Archive for the ‘Don Bryant’ Category

Norm West

Friday, May 10th, 2013

Listen: Baby Please / Norm West
Baby

In the last few years, M.O.C. Records has become a favorite when obscure soul labels haunt my brain. You know they’re worth pursuing once a few singles, all good, find there way into your life and then, even Wikipedia doesn’t shed any info on the company.

Such is the case here. From ’62 to around ’69/’70, the label was timidly distributed by London, and when my first orange swirl encounter occurred via a Big Amos title, I knew another chapter of collecting had begun.

My best find so far: ‘Baby Please’ by Norm West from early ’66, which turned out being a $50 Northern single, according to the NORTHERN SOUL PRICE GUIDE. Both sides of this one are credited to D. Bryant, and given Norm West’s two previous singles were released by Hi, I’m just guessing it’s Don Bryant.

Later, a member of the successful Stax act, The Soul Children, it’s nice to hear he ended up winning.

Don Bryant

Sunday, October 3rd, 2010

Listen: The Glory Of Love / Don BryantDonBryantGlory.mp3

Attempting to be the owner of a Hi Records complete singles library has been somewhat of a frustration given that, like every label, some titles flopped quickly, occasionally just as they were being released within the company itself. Finding copies of those records gets pretty dicey.

But equally, it can be a lot of fun, especially when you find one out of the clear blue.

Don Bryant grabbed my ear on first listen, having a very Otis Redding similarity, both vocally and in song choice – all in a positive way. The one last Hi release of his I didn’t have, ‘The Glory Of Love’, made it’s way into my life a week or two back in Cleveland at the record shop inside the Beachland Ballroom. Visit it regularly if you’re lucky enough to be in the area.