I've had this post in the pipeline for some time and realised this week
(6 Dec 2021) that Willie Hutch would have been 77 ( 6 Dec 1944 - 19 Sep
2005) so what better time to post.
The genius of Willie Hutch
(William McKinley Hutchinson) (who seems to be much undervalued by the general record buying public) first came to my attention, probably like many others, via his
Northern Soul favourite released in 1965 on Dunhill, a great double-sider
which featured "The Duck" c/w "Love Runs Out". "The Duck"
appeared on one of the early Northern Soul compilations "Out On The Streets Again" in 1976 on ABC which was the only way to hear it back then as the
original 45 is still extremely rare, the last one to sell sold in Sep 2020
for nearly £1,200! The style of what was traditionally labelled Northern
Soul has changed considerably since the heyday of the 70s, but these two
tracks epitomise the 'original' sound. "The Duck" was bootlegged by
the infamous Simon Soussan in 1974 as Richard Temple "Let's Do The Duck" on a counterfeit Stephanye label (I think this bootleg version was even
speeded up a bit). I'm not exactly sure when or where this record was
originally broken but given it was bootlegged in 1974 it would suggest
that it would have been pressed to 'meet demand' so probably a Wigan
Casino tune but may have already been played before the Casino opened it's
doors? The flip side "Love Runs Out" was reissued in the UK as a double A
side with Bobby Hutton's album only track "Lend A Hand" by ABC in
1978.
Another big track played from him was "Lucky To Be Loved By You" which Casino DJ, Richard Searling, played from his 1969 "Soul Portrait" album on RCA, as it has never had an official 45 release. His next
release on Modern also has two good Northern Soul tunes "I Can't Get Enough" c/w "Your Love Has Made Me A Man". Another stomper followed in 1967 on Soul City with "I Can't fight The Power".
As is often the case with Wiki, I think their facts are incorrect as it
states that he debuted with a single "Love Has Put Me Down" on Soul City in 1964. Firstly I can find no trace of said recording and
secondly Soul City didn't come into existence until 1966. However it
is partially correct as he was a member of The Phonetics who
recorded the song on H-E-D which could have been in 1964. It appears to be
the only release (listed) on the label and is as rare as hen's
teeth as it was only listed on Discogs a year ago (not listed on 45Cat) and
none have sold there nor are there any listed sales on
Popsike. The Phonetics released a further four singles on Trudel between 1964-65,
with "Just A Boy's Dream" being the most 'in-demand' which sells for over £4k. The flip "Don't Let Love Get You Down" was released on three of the four Trudel 45s. The Phonetics account for
four of the seven (listed) releases on Trudel between 1963-65.
Hutch was born in L.A. in 1944 before moving to Dallas with his mother.
He was part of a doo-wop group called The Ambassadors at Booker T.
Washington high school in Dallas. After serving in the marines he moved
back to L.A. to begin his music career where her joined Soul City and wrote and produced for The Fifth Dimension (he wrote their debut single
"I'll Be Loving You Forever") before moving to RCA where he recorded two
albums. He was approached by Hal Davis to write the lyrics for "I'll Be There" for The Jackson Five which, at the time (1970), became Motown's biggest
ever selling single. On the strength of that he was promptly signed to
Motown by Berry Gordy as writer, arranger, producer and musician for many
Motown artists.
His first Motown album "Fully Exposed" arrived in 1973. His next two Motown albums were soundtracks for "The Mack" (1973) and "Foxy Brown" (1974). He released a further five albums in his first stint at Motown
before recording two for Norman Whitfield's label in 1978 and 1979. In
1982 he re-joined Motown and released a few singles and one album but they
also released a compilation on him. It was another nine years before his next
recording appeared, an album on Omni / GG.it, followed by two more in 1996
and 2002 before he sadly died in 2005 aged only 60.
He was predominantly an album artist, releasing sixteen studio albums
between 1969-2002. Only fifteen of his singles dented the US R&B chart, with only three of them reaching the Billboard Hot 100, the biggest (and only top 10
entry) being "Love Power" in 1975 (#8 R&B #41 Hot 100).
In the UK only two of his recordings made any impact on the chart "In And Out" #51 1982 and "Keep On Jammin'" #72 1985.
I was going to put everything he's done in a singe post but it would be
huge so I'll split it into several parts. This part will cover just his
singles. Other parts will cover his albums
Part 2
Pre- Motown i.e. RCA,
Part 3
Motown,
Part 4
Whitfield and
Part 5
Later Years
Singles
The Phonetics
1964 - Love Is Wonderful / Love Has Put Me Down [H-E-D #1001]
Willie Hutch
Pre- Motown
1965 -
The Duck /
Love Runs Out
[Dunhill #45-D-4012]
Part 1 is faster 45 part 2 is the album version
Motown
Cameron & Hutch
1973 - Come Get This Thing (Mono) /
Come Get This Thing (Stereo)
[Mowest #MW 5035F]
This is an unreleased test pressing credited to Cameron/Hutch but it was
released by G.C. Cameron on his 1974 album "Love Songs & Other Tragedies".
1974 - If You Ain't Got No Money You Can't Get No Honey (Part 1) / If You Ain't Got No Money You Can't Get No Honey (Part 2)
[M 1287F]
Whitfield
1979 -
Kelly Green
/
Down Here On Disco Street
[WHI 49102]
Motown
1982 -
In And Out
/
The Girl (Can't Help It)
[1637MF]
NB Discography includes US singles only and doesn't include
reissues.
Here's a playlist of the ones I can find on Spotify:
