Croft and an un-named guy alternated every half hour for the first hour and a half playing standards such as Fascinations "Girls are out", Gems "I'll be there", Frankie Beverley "If that's", Gloria's ''Worship you", Johnny Sayles "Get enough", Fantastic Johnny C "Depend on me", and a few 2nd Division items like Frankie Crocker "DY!J.~mite" , Today's People "SOS" and Father's Angels "Bok to Bach" the standard was raised however with Williams Watson's "Quitter", Leroy Taylor's "Oh Linda" (Brunswick) and the Tymes "What would I do". Pat Brady came on at 1.30 am and started to spin some of his top c/u's such as Johnny Hampton "New Girl" (check Accents "New Girl" on M-Pac for slower version), Chandlers "Change is gonna come", Robbie Lawson "Mr. Misery" (Excellent), Eric Lomac "Things you do for love" then a couple of rarities like Bill Coday "Righton" (Crajon), Brooks Bros. "Looking for a woman" (Tay), Bell Boys "Don't want to lose" (Jamar) followed by two instrumentals, the first Stanley Mitchell "I thank you" c/u which I liked, the 2nd a version of the Incredible's "Nothing else to say" which I didn't like (whilst appreciating the dance a~ility value of instrumentals, I generally di slike and dismiss them as being Soul-less . Then due to the crowds reluctance to dance to anything but well known items, he was forced to retreat to playing Dean Courtney "Always need you" , Pointer Sisters "Send him", High Voltage "Country road" , Candi ::ltaton "Upper hand" MVP's "Heartbeat", Larry Santos "You got me" and Lee Roye "Tears". I think it's a great shame that big name D.J.'s whose record collections contains some rare originals, c/us and good obscurities should be forced into a position where the only option to keep the crowds happy is to play well known oldies, Big name D.J.'s because of their pulling power and influence, should and must be pushing forward new sounds, nearly all the big name D.J . 's choose this direction, it's a pity the masses don't see it this way. Pat finished with Gwen Owen's "Wanted and needed", H.P. Barnum "Heartbreaker" and Little Richie "Heartache". At 3 Staffords "Top of the World" organiser and D.J . Dave Thorley took to the decks and opened with two Stafford 60's biggies, Johnny Henley "Yes I love you" c/u and the Detroit 5 "Rat race" c/ u, then Eddie Holman's "Hurt" (Eddie in a recent interview couldn't remember recording "Hurt"), before playing some well known things like Kenny Smith "Lord", Mel Britt "Running back", Chapter 5 "Don't mean it", Edwin ~tarr "Have faith", then a couple of c/us which didn't do much for me on first hearing, Ronnie Forte "Here it comes" and Porgy and Monarchs "Congratulations" . The dance floor then filled to the instrumental Rufus Wood "Before 2001" (not often heard), the frantic High Voltage "Country road", the awful Crow "Autumn" and the very awful World Column "So is the sun". Dave spun several "Not so often heard sounds throughout his hour like the Delrays "Destination unknown" (Tampette) (a request from Terry of Manchester, I suspect), Dobie Gray "Honey take a chance" (White Whale) and Delarks "Job opening, pt. 2" (which I don't like) followed by the excellent Kell Osbourne "Heartbreaker" on Highland (ex. Billy Greasham c/ u) and the Empire's "Your on t op girl" (Candi) (ex . Johnny Cole c/u -recently on Manships a t £50) also played Del Satin' s "Your're on fire"? (same backing track as Connie Clark' s "My sugar baby"), Honey and Bees "Dynamite explodes"(Arctic) and Frank Dell ' s "He broke your game" . All in all a varied spot which filled the floor with some of t he oldies and cleared it with the c/ us and less well known items not due to their poor quality but because of lack of exposure up this end of the country as this was Dave's first visit to Bensons. At 4 local D.J. George Sharp opened with Jimmy McFarland's "Lonely lover" and mixed some of his c / us such as Judy and the Affections "Please leave me", Virginia Blakely "laughing at me", Derek Martin "Say you'll be mine" (one of the best c/ u's I've heard recently) , Frankie and Twana "Good thing love" (storming 60's dancer , ex. Guy Hennigan c/u) with 60's rarities Joan Courey "I got the power" (Twirl) , Professionals "That's why" (Groove City), George Blackwell "Lose my head" (.Smoke) Fluffy Falana "My little cottage" (Alpha -rarely heard these days) as well as the Chicago recorded Metroes "Since I found my baby" (RCA -great sound now getting accepted) and the 15 Detroit recorded Gene Cooper "Go go inn" (Hi-Q). George has tried hard to break new 60's sounds (covered and uncovered) but has received mixed response as have most D.J.'s in their attempts to programme something different. Tonight was no exception, we left around 4.30 am disappointed in the last night, the attendance was the lowest I've ever seen it (numbers had dropped over the last few months, possibly due to Steve Crofts non-existent advertising campaign). One guy said to me and I quote "Venues are always quiet over Easter, everbody goes to the coast either Morecambe or Scarborough." The atmosphere never mind being so thick one could cut it, was so thin one could see through it, the night overall was an anti­climax, still it will be sorely missed, at the time of writing apart from London there's no regular all-nighter in any large city in the U.K. BOOTLEGGING IN 1984 Bootlegging has largely disappeared over the years in terms of the numbers of actual records bootlegged and the quantities pressed, possibly due to the people in the States (or U.K.) not knowing what to press or because its not financially worth it on the northern scene or even because of insufficient quality 'monster' records (that should get you going -letters please). However, all is not quiet, a few bootleg 45's have been appearing at venues such as Barbara McNairs "You're gonna love my baby" backed with the previously unreleased Vandellas "Spellbound" track (which is quite good actually), Bobby Bland "Shoes"/Benny Troy "Give you tomorrow" on Moondust,also Prince Philip Mitchell "I'm so happy"/senny Troy "Tomorrow" on Silver Tip. Remember when Benny Troy was a £3 sound -now fetching £10 -the P.P.M. '45' he's stayed rare still demands a £10 price tag. I've only seen two 'modern' sounds bootlegged (reasons why? -letters please!) and that's Greg Perry "It takes heart" (an orig. 1982 release only sells for £3) backed with the most unlikely flip side ever, the banal Derek and Ray "InteIPla:y" (??!) (Big in London perhaps), it's out on the U.K. look-a-like Airwave label, also Alfie Davidson "Love is serious business" backed with Benny Spellman "Fortune Teller" on the (lurid pink) monumental label. There's 2 L.P. 