Neil Rushton

Yes we have been in touch with George McGregor about this. He has the multi track on "I Do,Don't You"and it was written and produced by him. Mike Terry is the arranger and George confirms it is The Precisions.. Turns out that the version of "Such Misery" that came of the Sidra acetate and credited to Timmy Willis is actually the first recording by The Precisions too, but never released at the time as it was laid down by Paul Merritt just before he quit the group and was replaced by Dennis Gilmore. The recording "Send Me A Sign" which was thought to be by The Pecisions is in fact by Roger Fluker aka Brian Stone who was the choreograopher for The Precisions. I spoke to Geoge last night and he says the dance routines on stage by The Precisions were by amazing and left even The Temptations in the shade. He believes if The Precisions had been on Motown (the Funk Briothers played on all the Drew sessions by the way) they would have been superstars. George also shed some light on why "Sugar Ain't Sweet" only came out on promo and was replaced as the flip to "What I Want" by "Why Girl". The copy I got off "Sugar Ain't Sweet" is pressed off centre and I believe all the other copies are too but that could easily have been remedied as Sidra owned their own pressing plant. However, the delay caused by the off centre copies meant that George, who ha just been installed as A&R director at Sidra, was able to switch it it for "Why Girl" which he had co-written based around the sound he envisaged for The Precisions, wtih Billy Prince on lead vocals and the rest of the group doing harmonies. I guess ther than have the wrong record lying around, the label would have junked "Sugar Ain't Sweet" - shades of Motown and "Do I Love You"?

Glenn Gunton and myself are in the process of reviving Joe Boy and Inferno. First releases will be a Precisions CD album of all their Drew releases plus some unreleased tracks, and a 4 track Precisions vinyl EP, as follow up to the one we released 2 years ago. As part of licensing deal with Sidra/Drew,we are going to release a seven inch of "Give Me Another Chance" bw "A Dream".George McGregor was a a&r director at Sidra/Drew and he is pretty certain that the vocalist is Pearl Jones, who was a secretary at Sidra/Drew and also recorded for The Embracables. He knows it is not Barabara Mercer as he is married to her! He says if it is not Pearl it is Micki Farrow, who used to hang about at Sidra with Mike Terry. Hopefully everything wll be confirmed in time for "Give Me Another Chance" to be a givaway limited edition 45 at the SOULVATION 3rd anniversary at Lea Hall Club, Rugeley on March 8. I used to hammer the track at the Trentham Gardens all-nighters and it deserves to be out as a single. Another one of our Trentham big tracks - The Precisions "I Do, Don't You" will be on their CD and EP.

Legendary 60's Soul journalist Norman Jopling licenced "So Soon" to Glenn at Joe Boy in good faith as being by Donnie Elbert. Norman was actually sold the master, on an acetate, by Donnie Elbert from the days when Donnie was based in London (doing A&R for Polydor I believe). Donnie told Norman the that he (Donnie) was the artist. Pete Lyster played the Aretha version at Soulvation on Saturday and it rocked the place.

Thanks to everyone who has ordered copies. I have a few left. Neil

Have just come back from seeing Chasetown humble Port Vale in the FA Cup - come on. Chasetown are in the 3rd round of the Cup and the Northern Soul connection is that in the the days of the Burntwood Northern all-dayers and all-nighters they were such a tiny club they played on the pitch next to the old Burntwood Baths venue ..so they have made good progress. Lots of fellow local Birmingham City supporters there - funny thing was even the Villa and Birmingham fans in the ground were on he same side for for once and having a laugh with each other. Nothing to do with the thread - BUT WHAT A RESULT. Anyway, I didn't mean that Barbara Mills herself made me cringe. What made me cringe and feel sorry for her was that she was captured on film when she defintitely didn't look at her best and I wondered if she would be happy seeing herself like that. When the footage came in I asked Ian not to use it and he thought about if for a millionth of second and decided he would anyway.Funny that. It's just a personal view and maybe it's the wrong one. I didn't look at my best when interviewed on the film either - I thought I'd get that in before someone else did - but I'm not an artist.

I haven't got access to the paperwork right now,but part of the the conract was reporoduced with an article I did about Inferno for manifesto. I think deal was for US 500 Dollars and for that they insisted I bought the rights outright - they would not do a licence that run out after so many years which was the normal deal. I still actually own worldwide rigths to the master recording. Neil

I didn't realise it was the aniversary but how spooky...I started reading "The Otis Redding Story" by Scott Freeman this morning by complete coincidence. To slightly deviate from the debate about whether he was the greatest Soul singer or not, I interviewed Dan Penn for manifesto amd he said he snuck into the "Sweeet Soul Music" - Arthur Conley recording session and that to his mind Otis was the best record producer he had ever seen in action. Dan has an incredible eye for details, he told me that what he remembers about the Wilson Pickett sessions with Rick Hall was how the very clean carpets at the studio were throwing up dust because Wilson was stomping his feet so hard while singing,and he can be quite a caustic critic too, so for him to say that Otis was the best producer ever is some compliment. Dan Penn wasn't exactly a slouch at making records himself was he? In the book Bill Graham, the famous San Francisco promoter, is quoted as saying that Otis was simply the best peformer he had ever seen on stage too.

