Posts Tagged ‘Northern Soul’
Sunday, July 5th, 2015
Listen: Nothing But A Heartache / The Flirtations
Nothing
This is simply the greatest Motown single that was never on Motown. Even though the UK Deram label really didn’t specialize in releases for the soul or RnB market, ‘Nothing But A Heartache’ suddenly appeared in mid ’68. Re-released a few months later, with a different B side, the record started to get play in the US, eventually peaking on the Billboard charts at #34. It was overseen by Wayne Bickerton, who had produced the lavish, for it’s day, album by UK band, World Of Oz. Their single, ‘The Muffin Man’, was almost a hit, garnering pretty solid airplay in a lot of US markets during summer ’68, for about two weeks. Literally, every local chart I’ve ever seen it on was for a two week run. I guess the checks didn’t clear and onto the payola victim scrap heap that fantastic single went.
Years later, this Flirtations track became a Northern Soul success. Northern Soul records, in simple terms, are non hit, copy versions of the Tamla/Motown sound. Many were still being recorded into the early ’70′s, after that original era had long past. The clubs in the North of England were insatiable for anything resembling it and hence the tag Northern Soul.
Proof of the song’s validity comes in the fact that, despite being a UK act and UK made record, like most of the Motown singles from the 60′s, ‘Nothing But A Heartache’ was only a hit in America.
Tags: Billboard, Deram, Motown, Northern Soul, Tamla, The Flirtations, Wayne Bickerton, World Of Oz
Posted in Billboard, Deram, Motown, Northern Soul, Tamla, The Flirtations, Wayne Bickerton, World Of Oz | No Comments »
Thursday, May 14th, 2015
Listen: You Can’t Do That / Doris Willingham
You Can't Do That / Doris Willingham
The future Doris Duke, best known for many Swamp Dogg associations, started her recording career as Doris Willingham. Signing to the newly formed Jay Boy, ‘You Can’t Do That’ became her second single in two years, released early ’68. It’s a cherished record for both London, who distributed this first Jay Boy release, and Northern collectors, like myself for starters.
Produced by Richard Tee in his early days. Despite finding his professional footing in jazz by the mid 70′s, back in ’68, he was running with the likes Shirley Scott, Esther Phillips, King Curtis and drummer Bernard ‘Pretty’ Purdie, whose production company this single was made for.
Tags: Bernard Pretty Purdie, Bernard Purdie, Doris Duke, Doris Willingham, Esther Phillips, Jay Boy Records, King Curtis, London Records, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Pretty Purdie, Richard Tee, Shirley Scott, Swamp Dogg
Posted in Bernard Pretty Purdie, Bernard Purdie, Doris Duke, Doris Willingham, Esther Phillips, Jay Boy Records, King Curtis, London Records, Northern Soul, Pretty Purdie, Richard Tee, Shirley Scott, Swamp Dogg | Comments Off
Sunday, November 9th, 2014
Listen: I Just Made Up My Mind / Jon Gunn
I
No idea how this didn’t become a hit when issued in ’67, or even later given it’s popularity in Northern Soul clubs during the 70′s. As with Ann Mason, I never did find out much about him, except he’s from Lancashire, that’s literally all I know.
Quite frankly, I just figured it was Andy Fairweather-Low under an assumed name at the time. The Decca/Deram label was pulling that on occasion, remember Whistling Jack Smith, actually a roadie for Decca’s Unit 4 + 2.
Tags: Andy Fairweather Low, Ann Mason, Decca, Deram, Jon Gunn, Northern Soul, Unit 4 + 2, Whistling Jack Smith
Posted in Andy Fairweather Low, Ann Mason, Decca, Deram, Jon Gunn, Northern Soul, Unit 4 + 2, Whistling Jack Smith | No Comments »
Wednesday, May 14th, 2014
Listen: Short Fat Fannie / Larry Williams
Short
Larry Williams is seldom respected as an original bad boy of RnR, but he should be. Legend has his underworld activities stretching back prior to these initial recordings. He eventually bit the bullet, literally, a victim of a suicide, although street legend claims otherwise. Having served time in the early 60′s for drug dealing, he hooked up with Johnny Guitar Watson upon release to sleaze out in late night Hollywood, which admittedly may be my self fulfilling fantasy, and also make some of the most authentic Northern Soul tracks known to mankind for Okeh.
