Valentino v Carl Bean - I Was Born This Way

Yet another 70s disco track is getting the remix treatment. Carl Bean's 1977 Motown version has been remixed several times over the years and has just been reworked again by Mophlen. 

I've always preferred the 1975 original by Valentino which was his only release and the only release on Gaiee, a label set up by Bunny Jones (who co-wrote the song with Chris Spierer) which was sold to Motown who released it on their Gaiee logo.  I bought this when it came out but have seldom, if ever, heard it played out anywhere. I think it's a great soulful modern soul dance record.

It got a UK release but did absolutely nothing commercially either side of the pond, probably because the the overtly gay message of the song as we were still living in primitive times in the mid 70s so it probably got very little air-play, especially in the south ... black AND gay!  Not even the might of Motown could get Carl Bean's version into the R&B chart.

Valentino [1975] - I Was Born This Way [Gaiee #B 7640]

Carl Bean [1977] - I Was Born This Way [Motown #M 1438F]

Celest Hardie [1972] - You're Gone [Reynolds #R-200]

One of only about a dozen 45s released on the San Francisco Reynolds label in the 70s, It's been a long time favourite on the scene. It is alleged that Ian Levine first played it at Blackpool Mecca in 1975.

The flip side 'That's Why I Cried' is a fairly MORish ballad which sounds very dated even for 1972 - it sounds more like a song from the 40s/50s.

Prices for this one on original label are all over the place ranging from £400 to £1,500. One is currently for sale on a respected dealers site for £1,200 but the last one listed on Popsike sold for around £450 and the highest sale on Discogs is £1,500. It has been reissued about three times, Goldmine (around 1998), Lowton anniversary 45 (1999) and more recently by Real Side in 2019.

Her only other known releases are both on Walter Stone's Loadstone label (San Francisco), 'Thank You Love' (Vocal/Inst) released in 1975 is a soulful ballad/stepper, followed by 'You Touched The Inner Part Of Me' (Vocal/Inst) in 1978 which is difficult to categorise other than 70s modern soul/rare groove. 

Curiously, I found a recent (Nov 2019) re-edit of 'Thank You Love' on BandCamp by Skill, a Bulgarian DJ/Producer!

Details

Rating:	9
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Reynolds
Cat No:	R-200
Year:	1972
Key:	N/A
BPM:	N/A
Value:	£500-£1,500 (approx.)

The Differences [1971] - Five Minutes / That Was The Day [Mon'ca #M 1783]

A group formed by Ronnie Dyson's brother Clifton who released this solitary 45 on Mon'ca in 1971. 

It's an in-demand double-sider, both sides written by Clifton Dyson. 'Five Minutes' has been a crossover favourite on UK scene for decades, and, to make matters worse for collectors/DJs, 'That Was The Day' is a Lowrider sweet soul favourite, so there is always loads of competition when one of these comes up for sale driving the price to around £1,500 these days.

This 45 is listed with another five on the Washington D.C. label but I'm not entirley sure if it is the same label as the logo is different from all the others on the label, but the cat. no. does seem to follow the correct sequence.

Clifton Dyson went on to form Dyson's Faces who released (confusingly) two self-titled albums, the first in 1975 followed by the second in 1977. It is claimed that one of the Differences members, Jerome Saunders, joined Family Circle which was originally five members of the Simmons family, David, Charles, James, Don and Mary.

The Differences [1971] - Five Minutes [Mon'ca #M 1783]

The Differences [1971] - [Mon'ca #M 1783]

Details

Rating:	9
Genre/Style:	Crossover / Lowrider
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Mon'ca
Cat No:	M 1783
Year:	1971
Key:	N/A
BPM:	N/A
Value:	£1,000-£,1500 (approx.)

The Light Drivers [1967] - Operator / Dreams Of A Shoeshine Boy [Gemini #1021]

The only single released by The Light Drivers is a superb double sider.  Dreams Of A Shoeshine Boy (the official A side) was written by James (Jimmy) Conwell and  Leonard Jewell Smith (Len Jewell ) and Operator by James Conwell and Perry Kibble who later became a member of  Taste Of Honey and co-wrote their disco hit 'Boogie Oogie Oogie' with group member Janice Marie Johnson. It is believed that Jimmy Conwell was a member, and probably the lead singer, of The Light Drivers.  Discogs dates the release as 1967, 45Cat has no date, but it sounds later than 1967 to my ears. Manship has it dated as 1970, which sounds more like it as 1021 appears to be the last release and 1020 &1021 have different label designs to 1006 (the last cat. no. in the 1000 series) dated 1967/68.

