Credit must go to Mark Merry and his Soul Sermon show 'co-producers' Paul
Regan (aka Brighton Boris YouTube channel) and Pete Radcliffe for unearthing this gem of a digital reissue from
Al Johnson "We Can Make It Happen" / "Mile High You’re Number One" which passed me by on Friday (28 Jan 2022).
A couple of sources give an original release date of 21 Dec 1968. The
single isn't even listed on 45Cat but is on Discogs and the label is a
mystery as it only has a logo and no name, so presumably a private press,
and only one copy has ever sold on the site for £1,110 in Jul 2021, so it
must be pretty scarce.
There are at least three soul singers using the name Al Johnson. The
relatively well know singer/songwriter/producer (Alfred) who was a
co-founder of The Unicefs in the 60s and recorded the modern
soul classic "I'm Back For More" with Jean Carne in the
70s. An earlier one from Louisiana (Alvin) who recorded from the mid 50s
and another from Alabama (Albert) who this song, correctly or otherwise, is
credited to on Discogs (not listed on 45Cat) but is likely as it is
registered as 1968 which sits right in between his two other listed
recordings in 1967 and 1969. However, both sides of the recording sound
more 70s to my ears and sound out of place in between the other two
which are much more raw 60s sounds, so who knows, but the voice does sound similar.
The 'interesting' thing is that the label logo looks like an image of
the Capitol building in Washington D.C. and Alfred Johnson (Unicefs)
attended university in Washington where he co-founded The Unicefs, so
could it actually be his recording, or just a coincidence as the
writers credits (on Spotify) are to Albert?
I've included YouTube clips of his other two listed singles so you can
decide for yourself whether it is the same artist. "Bless Your Little
Sweet Soul" / "Love Waits For No Man" [South Camp 1967] and "Sittin' Around" / "Soul Time" [Burt 1969].
| Rating: | 8.6 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Modern Soul |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Branditmusic |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 28/01/2022 (21/12/1968) |
| Key/BPM: | 6B/90 |
| Value: | £1 |
agreed, the mystery 45 sounds like 70's recordings for sure.
ReplyDeleteand i don't think it's the same al johnson as the other 2 45's