I was excited when The Mooney Suzuki, who I looked after while at Columbia, recorded in the same studio on Santa Monica Boulevard that he and Johnny had. I literally thought about it constantly while there. I was pissing in the same toilet as the dynamic duo. No one else seemed to apprciate my excitement.
Prior to all that, he wrote ‘Bonie Maronie’, ‘Dizzy Miss Lizzy’, ‘Slow Down’ and ‘She Said Yeah’, my favorite, as recorded and performed by The Rolling Stones on HULLABALOO:
‘Short Fat Fannie’ goes back to pre Northern, pre Johnny Guitar Watson and pre jail time. It was actually one of his hits (#31 RnB / #35 Pop) in ’57 and comes courtesy of the Tony King Collection.
Original post: August 19, 2009.
Tags: Columbia, Hullabaloo, Johnny Guitar Watson, Larry Williams, London American, Northern Soul, Okeh, The Mooney Suzuki, The Rolling Stones
Posted in Columbia, Hullabaloo, Johnny Guitar Watson, Larry Williams, London American, Northern Soul, Okeh, The Mooney Suzuki, The Rolling Stones, Tony King | No Comments »
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.
Tags: Big Amos, Don Bryant, Hi, M.O.C. Records, Norm West, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Stax, The Soul Children
Posted in Big Amos, Don Bryant, Hi, M.O.C. Records, Norm West, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Stax, The Soul Children | Comments Off
Monday, December 3rd, 2012
Listen: Don’t / Marva Josie
Marva Josie.mp3
How this clocks at £200 in THE ESSENTIAL NORTHERN SOUL PRICE GUIDE is beyond me. Not being a dancer of any worth myself, I’m probably in no position to judge. Still, this doesn’t sound easy to hully gully to, even on repeated listens. And I thought that was the whole point of Northern Soul, hence all nighters and such. Oh well, learn something everyday.
I do love a voice, rich in gospel timbre, one that could’ve easily fleshed out as a rotating member of Phil Spector’s background vocalists or Ike Turner’s Ikettes even. Marva Josie possessed just that. In fact, this has a number of passages that had me slipping into The Crystals’ ‘Little Boy’ while humming it in my head earlier today, walking from the subway along 6th Avenue to my office. I must have played ‘Don’t’ twenty times last night when ending the weekend with a healthy unboxing/filing marathon and couldn’t get it out of my brain.
Tags: Ike Turner, Marva Josie, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Spector, The Crystals, The Ikettes, United Artists
Posted in Ike Turner, Marva Josie, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Spector, The Crystals, The Ikettes, United Artists | Comments Off
Monday, August 13th, 2012
Listen: The Chaperone / LaBrenda Ben & The Beljeans
The
LaBrenda Ben was an early Motown signing, releasing ‘Camel Walk’ b/w ‘The Chaperone’ in December ’62. By the end of ’63 though, with just two Gordy singles on the market, she and her group were dropped, thereby also becoming an early roster casualty. Too bad. Sure sounds like she could sing to me, even have succeeded with some Holland-Dozier-Holland or Smokey Robinson songs.
Years later, this B side gained some traction in Northern Soul clubs. The label eventually repressed ‘The Chaperone’ as an A side, this time on Motown (M 1033) as opposed to the original Gordy (G 7009). In keeping with Northern Soul’s formula of non hit Motown sounding knock-offs though, ‘The Chaperone’ more than fits the bill. Just shy of a real chorus, the metallic thumps and all the right jingle jangles were almost enough to cover for lack of one. Records like this came off the label’s conveyer belt as often as cars did down the street. All in all, ‘The Chaperone’ might have worked if only it had gotten some airplay as opposed to being relegated to the flip.
Listen: I Can’t Help It, I Gotta Dance / LaBrenda Ben
I
Cursed with a seemingly misspelled stage name, LaBrenda’s back up singers’ moniker, The Beljeans, probably didn’t help.
Looks as though that opinion wasn’t mine alone, given they were nowhere in sight on the label copy for their followup and swan song.
No idea who was making the decisions around Motown then, but legend has it Berry Gordy was a major control freak, and he clearly knew a hit. So how did ‘I Can’t Help It, I Gotta Dance’ end up as a B side? I thought lightning never struck twice.
Not only, as with ‘The Chaperone’, was ‘I Can’t Help It, I Gotta Dance’ the noticeably stronger track, the song was about The Contours. And they were on the label for God’s sake.
Tags: Berry Gordy, Gordy, Holland-Dozier-Holland, LaBrenda Ben & The Beljeans, Motown, Northern Soul, Smokey Robinson, The Contours
Posted in Berry Gordy, Gordy, Holland-Dozier-Holland, LaBrenda Ben & The Beljeans, Motown, Northern Soul, Smokey Robinson, The Contours | Comments Off
Saturday, August 11th, 2012
Listen: Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe / Mr. Bloe
Name
In keeping with my previous posts about novelty songs, I was playing this a few weeks back during the holiday break. Phil and I had a late one, basically our own Northern Soul Allnighter. It was one of the many singles we’d dug out.
To be honest, ‘Groovin’ With Mr. Bloe’ always sounded average not only to me but every one I knew when originally released years back. My Anglophile friends and I would blag or buy anything in the UK charts, and this was an immediate let down. But once blessed as Northern, the single suddenly had a new glow. The record’s even in THE ESSENTIAL NORTHERN SOUL PRICE GUIDE, so there. Phil says he always gets requests for it when DJing, in England at least.
Listen: 71-75 New Oxford / Mr. Bloe
Name
A collaboration between Mr. Bloe, who were actually Hookfoot in disguise, and Elton John, ’71-75 New Oxford’ became a follow up single one year later. Titled after the address of the DJM Records office, it’s pretty valuable nowadays, both sides being Elton John’s only instrumentals. Luckily, this copy, from Tony King’s collection, still retained the original press release (above).
Tags: DJM, Elton John, Hookfoot, Mr. Bloe, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Ward, Tony King
Posted in DJM, Elton John, Hookfoot, Mr. Bloe, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Ward | No Comments »
Sunday, August 5th, 2012
Listen: Name It You Got It / Micky Moonshine
Name
My all time favorite Northern Soul compilation, unfortunately available only on CD, is UK Decca’s THE NORTHERN SOUL SCENE. It includes some true hits, and a whole bunch that sonically fit in, but probably weren’t originally very sought after. And through this very disc, I discovered more than a few all time favorite singles: Frankie & Johnny ‘I’ll Hold You’, The Eyes Of Blue ‘Heart Trouble’, Fearns Brass Foundry ‘Don’t Change It’, Clyde McPhatter ‘Baby You Got It’ and The Brotherhood Of Man ‘Reach Out Your Hand’ to name some, and most of which I’ve previously posted.
No surprise, ‘Name It You Got It’ comes in as a top choice as well. According to, I believe, Phil Smee’s excellent liner notes and packaging, Micky Moonshine was indeed the pseudonym of this fellow Chris Rainbow. ‘Name It You Got It’ being his only 7″, and, although never playlisted, apparently the record received a fair share of BBC Radio 1 airplay in ’74. With no resulting sales to speak of, the single was banished to the mark down bins until someone or other resuscitated it’s worthiness on the infamous Northern circuit, a very self celebrated scene of which I personally derive both musical pleasure and great amusement.
So much so was the demand that at one point, toward the end of ’75, Decca reissued the 7″ but mistakenly mispressed it’s A side, ‘Baby Blue’, on both sides of the initial run, despite correctly affixing A and B side labels. So buyers beware. Correct copies have ‘right way up’ inscribed next to the matrix number in the run off groove on the ‘Baby You Got It’ side. Therefore all ebay customers, better verify this tid bit with your seller.
