Ian Dewhirst

Yep 'Commitment' was my middle name when I realised what I probably left there! Ian D

Haha LOL. That was another great accident. I was in east L.A. driving around looking for a Saturday morning 'swap-meet' (or flea market) and somehow I just couldn't find the place where the swap meet was meant to be. I was driving mile after mile along all these roads with heavy industrial complexes and factories as far as the eye could see but no sign of any swap meet. As I was driving along one of these bleak, endless roads I noticed a hamburger stall coming up on the roadside with quite a few people milling around, so I slowed down, figuring I could ask someone where the swap meet might be. It was then that I noticed that there was a sort of household goods market right next to the hamburger van. So I parked up, 'cos I fancied a coffee and there were a couple of coffee type stalls within the market. So I got a coffee and had a mooch around the market. It was all stepladders, dusters, cleaning fluids, tool kits, buckets, bowls and thousands of other household goods. I'd pretty much covered the whole market when I noticed a stall nearest the road which had a couple of boxes of 45's in amongst all the household shit.... I wandered over, set my coffee down and started flicking through the 45's. It really wasn't very promising - I expected lots of junk and some of the records looked beaten up.......but....... Bingo! I found "We Were Made For Each Other" - Terrible Tom on Maverick.......and then another one! And then I found "You Don't Love Me Anymore" - Johnny Caswell on a pink Decca demo several records later. Things were looking up suddenly. After I'd gone through both boxes I'd found a few more so-so's - Candace Love, Fred Hughes and a couple of others, I asked the guy how much they were and he said, "Oh, just gimme 25 cents each man". So I gave him a couple of bucks and said, "Wow. I found a few things here. It's a shame you don't have any more." The guy looked at me and said "You want more 45's"? I said, "Yeah, that's what I'm looking for". And the guy said, "Yo, come around here" and waved me round to the back of his stall where there was a huge rain-soaked tarpulin covering an area about 20' x 20'... He then grabbed hold of one side of the tarpulin and threw it back to reveal...... about 20,000 45's! He laughed and said "Help yourself. Good luck." They were in a right state! Some of 'em were warped from the sun, others had been wet at some time and were water-damaged and most of the sleeves were falling apart or rotting. But everything away from the edges of the tarpulin and in the middle of all this plastic was fine! I found 50 x "Love Factory" - Eloise Laws on Music Merchant, 50 x "Memories" by the Segments Of Time on Sussex and at least a couple of hundred other goodies which were all in decent nick considering the circumstances. I also found the rarest record ever on the Belgium scene at the time - "Heartless Lover" by the Dick Baker Combo on Kool Kat (the L.A. Kool Kat, not the Detroit one). I sold it a week later for £1500 (a huge amount of money in '76 - the guy flew in from Belgium to collect it personally). So a shit day turned into a good one in the end. Whilst I figured I'd pretty much cleared everything on that visit, a couple of years later I was back in L.A. and tried to find the place again but just couldn't remember where it was. But later that day I ended up in Redondo Beach and went into a furniture store/junk shop and found a whole bunch of great stuff from New York and Philly labels - the Superlatives, Del-Larks, Lou Courtney etc, etc. It turns out the guy had just re-located there from the East Coast! All this was great, but I also remember Arthur Fenn having a fantastic hit several years later from a pressing plant I'd been to about 30 times - I think it was Monarch! He somehow got shown a back room that was packed with killers and came back loaded to the gills with Joe Hicks, Larry Atkins and bundles of other L.A. pressed goodies. Ya win some, ya lose some..... But what I'm doing here is trying to encourage Graham Warr and everyone else to share some tales with us. When he got to the U.S. it was Virgin territory for hunting Northern, so he had some great finds (see other thread). Also Kev Roberts hit in Baltimore was historic and the tales of Soussan's antics and Colony Records in New York are legendary........... Ian D

Very simple Kevin... A word begining with a 'c' and ending with a 't' mate. Commitment. Had other stuff going on that I had to get back for. Plus the basis of the trip wasn't actually to find records but to scout potential club sites and then I had to get back to mundane reality back home. If I'd have found the place at the beginning of the trip that would've been a different story and you'd probably be reading my price guides now LOL.... Just the rich tapestry of life again........... Ian D

That explains it then LOL. I was too busy being a club DJ/record company mogul, so I wasn't around for much of the 80's! How about this one though? See attached..... Love Committee "Put It At The Back Of Your Mind" The Philly recordings in the early to mid 70's really kept the Northern Soul eithic alive IMO.... Ian D 11_Put_It_in_the_Back_of_Your_Mind__Original_Album_Version_.mp3

Just got reminded of this incredible gem courtesy of Richard on another SS thread! Yet another record which has everything in my opinion and, as an added bonus, is the flip to "This Will Be A Night To Remember" - Eddie's greatest ever record IMO... But just listen to "Time Will Tell" again! Brilliant production, Northern beat, sweeping strings, an evocative song and Eddie's phenomenal vocals make this an anthem surely? And I've never heard this out anywhere..... Have permission to post on all Salsoul/Gold Mind goodies (I ran the label in the UK for 3 years), so I'll probaly whack a few forgotten gems up in the course of the next few weeks....... Enjoy! Ian D 04_Time_Will_Tell__Original_Album_Version_.mp3

Great Choice. In fact will post it on a seperate thread 'cos I have access to all the Salsoul goodies....... Ian D

Was never really over keen on "Don't Take It Out On This World" - Adam's Apples even when I used to play it (completely contradicting my point on another thread recently) - I thought it sounded like a repetitive monotonous dirge and the guy's voice annoyed me for some reason.. But played it again just recently after 30 years of avoiding it and it sounded just great. But I don't get how anyone couldn't like the Salvadores or even the Detroit Executives! Both killers.... But there again, that's what this thread is all about! Ian D

