George G

A few faves Soul Inc - Give the Drummer Some Combined Forces - Feelin' Alright Inner Circles - Bravura Round Trip Tickets - Self Destruct (last two are instro flips of ballads) Stone Coal White - both 45s Soul Searchers WGR - Love City Purple Image - 45 on VAR-1 (forgot the titles) All of these are pretty far out - too intense/strange for dancing and club play. The Soul Inc would not only clear a dance floor, it could start a riot!

This has been well known to garage fans for years, and since the band was white and considered a 'rock' band in their time, that's where it's ended up in posterity. Guitarist Paul Cotton from the US 'country rock' band Poco was involved - Bobby and him have a long history in Chicago rock. I've had it in my garage collection but it definitely could get played for a US rare soul night. In fact, I'll spin it next time I DJ here in Seattle and see what happens. Probably much like Bill and Will's "Going to the River". I wouldn't dare to presume how it's regarded in the UK and Europe. There are two label logo variations I've seen, one with the WMRC in block print and one with a fancier font and key in the logo. I don't think it's a rare record, but I have no idea for the going rate. Don't think a garage collector would pay heavy for it. https://www.angelfire.com/ok2/musiclink/paulcotton.html https://www.angelfire.com/ok2/musiclink/paulcotton/simms.html - George

Bob, All the copies of the VE record I've seen are numbered 2006 and dated 1970. Can you provide more details on this (scan is nice..) thanks, George

Sorry, I made a mistake. Norman Scott is the record that had the two pressings at Boddie (grey label) and at Archer(?) (red/yellow). Not sure where the two Jesse Fishers were pressed. Maybe Archer and ARP. They are still different masters as I mentioned. I don't have this all sorted out yet. - George

Many of these dates are incorrect, and the 'label numbers' quoted are in many cases the RCA pressing matrixes, which were assigned by the Indianapolis pressing plant, not Way Out. Within the next few weeks I will provide a more complete Way Out/BOS discography with accurate dates and pressing variations, which I'd like to run by to see what I've missed. BOS was the Gospel offshoot of Way Out, and some of the 'missing' numbers were assigned to BOS releases. Some of the 45s do have different pressings. Seems like the initial pressings were done at Boddie, and later by somewhere else (probably Archer in Detroit). I presume that many of you have figured out that Boddie 'numbered' their pressings using a 4 digit number with the first two digits being the year (70xx, 71xx, etc). This includes records on Boddie, Bounty, as well as the pressings for external clients (one of which would have been Way Out). Cataloging these numbered Boddies is probably the most arcane record documentation task there is. Cleveland had two very unusual small run custom pressing operations in the 60s and 70s, Boddie and PAMA. Good luck trying to find 'em! In the case of Jesse Fishers "You're not loving a beginner", there is a Boddie press (white label) and an Archer press (red/yellow label). The EQs and mastering of the two versions is different. I prefer the red/yellow one. I have a good hunch that the numbering series changed as different investors got involved. More later - George

Genuine

This Stone label was out of Pittsburgh. I've seen a lot of "Pittsburgh sound" like doowop and garage on this label, but don't remember much soul or funk. Maybe I didn't pay attention in many years of record hunting there. Probably some connection to Jeree and Green Dolphin, all the PGH labels have at most one degree of separation. GG and band were white greasers from PGH even though one of his records says Ohio. - George

I seem to remember that this was an offshoot of Way Out. I think it was financed by someone else but used the Way Out people including Tim Lockhart, Lester Johnson, etc.

Sending a PM

Ha ha - Bob, if you've collected US 60s garage like I have for 25+ years, you'd know the 'only known copies' mantra has long warped into self parody, no matter on whose authority the claim is made. There's a whole website that tries to finger count such items. The original intent was for fun, but google jockeys have turned into a Ten Commandments. My favorite being - "I can find no mention of this on the Internet - it must be the only one in existence!" For some strange reason I find that the younger people seem to take this stuff more seriously, apparently lacking in life experience. Being in the collectible commodity business requires no IQ or sanity test. - George