Tags: BBC Radio 1, Chris Rainbow, Clyde McPhatter, Decca, Fearns Brass Foundry, Frankie & Johnny, Micky Moonshine, Northern Soul, Phil Smee, The Brotherhood Of Man, The Eyes Of Blue
Posted in BBC Radio 1, Chris Rainbow, Clyde McPhatter, Decca, Fearns Brass Foundry, Frankie & Johnny, Micky Moonshine, Northern Soul, Phil Smee, The Brotherhood Of Man, The Eyes Of Blue | Comments Off
Saturday, February 11th, 2012
Listen: I’ll Always Need You / Dean Courtney
DeanCourtney.mp3
‘I’ll Always Need You’ could almost pass for the mold used to make Northern Soul. I had a few odd Dean Courtney records, a later album on some Columbia distributed label, and a few singles but none of them can touch this. It’s been floating around the house for a while, got it with Tony King’s collection a couple of years back.
I always knew a few of his RCA’s were sought after, but didn’t expect this to be one somehow, figured that was too good to be true. Instead, indeed it happens to be his most valuable single, according to The Northern Soul Price Guide. Even if it weren’t in monetary terms, it has to be in musical ones. I gave it a spin last night, and my eyes bugged out. Whoa. This is fantastic, made just a little bit better by being able to watch that ‘A’ label go round the turntable.
Tags: Dean Courtney, Northern Soul, RCA
Posted in Dean Courtney, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, RCA, Tony King | No Comments »
Monday, January 16th, 2012
Listen: I Don’t Have To Worry / The Quotations
I
Sifting, separating. Everyone’s favorite thing to do with records.
In this particular case, I’m referring to the 45′s. Really making headway, immersing some big collections I’ve acquired into the master library, and finding doubles. Always a joy. Every so often a box is partially jammed with “where the hell did this stuff come from” items. Not via the aforementioned collections, but most likely garage and estate sales, church rummages and one of my favorite places for Northern and obscure soul, Academy Records in Williamsburg.
I’ve covered my love for the place previously, and never walk out with less than one gem, usually for $1 or lower.
So tonight, Phil came by for several hours of spinning and filing. We stumbled on a big pile of soul and Northern stuff, most likely from Academy, and found some real shockers. Like this one.
No sooner than ten seconds in, we were pawing through THE NORTHERN SOUL PRICE GUIDE, knowing surely it’d be there. Not wrong, The Quotations’ ‘I Don’t Have To Worry’ listed loudly as very, very desirable. And not without justification.
It isn’t often we repeat a single more than once when faced with a box that needs playing. This one got three spins.
No idea where these guys are from, nor do I know wack about their origins.
Tags: Academy Records, DiVenus Records, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Ward, The Lo Fidelity Allstars, The Quotations
Posted in DiVenus Records, Northern Soul, Northern Soul Price Guide, Phil Ward, The Lo Fidelity Allstars, The Quotations | Comments Off
Wednesday, January 4th, 2012
Listen: I’ll Do Anything (Anything He Wants Me To Do) / Doris Troy
DorisTroyIllDoAnything.mp3
Like a few other great vocalists from the US (Madeline Bell, P. P. Arnold), Doris Troy visited England as a backup singer yet found appreciation for her own voice from both UK fans and musicians. So much so that, like the other two, she relocated there during the 60′s, just after releasing an early Gamble & Huff track ‘I’ll Do Anything (Anything He Wants Me To Do)’ on Cameo Parkway, which later became a Northern Soul success. As a result, it was re-released a few times, including on this Mojo pressing from ’71.
When it comes to the genre, a song almost doesn’t get better than this one. A slightly over complicated chord arrangement was way more quality songwriting than careless stumbling. Possibly the original reason for it’s lack of airplay upon release, but not many years later, instead, it became the track’s appeal.
Tags: Cameo Parkway, Dorsi Troy, Gamble & Huff, Madeline Bell, Mojo Records, Northern Soul, P. P. Arnold
Posted in Cameo Parkway, Doris Troy, Gamble & Huff, Madeline Bell, Mojo Records, Northern Soul, P. P. Arnold | Comments Off
Thursday, December 22nd, 2011
Listen: Heartbreaker / H. B. Barnum
Heartbreaker
Let’s not forget what seemingly mediocre productions of non charting, weak Motown copy songs from the late 60′s and early 70′s became. They became a genre to themselves: Northern Soul.
