James Phelps is best known in rare soul circles for his
original recording of "The Look On Your Face" covered by Nate Evans (The
Impressions) and John Edwards (The Spinners) in 1972. It was also released
by Satin (Lenny Satin) in 1971 as "Your Loves Got Me", same tune but
different title and lyrics, so I'm not sure which came first Satin
or James Phelps . All versions were
posted here.
Phelps is from the deep south but moved to Chicago aged 17 to escape the
racial hatred in the south. He began his career as a gospel singer with
various gospel groups (which included Lou Rawls) before forming The Clefs Of
Cavalry in the early 60s. In 1964 he joined The Soul Stirrers
which boasts Johnnie Taylor, Lou Rawls and Sam Cooke as one time members. He
was signed by Chess in 1965 and released two singles on the fore-runner to
Cadet, Argos, and then this typical mid 60s Chicago skip-a-long single "Oh, What A Feeling" on Cadet in 1966.
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