These are for sale: TALKIN ABOUT MY GIRL - VIC & THE CATALINAS (US BAR CLAY) £70 THE REAL THING - TINA BRITT (US EASTERN WDJ) £30 I CAN'T DO IT - EDDIE & ERNIE (US EASTERN WDJ) £75 GET READY - ELLA FITZGERALD (US REPRISE WDJ) £30 TROUBLE - RONNIE WALKER (US IMPACT PIC BAG) £10 HANG UP YOUR HANG UPS - BOBBY LESTER (US COLUMBIA WDJ) £50 I FOUND A GOODIE - CHRIS BARTLEY (VANDO) £25 PICTURE ME GONE - MADELINE BELL (US PHILLIPS WDJ) £30 TOUCH ME, HOLD ME,KISS ME - THE INSPIRATIONS (UK POLYDOR) £250 EVIL ONE - THE SAPPHIRES (UK HMV RED AND WHITE DEMO) £300 WHOLE LOT OF SHAKING IN MY HEART - THE MIRACLES (UK TAMLA MOTOWN RED AND WHITE DEMO) £200 HURTING - ERIC 7 THE VIKINGS (UK KOOL KAT) £15 -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- WILLIE TEE ALBUM - SEALED, MINT, UNPLAYED TEASIN' YOU - WILLIE TEE (US NIGHT TRAIN 12" VINYL - GREAT FRONT COVER DESIGN) GREAT COMPILATION DONE IN 2002. INCLUDES SINGLES FROM GATUR, NOLA, ATLANTIC, BONATEMP AND CINDERELLA... INCLUDES TEASIN' YOU, WALKING UP A ONE WAY STREET, THANK YOU JOHN, I WANT SOMEBODY, YOU BETTER SAY YES, PLEASE DON'T GO, TEASIN' YOU AGAIN,I PEEPED YOUR HOLE CARD, I'M HAVING SO MUCH FUN. £20 INCLUDES POSTAGE -------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------- Thanks, Neil

I might have sold the first £100 plus UK label record in the 70's ..at a Coalville all-nighter I flogged New Wherry a London demo of "Open The Door To Your Heart"/"Our Love Is In The Pocket" - Darell Banks for £125. The unique thing about it was that the titles and artist credits were TYPED ON...I kicked myself the second I sold it. And in 76 I sold "No One Else Can Take Your Place" - The Inspirations (Breakthrough) at a Ritz all-dayer for around £140, i can remember James Fountain going for a lot around the same time.

I am after Stateside demo BET YOU WIN - TYRONE DAVIS (UK STATESIDE 1967 RELEASE SS 2092) Thanks, Neil

I was involved with Ian on SWONS and whatever people might think of the film - personally I like Pat Brady's description of it as a "flawed masterpiece" - I can assure you that the amount of money Ian put into it meant there was no realistic chance of him getting his investment back, never mind making a profit. There would be nothing wrong with Ian making a profit from it by the way, but the more he ploughed on finding and filming artists (around 129 at the end) the more the costs escalated. I paid for the manufacuring and marketing of the video release and put some money into the actual filming and I got my money back.Ian invested a lot lot more than me and is well in the red on the whole thing. A lot of people find fault with Ian and we have some right rucks, but for SWONS his heart was definitely in the right place. Some of the clips like "I Have Faith With You" - Edwin Starr, "Reconsider" - Brenda Holloway, "I'll Be There"- The Gems are great. Others, like Barbara Mills, make me cringe. Having a go at Ian for the quality of the footage is fair enough, but it's really ignorant to say that he was out to make a fortune with SWONS. What happened that he got caught up in the romance of it and naively hoped that the sales would get him his money back, when I pointed out to him in the middle of the production madness that it he would be lucky to recoup his investment and was he sure he wanted to keep on spending he went on anyway. I got caught up in the romance of the project too, but i wouldn't have done that and I don't imagine many other people would either.. So give the guy some credit.The funny thing is that people go on about Ian exploiting the scene, but he is actually more in love with causes than money. We put the video out ourselves and did OK but nothing like enough to justify the time and expense,but we were determined to get it out come what may and the balance sheet was not our prioirty.The subsequent DVD rights were licenced to Wienerworld and yes we have had an e advance and subsequent royalties from them , but not enough to dent Ian's invesment. I'm not saying Ian is a Saint or anything for doing this. but fair's fair, the SWONS project was a heavy financial commitment by Ian plus month and months of hard work when he was doing 17 hour days. And it is the only film of many cherished Soul artists. Personally I think footage of the likes of Carl Davis is priceless and a lot of the interviews with the UK scene makers are worth watching. Even getting permission to "synch" all the songs with the film, which we paid fees for to the MCPS, was a logistical nightmare, the idea of being actually able to licence the original versions of all the tracks for the videos is and was a non starter, both practically and cost wise. The Levine bashers will probably have a right go at me for the above and I really don't give a shit what they say,but they should try and get their facts right. And before anyone pipes up that they have heard the arists have not been paid royalties that is correct - because the contracts agree all profts will be split with the artists on a pro-ratra basis, ie if there was say £100k profit then £50k would go to the artits on the videos, and as there are (I think) 129 of them, then they would each £50k divided by 129.As there isn't a profit then there is nothing to split with the artists. Some artits, like The Dells,actually got paid for their performances. One of the best things about SWONS on a personal level was meeting up again with Otis Leavill, who had put me up in his house in Chicago in the 70's. He died a year after being filmed and I will always remember how such a real life tough guy (he was a sharpshooter for Cicago police) was so thrilled at peforming at the SWONS premier at Blackburn. The funniest thing about SWONS was Bobby Paris at Blackburn ... but that's a whole other story.

