Amsterdam Russ

Ike & Tina Turner - Somebody needs you - Dutch WB with pic sleeve. A new addition to my Loma collection that I'm very happy to have!

Betty O'Brien - She'll be gone & Money Honey (French Liberty EP)

Had a good read through the site earlier - great stuff & well done to all involved!

Fully aware of that, Dave, I can read. However, as this is a forum full of music obsessives, I was sure that acknowledgement of the original version would be appreciated. My statement about The Weavers being a cover wasn't me being contrite, it was stating a fact.

That was incredibly touching to watch!

So, a cover of an old tune that was subsequently covered. Looking into the background of the song, I read that The Weavers version, done 20 years after Lead Belly, was described by Time magazine as: a "dehydrated" and "prettied up" version of the original." Anyway, I digress!

The Weavers certainly helped make Goodnight Irene more famous, but credit must go to killer and chain-gang regular, Lead Belly, who was discovered in Angola Prison and made famous by John Lomax in the 30s.

On the subject of cool versions of "Comin' home baby", Tony Middleton's take on it (recorded in France as Tony Milton and only available as a French release) is great! https://youtu.be/KwrVkBTR1-k

What sort of pies?? We all want to know!

Harlem Shuffle saw lots of action across Europe when it was released for the second time in 1969. It climbed as high as number seven in the UK charts, and - according to one online source - rose to eight in the Dutch charts, and 14 in Belgium (scans, anyone?). It must also have done well in Germany at this time. It was exactly because of this success that Warner's released Everybody jerk (but not the original flip, Just one look in your eyes). Does Loma 2004 exist? Well, I've been keeping an eye out for it for a good 10 years now - still am - but haven't had a sniff of its existence. I suspect though that there is (or was) at least a WB acetate or two of it. How else would you play cuts at in-house meetings when discussing forthcoming releases? Having said that, there is one small clue, of sorts, that makes me think that copies do exist somewhere. In issue 50 of the music fanzine Hot Buttered Soul, published in 1977, Chris Savory wrote a detailed article on Loma - this coinciding with the release of the ambitious 7-LP anthology, a project overseen by the late Claude Nobs. Chris very kindly gave me permission to reprint that article on my site. While there are numerous factual errors - generally assumptions made with the limited knowledge of the day - Chris had one great advantage when doing his research on the label: he'd been sent a copy of the Loma archive files by Dave Walters of WEA. https://www.lomarecords.com/loma-story.html Towards the end of the piece, Chris mentions in passing the fact that the label has another 'missing' release - Ike & Tina Turner - Recorded Live (vol 1), which actually came out on the parent label. Here's what he wrote: "Loma managed to release five albums — three by Redd Foxx, one by Richard ‘Groove’ Holmes, and one by Ike and Tina Turner. The latter album is a ‘Vol 2 recorded live’ and as the issue number before this album shows no release, I suppose you could safely assume that this was scheduled to be ‘Vol 1 recorded live’. " See what I mean about the errors? That aside, the clue, or rather, the half-clue, is in the fact that the 'missing' album didn't get a release number in the Loma catalogue. A precedent is set. No release - no release number. It's weak, of course, but the fact is that the Loma archives do show a release number for Bob and Earl. There is no mention in the files of Loma 2004 being withdrawn or shelved - otherwise Chris Savory would have mentioned it. Quite the opposite, he mentions the track safe in the assumption (based on the archive information he has to hand) that it did get a release. This isn't proof, of course, but - and presuming there was some consistency in the Loma administration - it does offer the tantalising possibility that, no matter how elusive it's proven to be for nearly 50 years, Loma 2004 - Bob and Earl: Everybody Jerk, is out there... somewhere...

Wanted... Rhonda Davis - Can you remember - Duke. Nice clean copy sought (both sides). Postage will be to the Netherlands, so needs to be sent Int'l Signed For or Airsure. Let me know if you have one for sale by PM, please. Thanks in advance...

I thought the Epitome of Sound bootleg - the one that has the track at 48rpm - was done for the Belgian scene.

As I've had a couple of requests for the info, it seems only fair to post the link up for everyone. https://vinyltracks.nl The site is in Dutch, so you'll need the services of Google Translate. It's a very small site though, so you shouldn't have too much trouble. You need to register and the link for that is on the far right and says "Registreer dan hier". Ah, just realised that the text in Dutch above that I cut & paste is live and links direct to the registration page...

Hold on... Found Romance Watson on a Popcorn channel on YouTube, and this one's speeded up...

