The Nu'rons from Salem, NJ, have been performing
together for over 40 years releasing a few singles in the early 70s
including the rare northern soul tunes "All My Life" and "Disco Hustle".
This EP "The Philly Soul Sessions" is a collection of the first professional recorded music from them
with Philadelphia producer/writer Manny Campbell of Emandolynn
Music.
They are a family group consisting of two sets of brothers and
cousins Daryl Howard and Raymond Gibson (Daryl’s mother
registered him under his father’s surname of Howard and Raymond under
her maiden name of Gibson) together with Otho and Charles Bateman.
They started at a young age (10/11) with another Gibson brother,
Rudolph, as The Gospel 5. Rudolph left the group owing to illness and
Daryl and Charles performed with a group called The Devotions before
forming The Nu'rons.
The group started doing shows in New Jersey and Philadelphia managed
initially by Arctic's Jimmy Bishop (Duo Dynamic Productions) and later
WDAS radio DJ Georgie Woods (who's wife Gilda owned Dion and Top &
Bottom labels). Georgie introduced them to Manny Campbell, who they
auditioned "I’m A Loner" for at his and partner Charles Bowen’s Emandolynn
studio in Chester P.A.
The audition was successful and Manny and Charles took the group to
the Sigma Sound Studios with Tom Bell and the TSOP musicians to record
"All My Life" and "I’m A Loner" which was released on the Nu-Ron
label in April 1970.
Their next single "Disco Hustle" / "Can’t Do Enough Girl" was recorded at the Sound Room Studio in Upper Darby PA in 1971 and
released on Stage-Art as The Nu'rons & Co.
Both singles failed commercially except locally but years later "All My Life" was unearthed on the UK rare soul scene and with the change in
styles, with more funky tunes getting aired, "Disco Hustle" also gained spins. Both sides were reissued by
Soul Junction in Feb 2018.
The flip to "All My Life", "I'm A Loner", is a sweet soul song which I would imagine is (or would be)
popular with the lowriders, with the funky/crossover flip to "Disco Hustle", "Can't Do Enough Girl" well overdue some spins.
They travelled the country performing and opening for some big
artists including Gladys Night & The Pips, Kool & The Gang,
The Spinners, Patti Labelle, Blue Magic and they continue to perform
to this day but as a trio as Raymond Gibson passed away in 2005.
All four sides of their two 70s singles are included in the
compilation along with an unreleased demo "I Can See The Love". However, whilst the
main DSP's seem to have only a five track EP, there is an extended Bonus
Edition available on Bandcamp which includes instrumentals of "All Of
My Life" and "I'm A Loner", a demo version of "I'm A Loner" along with
another two unreleased demos. Also, I believe, that the version of
"All My Life" on the Bonus Edition is a new mix by Tom
Moulton.
Credits on the Emanuel Campbell/Charles Bowen produced/arranged EP/album include Philly heavyweights Thom Bell (keyboards), Earl
Young (drums) MFSB/Don Renaldo & The Salsoul Orchestra
(strings). The new unreleased mix/master was done by legendary
mixing engineer Tom Moulton and mastered by Peter Humphries of
Masterworks.
If you're interested in hearing more from The Nu'rons they released
an album of new material "For Always" in 2014.
Info on The Nu'rons courtesy of Dave Welding (Soul Junction)
| Rating: | 8.5 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul |
| Format: | Album |
| Media: | Digital |
| Label: | Emandolynn Music Co. Inc. |
| Cat No: | None |
| Date: | 22/10/2022 |
| Price: | $10 (Bonus Edition) / £4.95 (DSPs) |
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