Everyone loves the greatest songs ever written. Some people love the dodgy followups and non hits just as much. To be exact, that would be me, and in this particular situation, followers of Northern Soul.
Give a few of these songs two or three listens and you won’t believe what can happen. All those supposedly calculated, devoid of original idea tracks get under your skin in the most addictive way.
Scour the label for writer, arranger or producer credits, plus certain publishers and/or production companies, and you’ll start to find several reoccurring names, some whose careers blossomed later; or critically acclaimed folks that you want to like, but just never really got round to.
For some, the producer of ‘Heartbreaker’, David Axelrod, fits that bill. One of the house production guys at Capitol during the period, you’ll notice him often on label credits. Pay closer attention and a whole new world of untapped records will be come into your life and onto your want list.
Likewise H. B. Barnum, but more so as an arranger, back when songs needed arranging I guess: The Supremes, Little Richard and, in a most hands on capacity, Lou Rawls.
A few of H. B. Barnum’s many non hits spilled over to Northern Soul, like ‘Heartbreaker’, re-released in ’76 as a result of the UK’s insatiable taste for flops from America.
Tags: Capitol, David Axelrod, H. B. Barnum, Little Richard, Lou Rawls, Northern Soul, The Supremes
Posted in Capitol, David Axelrod, H. B. Barnum, Little Richard, Lou Rawls, Northern Soul, The Supremes | Comments Off
Wednesday, December 7th, 2011
Listen: You’re Absolutely Right / The Apollas
ApollasAbsolutely.mp3
For the longest time, I couldn’t quite understand the addictive cult obsession with Northern Soul, and then one day the light went off in my head. I still can’t explain it easily, but I get it. And God, is it addicting. Like when I get into that moment and I really need a proper Northern tune, nothing else suffices.
The inventory of undiscovered Northern necessities is forever high. Undiscovered not meaning unheard of or without some crazy book value but instead, undiscovered in that I don’t have a copy yet. It’s just not enough to actually hear it via a cd comp or on youtube, but to hear it on record, that’s the mainline.
Another official addiction problem this past year in my little world became Loma Records, the Los Angeles based soul label Bob Krasnow headed up for Warner Brothers in the mid 60′s. And there, in the thick of that incredible catalog, sat an aforementioned, or should I say just described, Northern necessity. The Apollas ‘You’re Absolutely Right’, an early Ashford & Simpson co-write with Jo Armstead, formerly one of The Ikettes.
And this devil escaped me for months on eBay, I kept getting outbid by a dollar or two. Until I’d had quite enough and eSniped a crazy high limit price, resulting in this promo pressing beauty turning up last week while on tour with Matt & Kim. Trust me, I rang the house daily inquiring about it’s arrival. All three family members just stopped answering my calls until on Saturday, Lucy phoned with the news that a record had arrived.
I could not get home from JFK fast enough on Sunday.
Here it is, it’s mine. Life is now complete, temporarily that is.
Tags: Ashford & Simpson, Bob Krasnow, Jo Armstead, Loma, Matt & Kim, Northern Soul, The Apollas, The Ikettes, Warner Brothers
Posted in Ashford & Simpson, Bob Krasnow, Jo Armstead, Loma, Matt & Kim, Northern Soul, The Apollas, The Ikettes, Warner Brothers | Comments Off
Monday, December 5th, 2011
Listen: Shake Sherry / The Contours
Shake
The musical chairs surrounding the often interchanging members of The Contours will have your head spinning if you let it. Some of the guys still perform today, and a family tree type timeline is readily available on Wikipedia. But be forewarned, it’s for the clear headed only and I do commend whoever got all those details together.
‘Shake Sherry’, one of the many lyrically intentional dance songs the group recorded, followed up their only Top 10, ‘Do You Love Me’. As with the majority of their other 60′s Gordy label releases, it peaked mid chart (#43). Seemingly in the shadow of The Temptations and The Four Tops, apparently The Contours were the act whose wild live performances on those Motown Revue package tours would truly tear the house down.
