Another double-sider released on Outta Site last year. The top side is
Jackie Edwards NS Top 500 tune 'I Feel So Bad' coupled with a song he
wrote recorded by Del Davis in 1971 on Bread. It was also reissued on Trojan
the following year as a B side, credited as E. Abdhul, his real name was
Wifred Gerald Edwards.
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.
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.
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]
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
A 1966 B side (and non-album track) of 'Poor Girl In Trouble' that didn't
chart even on US R&B chart.
Barbara Mason released her first single in 1964 on Crusader, sister label
to Charger on which Dobie Gray released his three top tunes and an album
and Mason also had a single released in 1965. Later that year she signed
to Arctic, a label set up by Philadelphial DJ Jimmy Bishop which has a
special place in the hearts on UK Northern Soul devotees, releasing many
records played on the scene and the birthplace of The Trammps who were
known on Arctic as The Volcanos.
Her first release was the label's second single. She didn't have to wait
long for her first big hit which came with her third release in 1965 'Yes
I'm Ready' which reached #2 R&B and #5 Hot 100, Sadly she never
managed to follow-up the hit or better those chart positions, recording
right up to 1984 releasing almost 50 singles, 15 of those on Arctic in the
60s. She had a brief period at National General in 1970-71 (4
singles) before joining Buddah in 1972-75 (approx. 13 singles). In 1978
she released a couple of 45s on Prelude before joining WMOT in 1980 and
finally West End in 1984.
Chart positions mean nothing to soul aficionados and her 60s and 70s
recordings (in particular) are still sought after by followers of NS and
also much loved by the Lowrider scene.
A few others from her Arctic catalogue that are of interest
include:
NS/Crossover: 'Don't Ever Want To Lose Your Love', 'Keep Him',
'Bobby Is My Baby' (which has the same backing as The Rotations
('Put A Dime On) D-9' on sister label Frantic), 'Ain't Got Nobody', 'Don't Ever Go Away', 'Half A Love', 'You Better Stop It'
Lowriders: 'Is It Me', 'If You Don't (Love Me, Tell Me So)', 'Game Of
Love', 'Oh, How It Hurts', 'I'm No Good For You', '(I Can Feel Your
Love) Slipping Away', 'You Never Loved Me (At All)'
She was still performing up until 2016 and released a CD in 2007.
This record has just sold on John Manship's auction site this week for
£10,020! It is very distinctive with a funky ska/reggae rhythm. It's a bit of a
'marmite' record where you either love it or hate it! I happen to like it as
it is raw and honest and different.
Click image to expand
It was released on Mars La Tour, a label owned by Carl Queen in Marrietta,
GA who set also up the Atteirram (town name reversed) label in 1971. There's
no date listed for this release but from the other cat. no.s it would
probably be around 1971/72.
There are only around 15 releases listed for the label, although there are
gaps in the numbers which may suggest that there are others yet to be
discovered. It wasn't solely a soul label, there were folk, country, pop and
rock releases and even a gopel album. One of the releases by
RickeyAndrews, has a similar feel to Arthur Willis and was reissued by Trammp in
2016.
It's an impossibly rare record and the group's only known release. John
Manship stated in 2019 that he had only ever had one copy go through his
hands in 50 years and that one sold to Soul Sam. I guess that this is the
third (or possibly the same one three times?).
There are only two originals listed on Popsike, one sold in 2016 for
£6,285, the other listing is 'confused' as it had a starting price of $8,000 and
states it sold for
$1,000 on the same day as start date - I suspect it may have been withdrawn?
To highlight the demand for the record even bootlegs are selling for 3
figures - one as much as £210 ... crazy!
A record I
posted last year
is now being reissued on 4 May 2021 by Acid Jazz. As well as being released as a single [Golden Three #R-7000] it appears on an album by Emmanuel K Rahim & The
Kahliqs 'Total Submission'
on Cobblestone in 1972 titled 'Al-Alim (The Knower)' which is a different take. Emmanuel K Rahim was
also known as Emmanuel Abdul Rahim.
The Tom - Emmanuel & Ron Experience [2021] - Why (The Knower) [Acid
Jazz #AJX580S]
Emmanuel K Rahim & The Kahliqs [1972] - Al-Alim (The Knower)
[Cobblestone #CST 9014]
The Tom - Emmanuel & Ron Experience [2021] - When You Lose Your
Groove [Acid Jazz #AJX580S]
A Northern Soul anthem recorded by Detroit's Precisions in 1967 on Drew.
Another version was discovered in the 70s by a Jamaican artist Eddie Spencer
who recorded a version on Canadian label Arc in 1968. It was reissued in the
UK on Power Exchange in 1976 such was its popularity.
Geno Washington recorded it sometime between 1967-1972. It gets its first commercial release on 7 " vinyl by Outta Site soon (date
not yet announced).
He is still perfroming live. I saw him a couple of years ago, but have to
admit that he's past his best!
The flip side is a previously unknown and unreleased version of
another classic, Ray Pollard's 'The Drifter' by an unknown singer
named UK Stuart Smith. This will be about the fifth known version of this
song (I posted four of them last year
here) and all four covers are by white British singers.