Joey's from Toledo, OH. They may have been recorded in Detroit (as were many Toledo artists at the time). Two 45s by him, they are early white rockers/teeners. RE: GTM label, the only record I know about is Johnny Gibson Trio (who were also from Toledo, of course) - were there two GTMs? What other records are on the label(s)? I have a 1966 rock 45 on the Cass label, from a Detroit suburb. Wondering if there were other 45s on it. Think it's connected to another label. Have to dig the thing out. - George

This label was from Indiana. I think this band was from the New Albany, IN area but I might be mistaking them for another Amway 45. I've seen this 45 a few times. I don't recall it having much dance floor appeal. The Amways I've heard (4 or 5) are garage or soulish garage. If anyone has the Classics 45 on Amway, a nice $/trade can be yours (the Classics is straight garage). - George

The Gladiators are a pseudonym for Mickey and the Clean Cuts, a white band that played the music on the Dave Charles 45. M&CC also have a 45 on their own name. Everyone involved with the Donnie recordings were from Lorain, Ohio. Same city as the (7) Nombres were from. - George

I have one of these, rather worn but plays OK, just found in a box I had. So there's one more for the count. Thanks for pointing this out, I just would have put it back in the box and not even look at it for a year. Guaranteed original. I will offer it for sale soon. - George

Originals of the Goldspot 45 were pressed at QCA in 1971, should be obvious in the dead wax. I've never seen (and probably never will) a boot to compare the two. Goldspot was originally Smith's BMI publishing name. - George

A friend of mine found a used copy of the RE 45 years ago in Columbus and it's dark blue just like the find. If there's a different press, I'd really like to know. Copies have the script "Musicol" in the dead wax. Musicol was the operation that recorded and pressed the 45. The old studio log has the date June 13th 1969, which was either the recording date or the pressing date. The Soul Ensemble 45 on Prix/HSI was done at the same session. The copies on the market are 1969 pressings. It's possible there are two pressings within a few months, as there are with the Chandlers "Your Love Is Drawing Me Closer" (also recorded at Musicol). FWIW, I found the Soul Ensemble and Eddie Ray 45s years ago and they also match the quantity copies. A different friend of mine interviewed one of the RE members on a local radio show and I THINK he said something like the group member had a messed up copy (off center?) that they had a hard time trying to play. - George (Ohio music anorak)

Yeah - No Doubt is not bad, actually, Chicago style shuffler. Flip is a snoozer take on the Sam Cooke song. Unfortunately it has the same awful 'stereo' sound as Philly Dog. Pretty sure they were cut at the same session. The group were students at Akron South High School. Be glad to swap MP3s of the Harmonics. Do you even think it's the same Harmonics? Instro funk was not their sound. The label on my Elevations 45 is pretty tatty looking (vinyl is clean). Just take their other 45 and photoshop the titles and it would look better! - George

You're welcome. I'll be glad to try and answer any questions about Ohio music and recording artists. I don't know much about the urban soul acts yet but I have a lot of knowledge on the white bands (soul and rock) and recording industry. I don't know anything about the King artist relative to the Harmonics. I can probably find someone involved with the Akron group without a lot of trouble and ask them, but I don't expect an answer soon. I lived in Akron many years ago and remember a few people in the Harmonics/Gangsters extended family. It would have been possible for the songs to have been recorded earlier as Akron Recording was around long before 1967, but the musical style does sound of 1969. BTW, the label address on the black label Dupree 45 was the address of Akron Recording. One more thing - Someone(s) have mentioned a 45 by the Harmonics on Way Out (Cleveland label). Does anyone actually have this record? It's the only 'documented' WO 45 I don't own or have had my hands on. - George

