A song written and recorded by Darrell Banks in 1966 and many others
since including J.J. Barnes, Jackie Wilson, Tyrone Davis and Betty Wright
(I feel a version excursion coming on!) is "Open The Door to Your Heart". Numero Group has digitally reissued a version by
Lil Murray & The Soul Exciters which was
originally released in 1967 on the Youngstown, OH, Tammy label. The B side
is an instrumental.
The Tammy label was a small local label operated by Tony March and Larry
Greene who was a member of The Edsels who gave the world "Rama Lama Ding
Dong" in 1958 (mistakenly written on label as "Lama Rama Ding Dong") which
didn't become popular until a NYC DJ started to segue it out of The
Marcels "Blue Moon" in 1961 when it then reached #21 on Billboard Hot 100.
The song is possibly best known in UK for Rocky Sharpe & The Replays
cover of it in 1979 which was a top 20 pop hit.
It appears to be Lil Murray & The Soul Exciters only recording but
an interesting thing to note is that it featured
Leon Debouse on lead vocals. He would later release an album
"A Fine Instrument" in 1977 (on Henry Stone's Bold label which sells for quite big money
£250-£350) from which "Every Fella's Girl" has been a long time modern soul favourite. It was reissued on 12" by
Expansion in 2000 along with Wizdom's "I'm So In Love With You" (Drive
1980).
I'm sorry to say that this is not one of the better versions of the song as
it has been speeded up considerably from Bank's original (155 BPM v 121 BPM)
which for me removes the soulful feel of the original and other
versions. I've included the original below so you can compare and decide for yourself.
In Feb 2022 Numero Group reissued another version of the song by Art Ensley & The Fabulous Echoes Band.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Rating: | 7.4 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul / Cover Version / Reissue |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Numero Group |
| Cat No: | NUM5700 |
| Date: | 02/08/2022 (1967) |
| Key/BPM: | 8B/155 |
| Price: | £1 |
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Superb song but indeed difficult to arrive at the height of Darrell Banks!!!
ReplyDeleteYves