Geno's version of 'If This Is Love' was certainly known about at least 30
years ago as it featured on the
Bretby 1st Anniversary giveaway LP
in 1992. I understand that it was dubbed from a studio acetate owned then by
Chris King.
It also appeared on a Castle compilation CD
'Foot Stompin' Soul'
which I believe was first released in 1998 (although Discogs lists it as
2006).
The song was written by Cholly Bassoline, Marty Coleman and Mike Valvano
and was The Precisions biggest hit reaching #26 R&B and #60 Hot 100 in
1967.
Marty Coleman was a member of The Valadiers who released a few 45s on
Gordy in the early 60s.
Mike Valvano was lead of Mike & The Modifiers who released one 45
on Gordy in 1962. He recorded couple of solo singles in the 70s and
another as Mike & The Modifiers on Ian Levine's Motorcity label in
the 90s. In 2010 Outta Site released a whole album by him titled Michael
Valvano's Contours
'I'm A Winnner: The Albuquerque Sessions 1978-79'. The promo material states that Valvano was Motown's first white act
and that he recorded two albums for them that were never released.
The B side is
'You're So Good To Me Baby'
which, to these ears, has some similarities to Sam & Dave's
'Soul Man'.
Spencer recorded only three known singles, the other two were on
another Canadian label Goodgroove and these appear to be the last
two of only eight releases on the label. The first was 'Power Of
Love' and a cover of UK group The Foundations debut single 'Baby,
Now That I've Found You which was a UK #1 hit. 'Power Of Love was
released as flip to the UK reissue of 'If This Is Love' in 1976. His
last 45 was a Northern Soul rendition of Bobby Darin's 'Dream Lover' and a cover of
The Moody Blues' 'A Whiter Shade Of Pale'
The follow-up single was
'Magic Touch'
another cover of a NS favourite recorded originally by
Melba Moore on Musicor on 1966 but was unreleased until it appeared on a 6Ts 100
Club 2nd Anniversary single by Kent in 1986. It's first commercial release
was on Ady Croasdell's Horace's label in 1987.
UPDATE
Thanks to USMAN47 for leaving a comment stating that Billy Prince (who sang
lead on this track for The Precisions) released a version on a live album
released only in Spain in 2017.
Billy Prince Of The Precisions [2017] - The Soulful Member Of The
Precisions [Gure Gauza Records #GGLP 101]
I managed to find a clip on YT of him performing it live at the Southpaw in Brooklyn posted in
2010.
And another from Mojo Workin' festival in Spain 2016, which may be when the live recording was done?
This song was written by Sammy Turner who also recorded a version, with a
slightly different title
'Give My Heart A Break', but it was never released but surfaced in 1993 on a Goldmine Soul
Supply compilation CD
'Detroit Soul From The Vaults Vol. 1'
GSCD 19.
Sammy (who's real name was Samuel Black) was working with George Kerr in
the late sixties, who was producing Linda Jones at the time, and she
released the 'definitive' version on Loma [2091] in 1968 as
'My Heart Needs A Break'.
In 1970 Brenda Jones (who I wonder may be the same singer as Brenda Lee
Jones (of Dean & Jean) as the voice does sound similar) released an
inferior version on S.S.I. Sammy Turner released a 45 on the label (same
cat. no. in fact 1002) the same year. He, along with Robert Banks who
co-produced Jones' version with George Kerr, was also involved in
writing and/or production of four of the five known releases on the
label, so I wonder if it was his label? This would explain why she
recorded this tune.
Madeline Bell
was from Newark NJ, but moved to UK in 1962 to perform in a gospel show.
She then joined pop group
Blue Mink
who had six UK top 20 pop hits between 1969-73, 4 of them top 10, another
just missed the top 20 at #26.
Bell's first and only solo hit was in 1968 with a cover of Dee Dee
Warwick's 'I'm Gonna Make You Love Me' which went higher in the Hot 100
(#26) than Warwick's 1966 original which only reached #88. However, if
you're like me, I always associate it with Diana Ross & The Supremes
who had a #2 hit with it later that year. Bell never had a solo hit in the
UK.
She had a few records played on the Northern Soul Scene, most of them are cover versions. Probably the best known is her version of Evie Sands'
'Picture Me Gone'
released in 1967 on Philips (which I haven't listened to for years and
forgot just how good it was until I watched the B&W video clip of her
singing it). An interesting piece of trivia, it was co-written by Al
Gorgoni and Chip Taylor who is the brother of actor Jon Voight and uncle
to Angelina Jolie.
How coincidental is this? I've literally just posted a feature on
Maxine Brown
who recorded the next tune 'One Step At A Time' in 1965 on Wand. Bell covered it in 1967.
Another was from 1968
'What'm I Supposed To Do'
which was the flip to her version of the Lennon & McCartney song 'Step
Inside Love' which was a top 10 hit for Cilla Black earlier that year
(which I have to admit I have a soft spot for - the song that is not
Cilla! ... probably as it was ingrained in me as a child as Cilla had a TV
show and sang it regularly).
Another one that seems only to have been released in the southern
hemisphere (i.e New Zealand and South Africa) was yet another cover with
her version of
Shirley Ellis' 1967 outing on Columbia, 'Soul Time' in 1968.
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