The Gemini label was based in Cleveland, OH, and released only around 8 singles, two of those were by The Exits (who were James Conwell, Godoy Colbert, Esko Wallace, Louis Hendricks, and Charles Colbert) 'Under The Street Lamp' / 'You Got To Have Money' and 'I Don't Want To Hear It'. Their only other single as The Exits was on Kapp after they left Gemini with the brilliant 'Another Sundown In Watts'. Jimmy Conwell also released the stomper 'To Much' c/w the superb deep cut 'Let It All Out' on Gemini and of course the Light Drivers single, so Conwell appeared on at least half the Gemini catlogue.

Conwell was also a member of The Trips which included Earl Nelson (Bob & Earl aka Jackie Lee), Len Jewel and, Discogs states Paul & Harry Colbert, but it seems too much of a coincidence that Godoy and Charles Colbert were members of the Exits, so I suspect that info is not correct! They released another great double-sider on Soundville in 1967 'Love Can't Be Modernized' / 'There's That Mountain' (also issued on Soultown). The latter having the same backing track as his classic NS tune 'That Beatin' Rhythm' recorded under the alias Richard Temple in 1967 on Mirwood, named after a TV detective at the time. An instrumental version had previously been released as the B side to deep soul ballad 'Second Hand Happiness' titled 'Cigarette Ashes' as Jimmy Conwell.

In the 70s Conwell was a member of Smoke Sugar Company who released 'The Girl I Can't Forget (Is The Girl Who Forgot Me)' / 'It's Been So Long' and 'Save A Little Love For A Rainy Day' / 'Doin' It' on Ter-De in 1974. Ter-Di was owned by Len Jewell and named after his daughter. In 1975 they released a self-titled album on 20th Century which spawned two singles 'My Eyes Search A Lonely Room For You' / '(Loving You) Coming Out Of A Brand New Bag' and 'Keeping Up My Front (Bumpity Bump)' as a promo.

As a footnote it is no great surpise as to why Godoy Colbert's only single in 1969 on Revue 'Baby I Like It' has the same backing as Len Jewel's 'All My Good Lovin' (Is Going To Waste)'. The  other side is another great track 'I Wanna Thank You' co-written with Len Jewel.

Another footnote. Conwell's first single 'The Trouble With Girls (Of Today)' / 'I Know I'm Sure (I'm In Love)' was released in 1963 on L.A.'s 4J records which was coincidentally owned by Jesse J. Jones who regular followers of the blog will recall (from the Sonia Ross reissue on Hit And Run posted a few days ago) owned Tragar after moving from L.A. to Atlanta.

A Brother's Guiding Light Feat. David [1973] - Getting Together [Mercury #73389]

A song I first heard from a compilation album I bought around 1974 'Get Up And Get Down' on UK Philips (which I still have). I eventually managed to secure the 45 via Soul Bowl. It seemed to languish in semi-obscurity for decades but has now received the recognition it deserves, to the extent that it has been bootlegged. Some comments on the sound clip say it was played at Wigan in 1980 and others at Clifton Hall, well I can tell you for certain it was played at the The Music Hall Aberdeen first all-nighter in April 1978 by yours truly!

David is David Morris Jr. who had already released a couple of singles prior to this in 1968-69 ('Two Hearts One Summer Day' and 'Stoned On Love') and several afterwards on various labels including a modern soul tune 'Jack In The Box' on Buddah'. 

The song was written by legendary Philly producer Vince Montana and Ernest Xavier Smith who formed Xavier in the early 80s and released an album and a couple of singles e.g. the hard funk tune 'Work The Sucker To Death'. 

Ruby Andrews [1968] - Just Loving You [Zodia #Z-1010]

An anthemic tune which I'm sure I first heard played by ex Twisted Wheel DJ Brian Rae in 1975 and it was an oldie then (I believe that it may have been originally played at the Wheel, but happy to be corrected on that if anyone knows otherwise)! It seems to have been around forever and is still a floor packer when the needle is dropped on it 45+ years later, and quite rightly so.

Ruby Andrews (real name Stackhouse) debuted in 1965 with a single on Kellmac. She was a member of The Vondells (which included Lowrell 'Mellow Mellow' Simon and Jesse Dean who  both later were in The Lost Generation and Glenn Murdoch who later formed Mother's Finest with Joyce Kennedy) and apparently the record was actually by The Vondells but credited to Andrews. 

She then became the main artist on Ric Wiliams' Zodiac label from 1967 until its demise in 1973 (releasing around 14 of its 30 odd singles and both of it's only two albums) whereupon she moved to ABC in 1976 where she released 3 singles and an album. Releases after that were sporadic on different labels. Her biggest hit is 'Casonova (You're Playing Days Are Over)' in 1967 (R&B #9 Hot 100 #51) covered by Loleatta Holloway in 1975 and Coffee in 1980. 