The Harmonics "Let Me Go" 45 pressing (Rite) dates from January 1969, give or take a couple weeks. The number on the label , 11369, decodes to January 13, 1969. The "Summer's Love" 45 dates from August 1st, 1969. That is the date in the business log book (Musicol, in Columbus) that pressed the 45. "Summer's Love" recorded in the dead of summer! Both Dupree 45s were almost certainly recorded (determined not only by observation but in sound) at Akron Recording in Akron. Dupree was a house label for the studio, so anyone could stick whatever other info, like addresses, they wanted on the label. Ermal publishing was the Akron Recording publishing company, named after the original engineer Ernie Malick. The date numbering I 'decoded' above was used on several other 45s. The Cleveland address relates to the person(s) involved with the groups managment/booking, not a recording operation. Akron Recording would lease time to producers who would in turn use their label names. Other 'labels' that were recorded at Akron were Eastwood and Westwood. Some of you might recognize the Westwood name from the Soul Tornado's (sic), Nora Lee, and the Blue Soul 45s, although not all the records with that label name were recorded at Akron, as the producers who used the label names did records there and other studios. There's even two different Westwood label series, as the original Westwood producer lent the label name to a different producer. Akron had recording activity going back to the 1950s. In the mid 1960s there were a couple local labels, one of them being Rubbertown, who released a bunch of mediocre (IMO) soul 45s by the Elevations, Cashmeres, etc. Rubbertown co-sponsored a couple talent shows (concentrating on African-Americans) with a record deal to the winner. Going back a few years, one of my good Akron area record dealers was the son-in-law of a guy who financed both the Rubbertown and Top Hit (Ohio Players, Silky Vincent) labels. There was also a Tiretown label. The info I cite was all obtained by interviews with the Akron Recording principals - Ernie Malick and original Westwood producer Bill Palmer, as well as members of the groups who recorded there. - George

Sorry, the trail goes cold for me. I did pick up Robert Pruter's Chicago Soul book to see if there was anything in there. Nothing RE: Paulette or Prism, but he does mention in the footnotes about Talty's 'private papers' which at the time were in the possesion of Janice McVickers which I presume is his daughter (the Jan of Janjo). Maybe something to track down? Pg. 184 of the book has the footnote. I found something else in my notes about Talty and Apperson. Seems like Apperson contacted Talty because he had ties to Chess...or so Apperson thought. From there they came up with the Sound Spectrum label and released a 45 by an Ohio rock band that Apperson managed, the Muphets. Forget about Apperson's estate having anything. All was destroyed. - George

I just came across this, although it's probably stale by now. Anyways, I did talk a few times with Andy Apperson, who was the owner of Prism records (he's long dead, as is Talty). He didn't remember much about the Paulette & Cupids 45 other than the Prism issue was actually a second pressing (the Adanti was first) and that they were from Chicago and Talty's doing. At some time, exactly when I never did get straight, Apperson met Talty. Together they were involved with 45s on the Sound Spectrum label, which was owned by someone else (typical of Talty's MO). Appseron mentioned Matt Johnson and Willie Mabon as having something to do with SS. SS used a variation of the prism beam logo that Apperson had designed for Prism. Not sure why, but Apperson decided to release the P&C 45 on his label. Pepi was from Dayton, real name Pam Voiles. She recorded two 45s on Prism. The first one, with the Bradley song, was recorded in Chicago. The second one was probably cut in Dayton. It's definitely a different session. Not long after the Pepi and P&C 45s, Apperson sold his interest in Prism to Floyd Whited in Dayton sometime in early-mid 1965. (Whited had started Prism but merged the label name with Apperson's Hilltop label in 1964). However, the Talty connection continued as several Ohio bands that had ties to Apperson's huge network of bands and band management recorded with Talty in Chicago for the Night Owl label, another one of the labels that Talty produced for but did not own. Janjo publishing was Talty's (named after his wife and/or kids). Spangle was Apperson's publishing (he bought that from Whited). There's a hell of a lot more to Apperson, Prism, Night Owl, etc, but it's rock and garage bands, not soul. All this stuff I mentioned was from Andy's recollections, so I don't dare say it's the absolute truth.

I believe this record is a scam. Compare the picture to the one in the closed auction, and consider the seller has 0 feedback and just registered https://cgi.ebay.com/Four-Tracks-Like-My-Lo...1QQcmdZViewItem Closed auction https://cgi.ebay.com/FOUR-TRACKS-Mega-Rare-...1QQcmdZViewItem I know I'm not very active here so my word could be suspect as well. I have no personal interest in this. I am pretty sure the same seller (under a different name) tried (and failed) to scam me about 3 months ago. Just review the evidence and decide for yourself.

A Columbus, Ohio R&B band that included three white and one black member. The group name was officially the Nutrons, Le Bleu Monde was just a pseudonym used for the record. They released several more records as the Nutrons on Federal, Fabar, and El-Dee. Seen it for sale many times under $20 here in the US, on Evil-Bay and sales lists.