's currently doing the rounds, the first a W.V.O.N. F.M. Chicago sampler entitled "All night long", retailing at £10. Has an interesting track listing but is let down by poor sound quality -only 1000 pressed. Contains many of the top sounds from the last few years -Side A -Willie G and the Styles "No second chance", Bobby Jason "All these things", James Lewis "That's the way", Professionals "That's why", Court Davis "Lover who loves", Seven Souls "1 still love you", John and the Weirdest "Memor.Ws", Ty Karim "Li.ghten up" -Side B -Cheryl Berdell "Giving it", Doug Parkinson "I'll be around", Jan Jones "Independent woman", Charles Johnson "Never had a love", Tyrone Barclay "Man of value", Otis Clay "Only way is up" and James Mack "Over the top". Who do these people think we are -I mean advertising it as a Chicago L.P. and including an Australian only released single -I shake my head! The original records were reputedly supplied by a well-known Lanes. D.J. and the album organised by a well-known Manchester promoter. (Both these guys work for the same Soul Club ­clue -Soldiers involved in Iranian embassy seige several years ago}. The second album is entitled 'Nitelife' retailing at £5 (spies tell me it originates from a well-known Soul scribe from the South) -Side A -Showmen "Our love will grow", Gene Chandler "Such a pretty thing", Shakers "One wonderful moment", Spellbinders "Help me", Valentino's "Sweeter than the day before", Vibrations "Cause your mine", Al Wilson "Snake", Julian Covey "A little bit hurts", -Side B -Delrays "Fortune teller", David and giants "Super love", Jay and Americans "Hung up on your love", Williams/Watson "Too late", Superlatives "I still love you", Majesties "1 love her so much", Epitome of Sound "You don't love me" (check excellent flip side on single -"Where were you"}, Professionals "That's why I love you", (how long will it be before this is pressed on a '45', I wonder} . Secretary: John Stuart 53,Ravenglass Road Membership is £3 per year -U.K.Westlea.Swindon. £4 per year -Overseas Wiltshire. Members will receive 3 copies of 'Otis File' each year England. plus members card and free badge -monies payable to Phone : 0793 873193 John Stuart, or send s.a.e. for details -£1 for Issue 1 'Otis File' (.no s.a.e.} BACKBEAT RECORDS Seems like many people found the Backbeat label listing interesting reading as several collectors wrote in with information, thanks to John Clarke (London), Graham Coates (Lincoln), John Poole (Solihull) and Graham Anthony (Derby) for the Backbeat UK releases list, Eddie Hubbard (Banbury),, Roger Nicholls (Willenhall) and finally Pete Gregory for the labels US chart successes. Backbeat releases on UK labels Backbeat 541 Joe Hinton -"Funny how time/Gotta have love" on Vocalion 9224 (Sept. '64) Backbeat 546 Roy Head -"Treat ner right/So long my love" on Vocalion 9248 (Oct . '65) Backbeat 548 O.V. Wright -"Gonna make me cry/Monkey dog" on Vocalion 9249 (Oct. '65) Backbeat 555 Roy Head -"Apple of my eye/Pass the day" on Vocalion 9254 (Jan. '66) Backbeat 551 O.V. Wright -"Poor boy/I'm your corner" on Vocalion 9255 (Jan. '66) Backbeat 550 Joe Hinton -"Just a kid/Pledging my love" on Vocalion 9258 (Jan. '66) Backbeat 560 Roy Head -"My babe/Pain" on Vocalion 9269 (Apr . '66) Backbeat 558 O.V. Wright -"Gone for good/How long baby" on Vocalion 9272 (Jun. '66) Backbeat 563 Roy Head -"Wigglin' and gigglin'/Driving wheel" on Vocalion 9274 (Jun. '66) Backbeat 552 Bobby Adeno -"Hands of time/Sad world" on Vocalion 9279 (Aug. '66) Roy Head's "Treat her right" provided the Vocalion label with its only UK hit, reaching No. 30 during Nov. '65. Backbeat 571 Roy Head -"Big man cry/Don't cry" on London 10097 (Nov. '66) Backbeat 580 O. V. Wright -"8 men, 4 women/Fed up"on London 10137 (Jun. '67) Backbeat 586 O.V. Wright -"What about you/Girl of mine" on Sue 4043 (Mar. '68) Backbeat 609 Jeanette Williams -"Hound dog/Feel a heartbreak" on Action 4557 ___j(John Clarke writes) -The Backbeat label was a subsiduary label of the Peacock/Duke record company based in Houston and owned by Don Robey . He formed Peacock records in 1949, acquired Duke records from its founder Memphis D.J. John Mattis in 1952 and formed the Backbeat label in 1953 (Source -"Nothing but the blues" by John Boven, Hanover books, 1971). However Charlie Gillet in his book "Sound of the city" dates the labels formation to 1956, which agrees with the fact that "Tell me whv" by The Rob Roys (BB 501) was a small hit in 1957 . Pete Gregory mentioned the label was formed in 1957 and supplied the following release dates: Backbeat 501-3 (1957), 506-514 (1958) and 573 in 1966. Eddie Hubbard mentions the sleeve notes on a O. V. Wright (Charly) L.P. he hasJsuggests that "Can't find true love" (BB 544) was released in 1965 and "Nickel and nail" (BB 622) was out in the early '70's , both these dates agree with the chart which follows . Don Robey continuedto run the three labels independently until 1972/3 when he sold the entire complex to the ABC/Dunhill group. It appears ABC retained the Backbeat logo for a while, see O. V. Wright on BB 631 (1973) above and in 1974 Carl Carlton reached no. 6 in the Billboard pop charts with "Everlasting love" on Backbeat 27001. Highest Billboard Chart Position Backbeat US Chart Entries• Record R&B/ Year Number Artist/Title Pop Soul 1958 503 Original Casuals -"So tough" 42 1963 537 Joe Hinton -"You know it ain't right" 88 20 1963 539 Joe Hinton -"Better to g:l.ve than receive" 89 1964 541 Joe Hinton -"Funny" 13 1965 545 *Joe Hinton -"I want a little girl" 34 1965 546 Roy Head -"Treat her right" 2 2 1965 548 O. V. Wright -"You're gonna make me cry" 86 6 1965 555 Roy Head -"Apple of my eye" 32 1966 560 Roy Head -"My babe" 99 1966 571 Roy Head -"To make a big man cry" 95 1967 580 O. V. Wright -"Eight men, four women" 80 4 1967 583 O.V. Wright -"Heartaches, heartaches 25 1967 586 O. V. Wright -"What about you" 46 1968 588 Little Carl Carlton -"Competition ain't nothing" 75 36 1968 591 O.V. Wright -"Oh baby mine" 36 1968 598 Little Carl Carlton -"46 Drums and 1 guitar" 19 1969 601 Jeanette Williams -"Stuff" 39 1969 603 Little Carl Carlton -"Look at Mary Yonder" 42 1969 607 O.V. Wright -"I'll take care of you" 43 1970 609 *Jeanette Williams -"I can feel a heartbreak" 50 1970 610 Little Carl Carlton -"Don't walk away" 12 1970 611 O. V. Wright -"Love the way you love" 70 1970 613 Little Carl Carlton -"Drop by my place" 78 12 1970 615 0.V. Wright -"Ace of spades" 54 11 1971 617 *Carl Carlton -"I can feel it" 47 1971 620 O.V. Wright -"When you took your love from me" - 21 1971 622 O.V. Wright -"A nickel and a nail" 19 1972 624 Carl Carlton -"Where have you been" 86** 1972 627 Carl Carlton -"I won't let that chump break your heart" 20** ** Blues and Soul US Top 100 * Indicates the record first charted in January and w~s probably released in previous year. -~­Graham Coates mentions 2 Backbeat releases, one missed of the listing, Issue 1 - Backbeat 626 O.V. Wright -"Drowning on dry land/Gonna forget about you" Backbeat 628 O.V. Wright -"Please forgive me/ and a couple of New Zealand releases, Kim Weston -"I got what you need" (MGM) and Sam Cooke "Sugar dumpling" (RCA). Also I've just remembered Ben E. King ­"I who have nothing" Green Atlantic (N.Z.). If any of you readers out there wish to know if your favourite group/ artist ever made it into the U.S. 'Billboard' Soul/Pop Charts or 'Blues and Soul ' U.S. Top 100 during the 60's or 70's -write to me and our resident Record Chart Statistician Pete Gregory will hopefully be able to supply all the required info. Quiz Time -Issue 1 -Answers Several persons wrote to say Clifford Binns "You got to help me" was originally released on an orange Carrie label then re-released on a green Carrie label. The orange release (see front page) has a slightly different label design to the re-issue. Eddie Hubbard (Banbury) -wrote to say the missing words from Jerry Williams "If you ask me" were 'Alpha and Omega' which means 'first and last' as 'Alpha and Omega'were the first and last letters in the Greek alphabet (cultural eh and you thought this mag was only about records). Eddie also remembers seeing a Tamiko Jones 'Spellbound' Golden World issue on Soul Bown for £25 many years ago. info . wanted on records released by Betty Lavette, "Die Masqueraders and Betty Everett for future discographies. SPOTLIGHT ON THE SMASH LAIBEL The Smash label was a division of the Mercury Record Corporation, and though it released many white acts, it has several releases of interest to the Soul music fan. Here's 3 releases which you'll probably only hear on tape. TEMPESTS 'What you gonna do' Smash 2126 'What you gonna do when your girl is leaving you, and you realise you just lost a good thing, think of all the fun you had together and there was nothing any better' . A record ripe for reactivation, not often seen, value around £5. One of several releases by this THE TEMPESTS Arranged by The Tempests &group on this label, taken from the album 'Would you believe it'. RENALDO DOMINO 'You don' t love me no more' Smash 2160 Nice (2:46 mins) mid-tempo song arranged by Renaldo, with lots of 'ooh oohs and yeah, yeahs from the backing vocalists. Typical 'boy loves girl' lyrics that were common in the late 60's . 'We don't walk together hand in hand, I never see you smile, you used to call me each and every night, but I haven't heard the phone for a while ' . A sound that turns up quite often at venues priced at around £1-2. IRENE AND THE SCOTTS 'I'm stuck on you' Smash 2138 A short (2:06 mins) Theo-Coff arranged mid paced sound, that pounds along with the infamous Detroit 'twanging' guitar, a wi cked horn section in the middle, an incessant backbeat with Irene screaching the lyrics along with her raucous voice 'I'm stuck on my baby, stuck like glue, stuck on my baby and there ' s nothing I can do'. The lyrics are rather weak , with the title being repeated many times, part written by M.Cambell and R. Monette -better known as Michael and Raymond for their 'Man without a woman' RCA and 'If only you knew' Giant outings, it's rumoured they were actually in the Scotts, I doubt it tho' as it sounds like a female back-up. Check the other side 'Why do you treat me like you do' a mid-tempo dancer that also could be played. Detroit all the way!! "GOOSEPIMPLES" -by Stuart Raith 19 Hello there all you Soul people, gonna take a look at a few tasty L.P . 's, plus the usual northern tracks that are only destined for the front room or somebody's tape in the car, so here goes ­ JIMMY COBB 'So that nobody else can hear' Contempo Vibrato L.P. As Jimmy is a jazz session drummer, this late '83 L.P. is as one would expect jazz orientated, but wait! The title track on. side one is brilliant Soul, the slow shuffly intro reminds me of Nina Simone's 'My baby cares'. Greg Hines and Marilyn Redfield are the 2 singers and the overall structure of the song is in the classic 'Marvin and Tammi , boy loves girl mould! 