Florida's Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose will
probably be best remembered for their million selling #2 Hot 100 hit "Too Late To Turn Back Now", covered by many (e.g. Chi-Lites and the recently deceased Renée Geyer), from late 1972. Sister Rose being
Rose Cornelius who was a soloist and member of the Gospel Jazz Singers
in the late 60s, and even made a solo appearance on the Ed Sullivan Show
in Jun 1967.
However, at her mothers request, in 1970 she returned home to join her
brothers Carter and Eddie (who were performing as a duo the Cornelius
Brothers) and use the contacts she'd made to progress the group. The
Cornelius Brothers became Cornelius Brothers & Sister Rose and
released their first single, "Treat Her Like A Lady", in 1970 on Platinum, a small local Miami, FL, label owned by sound
engineer Bob Archibald who also produced all their later recordings at his
Music Factory studio. The single was picked up by United Artists who signed
the group and the record peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 in 1971.
They recorded three albums for UA, an eponymous debut in 1972, by which
time they were joined by sister Billie Jo, followed by "Big Time Lover" in 1973 and "Greatest Hits" (1976). Around nine or ten singles were released by the label, all but
the last two taken their three albums.
The group disbanded in 1976, presumably due to lack of success and being
released by United Artists? The brothers found religion, Carter joining a
Black Hebrew sect and Eddie becoming a born again Christian and that was
that, or was it?
Rose rekindled her solo career and recorded a number of songs at The Music
Factory (produced by Shirley Cowell who later received a Grammy nomination
for her work with Lena Horn). The music industry was in the grip of Disco by
this time and the session produced "Here" and "I Want You To Stay With Me" but didn't gain release and the recordings sat collecting dust.
However, in 2018 well known, Berlin based, rare soul DJ/collector Dave
Thorley (who, for those who don't already know was behind the, now legendary,
Stafford 'Top of The World' Northern Soul all-nighters in the 80s) spotted
and bought an acetate for sale online credited to Rose Cornelius. It was
initially purchased for use in his DJ sets but he offered it to the Disco
Bizarre crew from Berlin's KitKatClub for their label who approached Rose
for permission for its release. In addition they obtained approval to do
some remixes/re-edits. New York producer DJ Duke was commissioned to do the remix and San Francisco Disco authority Jim Hopkins did the restoration and re-edit.
Each song has been restored by Jim Hopkins and "Here" has a re-edit by him whilst "I Want You To Stay" has a 'No Sax' remix and all four tracks will be released on 12".
Copies are £17 plus postage (UK £12, Germany £6, Italy £11, USA £15.50). To pre-order for release on 20 May contact Dave Thorley davethorleyuk@gmail.com
Samples posted below, the full length tracks are 6 to 7 mins each.
A1 - Here - Concorde Gold (Jim Hopkins Restoration)
A2 - Here (Jim Hopkins DJ Friendly Re-Edit)
B1 - I Want You To Stay With Me - Concorde Gold (Jim Hopkins
Restoration)
B2 - I Want You To Stay With Me (No Sax) Remix
| Rating: | 8 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Disco |
| Format: | Single |
| Media: | 12" Vinyl |
| Label: | Disco Bizarre |
| Cat No: | DB03 |
| Date: | 20/05/2023 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Price: | £17 |
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Too disco for me. Alas I don't find the feeling of the great era of the 70s.
ReplyDeleteYves