MD Records has obtained two
unreleased songs plus two alternate mixes of the only released record by
Detroit's Tommy Rodgers.
His single on jazz pianist Ahmad Jamal's, NYC
based, AJP in 1969 found it's way into our collection via one of the,
now legendary, Soul Bowl soul packs in the mid 70s and we always felt
that both sides had potential but weren't picked up on by the
Northern Soul fraternity until much later. It was a big in-demander
circa 2015.
The official A side "I'll Tell It To The Wind" is mid-tempo, crossover tune whilst the flip, "Pass The Word", is a driving Motownesque dancer.
The single doesn't seem to be particularly easy to find and
consistently sells for between £200-£300 with only two currently
listed on Discogs at the higher end.
MD Records has split the released single over two releases pairing
"Tell It To The Wind" with the unreleased "Give Me My Freedom" and
"Pass The World" with "United Hearts Of America" but with a twist as
they are alternate takes of both released songs.
The label's Jordan Wilson researched Mr Rodgers who was born Thomas Gilbert
Rodgers in Dec 1942, his family migrating from Georgia to Detroit near
the renowned Brewster-Douglass housing project. The same development
where Diana Ross & The Supremes emerged from. In fact Diana
Ross was Rodgers teenage sweetheart who he sang with!
Jordan discovered that Tommy had been invited by Otis Williams to
audition with his group (who would of course become The Temptations)
for Motown's Gordy imprint in 1961. Unfortunately Rodgers had to
decline as he was drafted for the Vietnam war. A sad twist of
fate as who knows what the outcome for Tommy would have been?
In Oct 1969 Rodgers cut five songs at Detroit's Pioneer Studio:
"Summer Love", "Tell It to The Wind", "United Hearts of America", "Give
Me Freedom (Or Give Me Love)" and "Pass the Word". These came to the
attention of James Shaw who was A&R man at AJP who had connections
to Detroit having previously worked at Golden World Studios and
remaining in contact with Funk Brother's trombonist Don White. "Tell It
to The Wind" and "Pass the Word" were released as the
inaugural single on the AJP label on 11 Oct 1969.
The single failed to register and Tommy returned to normal life until 1974 when he made a comeback forming a group called The Brewster
Crew. He wrote two songs with Doris Williams and James Nyx Jr, "Outta
My Life" and "I'm One Who Know" released on Lifeline Records in
1974.
Rather than repeat the story over two post we have chosen to post
both singles here. We've also posted the original AJP recordings as well.
Both singles are available now from MD Records.
Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.
| Rating: | 8.4 |
| Explicit: | N |
| Genre/Style: | Northern Soul |
| Format: | Single / Previously Unreleased |
| Media: | 7" Vinyl |
| Label: | MD Records |
| Cat No: | MD122 // MD123 |
| Date: | 15/07/2023 |
| Key/BPM: | N/A |
| Price: | £15 each |
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