'Speak softly darling, whisper gently in my ear . . . . so that nobody else can hear' . Greg and Marilyn's mellow voices blend into each other so skilfully they tend to distract the listener from the distinguished backing musicians, who include 'Freddie Hubbard and Pee Wee Ellis'. I hope you all get to hear thi s, it could just have easily come from '63 instead if 1983. YOUNG HOLT UNLIMITED 'Just ain't no love' MCA L.P. From a jazz L.P. with a difference, to a jazz duo with a difference . Eldee Young and Redd Holt are well known on the scene via their brilliant version of the film score ' California montage' which first gained exposure at the Highland room. This instrumental doesn't add or detract to the Barbara Acklin vocal, but if instruments ever came back into vogue, this would be right there, leading the way, definitely one for Stafford's oldies room. Taken from the excellent 'Soulful' strut' L.P. GARNET MIMMS 'Right in the palm of my hands ' AristaL.P. New York recording from 1978 and unlike the mainstream Soul records from this area and this time, it has a lightweight 'fresh' feel about it, almost to the extent of being blatant pop, but the man ' s voice drips Soul on this great little shuffler. The L.P.'s 'Has it all' which also contains the full version of his semi-disco smash ' What it is'. Pity poor old Garnet is only remembered for 'Looking for you'. OTIS REDDING 'The match game' Atco L.P. Eh!! . . .. good time, Soul time. Now aost people either love or loath our old Otis and I must admit that I've gotta be in just the right sort of mood for him, but there ain't no doubt that he is the main man. This track taken from the 'Tell the truth' L.P. makes you wanna stomp in the way he wanted us to. 'You strike me and I'll be the flame ' !! Don't worry Otis yer flame is still burning, no way will Russ Coe believe he's dead. IMPRESSIONS 'You want somebody else' Curtom L.P. From the 'This is my country' L.P . , this must go down 'as my fave Impressions recording, and you don't have to be clever to realise how aany gems these blokes have churned out. This track really epitomises their incredible style, a nice mid-tempo plodder which gradually works itself up and down in tempo, carried along by the cool vocals of Curtis. Nice to see the Kent label showing interest in re-issuing this groups L.P.'s, but they shouldn ' t have overlooked this one, cause this is 'Soul class'. MARV JOHNSON 'So glad you chose me' Tamla Motown L.P. From the classic Chicago sound , over to the classic Detroit sound. It really is a pity that this man only received minimal success with motown and it's suprising seeing that he went way back with Berry Gordy, in fact he was the first artist ever to be released by him. This L.P. 'Pick a rose' is faultless, pure motown all the way. Recorded in 1969 this track is a classic dancer, written by Dean , Weatherspoon and Bowden , it belts along in true motown fashion. The true roots of northern? Well!! that goes without saying. FOUR PROS 'Just another girl' Carla (Ed. -thi s isn't a quartet from Soho) . Back to the singles and we've got this fast loud Detroit tune with screaming tortured vocals, screaming tortur ed sax and that compulsory tinkly piano. Unless you're extremely fit or doing naughty things, this one wil l put you out of action for at least fifteen minutes . 'You can't let one girl get you down, it 'll make your pulse beat slow' . . . well this one certainly won't. Northern Soul , loud and proud. MARVELOS 'Somethings burnin' Loma Now this record doesn '·t need a title like it has, all it needs is a few spins at any all-nighter and the dance floor will be set on fire. It's that magic full group sound, up-tempo, full of strings, good backing vocals, sounds slightly echo­chamberish. The lyrics are brilliant 'Smokey the bear, would pull out all his hair, if he could see this heart of mine'. Please somebody out there in 6T's land give it a spin and just watch 'em burn. (Ed . -Better than Burning bush eh!!) SOUNDBREAKERS 'The jerk is catching/Trying' to get back with you' Symbol New York sixties recording from a label more famous for the Poets. In fact this group could easily be the Poets, as the style of T.T.G.B.W.Y. is very similar to 'I've got two hearts' the Poets 60's dancer. Both the above tunes are first class. 'The jerk is catching' is a title that needs little explaining, 'Tryin' to get back' is the usual'lost a love' saga, again 2 good sixties dancers that are just too good to be ignored. INFORMATION WANTED PLEASE -on the following releases to fill in gaps in listings ­ONEDERFUL 0/1/2/3/5/9/13/36/42, OMEN 1/4/14, THOMAS 1/2/5/8, M-PAC 17/18/23. Twilights -"No greater thing", ST. LAWRENCE l/2/3/6/15/16/17/18/19/21, SATELITE 1/4/9/11. I've also started work on the New York based BIG WHEEL label, the Chicago based ALTEEN label, the Detroit based WILD DEUCE label, the Pittsburgh AMERICAN ARTS label and the nationally distributed GARRISON label -Can you help? Still need info. on the SHRINE, NOTE and SOUND GEMS labels. If there are any listings you would like to see drop me a line. Can anybody provide info./track listing on the Lupine records compilation alb\.DD entitled the 'Original Sound of Detroit ' released on U .K. Speciality. The L.•P . contains tracks by The Falcons and The Corvettes . Recently read that Gino Washington's "Gino is a coward" was released on 6 different Detroit labels -I know of Correctone, Ric-Tic, Do Re De and Sonbert, do you know of anymore? For the last 22 years I've been working on a J.J. Barnes discog./life story, I'd welcome any snippets of info. on his recording career (either under his name or a psuedoname) prior to and after his much publicised Groovesville/Ric-Tic/ Revillot period in Detroit, especially his early 60's outings on MicKays, Rich,kQbl&, Ring, etc. Thanking you in anticipation of your help. ''It's a heartache" was c/u as Sam Coltraine by Pat Brady circa 82, current value around £15. Little Charles also had a release on the Detroit based Drum label entitled "Got my own thing going/Hello heartbreaker" (D-1202). It could be possible that 1/ there are 4 releases on this label which was Voul With previously thought· to have only one release ­the Famous Billy Hambric "She said goodbye/Found I'm trying to prepare an article on issues of Mot for Stl•Haw ld ¦a• Jrl,usk: c;o, late 60's Chicago label was set up by Johnny Haygood who previously worked with the New York based 'Groovy' label but left this label as he was unhappy about the fin~ncial rewards that his son Darrow Fletcher had received for his 4 releases on the label. Johnny Haygood had a hand in co-writing some of his sons releases and also helped produce several sides. 