KEEPING THE FAITH - BOX SET (CASTLE MUSIC) INCOPORATING 4 CD'S (100 TRACKS) PLUS ONE BONUS HIDDEN EXTRA TRACK AND 60 PAGE FULL COLOUR BOOK. RAVE REVIEWS FROM THE LIKES OF DAVE RIMMER...3,000 COPIES PRESSED UP AND THEY HAVE NOW SOLD OUT, CASTLE IS PART OF SANCTUARY WHICH HAS BEEN TAKEN OVER BY UNIVERSAL, AT THE MOMENT UNIVERSAL HAVE NO PLANS TO MANUFACTURE ANYMORE!! PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT - TRACKS INCLUDE CLASSICS FROM TWISTED WHEEL, TORCH, MECCA, WIGAN, RITZ ETC AND SOME OBSCURE IN-DEMANDERS FROM TODAY INCLUDING "I SAW YOU THERE" - APPOINTMENTS AND OTHERS. PERFECT CHRISTMAS PRESENT. I HAD 100 OF THESE, ONLY TEN LEFT, SO FIRST COME FIRST SERVED...£30 EACH AND I WILL PAY POSTAGE. E-MAIL ME ON - neilrushton2@btinternet.com Thanks, Neil

Is the Dave Godin review for "Operator, Operator"? If so it would be because I supplied Dave with a copy. He was very good at supporting singles I imported and sent him, for instance he gave great support to "Don't You Leave" - Freddie Hughes. I just wish I had kept some of those copies of "You're Gone" - Celeste Hardie I had from Bob,a lot of the old crowd from Walsall/Wolverhampton/Dudley who I supplied records with had copies from me, there must be copies stuck in lofts and abandoned record boxes. All the Best, Neil

Is the Dave Godin review for "Operator, Operator"? If so it would be because I supplied Dave with a copy. He was very good at supporting singles I imported and sent him, for instance he gave great support to "Don't You Leave" - Freddie Hughes. I just wish I had kept some of those copies of "You're Gone" - Celeste Hardie I had from Bob,a lot of the old crowd from Walsall/Wolverhampton/Dudley who I supplied records with had copies from me, there must be copies stuck in lofts and abandoned record boxes. All the Best, Neil

I used to import lots of West Coast singles from Bob Cattaneo, 45's by Marvin Holmes, Celeste Hardie, Don Thomas, and loads more. Bob used to supply copies of "Shy Guy" - Johnny Baker and because he knew I could take quantity of a record (I remember having 500 copies of "Come On Train" and "You Better Keep Her" and flogging them upstairs at Wigan one night) he encouraged Johnny to make a track which would work for the UK Northern scene... one of the first "tailor-mades" I suppose. I had progress reports on how the recording ,spoke to Johnny while he was in the process of coming up with the track,and eventualy got from Bob a lovely looking 10" acetate which I road tested out and about and then ordered the first pressings of the record, asking (as you do) for a mixture of white label demos and red stock copies. There definitely was not a pressing with "Please Accept Me As I Am" as the flip in existence before I had my copies which had "Operator Operator" on both sides. I cannot remember the quantity,at least 1,000, maybe more, but I had trouble getting rid of them...I would say this was in 1975. All the Best, Neil

