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Saturday 21 March 2020

Darrow Fletcher Discography


NB This was originally posted on ModernSoul on 24th August 2009


Darrow Fletcher Haygood was born in Inkster, Detroit on 23rd Jan 1951. His cousin is another Northern Soul heroine Rose Battiste. 

A child prodigy, Darrow Fletcher started singing when he was six years old. Everybody predicted stardom for the young crooner, who didn't have a shy bone in his body. He recorded his first record while still a student at Hirsch High School; he later attended South Shore. Ironically, the song turned out to be his most popular recording. "The Pain Gets a Little Deeper" was a rough song for a 14-year-old to get into, or so one would think, but Fletcher belted it out as if he had just gone through a knockdown, drag-out divorce. Travels took him to the celebrated chitlin' circuit, where he shared billings with other hot acts. He appeared on many television shows, not big ones like Dick Clark, but smaller soul shows like Ken Hawkins' World of Soul in Cleveland, OH, and Soul Train when it was Chicago-based.

At least three more singles on Groovy Records didn't come close to equaling the minimal success of his debut; he switched labels again and again, but sales never amounted to much. He recorded some solid singles, though; "Sitting There That Night" was a monster in Chicago, but never got much further than the city limits, due to Jacklyn Records' small budget. He cut "What Good Am I Without You" (1968) for the same label with the same results. Chicago's big city lifestyle, combined with his local success, got him flossy gigs at the Regal Theater with stars such as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Ruffin, B.B. King, the Radiants, and others. His "The Way of a Man" (B-side of this listing) on Revue Records made CKLW's (Detroit/Windsor) heavy rotation, notching well into the station's Top 20 survey. Pushed and managed by his father, Fletcher tried but never signed to a label with deep pockets. He had two other releases on Revue Records that went totally unnoticed everywhere but at the Fletcher abode. In 1970, "Dolly Baby" b/w "What Is This" dropped on Uni Records, but made no noise. "Now Is the Time for Love" came out on Genna Records, another midget.

After a while, Fletcher gave up the dream. A Darrow Fletcher compilation isn't on the market, and despite all his recordings, he never made an album. Some of his songs can be found from time to time on Northern soul websites playable via Real Audio. Some select cuts are on various Northern soul compilations, mostly imports, which can be hard to come by in the States. Other notable recordings include "What Have I Got," "I've Gotta Know Why," "My Judgement Day," "Gotta Draw the Line," and "My Young Misery," the follow-up to "The Pain Gets a Little Deeper."  
Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide

Since the above was written (some time ago) by Andrew Hamilton, Kent in UK have rectified the compilation situation with the release of 2 CDs:

Crossover Records 1975-79 LA Sessions in 2013
The Pain Gets A Little Deeper - The Complete Early Years 1965-71

There is also another released in 1995 by Belgium's Marginal - which is essentially a collection of 29 sides of his single releases:

What Is This


Discography A full (?) 45 discography courtesy of Dave Rimmer at ww.soulfulkindamusic.net.

Links to YouTube will open in a new page.

1966 The Pain Gets A Little Deeper Groovy 3001 A
1966 My Judgement Day Groovy 3001 B
1966 My Young Misery Groovy 3004 A
1966 I Gotta Know Why Groovy 3004 B
1966 Gotta Draw The Line Groovy 3007 A
1966 I Gotta Know Why Groovy 3007 B
1966 That Certain Little Something Groovy 3009 A
1966 My Judgement Day Groovy 3009 B
1966 What Have I Got Now Jacklyn 1002 A
1966 Sitting There That Night Jacklyn 1002 B
1967 Infatuation Jacklyn 1003 A
1967 Little Girl Jacklyn 1003 B
1967 What Good Am I Without You Jacklyn 1006 A
1967 Little Girl Jacklyn 1006 B
1968 The Way Of A Man Revue 11008 A
1968 I Like The Way I Feel Revue 11008 B
1968 Gonna Keep Loving You Revue 11023 A
1968 We Can't Go On This Way Revue 11023 B
1969 Those Hanging Heartaches Revue 11035 A
1969 Sitting There That Night Revue 11035 B
1970 I Think I'm Gonna Write A Song Congress 6011 A
1970 Sitting There That Night Congress 6011 B
1970 When Love Calls Uni 55244 A
1970 Changing By The Minute Uni 55244 B
1971 What Is This Uni 55270 A
1971 Dolly Baby Uni 55270 B
1971 Now Is The Time For Love (Part 1) Genna 1002 A
1971 Now Is The Time For Love (Part 2) Genna 1002 B
1975 Try Something New Crossover 980 A
1975 It's No Mistake Crossover 980 B
1976 We've Got To Get An Understanding Crossover 983 A
1976 This Time I'll Be The Fool Crossover 983 B
1978 Improve Atco 7083 A
1978 Let's Get Together Atco 7083 B
1979 Rising Cost Of Love Atlantic 3600 A
1979 Honey, Can I Atlantic 3600 B
2012 No Limit Kent Select CITY 024 A
2012 What Good Am I Without You Kent Select CITY 024 B
2018 (Love Is My) Secret Weapon Kent Select CITY 053 A
2018 How Can You Live Without Love Kent Select CITY 053 B
2019 (Love Is My) Secret Weapon Kent TOWN 173 A
2019 It's No Mistake Kent TOWN 173 A
2020 (What Are We Gonna Do About) This Mess Kent Select CITY 068 A
2020 Honey, Can I Kent Select CITY 068 B


Bonus Tracks
A previously unissued track taken from the recent Masterpieces Of Modern Soul compilation entitled
'Hope For Love'.

A few LP only tracks from Crossover Records 1975-79 LA Soul Sessions:
'Sunny'
'(And A) Love Song'
'Election Day'
'Fever'


Darrow appeared at the legendary Cleethorpes Weekender in June 2006. 




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