1001 Paul Smith 'I'll run' {Maurice Simpkins) MW 738 (Both sides produced 'Ain't that something' (P. Smith) MW 739 {by Ted Daniels 1002 Darrow Fletcher 'What have I got now' {M. Simpkins) 1002A {B.S. Prod. by 'Sitting there that night' (Haygood/Fletcher) 1002B{Ted Daniels 1003 Darrow Fletcher 'Infatuation' (Simpkins/Fletcher) 1003A (B.S. Prod. by 'Little girl' (Haygood/Fletcher) 10038 (Ted Daniels 1004 Paul Smith 'Only one in a lifetime' (Daniel/Smith) 1004A (B.S. Prod. by 'Ain't that something' (Smith) MW 739 (Ted Daniels) 1005 Bobbie Brown 'I gotta have you' {Daniels) 52267A Prod. by Daniels/Gosev 'Love won't give us a chance' {Daniels/Jackson) 52267B Prod. by Daniels/Jackson 1006 Darrow Fletcher 'What good am I without you' {McNeir/Mancha/McNeir) V4KM 7329-2 'Little girl' {Haygood/Fletcher) 1003B A -Prod. by Don Mancha, B -Prod. by T. Daniel, arranged by Mike Terry. 1007 1008 1009 Lovemasters 'Pushin' and pullin' (J. Moore/Simpkins) 1009A (B.S. Haygood 'Love train' (Don Mancha) 1009B (productions 1010 Joe Savage and 'All power to the people Pt I' (J. Moore/D. Mancha) lOlOAR the Soul People " " " Pt II'( " " ) lOlOBR Both sides a Haygood production. Stereo recording 1011 Pam Colquitt 'I done got over loving you' (Johnny Moore) 1011A (B.S. Prod. 'It's gotta be love' (J. Moore) 10118 (by D. Moore Several persons mentioned the Detroit Soul Masters 'Stirrin' up some Soul' as a Jacklyn release, but gave no release number or its flip side -can anybody add any info. on this or the 2 missing numbers. The 2 best known sides are 'What good am I' and 'Pushin' and pullin', both have been played on the scene; 'Ain't that something', 'Pushin' and pullin' and 'I gotta have you' all have similar/same backing tracks. 3 different label colours were used -1001 had a white label with red/brown writing, 1002/3/4/5/6 had a yellow label with black writing and releases 1009/10/11 were on an orange label with black writing. Demonstration copies are not thought to exist of any of the releases, whilst none of the issues are particularly rare or expensive, all sell for around £1-2 thanks to Eddie Hubbard (Banbury}, Bob Hitchcock (Ormskirk}, Gilly (Derby) and Roger Nicholls (Willenhall) for their help. This article which we have Pete Gregory (Welling) to thank contains a chart analysis of every record to enter the Blues and Soul U.S . top 100 during the year 1970. This issue we deal with the artists with the surnames A to E, future editions will progress through the alphabet. Figures in brackets indicate the record achieved a DARRENS PAGE Issue 2 at last, quite a lot has happened since last time with Bradford Bensons and Rotheram's Clifton Hall nighters closing down. All is not lost though with Bradford Bensons staging fortnightly all-dayers and the Loughborough all-ni ghters on the first Friday in the month. The last one (1 . 6 . 84) being the best all-nighter I've been to in a long time. It seems like years since the last all-dayer of any note, immediately springing to mind are Jaspers in York, the Todmorden all-dayers and of course the legendary Snaith all-dayers, the best thing that ever happened to promote 70's, SO's dance music . By July, however, there should be a new all-nighter venue in Yorkshire, watch the Soul press for details. Right,on with the reviews; first off a memory from the Snaith all-dayers of 1980. The Intrigues " I'm gonna love you" Yew In my opinion their best ever recording, all the qualities that made "In a moment" so popular, but with an extra something added. Superb harmonies and an excellent lead vocal make this mid-tempo dancer a real stand-out record in any spot. Usually found for a couple of quid, a 'winnie' classic , give your ears a treat. Bill Harris "Am I cold, am I hot" RCA One of Bradford's biggest 70's records after only a few weeks. The 'uptown Saturday night' man is back with a bang. Distinctive Soulful vocals on this 1975 mid-tempo outing, written and produced by the late Van McCoy, Bill asks where he stands with his woman, ' i s he cold, is he hot', the record is certainly hot! Grey and Hanks "Love's is command" RCA 12" A more up-tempo record which met wi th instant approval upon first play. Also produced by the talented duo, this b-side from 1980 is one of many fine dancers that they have recorded over the years . Solid beat and powerful vocals makes this a dancefloor winner. Ronn Matlock "You've got the best of me" Cotillion L.P. 25 Another track from the superb "Love city" L.P. which contains "Backstreets" (See Issue 1). One I've been playing for a few months now and finally getting the recognition it deserves. An amazingly Soulful down-tempo record which took over from Walter Jackson as my finishing record. Ronn's voice really complements the laid back strings 'n' things of the Detroit Symphony (a real 60's cover up name if ever I heard one), one of the best records I've heard in years, if you're into quality Soul music, buy the L.P.,you won't be disappointed. Ujima "I'm not ready'' A record which picked up a few spins at Cleethorpes via Mr. Hampsey. Excellent Mecca/Pier type up-tempo dancer from 1975. With light vocals and crisp backing, the lead proclaims his undying love for his woman; deserves to be a classic. Keni Burke "Can't get enough (Do it all night)" RCA Another record I've been playing for a few months now. Taken from the L.P. "Changes" and released in the States as b-side to "Risin' to the top" in 1982. (Ed. -Had no UK 45 release) . A very catchy