Ian Dewhirst

Mmm. Interesting thread this. I always thought that someone invested heavily in the first recording what with using a full string section and hiring Dave Crawford for the arrangement (just before he went on to produce Candi Staton's "Young Hearts Run Free"). The investment was really all in the original recording, which is basically magnificent. It all went wrong when they pressed it and attempted to distribute it. Amateur hour since it had almost zero distribution in L.A. and presumably zero promotion as well. So it never stood a chance. They were actually lucky that Simon Soussan managed to stumble into it and put it on a tape of unknowns for a new list he was doing circa '75 (along with stuff like Eddie Daniels, Lee Mitchell etc). When we heard that tape in the UK we discussed the tracks that we liked but the problem with Soussan is that no one knew if he had a game-plan for everything that was on there and bootlegs might turn up 2 weeks later. So everything (even the great stuff) was viewed with a patina of suspicion at the time. Quite rightly so as it usually turned out. As it happens, only a copy or two of the record ever arrived in the UK at the time and I'm pretty sure Curtis ended up with one, which is probably where I heard it out first. I was desperate for a copy to play out right up until I actually emigrated to the U.S. When I got to L.A. in May '76 and met Soussan, one of the first records I asked about was Charles Russell and he told me that he couldn't get any more copies and it was a rare record despite being only 2 years old at the time. When I found those 3 copies in a shop after a few months in L.A. I was over the moon. So I've always dug the record but it really never took off for some reason. Also I've listened to both recordings now and I'm pretty sure that the original master was used on the New Image release. It's been remixed plus some overdubs, but there's no way that they could replicate the original so closely and why would they anyway? The original recording would have cost in the region of $3-4000 at the time with the people involved, so I reckon that Charles figured there'd be more cache if he told people it was a brand new recording. It just doesn't make sense to junk such a great (and expensive) original recording with some serious people like Dave Crawford involved - he would have been $1000 in cash for a start........ When Charles got a whisper that there was some action in the UK, that obviously gave him the incentive to try another release and attempt to recoup the outlay on the original version. The fact that he went for it again with a Disco version shows he had real belief in the track. And yes. I'd love to listen in depth to the Disco version. I'll almost definitely wanna play it on my show because a lot of my audience love Soulful Disco but I promise I won't share the file with anyone. That'll be 2 favours I owe you then! Ian D

Wow. I'd love to hear that. It sounds right up my street. Is it any good bearing in mind it's a Disco track.....? Ian D

Thanks for confirming Bob. I couldn't see any demand coming from anywhere else to be honest........ I'll tell you what though - I'm staggered that they would have re-recorded it. They had most of it down first time around so I don't know why they'd need to do the whole thing again. It doesn't really make sense, especially to sell just a few hundred copies. I'll have a real close listen to both recordings again and see if there's any major changes 'cos it's my guess they remixed and over-dubbed whatever Charles says...... Ian D

Snag it. I concurr with Soulman. I think it's a lot rarer than people think. I spent 6 months in L.A. hitting shops everyday of the week and only found those 3 copies in one shop and that was 35 years ago. Worth it for that mighty Dave Crawford arrangement alone! Ian D

Good point. I guess they'd all be doubles so wouldn't be cheap to manufacture. Might be worth doing a limited edition run across all 30 titles though if we thought there was enough interest to justify such a run. Ian D

I love the record. I think the production and arrangement are brilliant for a tiny West Coast label. You'd never get strings like that on a record these days....... Anyway, here are the You Tube clips.... Charles Russell "It Ain't Easy" Psyche New Image feat Charles Russell "It Ain't Easy" Bionic Ian D