Paul, A friend of mine is after the Garnett Mimms, if still available can you please reserve it for me or better still send with the others and I will send you payment tomorrow - am going to be in London today working so wont be able to send it till tomorrow.. Thanks, Neil

NO RIGHT TO CRY - MAMIE P.GALORE (USA SACK) OFFERS Vinyl nice and clean, letters XCMD written on a side label. TOUCH ME,HOLD ME, KISS ME - INSPIRATIONS (UK POYDOR) £225 A few scuff marks on vinyl but plays perfect, a side label has small markings "A" and "23/3" in felt tip WHOLE LOT OF SHAKIN' IN MY HEART - THE MIRACLES (UK Tamla Motown TMG 569 Red and White demo) £220 Look great on red and white! Label perfect, no blemishes or marks. Vinyl few scuff marks but plays as new) FIRST TASTE OF HURT/FUNKY FUNKY TWIST - WILLIE TEE (GATUR 500) £170 Label perfect, no marks or blemishes few scuf marks on disc but plays as new) TRYING TO GET BACK TO YOU - JACKEY BEAVERS (UK JOE BOY) MINT/UNPLAYED £25 BABY I'M HERE JUST TO LOVE YOU - THE STAGEMASTERS (USA SLIDE) MINT £10 I will pay postage. PM me or e-mail neilrushton2@btinternet.com Thanks, Neil

Sorry I don't mean Joey Jefferson, forgot the name of the guy I do mean but have mentioned the whole story before on Soul Source. Neil

Joey Jeffrson who owned The Sunlovers master was very very very pissed off...which is why he messed me and Bill Baker about re oringals of "No One Else can take Your Place" - The Inspirations. He was moaning about Simon and I remember saying take it out on him ,not us, he's not hard to find, you both live in LA. Neil

I spoke to Jack Ashford in the seventies when I was importing records - I was after quantity of "There Can Be A Better Way" - The Smith Brothers (the pressing plant was hanging on to them as they had not been paid for and it was all a bit complicated). I asked Jack about the version of "I Love You baby" credited to Lorraine Chandler and he said that it was not a bootleg as he had been commisoned by Simon Soussan to record it for the Black Magic release but that he (Jack) used another singer on it. I was still writing for Black Echoes at the time so included the name of the singer in a piece I did, I can't remember the name, maybe Paula Buclow or someting similair.I thought it was a good scoop and it is the mag f anyone has back copies.Jack was in LA at the time so it would have been recorded there, with the new vocal over the original backing track. I think Jack was told it would be released under correct name of the new vocalist- not as Lorraine Chandler. It sounds nothing like Lorraine Chandler so apart from being fraud what was the point? Incidentally that "My Sugar Baby" - Sherlie Matthews is quite rare - we had 500 45's, all coloured vinyl,from Soussan and he never repressed it, it was typical Simon scam to credit it to Sherlie Matthews.Ian Dewhirst and myself were told he had discovered it in the Mirwood archives and it was Sherlie. That was bullshit,but he did have some kind of deal with Randy Wood for the Mirwood tapes and so the track had some kind of legitimacy, albeit a seventies vocal over a sxities backing track.Typical Simon he comes up with a good idea, makes an OK record and blows it by having to lie about who the artist was. Neil

Yes, no,yes,no...he had success but even then he messed up...Ian Dewhirst and myself were due 10% of the profits from "Uptown Festival" - but we never get it,when I went to see Simon in LA at the time I ran into various others who had 10% share, to the extent Simon would have needed more than 100% to pay everyone if you know what I mean - it was a bit like a scene from Mel Brooks "The Producers". The success of "Uptown Festival" led to deals with Casablanca etc so Simon certainly got some advances etc but he never followed through and he had nothing to do with the real massive success of Shalimar afterwards, where as if he had played it straight he might have done. He was well connected enough at the time to have really gone for it - in New York following the success of "Uptown Festival" he got me on table with Joe Tarsia of Siigma Sounds at an industry bash, so he was moving in the right circles, but you could just tell he was going to blow it. Neil

I met Randy Wood in London in the late seventies when I spoke to him about licensing the Mirwood catalogue for Inferno.The deal with Contempo was up so he wanted to do something but it was never sorted as he said he could not supply the tapes.. Anyway he told me that he had done a legitimate deal of some kind for Mirwood with Simon and been paid something for it...Simon was very very difficult to deal with and basically had a Walter Mitty thing going on where he lied all the time but he was funny....if he had been straight he would have made a fortune out of the music industry. Neil

I must have had 50 copies from Bob Cattaneo in the 70's - sold mostly to lads in the West Midlands. Neil

They weren't boots, they were repressed for me by Larry in the early 80's, between 1,000 and 2,000, can't remember the quantity, probably more like 1,000 than 2,000. Neil