Colin Law's North Broad St label has acquired the master tapes for some
unreleased 70s recordings by Arenita Walker and Cynthia Girty. Who? you
might ask, well read on to find out.
Two sides are due to be NBS' fourth release on 17 May 2021 and they are taking
pre-orders
now and they are almost certainly going to sell out before official release due to the interest in them,
so I suggest pre-ordering now to avoid disappointment.
Both Arenita and Cynthia were in Detroit groups in the 60s and were
also both writers. They became close friends and in the early 80s were
members of the P-Funk group Godmoma with a third member Carolyn
Myles.
Walker & Girty wrote several songs together which were recorded by
Bobby Womack ('Stop Before We Start' 1978), David Ruffin ('Still In Love
With You' 1980), Johnnie Taylor ('Sneakin' Sneakin' 1980) and several others.
'Open Your Eyes' is a marvellous tune and a future modern soul classic
written by Girty & Walker, produced by Don Davis and arranged by Cecil
Womack.
'Where's My Smile' is a Girty & Walker penned soulful ballad.
Details
| Rating: | 9 |
| Genre/Style: | Modern Soul 70s |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 7" |
| Label: | North Broad St |
| Cat No: | NBS004 |
| BPM: | 100 |
| Value: | £20 |
Arenita Walker
Arenita was a member of The Lollipops who released only two (known)
singles, the first in 1966 on Harry Balk's Impact label which only ran from
1965-67 until it was bought, along with Balk's other label Inferno, by Motown. The A side
'Loving Good Feeling' was written by Duke Browner and is a storming Northern
Soul tune. The mid-tempo flip side 'Step Aside Baby' was written by
Walker.
Their next release was on Motown's V.I.P. imprint in 1969. Curiously it was
scheduled for release in July 1969 on Gordy G-7089, and demos exist of it,
but it wasn't released on Gordy and was subsequently issued on V.I.P. in
Nov. 1969. The top side 'Cheating, Is Telling On You' was co-written by
Browner & Walker, it's another nice mid-tempo number. The flip side,
written by Browner, is another mid-tempo tune which has hints of The
Supremes.
An absolutely brilliant, previously unreleased, recording by them called
'Look What You Done Boy' appeared in the late 80s. It was found on an
acetate (you can find a scan of it on
Soul Source). A few 'carvers' did the rounds with Kim Weston 'After The Rain' on
the flip. I believe the first commercial relaese was on a CD compilation
'Motortown Uncovered Vol. 2'
in 1992 on a rather dodgy looking label Motortown.
Another unreleased track 'Sweet Sweet Love' (co-written again by Browner
& Walker) surfaced on
'A Cellarful Of Motown Vol. 3' in 2007.
She released an album in 1993.
Discography
1966 -
Loving Good Feeling
/
Step Aside Baby
[Impact #1021]
1969 -
Cheating, Is Telling On You
/
Need Your Love
[V.I.P. #25051]
1968/69 - Sweet Sweet Love [Motown Unreleased]
Cynthia Girty
Cynthia Girty was the lead singer with Cynthia & The Imaginations
who released four singles, one on Ernest Burt's Magic City, two on
Mercury subsidiary Blue Rock and one on Johnnie Mae Mathews Big Hit
label as Cythina & The Imaginary Three which was a different group of backing singers, The
Imaginations had four members.
During the 80 she also provided backing vocals for several artists
including George Clinton, Bootsy Collins, David Peaston, Maceo Parker and
R.J.'s Latest Arrival.
Discography
1968 -
There's Something The Matter (With Your Heart)
/
Is There Anyone, Anywhere
[Magic City #MC-006]
A: Lowrider - sweet soul harmony
B: Funky crossover
Both sides written by Leroy Luckett & Earnest Bert (owner of
MagicCity)
1969 -
Hey Boy (I Love You)
/ Love Is Real [Blue Rock #B-4074]
A: Lowrider - sweet soul harmony / crossover
This song was later recorded by (Emory &) The 4 Dynamics as
'Things That A Lady Ain't Supposed To Do'
on William Bell's Peachtree label in 1970.
B: Mid-tempo Northern soul written by Leroy Luckett and Ernest Burt
(owner of Magic City)
1969 -
Why Weren't You There (I Needed You)
/
The Love You Forgot
[Blue Rock #B-4082]
A: Class Northern Soul - written by Ernest Bert, Paul Williams (The
Temptations) and Jake Hammond (aka Timmy Shaw - Hammond was his real
name)
B: Deep Soul Harmony
1970 - Many Mood (Of A Man) /
That's What I Am (Without You)
[Big Hit #TZ 110]
A: ?
B: Northern Soul / Crossover Written by Timmy Shaw, Paul Williams (The
Temptations) and Johnnie Mae Mathews
Godmoma
Discography
It's no coincidence that the best tracks on the album (i.e. the none
p-funk tracks) are co-written by Walker & Girty. Funk heavyweights
Bootsy Collins (and his brother Phelps 'Catfish'), Maceo Parker and Fred
Wesley were all involved on the album.
Taste of Magic
I Like It
1981 -
Taste Of Magic
/
Godmoma Here
[Elektra #E-47209]
A: P-Funk
B: P-Funk
1982 -
I Like It
/
Taste Of Magic
[Elektra #E-47420]
A: Mellow
B: P-Funk
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