The first of only two releases by
Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr, both on Bill Moss' Columbus, OH, based Capsoul (Capitol City Soul)
label in the early 70s.
Moss was a local singer and DJ on Columbus station WNKO. The label
released a dozen singles between 1970-74, four of them by
Four Mints (we posted the reissue of their solitary 1973
album "Gently Down Your Stream" last Sep) and two by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr made up
half of the label's output with two singles from
Kool Blues and the remaining four by
Marion Black, The Capitol Group, Elijah & The Ebonies and the last releases by
Moss himself in 1974.
Prompted by a friend, Moss auditioned Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum &
Durr who signed and renamed them mistakenly (as Al Dawson was named
Hawkins on the label). The group consisted of Virgil Johnson, Al
Dawson, Willie Tatum and Norris Durr who were a group of neighbourhood
friends originally named the Revelations and released "You Can't Blame Me" / "Your Love Keeps Drawing Me Closer" as their first single in March 1971.
The record apparently got airplay and sold well in local markets
throughout the Midwest and east coast but failed to make an impact in
major cities like Chicago and New York and sank only to later be
embraced by the UK rare soul scene and prices have begun to
climb.
After their second single "You’re All I Need to Make It" / "A World Without You" the following year, Johnson (not to be confused with Virgil Johnson
of The Velvets) decided to take his chances as a solo singer and left
for L.A. but doesn't appear to have had much success and returned to
Ohio having not recorded anything.
The B side was co-written by Jeff Smith (and Forrest F. Whittaker)
who recorded it a few years earlier in 1969 as a member of The Chandlers
as a one-off single on his own label Bleu Rose titled "(Never Before) Your Love Keeps Drawing Me Closer". Earlier in 1967 the group recorded "Your Love Makes Me Lonely" another one-off single on a Smith owned label Col Soul which has
become a 'trophy' record on the UK rare soul scene now commanding four
figures, possibly also due to demand for the sweet soul A side "I Need Your Love".
Numero Group reissued most of the label's output on their first
compilation "Eccentric Soul: The Capsoul Label" in 2004 which includes all four sides for the label by Johnson, Hawkins, Tatum & Durr.
These two sides have been reissued digitally today (6 Mar '23).
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
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