up-tempo dancer with excellent use of horns and bass complemented by Keni's vocals. Jesse Anderson "Pick up the phone" A record I've just started playing and already getting a lot of dancefloor reaction. Light vocals over a solid bass beat as Jessie pleads with her man to give her a chance and pick up the phone. A late 70's dancer to listen out for in the next few weeks to come, cheers Barty! Detroit Sounds of Friction "I'm leaving you" Heavy Sound Inc. Originally covered up as Mel Britt by Richard and the Idle few by Arthur?! A record first played at Snaith around 4 years ago but never really gained the popularity it deserves! Mid-tempo early 70's recording. Brass intro and then in comes the deep lead vocals explaining why he must leave his woman and get himself together. Plenty of breaks, plenty of Soul, copies however aren't plentiful. Last time on Soul Bowl it was £10, but the value is already rising due to reactivation. Jo Ann Courey "I got the power" Twirl Memories of Cleethorpes dayers 1978. A record that Poke used to feature around the same time as Mickey Lanay, Bobby 'Guitar' Woods and Melvin Davis . All of which have stayed pretty obscure despite the latter two being pressed. "I got the power" really epitomises Northern Soul at its best, a superb up-tempo New York dancer. Good use of horns and a thudding beat makes this a gem of a dancer . Last seen on Soul Bown at £30, worth every penny. Debbie Taylor "I don't wanna leave you" Arista And now for something completely different. One of my all time favourite deep Soul records . How can anyone describe perfection, words really do not do this justice. Debbie's extremely powerful,almost gritty voice wails out "Why she can't stay with her man". Excellent sax rap perfectly finishes 5.30 mins. of pure Soul. Still sends shivers down my spine everytime I hear it. Would you believe a Tom Moulton mix from 1975, Soul as deep as you like and then some .... , buy it now!! Until next time, ..... All the best, Darren. (June 84). WANTED: The following singles: Tamla 54026/30/32/43/44/50/52/67/81, Soul 35007 Gordy 7003, Motown 1000/l/2/5/6/10/19/20/25/26/47/49, V.I.P. 25002/3/11/18 Alternatively,would anyone be prepared to tape any of the above for me. I would be prepared to pay for or exchange for a casette of your wants. CONTACT: PETER GREGORY, 226 Montrose Avenue, Welling, Kent. DA16 2QX FOR SALE: Vickie Baines "Country girl" (Parkway) £55 _ WANTS. p . Pat Lewis "No one to love (Solid Hit), Eddie Day "Guess who loves you" (Shrine) Chandlers "Love makes me lonely" (Col Soul). Must be Ex/Mint, please contact George Sharp ­0274 568042. Graham Coates (Lincoln) mentions that a 'Modern' label listing appeared in fssues 7 and 8 of a mag called 'Blues Research' . Can anybody photocopy the listing and send'.. it in. BONUS RECORDS When buying singles one tends to get one good side and one not so good side, so isn't it a bonus to get two good sides, a typical example of a record that falls into this category is the Commands release on Backbeat 570. This was the groups only release on this label and what a release ­"No time for you" a brilliant slow/mid­tempo group harmony sound which is probably my favourite of the two tracks and contains typical lyrics about a guy who ' s been rejected by his girl, then she wants to return and he tells her •he's no more time for her and finds another girl, contains the rather suggestive line "it's been a long time since I held you in my arms and even a longer time since I felt your many charms"!? (Sexist humour} "Hey it's love" DEEP STUFF FROM EDDIE­ Carl Weathers "You ought to be with me" Mirage Quite a recent release this, (1981) the song is built around Carl feeling lonely and attempting to persuade his girl to spend the night with him. With a classy vocal style similar to 'Peabo Bryson', full marks are also due to 'Hadley Murrell' on the production side for creating a romantic quality backing of piano, cymbals and strings for Carl's soulful tones to soar over. Shouldn't be too hard to find as it's 'Atlantic' distributed, well recommended for those 'late night' soul sessions. Banks and Hampton "Caught in the act" Warner Bros. (of getting it on) Continuing the easy going theme of 'slowie', this is another of those 'slipping around' epics that were so prominent around '76, though this is a real stand out cut, with ace lyrics about a guy being caught bedding someone elses wife in a hotel room, i.e. "Get dressed baby, I'm afraid we're caught, your husband is here, somebody must have tipped him off, he's waiting in the lobby with tears in his eyes, and he'e not there alone, my wife is by his side." It's produced as well as sung by Homer Banks and Carl Hampton, another sound that's near to perfect in all departments. McKinley Travis "Baby, is there something on your mind" Pride Although a true deep sound,· this has 'northern' stalwarts Art Freeman and Bobby Sanders (who also issued this recording on his own 'Soul Town' logo) on the production side. McKinley asks his girl what's wrong with her as she's acting 'quite strange' as he puts it. "I've only been out with the fellas once or twice this week, I came home one night with lipstick on my shirt, is that's what's blowing your mind?" Similar to an early '70's 'O'Jays' number, my thanks go to 'Ady Pountain' ·• for putting me onto this slice of Soul magic. Rozetta Johnson "Who you gonna love" Clintone (your woman or your wife) Sam Dees at the writing and producing helm again on this amazingly brilliant item from 1972, the ultra-soulful Rozetta is giving her man an ultimatum as the title indicates, to make up his mind where his true love lies, displaying with bitter irony all the hurt and despair of a ditched wife. "You could have at least got a room for the night, instead of loving her in my sight." Sympathetic male backing gives this wa ing a full sound, wistful strings flow in and out creating a vinyl masterpiece that's once heard, never forgotten -great!! Jerry Butler "I don't want to hear it anymore" Vee Jay The ever consistent Jerry Butler's achingly soulful voice has (for me) never been displayed to better effect than on this early 'Vee Jay' cut, especially at the beginning of the song as he sets the scene with just a piano for accompaniment "In my neighbourhood, folks don't live so good, the rooms are small, most of the buildings made of wood, I hear the neighbours talking about you and me." What he hears through the thin walls is the heart breaking news that his girl has found another, and though he realises it's true, he'd rather not hear about it. The backing is very simple and dated in style, but a vivid and nostalgic reminder of a Soul style sadly erased in the passing of the years. Bobby Womack "American dream" Beverly Glen After the last review, I felt it would be a good idea to come right up to date (April) and mention this pure Soul outing from the superb 'Womack Poet 2' album, to attempt to show that true Soul still exists in 1984. Bobby sings in typical harsh gritty style of his hopes that the 'American dream' of love, hope, peace, etc., will become a reality, using the great idea of dubbing one of 'Martin Luther Kings' speeches to the track to create a real spine chilling opus ­ The whole cut reaches a climax near the fade out with Womack and the girly backing singing in true gospel tradition, while 'Martin Luther' preaches his famous 'I have a dream' speech in the background. A truly inventive idea, great uplifting Soul!! Mike Williams "Lonely soldier'! Atlantic One of the all-time Soul greats this, highly rated by anybody who's heard it, but probably quite unknown by the mainstream of collectors. Maybe now that the likes of 'Ray Pollard','Gene McDaniels' style of 'slowie' are being spun at 'nighters'this will garner a few plays as an 'ender'. Set at a slow to medium pace, and held tightly together by organ, drums and stabbing guitar, Mike's plaintive story of a sold.ier sent to fight overseas soon hits home to the listener, via the heartrendering lyrics "I'm a lonely soldier, many miles from home, with a heart that's heavy, but with a will that' s strong. " An all round winner, if you're only slightly into slower sounds you should dig this. American copies sell for about £2 to £3 and UK Red Atlantic issues around £5. Jimmy Holiday "The turning poin,t" Liberty Of all the sounds I've reviewed in this column, this is undoubtedly my favourite, a definite for my all-time top 10 (if I were ever fool-hardy enough to compile one!) (Ed. -Guess what I was going to ask you to compile next, Eddie?!!) From the opening groove this is a truly magical record, just listen to the flowing strings and strumming guitar as Jimmy sobs "I'm a man, no not a boy, God made me human, not a toy, then my love went wrong and my heart got broke, now I stand alone at the turning point._" It's tear-jerking stuff all the way and Jimmy sounds as if he isn't going to get over his lost love as he wails remorsefully on the fade-out. "I don't know which way to go, left or right, crying myself to sleep each and every night." Credit for recommending this to me goes to 'Pete Widdison' thanks mate, for putting me onto a record to end all records. That just about wraps up the reviews for this time; if anyone out there would like to hear these records (and more like them) just mail a tape (plus an s.a.e. ) and I'll record them. Also would like to trade tapes with other 'deep' Soul collectors, as I ' m sure there must be many more goodies hidden away in collectt.oas. Write to Eddie Hubbard, 34 Longleat Close, Banbury, Oxon. OX16 9TG John Pugh (Wolverhampton) wrote in and asked for a Teri De listing (Ed. -I'm already working on it) anda U.K. Jay Boy listing. He mentioned that it was suggested to him that Chris Bartley and Chris Jackson are one and the same person - anybody know? John Anderson (Soul Bowl) informs me that Singing Sam of "Move it baby" fame is not Sam Ward of 'Sister Lee' fame, but the guy from Sam and Kitty "I've got something good" on the 4 Brothers. A fact confirmed by Graham Anthony (Derby) who says both records used the same writers (Weems/Dandridge) , the same productions (wee-dan) and the same music publishers (Fairshake). Possible that the ' Dandy' label was connected to the '4 Brothers' label. Interesting, but it still raises the question whose Kitty and what's Singing Sam's surname? S-O-U-L FROM THE 70s A lot of people have differing opinions of 70' s Soul music, but one thing'.s for certain, the 70's produced some of the finest "L.P.'s" of all time; if you don't believe me please read on ­ CURTIS MAYFIELD "Curtis" U.K. Buddah 2318015 This 1970 released album was a natural progression from his 'Impressions ' days. A concept album i . e. Social awareness/status etc. , which was 'in vogue' during the early 70' s e.g. 'What' s going on' -Marvin Gaye, 'Ship ahoy' ­the O' Jays, 'The devil is dope' -Dramatics. If one can imagine determination, degradation, pride, hope, sufferance, deception and love conveyed in lyrics by one of Soul music' s greatest songwriters, then this is one of the finest L.P.'s of all time. The full version of 'Move on up' is a gem, complemented with bongo , sax and string breaks, a typical Mayfield inspirational song. The gentleness of 'The makings of you' , the reality of 'We people who are darker than blue', the thought provoking 'If there's hell below', the hopeful 'Miss black America' and the sad and depressi ng 'The other side of town' all combine to make this his first and probably best album; although his 'Roots' L.P. isn't far behind. I've just played J . Blackfoot's 'City slicker' U.S. Steeltown album,certainly the best L.P. I've heard for years, do yourself a favour and give it a listen too. HAROLD MELVIN AND THE BLUENOTES "Ditto" U.K. C.B.S. 565350 Gamble and Huff certainly ruled the waves with the 'Philly' boom of the early and mid seventies. I.'m sure all connoisseurs of slow/deep