'Just Loving You' was the flip side to 'The Love I Need' which was her next R&B chart entry reaching #48 in 1968. It was written (as were many of her other songs) by Fred Bridges, Robert Eaton and Richard Knight (aka The Brothers Of Soul). Knight was also one half of The Knight Brothers who recorded Temptation 'Bout To Get Me in 1965.

Another superb track by Ruby Andrews, again written by Bridges, Eaton & Knight and released just before 'Just Loving You' in 1968, is 'Wonderful Nite' also on Zodiac and was recorded a year later on Aquarius by 'Candace Love'.

Jackie Wilson [1967] - Whispers (Gettin' Louder) [Brunswick #55300]

This is probably the first record that kicked off Jackie Wilson's sublime soul period from 1966-77. 'Mr. Excitement' (as he was known) was one of the best singers and entertainers of all time who was possibly the biggest contributor to the Northern Soul scene. I could virtually pick anything to post from this period. 

I Don't Want To Lose You

Just Be Sincere

Higher & Higher

I'm The One To Do It 

I've Lost You

Since You Showed Me How To Be Happy

The Who Who Song

I Get The Sweetest Feeling

Nothing But Blue Skies

Uptight (Everything's Alright)

You Brought About A Change In Me

Helpless

(I Can Feel Those Vibrations) This Love Is Real

Love Uprising

You Got Me Walking

What'cha Gonna Do About Love

Because Of You

I've Learned About Life

It Only Happens When I Look At You

Just As Soon As The Feelings Over

....and many more including several album only tracks.

I've done several posts on Jackie Wilson in the past so don't wish to extend this too much.

VA [2021] - The Women of Philadelphia International Records (The Remixes) [PIR Legacy] (Full Album)

A compilation album released 24 Mar 2021 in PIR's 50th anniversary year with remixes of Philly classic by the ladies of PIR. There are too many to highlight but I've chosen to feature the Morning Star Re-edit of Jean Carn's 'Was That All It Was'. You can click on album image for full track listing and the link below to listen to full the full album.

Listen to Full Album here.

Details

Rating:	8.4
Genre/Style:	Phillly Classics
Format:	Album
Media:	Digital
Label:	PIR
Cat No:	None
Year:	24/03/2021
Key:	10B
BPM:	116
Value:	£11.99

1,500th Post

This post will be the 1,500th post since the launch of the blog in 2009, and the 1,410th since its relaunch in March 2020.

It is just over a year since I reactivated the blog and consolidated it with another 'neglected' blog 'Modern Soul'. It was initially started to post vintage rare soul, mainly Northern Soul, Crossover and Modern Soul. At the start of 2021 I decided to focus on new independent soul releases and fill void periods with lesser known and classic vintage soul.

The blog is beginning to build a reputation with several artists leaving comments on posts and sending me material to review and was recently voted in Top 40 Soul Music Blogs, Websites & Influencers in 2021 by Feedspot (currently #32). This week has seen the highest viewing figures with 14,000 visitors. I wish to thank you for visiting the blog and ask you to share it and spread the word. My goal is to make this the 'go to' site to discover new soul releases. I welcome comments, suggestions and recommendations and am happy to promote new releases from artists and labels and to promote relevant radio shows, just drop me a comment or contact me at soulstrutter@gmail.com.

The blog couldn't exist without the YouTube community who post the music as I simply wouldn't have time to create all the videos and post them on YouTube and the blog, so I acknowledge and thank all those whose videos I feature. 

I make best endeavours to post videos for new releases from official sources so that the creators of the music receive streaming royalties, however these are paltry. As an example, I featured Soul Sonic's single on day of release (5 Mar) and to date it has received 87.25m views - at the last rate I can find for YouTube, they pay $0.00069 per view, so out of 87.25m views it generated only $60k (probably doesn't even cover the cost of making the video!). Spotify pays $0.00437 and Amazon $0.00402 so I may start embedding from Spotify in future (where possible) as it pays more than six times the amount to the music creators!

With that in mind, if we hear music we like it is incumbent upon us to support the creators by buying the music. It has never been cheaper at 99p per digital track. If artists don't make money they can't make music and the inevitable consequence will be a landscape of oldies and constant regurgitations, remixes, reworkings of old songs or a small band of mainstream artists and corporate labels feeding us what they think we want and I'm sure none of us want that!

