The Precisions
were an grossly underrated group from Detroit. They were formed in the eary
60s. The original members were Michael Morgan, Paul Merritt, Willie Norris
and Fred Shockley. Arthur Ashford replaced Fred Shockley before they
recorded the first of two releases on D-Town owned by Mike Hanks.
In 1966 they joined Sidra who created the Drew sub-label specifically for
their releases. Not long after their arrival at Sidra/Drew Paul Merritt left
and was replaced by Dennis Gilmore and soon after that Willie Norris decided
to quit and was replaced by Ron Davis. A fifth member, Billy Prince who was
a friend of Gilmore's, joined the group. Ron Davis left the group
before their fourth release on Drew leaving a quartet.
Supporting the group were George McGregor, Mike Terry, Dale Warren and The
Funk Brothers played on all the Drew sessions.
There is a good article on them written by Dave Moore ('There's That Beat'
magazine) on
Soul Source. Additional info came from Neil Rushton (Inferno).
The flip side of their first single on Drew 'Such Misery' became a Northern
soul monster. Somehow Sam Coplin, a club owner in Dallas, TX, got hold of
the backing track and released it by a white group Stemmons Express (named
after a road in Dallas) under the title
'Woman, Love Thief'
with different lyrics on his Karma label. This also became a big tune. The
other side,
'Love Power'
which was the official A side, isn't a bad tune either.
Their most successful single was 'If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)'
which reached #26 US R&B and #60 Hot 100 and is by far their best known
NS tune, covered in 1968 by Eddie Spencer which saw a UK resissue in 1976,
Geno Washington recorded it but it was unreleased and is just going to be
issued on vinyl for the first time (I
posted it earier
today along with the covers). A New Zealand group Jamie & The Numbers
also recordeed it in 2019.
Discography
Singles
1964 -
I Wanna Tell My Baby
/
My Lover Come Back
[D-Town #1033]
A: Northern Soul
B: Sweet Soul Harmony
1965 -
Mexican Love Song
/
You're Sweet
[D-Town #1055]
A: Sweet Soul Harmony
B: Sweet Soul Harmony
1966 -
Such Misery
/
A Lover's Plea
[Drew #D-1001]
Dennis Gilmore on lead
A: NS Stemmons Express
B: Doo-wop ballad
1967 -
Sugar Ain't Sweet
/
Why Girl
[Drew #D-1002] Unreleased
Only promo copies were pressed and found to be pressed off-centre
so a decision was made, rather than to remedy it, was to release a different
side. Some promos have survived.
A: NS
B: NS
1967 -
Why Girl
/
What I Want
[Drew #D-1002]
A: NS
B: NS Sounds similar to the Sidra's Ronnie & Robyn style tunes
1967 -
If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)
/
You'll Soon Be Gone
[Drew #D-1003]
A: NS Classic
B: NS
NOTE: This got a UK release on Track #604014
in 1967
1968 -
Instant Heartbreak (Just Add Tears)
/
Dream Girl
[Drew #D-1004]
A: NS
B: NS
1968-
Never Let Her Go
/ A Place
[Drew #D-1005]
A: Crossover - a superb Bridges, Knight & Eaton composition
B: NS
1969 -
Into My Life
/
Don't Double (With Trouble)
[Atco #45-6643]
A: NS - another Bassolino, Coleman, Valvano written song.
B: NS
1969 -
You're The Best (That Ever Did It)
/
New York City [Atco #45-6669]
A: Ballad
B: Mid-tempo / crossover
EPs
2006 - EP [Inferno #64727HY]
A2:
Such Misery
B2:
Baby You're Mine (NB originally thought to be The Precisoins but is actually Lou
Ragland)
2008 - EP [Joe Boy / Inferno #none]
Such Misery (Paul Merritt Demo Version)
Found on a Sidra acetate and credited to Timmy Willis but is the first
recording by The Precisions not released at the time as it was laid down
by Paul Merritt just before he quit the group to be replaced by Dennis
Gilmore.
Compilation
2008 - The Complete Sidra/Drew Recordings 1966-68 [Joe Boy
#JBE-CD2008]
Such Misery
A Lover's Plea
Sugar Ain't Sweet
Why Girl
What I Want
If This Is Love (I'd Rather Be Lonely)
You'll Soon Be Gone
Instant Heartbreak (Just Add Tears)
Dream Girl
A Place
Never Let Her Go
Bonus Tracks:
Featuring Paul Merritt -
Such Misery
Roger Fluker -
Send Me A Sign
Originally thought to be by The Precisions but is Roger Fluker (aka
Brian Stone) who was the choreographer for the group whose stage dance
routines were second to none including The Temptations. McGregor
believes that if the group had been on Motown they would have been
superstars.
Lou Ragland -
Baby You're Mine
Found with some unreleased Precisions material on a 10" acetate and thought
to be by them but later discovered to be Lou Ragland.
Billy Prince
Billy Prince was the lead singer on 'If This Is Love'. He released a few solo singles before joining the group and has released a new single in Feb 2021 (originally released digitally in 2019).
Singles
1966 - You Never Should Have Loved Me / Say It Again [Verve #VK-10392]
A: NS Beat Ballad
B: NS Beat Ballad
1966 - One Shot Left / Somebody Help Me [Verve #VK-10462]
A: NS stormer - its sounds like a cross between Jerry Fuller 'Double Life' and Marvin Gaye 'Ain't That Peculiar'.
B: NS - another 'coincidence' - as this was written by Jackie Edwards - just posted Del Davis track also written by him. It was a #1 hit in UK for The Spencer Davis Group the same year.
2019 - You're My Angel / I Want You [Common Good #CGR-112]
A: An original song written as a tribute to Aretha Franklin and released digitally in 2019 - but now released on 7" available from BandCamp (below)
B: Cover of Marvin Gaye
2020 - Angel (7" Version)
A: A different mix and slightly longer
Albums
Produced by Jerry Williams Jr. (i.e. SDEG is Swamp Dogg Entertainment Group)
Billy Prince Of The Precisions
2017 - The Soulful Member Of The Precisions [Gure Gauza Records #GGLP 101]
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