OK, pm me your details and I'll get 'em over to our Press guy. Here's what's coming up with most of 'em compiled by S.S. stalwarts.......... BACKB021 Backbeats - Soul A La Mode – 1970’s Modern Soul Compiled by Ian Dewhirst BACKB022 Backbeats - What’s The Word - Socially Conscious Soul Music Compiled by Dean Rudland BACKB023 Backbeats - Smooth Grooves – Sophisticated 80’s Philly Soul Compiled by Ralph Tee BACKB024 Backbeats - Phillybusters – Underground Philly Dancefloor Gems Compiled by Kev Roberts & Ian Dewhirst BACKB025 Backbeats - Bustin’ Out – Ghetto Grooves From Dusty Cellars Compiled by Dean Rudland BACKB026 Backbeats - 2 Steps To Soul Heaven – More 70’s & 80’s Steppers Compiled by Ian Dewhirst BACKB027 Backbeats - They Call It Crossover – More Mid-Tempo Soul Gems Compiled by Sean Hampsey BACKB028 Backbeats - Mod Life Crisis – 60’s Mod Anthems For The In Crowd Compiled by Dean Rudland BACKB029 Backbeats - Lost In Time –More Northern Soul Treasures Compiled by Kev Roberts & Ian Dewhirst BACKB030 Backbeats - The Pain Goes Deep – More Deep Soul Gems Compiled by Sean Hampsey Ian D

A previous thread about this too with both soundclips....... Ian D

I bet that was probably just after I split to the U.S. then, which was circa May '76. Deffo a Cleethorpes type record. My three copies didn't stick around long that's for sure....... Ian D

It started off on a Soussan list so the only action on it in Europe was from the Northern scene period. There were very few copies in circulation but I seem to remember Colin spinning it @ the Mecca - maybe someone else can confirm? There would have been no more than 2 or 3 copies in the UK at that point and there was no rare Disco scene outside of the UK that I knew of back then. So UK only demand in my view. Ian D

Well, I've had 'em both at different times but never together unfortunately. I found 3 copies of Charles Russell in a super-duper dodgy Watts record shop shortly before I had to get out of the area @ 3.30pm (the golden rule: get out of Watts before the schools turn out). In the dodgy record shop I got talking to a black guy who then persuaded me to go see his mates 'great record collection'. This was in a house in what's now known locally as 'the jungle'. We disturbed a poker game which was being played by 5 local gangbangers and I got 3 guns levelled at me before everyone cooled down. Very very scary. In the end it turned out the guy's 'great collection' was about 50 beat up Jazz albums. I ended up buying a few just to get out of there in one piece. The 3 Charles Russells and a Si Hightower remained intact luckily. The Bionic reissue could be an interesting story. I wonder if someone like Bob Catanneo is still around? He'd probably be a good person to ask if he's still active........ Ian D

I think it's exactly the same recording as the Psyche version which is ridiculously rare IMO. My guess is that the first version didn't sell anything and they got a whisper that people in the UK were looking for it so did a limited repress on bionic and assigned a different name. Don't know about any action on the Beach scene. Brilliant record! Ian D

It's a good point you make there Nik. My PR guy for Harmless says that ALL reviewers want the real thing. They even get cheesed off if they get a CD promo pack leave alone a file link. They 100% want the finished CD's because they get the whole package, sleeve notes, scans, photos etc which in turn generally inspires them to write decent reviews touch wood. I don't blame 'em. Me too! Ian D

Another good reason to buy CD's is that music has never been more easily available at such a great price. You can buy most Backbeats releases now for under £4 each brand new and posted to your door for free! And yes, the artists, writers and catalogue owners do see royalties on material that might not otherwise be out there! https://www.amazon.co.uk/gp/search?rh=i%3Apopular%2Cn%3A229816%2Ck%3Abackbeats+demon&keywords=backbeats+demon&ie=UTF8&qid=1319053474&ajr=0#/ref=sr_pg_1?rh=n%3A229816%2Ck%3Abackbeats&keywords=backbeats&ie=UTF8&qid=1319053509 There's 20 of 'em already and another 10 coming on Boxing Day! You never had it so good! Ian D

Yep, now I recall it. Deffo before the Contempo release then. Ian D

OK, back to square one again..........hopeless. Is there an equivalent for PC I ask myself.......? Ian D

Cheers John. I'll check it out and try it at the weekend. Ian D

Fair dos Carl. I thought you had a problem with funding any vocal sessions so my suggestion of possibly using some 40 year old acappellas was purely based on a quick cheap possible solution, that's all. I take your point entirely about wanting to write the song (although in 90% of cases I don't advise it because many people aren't gifted songwriters and only want the publishing income on what could be a mediocre song). As per usual, best of luck mate. I still wouldn't mind hearing the full instrumentals though. The bits I heard sounded great....... Ian D

The only time I tend to use an airport is when I fly somewhere. I presume airport is some sort of imaginatively-named transfer software or something? Simply by dint of the fact that you know about something called airport I know that you're far more computer literate than me LOL..... I'll look it up. Will it transfer my media library with all the correct file paths and playlists etc in EXACTLY the same order that they're currently in? Cheers, Ian D

Quite right of course and I refer the honorable gentleman to a previous thread mentioning just this subject:- Ian D

Also I'm curious why Apple would have DRM on the low-rate stuff only? I don't mind paying the extra 20p for the higher quality but really who the hell are they to tell me how many times I can burn or transfer something? Arrogant twats! In my line of work I often need to transfer multiple copies of things for different reasons so I don't like anyone telling what I can or can't do once I've paid for it! I like the way they make transfers OK for 'an unlimited amount of i-pods' LOL. That's precisely why I don't like Apple. Too bossy. 1 iTunes digital rights management (DRM) protected music includes audio with a bit rate of 128 kbps and allows users to transfer songs and videos to up to five computers, burn seven copies of the same playlist to CD, and sync to an unlimited number of iPods. 2 iTunes Plus music refers to songs and music videos available in our highest-quality 256 kbps AAC encoding (twice the current bit rate of 128 kbps), and without digital rights management (DRM). There are no burn limits and iTunes Plus music will play on all iPods, Mac or Windows computers, Apple TVs, and many other digital music players. Ian D

I'll tell you what Chalky, it makes a change from arguing about OVO all the time. A key part in all this is precisely how computer literate somene is. I'm not remotely computer literate so most things are a pain for me to do. For instance, I've had a brand new laptop just laying here for 3 months because I DREAD trying to transfer everything from old lappy to new one - I don't want to lose any music and I need all my playlists exactly as I have them on the old laptop. Unfortunately there doesn't seem to be an easy way to accomplish this (and boy have I talked to enough people). None of this stuff is easy for me. I don't understand the logic of a lot of technical things so therefore it's like having to do homework for me. Plus I always get a really bad migraine when trying to figure out technical stuff. I'm just not designed for it. A good example is how are you expected to send a reply to a long S.S. quote on an i-phone as just one example? The i-phone scrolling system doesn't really work properly for that. Not easy for some of us mate...... Ian D

The problem is more with the all-invading pervasiveness of Apple Chalky. You either subscribe to it or you don't. I'm on pc so everything to do with Apple is a friggin' nightmare in terms of compatibility whenever it comes to transferring artwork, audio etc, etc. I've had years of transfer dillemmas so I'm a long-term none believer. I have an i-phone so I do use Apple products but they only seem to work properly with other Apple products, so it's all a bit of a hassle if you're not a 100% Apple convert. For instance, I plugged my i-phone into my computer and it synched up everything so now I've got 10,000 names, numbers and e-mails on my phone when I only really need a few hundred. There was probably a box I needed to tick but seriously, who has the time for all this? Plus EXACTLY the same thing happened to Sutty on EMS vis a vis playing from a burnt CD on standard equipment. The only tunes which wouldn't play were the i-tunes downloads (in fact it's on a thread over there right now), so not just me unfortunately...... Ian D

Hang on. I was talking about the Groovesville lookalike. I can't remember "Sweet Sherry" being on the 'b' side of the boot of "Boc To Bach" (which presumably was on a pale green Selectadisc boot right) but if it was, then yes, THAT certainly came out long before the Contempo 45. So if that is in fact the case, then apologies to all (eats large dose of humble pie.......) Ian D

I bet you I'm not! I have an almost photographic memory of what was booted up until I left these shores in '76 and J.J. Barnes wasn't one of 'em. I do remember seeing 'em sometime after I got back and thinking that whoever was booting Groovesville was taking a chance because Tony Hestor was pretty active in the business then....... Ian D