Eric Mercury & The Soul Searchers [2021] - Lonely Girl [Big Man Records #BMR-1006]

Back in Feb I posted this new single from Mark Bicknell's Big Man logo. It was 'finally' released last week.

It's a rare Northern Soul favourite by Eric Mercury & The Soul Searchers "Lonely Girl" which is a bit of a holy grail record first released in 1968 (according to Discogs) but in the attached video Eric Mercury says that he thinks it was 1965. It is the only (listed) release on  SAC which was part of James Vanleer's Sedgrick/Cedric group (on which the ultra rare Don Gardner's "Cheatin' Kind" was issued in 1969). It sounds later than 1965 to my ears, and given that Sedgrick didn't exist until 1969, perhaps 1968 is a better guide?

The record was recorded in the middle of the night after a gig in a small recording studio in Detroit under the guidance of  a young producer C. Ash who was impressed with their live shows and wanted to record them. He presented them with a 'rejected' Motown/Jobete song written by Ivy Jo Hunter and William 'Mickey' Stevenson which they learned, rehearsed, arranged and recorded in a matter of hours. A few weeks later Ash presented them with ten copies at a gig and they never saw him again so the record received no promotion nor airplay. 

It is not known how many were pressed but probably in tens rather than hundreds. Only one has sold on Discogs in Nov 2016 for £72. It couldn't possibly have been an original as they are extremely rare and fetch four figures, unless someone got the bargain of the century! The last one listed on Popsike the same month and year sold for £1,642 (the highest price paid was just under £3k in 2006).

It was reissued in 2020 on a lookalike SAC imprint.

pre-order bicknellmark@aol.com

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Details

Rating:	8.8
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul / Reissue
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Big Man Records
Cat No:	BMR-1006
Date:	09/2021
Key/BPM:	N/A
Value:	£20