The Artistics [1967] - Girl I Need You [Brunswick #55315]

Not rare and not expensive but a great example of mid 60s Chicago 'proper' Northern Soul and one of my all time favourites.  The group were Major Lance's backing group in 1963 and were subsequently signed by Carl Davis to OKeh where they released a few 'unsuccessful' singles before following Davis to Brunswick. By the time this 45 was released Marvin Smith had left the group to go solo and was replaced by Tommy Green who co-wrote the song and sings lead on this track and released a solitary single in 1973 on Evolution that even got a UK issue on Action, the flip of which was a nice modern soul tune 'Endless Confusion'.

Several other Artistics tunes have been played, the most popular being: 'This Heart Of Mine',  'I'm Gonna Miss You', 'Hope We Have' and 'The Chase Is On' as well as a couple of often overlooked album only tracks  Why, Why, Why and On And On is superb.

The Carstairs [1973] - It Really Hurts Me Girl [Red Coach #RC 802]

An all-time classic from The Cartairs. Arguably the record which split the Northern Soul scene when this was first played around 1974/75 by Ian Levine at Blackpool Mecca's Highland Room. The traditionalist hated it as it started a move towards 'modern' tunes.  

I loved it then and still love it to this day and to me is one of the most soulful NS records ever, listen to the pain in Cleveland Horne's vocals, he is living that song! The flip side 'The Story Of Our Love' is a sweet soul ballad which has become a lowrider classic. Another song by them has surfaced over the years, 'Girl Have Pity' which I posted some time ago and for some reason is getting lots of views this week which is what has prompted me to do this post.

I had the privilege of seeing them perform the song (probably for the very first time?) on 28th Nov 1998 at The Blackpool Mecca reunion in The Highland Room. They performed three songs, 'It Really Hurts Me Girl', a version of The Salvadors 'Stick My Me Baby', and 'He Who Picks A Rose' which was the only other record they released, in 1969 on OKeh (the flip was a version of Lennon & McCartney's 'Yesterday'). Sadly only two years after the performance all three members (Cleveland Horne and Ray A. Evans (who co-wrote the song) and Ervin Langley) had died.

Cleveland Horne performed vocals on the flip side ('Crime') to The Innocent Bystanders 'Frantic Escape' instrumental in 1968. In the mid 70s he became a member of The Fantastic Four when they were signed to Westbound where he also did some session work for other artists on the label (e.g. King Errison, Mike Theodore Orch. and  Dennis Coffey Band) and wrote/co-wrote many songs released by the label. It is claimed that he was also a member of The Exceptionals who released a solitary 45 on Red Coach in 1975 (Gotta Let Some Sunshine Into My Life / What Is Living). He died of a heart attack barely a week after his 58th birthday in April 2000.

Legend has it that Ian Levine first heard the record played on radio station whilst on holiday in Miami in 1973 and contacted the station to find out what it was. The radio station only had a promo copy and told Levine to contact the label (Red Coach). The label had just lost their distributor (Chess) so decided to shelve the release, meaning that only copies already sent out as promos existed. It was another year before Levine got his hand on a copy from John Anderson's Soul Bowl who had received a shipment of 100,000 promos from US radio stations. Apparently three copies were found in this haul (I assume Andy Hanley and Bernie Golding who were with him got the other two). Ian 'Frank' Dewhirst was the next to obtain a copy which he states is his favourite record of all time and built his career as by having the record his bookings increased dramatically. 

Source: Red Bull Academy Ian Levine interview  Red Bull Academy Ian Dewhirst interview.

The original is a white label promo on vinyl with a machine-stamped STERLING stamp in the runout. It was legally reissued by Gene Redd on his Red Coach label (pink label) in late 1974/early 1975. These copies were styrene not vinyl. All subsequent copies are bootegs or reissues. Neil Rushton's Inferno label reissued a Tom Moulton remix in 1979 on 7" and 12".

I don't know how many original copies there are claimed to be but, surprisingly, an original is not that expensive in the scheme of things as the seem to consitently sell between £150-£250, although somebody, who obviously hadn't done any reasearch before buying, paid £600 for one on Discogs!

Below I have posted the original version and three other versions that have since surfaced, two different Tom Moulton mixes released by Inferno in 1979 and a later (2012) previously unreleased version.

The Carstairs [1979] It Really Hurts Me Girl (Re-mix 1) [Inferno #HEAT 7A]

The Carstairs [1979] It Really Hurts Me Girl (Re-mix 2) [Inferno #HEAT 7B]

The Carstairs [2012] It Really Hurts Me Girl (Previously Unreleased Mix) [Inferno #HEAT 1001 A]

Details

Rating:	9.5
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7"
Label:	Red Coach
Cat No:	RC 802
Year:	1973
Key:	8B
BPM:	131
Value:	£150-£250 (approx.)