Well, the left-hand one appeared to be marginally bigger than the other one with possibly a slightly larger mammary papilla protuberence so, on balance, I'd have to say the left one for definite. Ian D

Or that scary girl with the excessively large milk-glands who used to hang around with John Vincent LOL.... Ian D

Actually I thought that's what Little Reg's book was going to be about 'cos it was called "Searching For Soul". There's some great Soussan stories as well. I'm surprised he never got killed over there LOL.... I was 2 years old in '57! You must be at least 63 then Max? Ian D

Oi You! Have a bit of respect for yer other half! Ian D

Do you think they'd stock in Smiths Max? Ian D

Yep, yer right Denmac. I've had a shotgun pointed at me in Des Moines, been surrounded by some very angry, drunken black guys in Watts, been mistaken for a government agent @ a record store in Compton which was a cover for a drug operation (but still found 2 x Charles Russell's "It Ain't Easy" and lived to play 'em), had an attempted mugging on me in Philly (and it was almost me that got arrested) and had to fight my way out of a shop in Clearwater. And those are just the ones that spring to mind LOL..... I'd LOVE to read a book about all his stuff. Maybe a chapter each on each collector's experiences in the U.S. might be a winner? Ian D

It just wouldn't ever have been played in the 70's, 80's or 90's as it was simply never on the Northern radar due to it being a minor pop hit in 1970 and no one (myself included) would have touched it with a bargepole back then. But, hey, 38 years later with a different mentality and I think it can hold it's own with anything! Sometimes records are just so great that I think rarity can be ignored. Also, conversely, many £500+ records which seem rare now, really weren't rare back then. I can still remember Wade Flemons "Jeanette" on Soul Bowl for a quid week after week LOL...... Ian D

Oh that must have been the RICH Alan Senior era? Ian D

Cheers Steve. Even if I had a boxful of ultra-rares I'd still play it. It's been a fave of mine since the first time I heard it and it elates me every time I hear it and not many records do that these days. It's almost as if Stan Watson went into the studio one day and said, "OK fellas, enough of this soppy shit, let's give those Motown guys a run for their money and put a Delfonics typa spin on it!". Also weird that there's no strings on it! There's horns on there but no string section which is unheard of on a Delfonics record. I reckon it was probably a demo which never got 'sweetened' or the string section had a day off LOL.... Oh and good luck with The Orwell on Saturday. Give my regards to Sam and Pete Haigh. I'll get up there one day, promise..... And here's "I Told You So" whilst we're on a Delfonics vibe....... Best, Ian D 03_I_told_you_so.mp3

Bloody hell! 250+ downloads in 4 days! Plenty of fans out there then....... I'd better get it on Refosoul if someone hasn't already.......... Ian D

Well obviously Lambrini with "The Snake" and Boots with Ernie K. Doe. In the past there's been plenty of ads which have used Jackie Wilson "Sweetest Feeling" and "Higher & Higher", Nina Simone's "My Baby Just Cares For Me", Marvin Gaye's "Grapevine" and Otis' "Dock Of The Bay" to name a few..... Ian D

Haha LOL. At least you didn't get a beer glass in your face like I did right in the middle of doing a swap deal with him @ the Mecca! Mind you, those two black eyes and a bust nose got me a few nice things thereafter on the basis that I 'saved his life'..... And more stories please! What did you sell, how much, how rare and to whom did you sell etc, etc...... Speak soon Julian..... Best, Ian D

Sorry Ady, I meant to say 'treacley'. My excuse but we weren't allowed to like soppy class back then round our way LOL. Anything less than 80mph was considered heresy........ Ian D

Apologies Ken. I did try and go the Refosoul route on these but I'm a technological buffoon who still can't manage to work it all out. I'm going to have another crack in the next day or so hopefully I'll get 'em up there unless some other good soul can oblige....... Best, Ian D

Yep, you're right. Graham was one of the (very) few people who actually made the trip to the U.S. back then. He told me a few great stories about his finds and I told him he should write a book! I'm certain that Julian and Brian '45' had their own U.S. based connections, which, in many cases, were from the same souce, so not surprising that the same records were turning up at the same time. Also I can remember the London contingent - Tony, Clarky, Ady, Dave Rivers etc would always be turning up with goodies from their own sources too, so it really was a magical period. Happy days mate, where every week would bring a whole raft of truly great records. We were very lucky and blessed to be there at the time. Hopefully I'll see you @ the gig and maybe get a carful of us over! Best, Ian D

Hey, Blue Max I presume? I can say one thing, and that is that the scene was slightly more regionalised back then, then it is now what with price guides, the internet, rare soul forums and multiples of people going to the U.S. etc, etc.... I was always hearing about records that Max and Pep had but seldom saw them play 'cos Wolverhampton/Birmingham was a long way from Leeds in the pre M62 days. I can remember going to the Birmingham Locarno and a few other Brummy area gigs in the early 70's and hearing a lot of sounds which weren't being played elsewhere. In fact that was the first place I ever heard "Afternoon Of The Rhino" and I'm pretty sure Pep had the Volcanoes, Don Varner (?) and many others long before they became popular further North. Mind you I can remember Twink picking up the United Four and Susan Barratt off Julian Bentley early on and I got one of the few early copies of "Thumb A Ride" off him, so a few rare records were floating around the UK at the time in different regions. It's great that we have the likes of Graham, Julian and Brian '45' Phillips on here 'cos they were all at the sharp end of record dealing in the early days. And I can read their stories all day long LOL....... I'm gonna try and make this gig! Ian D

Link not working for some reason - can you check De-To.......? Ian D

That wouldn't be Julian Bentley - perveyor of fine records back in the day would it? Ian Dewhirst