What makes me laugh is that they even slow down the slowies! Romance Watson "Where does that leave me" for example. As if that wasn't slow enough!

Jimmy Witherspoon - Hey Mrs Jones - French EP

Jimmy Witherspoon - Hey Mrs Jones - French EP

Used a vinyl cutting service here in the Netherlands just recently for acetates. It was recommended to me by Jos who runs the Amsterdam Soul Club, and at 20 euros for a two-sided 45, I thought it well worth a try. Got my disc mid week and it's superb! I always send AIFFs for getting one-offs cut and have used Vinyl Carvers and a Belgian service that turned out to be really second-rate. The sound quality on the Dutch-cut disc is miles better than both - and I intend to use them again in the next week or so. Don't have their email address to hand, so drop me a pm if it's if interest and I'll gladly pass it on.

What a shame that your album was very nearly burned! I also have that LP, but have never met Tommy Hunt. For the purposes of making slightly tenuous connections, I did however meet the keyboard player who backed Tommy at the Wigan Casino. He was later in a band called No Spring Chicken and they used to play in what was then my local pub, The Britannia in London EC1. He was great! Sadly, he was going blind back then, and that was about 20 years ago. This was the same tiny backstreet boozer that Moon Williams played in a few times about seven or eight years ago.

Looks like a wedding disco!

D'oh! Thanks for that. Should have looked more closely on my own site first

I'm on a roll now... To answer my own question, Mr Creator, although released late 66/early 67, was indeed recorded quite a while earlier. Looking at a scan of the label, I noticed that the catalogue number is J70146, which made me think that it's not a WB number, but one from the Loma label. Sure enough, it is. In fact, the number sequence shows that it was probably recorded at the same session as My Soul Concerto and Sorry Mama (Loma 2053 - July 1966), with all three tracks involving HB Barnum and Dick Glasser. https://www.lomarecords.com/loma2053-apollas.html Mr Creator - J70146 My Soul Concerto - J70147 Sorry Mama - J70148 As sessions usually comprised of four tracks, and we know of three of those, is there one missing from The Apollas' discography? If Mr Creator was from the same session, it would be logical to think that the flip All Sold Out was also cut at the same time. However, the catalogue number for that is JX70091, which is a different session from around the same time (JX70135 & 5 is Dick Jensen & the Imports - Loma 2055 - released Aug 1966). So, while the mystery track is now identified, it leaves two questions: 1/ What are the Dale Brooks and Apollas tracks (both from different labels and times) doing on the same 45? 2/ Presuming a four track session (1/ Mr Creator, 2/ My Soul Concerto, and 3/ Sorry Mama), what was the fourth track recorded by the Apollas? Is J70145 or J70149 one of their other WB releases?

SOLVED! Just found a soundclip of the Dale Brooks song on eBay and it is indeed her! And it's the same version. https://www.ebay.com/itm/Mod-R-B-Garage-Frat-Groover-Dale-Brooks-Ring-A-Leevio-WLP-Promo-45-LISTEN-/230936018507? So, what's it doing back-to-back with The Apollas singing Mr Creator? Did "Ring-a-Leevio" come out much later than thought, or is Mr Creator an earlier recording?

Thanks for helping to rule that one out, Bob. I also learned this week that there's a song called "Ring-a-ling-a-lario". That's by Jimmie Rodgers and so doesn't help in identifying the unknown girl group, although the lyrics do relate to the game.

A friend tells me that Dale Brooks - the female singer - recorded some of her 60s output in London, and even gigged in the city of "New Castle"! https://books.google.nl/books?id=YCkEAAAAMBAJ&pg=PA16&lpg=PA16&dq=%22Dale+Brooks%22+Dolphin&source=bl&ots=xwk6AWO3sm&sig=3zTiOsJGnGLYtgAuH-fVMAiAnrw&hl=de&sa=X&ei=3R8-UcPRI8ev4ATyp4HwAw&redir_esc=y#v=onepage&q=%22Dale%20Brooks%22%20Dolphin&f=false The same person also provided me with this link, which provides a bigger insight into the Ring-a-levio game, although strictly from an American perspective. https://dare.wisc.edu/?q=node/146 I'm no closer to finding out who's singing this mystery flip to Mr Creator, and I haven't been able to find contact details for Leola Jiles, Billie Barnum or Ella Jamerson. Can anyone assist with this? Perhaps one of them may be able to provide some insight on this.