Soul ballads will love this 1973 L.P. Everyone knows the classic 'If you don't know me by now', but that to me is overshadowed by classic cuts such as 'I miss you' with it' s ingenious telephone rapping and pleading vocals of a young Teddy Pendergrass. The bluesy tinged 'Yesterday I had the blues' is great and 'Be for real' is a rappers delight. Also included is a good rendition of the O'Jays oldie 'Let me into your world' and there's nice falsetto wailing in the final track 'Let it be me ' . An L.P. full of emotion and drama with an essential factor running throughout, one of sheer CLASS! AL GREEN 'I'm still in love with you' U.K. London SHU 8443 To be fair Al was one of my idols of the 70 's, so this review is biased to say the least! I rate this 1972 album my fave by a short head in front of hi s other L.P.'s 'Call me (come back home)' and 'Living for you'. Al had a unique sytle, laid back yet emotional and intimate, complemented by an amazing vocal range, not the power house of Otis Redding, but still unforgettable. All of Al's best songs were either about Love or Religion, the latter of course he dedicated his life too. All the tracks are typical 'Green' with stabbing brass, sparse strings and a female backing. My fave cuts are the title track, the up-tempo 'Love and happiness' (years later ripped off by Greg Jolly with 'Love is' on the Enjoy label !) , the intimate 'Simply beautiful', the marathon version of 'For the good times ' , the chirpy 'Look what you did for me' and even a bouncy version of 'Pretty Woman'. It's such a pity that we'll never see the name of Al Green gracing the charts again -happy days! DRAMATICS 'Dramatically yours' Volt VOS-9501 (U .S. only) Like the former reviews, a name linked with the past and well known in the 'Northern fraternity' for 60' s releases on 'Wingate and Sport'. However, the link ends there as this 1974 album (their third L.P.), is full of masterly ballads, the hallmark of the group. To me, like the previously .mentioned H. Melvin set, this is Soul group perfection. A mixture of gritty lead vocals , faultless falsett o and ace group harmonising. The stand out cuts are 'And I panicked' , 'Toast to t he fool' (released on U.K. Stax 2025-117A), the mid-tempo swayer 'Highway to heaven' and the highly intensified 'I made myself lonely' . Rumour now has it that the group have split, so after L.P.'s on Volt, ABC, MCA and Capitol so ends the career of one of the most underrated (and unplayed in the U.K.) Soul harmony groups of all time . One of my greatest disappointments in life was never seeing them ' live' but at least I do have their L.P. 's to cherish and play forever. (P.S. -I'm in desperate need of the 'Dells v's Dramatics' L.P. on Cadet -anyone got one for~ or could tape for me?) JACKIE MOORE 'Sweet Charlie babe' U.S. Atlantic SD 7231 A 1973 L.P. split by two producers, the Miami tracks by Dave Crawford and Brad Shapiro and the 'Philly' tracks by the 'Young professionals' (i.e. Lebaron Taylor, Phil Hurt, Tony Bell and Bunny Sigler on title track} . Side one contains three tracks from the 'Philly' sessions, starting with the bouncy 'Sweet Charlie baby', the classy up-tempo 'Clean up your own yard' and the haunting 'If', certainly a 'grower' after a few spins; next is a great cover version of the Elgins motown classic 'Darling baby'. Side two starts with the 'Philly' dancer 'Both ends against the middle' which got a few spins on the 'Northern' scene. The Dave Crawford 'Miami' sounds are classics, 'Time' a gritty, funky protest song with laid back horns, followed by 'Precious, precious' which has a great southern feel to it, with its flowing sax. This is an album that has great appeal to any Soul fans. Till next time -happy listening, Dave Hitch. (Ed. Dave is interested in swopping tapes of Soul music, be it 60's, 70's, 80's, deep or whatever, please contact him at 107 Westbrook Avenue, Walsall, West Midlands, KENNY CARTER In the true tradition of this mag, we bring you another in-depth report on one of Soul music's forgotten singers -Kenny Carter was born somewhere in America, several years ago; he became interested in music and over a period of years released at least 6 records ­ RCA "I ' ve got to find her" (Larry Banks/Bonnie Head) 2 :30 TPKM 3410 47-8791 "Body and Soul" · (Green/Heyman/Sour/Eyton) 3 : 12 SPKM 5124 B.S. produced by Paul Robinson and arranged by Garry Sherman. RCA "Got to get mysel1 together" SPKM 5126 47-8841 "Showdown" TPKM 3411 RCA "Don't go" (early '67) 47-8970 "How can you say goodbye!" Renee "What about the children" (Kenneth Head/Troy Davis) 2:20 R223 RE 3001 "Why do you have to go" (Verve Allison/Ewart Abner) 3:15 R224 B.S . produced and arranged by Dimp Paco and Deep Down Atlantic "I ain't got love" (J. Northern/K. Head) 3:21 A.24678 45-2898 "It's sad when love is gone" (K. Head) 3:20 A.24680 B.S. arranged by Tony Camillo and produced by Kenneth Head (1972) United Artists 308 "Hey lover"/? Kenny's superb mellow voice really excells on his RCA outing~yet in my opinion was let down by 'average' material for his later releases. As implied by the song titles, the lyrics convey Kenny's disappointment in having no love or having lost his love. All his releases fit into the sad ballad category, it would have been interesting songs. The Renee Label RE 3001 Kenny Carter "Why do you have to go/ What about the children" 3002 Jungle Jim "Masai,(do the masai children/ Inst." 3003 3004 Midnight Movers "Follow the wind, Pt. I /Pt. II" 3005 Midnight Movers "Truckin'/Put your mind in your pocket" ( Graham Coates ) The label was basically all black in colour with the name Renee in orange, (see photocopy) . I would be grateful for any info. on this label re-town of origin, release dates, missing numbers plus anything about Kenny Carter. site note - the above rough text was just added as a reference aid (site search) best to use our inbuilt pdf viewer at the top of the page for viewing, saving, printing the issue