You may be familiar with the song title as it was recorded by Ray's elder
brother Lil Major Williams in 1978 (although Discogs lists
it as 1975, see below) on Williams III Records and later got reissued
on Palladium in 1979. Lee Jeffries' Sonic Wax also reissued it more
recently in Jun 2020.
All versions had "Girl (You're So Sweet, You're So Fine)" on the flip (which personally I prefer). You can ignore the prices on
Discogs as one on Williams III sold recently for almost
£2k and, curiously, the reissue tends to sell for even more, but I
found an article on
SoulSource
which suggests that perhaps the Palladium issue may have been first, but
consensus seems to be Williams III was the original but conjecture is that
perhaps it was a private press after Palladium?
Yann Vatiste at Epsilon has confirmed that Williams III was issued first as a private press (Williams III referring to Major Williams Sr., Lil Major Williams and his brother Garland Williams) and the masters were given by Joel Johnson (A-Ball Productions Sound Masters studios, Houston) to Palladium to re-press. Also, the Palladium issue was not registered until 1982 (25th May to be precise) so Yann believes that it was released in 1982 and not 1979 as stated on Discogs!
This is a new version of "Girl Don't Leave Me" re-recorded by Ray Williams with
The Majortones who were the band behind Lil Major Williams.
There is a short version and an extended version.
Here is some background which Ray (via Yann Vatiste at Epsilon) has
provided:
As a young kid I always wanted to be a musician especially with my
brothers. My Dad, Major Williams Sr, started it all with my brother Lil
Major Williams and Garland Williams. They would travel and play music at
venues all over Texas and surroundings States.
I myself stared playing the snare drum in Junior High school and
eventually started playing with the Majortones Band which was my dad and
brothers group. I remember the first time I ever sat behind a set of
drums it was like a dream come true. We were playing at this club in
Houston, called the Green Parrot. Garland which was the drummer at the
time, I think he got sick or something happened, that's when my dad came
to me and said this your time Ray. I was so scared, keep in mind I was
only 11years old, anyway I played that night if it had not been for the
bass player (Fox was his name) telling me how to work the foot pedal and
high hats snare we wouldn't have made he just kept telling me to stay on
the one, at that time I was wondering what was the one lol. As time went
by I started really getting the hang the thing call music.
Little Major was a big James Brown fan, so we played a lot of Brown's
music and if I tell you we were tight and right.
Major wrote Girl Don't Leave in 1978 (NB Discogs lists as 1975) and I
can't remember the real reason for the title of song but it did really
good lot's of air play.
As time went on Lil Major, Garland and my dad passed away. That's when I
started managing The Majortones Band and to this Day it's still going
strong.
I re-wrote "Girl Don't Leave Me" and released it a few years ago which
was the best thing I could have ever done.
I feel like it's my time in the music industry, I've been playing for
over forty years and I'm still in love with it and still having lots of
fun.
The single is available now on 7" vinyl £17.50 incl. postage UK or £22.50 incl. postage rest of the world or £2 for download from Epsilon.
Rating: | 8.4 |
Explicit: | N |
Genre/Style: | Northern Soul / Modern Soul |
Format: | Single |
Media: | 7"/Digital |
Label: | Epsilon |
Cat No: | None |
Date: | 07/01/2022 |
Key/BPM: | N/A |
Value: | £17.50 (UK) / £22.50 (elsewhere) / £2 |
1 comment:
Cousin Lil Mary Auntie's daughter . Love the new remix keep up the good work good work your cousin Lil Mary.
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