Even despite being written by Berry Gordy himself, and getting a top vocal drill by Billy Gordon, the record just didn’t get the muscle at radio from the Motown machine. Who the hell let that happen?
The Contours ended up benefitting from numerous Northern Soul dj’s bringing many of their records justice years later. And in fact, when ‘Do You Love Me’ was used in 1987′s DIRTY DANCING, the re-released single found it’s way back into the US BILLBOARD chart, peaking at #11. As we all know, a very uncommon result in America.
Tags: Berry Gordy, Billboard, Billy Gordon, Dirty Dancing, Gordy, Northern Soul, Oriole, The Contours, The Four Tops, The Temptations
Posted in Berry Gordy, Billboard, Billy Gordon, Dirty Dancing, Gordy, Northern Soul, Oriole, The Contours, The Four Tops, The Temptations | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 22nd, 2011
Listen: Ain’t It Hell Up In Harlem / Edwin Starr
EdwinStarrHellHarlem.mp3
Edwin Starr had some surprising US pop hits quite early on in his career curve. Surprising given they were precursors to Northern Soul, and usually those titles didn’t chart. That was the whole point. But ‘Agent Double-O-Soul’ (#21, ’65), ‘S.O.S. (Stop Her On Sight)’ (#48, ’66) and ’25 Miles’ (#6, ’69) all did well and even at the time, they had that magnetic something special.
By 1970, he switched up labels, leaving Ric Tic Records for Motown. Simultaneously trading in his soul stylings for the intense Vietnam protest diatribe ‘War’, he transformed a Temptations album track into a #1 chart story. But his US success was short lived.
Europe and the UK proved more loyal, and given the nature of his earlier hits, Edwin Starr relocated to England in ’73. Ironically, during ’74, he recorded a very American ‘Ain’t It Hell Up In Harlem’, main title of the HELL UP IN HARLEM film, itself an official sequel to BLACK CAESAR.
Despite a slightly cluttered arrangement, the track perfectly snapshots the sound of Blaxploitation, a near official genre, briefly prevalent at that time and very much synonymous with grainy, washed out color cinema.
Tags: Billboard, Blaxploitation, Edwin Starr, Motown, Northern Soul, Ric Tic, The Temptations
Posted in Billboard, Blaxploitation, Edwin Starr, Motown, Northern Soul, Ric Tic, The Temptations | Comments Off
Tuesday, November 1st, 2011
Listen: Don’t Go Breaking My Heart / Elton John & Kiki Dee
EltonKiki.mp3
‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ meant to the 70′s what Dusty Springfield’s ‘I Only Want To Be With You’ did to the 60′s. Is there anyone on the face of the earth capable of switching either one off? Be hard to convince me the answer to that question is yes. They’re the kind of songs that allow you to just worry about whatever is the problem in three minutes or so. All issues go on hold.
‘Don’t Go Breaking My Heart’ had the energy and pep of Northern Soul. I suppose the genre purists will cringe at that one, but seriously, this was pop oddly out of step when released. A kind of throwback to the 60′s, most likely intentional. Just like Northern Soul itself.
For history’s sake, Kiki Dee was the first white artist to be signed to Motown. If that’s not Northern Soul, nothing is.
Tags: Dusty Springfield, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Northern Soul, Rocket Records
Posted in Dusty Springfield, Elton John & Kiki Dee, Northern Soul, Rocket Records | Comments Off
Friday, September 9th, 2011
Listen: Keep The Ball Rollin’ / Jay & The Techniques
Keep
A few years back, I sent a close friend a copy of this single. I figured he’d love it’s cross between pop and Northern. His reaction was so intensely negative, that I wondered, was I crazy?
Hadn’t played ‘Keep The Ball Rollin” for ages, but always recall liking Jay & The Technigues’ singles. Filing away a newly acquired Vicki Wickham UK pressing of their first and only Top 10, ‘Apples, Peaches, Pumpkin Pie’, from ’67′ I pulled out a few for a whirl.
Despite being a #14 hit, this one still sounds pretty Northern to me.
Beware of the reissue CD, THE BEST OF JAY & THE TECHNIQUES. With admittedly good packaging and liner notes, and being well intentioned, like most repackages, the label dug out stereo mixes, remastered them and shined away any of the frequencies and ambience that would transport you back to the heyday. Search out the original pressings instead.
Tags: Jay & The Techniques, Northern Soul, Smash, Vicki Wickham
Posted in Jay & The Techniques, Northern Soul, Smash, Vicki Wickham | Comments Off
Sunday, May 8th, 2011
Listen: More, More, More Of Your Love / Bob Brady & The Con Chords
More, More, More Of Your Love / Bob Brady & The Con Chords
Not only did Bob Brady sound like Smokey Robinson, but for this 1967 single, he and the band, or maybe their label Chariot, decided to cover one of his songs. Like many Motown knock offs and/or non hits, it’s picked up a Northern Soul following. Great single, and not too expensive having just done a quick eBay search.
No idea when or where this one entered my life, but it wasn’t at the time. Randomly pulling a box of around 300 singles out of storage earlier today, yet another treasure trove got unearthed. Seriously, why I have absolutely no recollection of this box or it’s history is fascinating.
Bob Brady & The Con Chords were a white act from Baltimore, and the intro and verses of ‘More, More, More Of Your Love’ sound so much like The Amen Corner’s ‘Bend Me, Shape Me’, I’m wondering who was zooming who. I’ve played this so many times this morning, my entire family literally fled to safer ground.
More on the band and their history courtesy Funky 16 Corners.
Tags: Atlantic, Bob Brady & The Con Chords, Chariot Records, Northern Soul, Smokey Robinson, The Amen Corner
Posted in Atlantic, Bob Brady & The Con Chords, Chariot Records, Northern Soul, Smokey Robinson, The Amen Corner | Comments Off
Saturday, April 16th, 2011
Listen: Hitchhike To Heartbreak Road / Bobo Mr. Soul
Hitchhike To Heartbreak Road / Bobo Mr. Soul
A story for Record Store Day.
A happy garage sale find this one. It was Whitestone, a typically bad place to find anything. But I was in the neighborhood having trolled better surroundings earlier that morning, and was on a mission. A lesson concerning garage sales I’d taught myself many times prior, never assume what’s on the driveway or lawn is telling you the whole story.
Case in point, after inquiring had they any records, the mom goes into the farthest reaches of the garage and pulls out a hollow glass wall brick that’s packed with about thirty 7″ singles, a perfect fit. They were all London and London label orange swirl promos from the early 70′s. ‘Headloss’ by Caravan was one, and a whole bunch of Hi releases the others. The grilling began instantaneously but alas, no family member ever worked for the company, no other records were in the house and no one had a recollection where they even originated from. Guess they fell out of heaven.
‘Hitchhike To Heartbreak Road’ was first to hit the turntable at home later. How perfect, it’s immediate Northern intro validated an official find and a day most well spent.
Written by Phillip Mitchell, could that be brother to Hi Records staff and alumni Willie Mitchell? Logical assumption but wrong, sort of. According to a published Phillip Mitchell interview, although not an immediate relative, a possible distant one. Who knows, he didn’t really seem to.
Bobo Mr. Jones was the early moniker for Beau Williams, now a gospel artist, after a spell in the mid 80′s for Capitol Records. When Phillip Mitchell was signed to Hi as an artist in the early 70′s, he brought in a version of ‘Hitchhike To Heartbreak Road’ he’d recorded and produced earlier by Curtis Wiggins but with Beau’s vocal re-singing Curtis’ parts instead. The label decided to give this new update a release.
According to Phillip Mitchell: “Curtis was a very similar singer and I produced the record for him in Muscle Shoals. However, we never got a chance to get a deal for it. I then brought in Beau Williams. We called him Bobo Mr. Soul, dubbed his voice on the track and shopped it with Hi Records.”
Lucky for us.
Tags: Beau Williams, Bobo Mr Soul, Capitol, Caravan, Hi, London Records, Northern Soul, Phil, Phillip Mitchell, Willie Mitchell
Posted in Beau Williams, Bobo Mr Soul, Canned Heat, Capitol, Caravan, Hi, London Records, Northern Soul, ZZ Hill | Comments Off
