Darrow Fletcher [2023] - Hope For Love / No Limit [Kent #CITY-088]

Darrow Fletcher is a firm favourite here at SS who, apart from in rare soul circles, has been criminally overlooked. Kent Records has put that right over the years with several compilations of his music and Kent supremo Ady Croasdel inviting him to perform at the now defunct legendary Cleethorpes Soul Weekenders.

We did a full discography for him many years ago in 2009 which was migrated here from a previous blog in 2020.

A song he recorded in the early 70s as a demo, to try to gain interest from Ray Charles' Crossover label (who he later signed for), that has never made it onto vinyl until now, is "Hope For Love" which Kent received via a master tape from Grapevine Records some years ago. The song first surfaced on a Kent CD compilation "Masterpieces Of Modern Soul (Volume 2)" in 2009 (an excellent CD well worth acquiring if you don't already own it as it is full of gems). 

It is now being made available from 28 Aug on a 7" paired with "No Limit" which first saw the light of day as an unissued side on Kent Select in 2012 with his Northern Soul stormer "What Good Am I Without You" originally on Jacklyn 1967. "No Limit" was written by Grey & Hanks and recorded by Philly group Breakwater in 1978 on their self-titled debut album and was later released as single on 7" and 12".

With so much great music that he recorded it's difficult to choose a favourite but if pressed it would his 1975 Crossover release "It's No Mistake" which Kent reissued along with another previously unissued Grey & Hanks song (with Jerry Butler) "(Love Is My) Secret Weapon" in 2019. We're kicking ourselves as could have bought a Crossover original many moons ago for £40 but passed on it and they are now selling for approaching £200 if you can find anyone willing to part with it.

Included below are a few videos shot at a performance at Scottish Soul Weekender, Dumfries in Nov 2012, The first begins with "No Limit" as the first track then "My Young Misery" (1966 Groovy). The others include "(Love Is My) Secret Weapon" and his debut single "The Pain Gets A Little Deeper" released on Groovy in 1965, followed by "Changing By The Minute" (Uni 1970).

Click on image below for link to where you can buy from.

Details

Rating:	8.6
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Modern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Kent
Cat No:	CITY-088
Date:	28/08/2023
Key/BPM:	11A/81 / 8A/103
Price:	£10

Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Darrow Fletcher [2022] - Infatuation / What Have I Got Now [Jacklyn #REPRO 06]

Ace/Kent have a batch of new vinyl releases due on 28 Oct 2022. They will be released on a mix their Kent Select imprint and various repros on look-a-like original labels. 

Kicking off with the most appealing to me as Darrow Fletcher has been a long time favoured artist since buying his Northern Soul classic "What Good Am I Without You" back in the day and also one of the sides featured on this repro reissue "Infatuation" both of which have the superb "Little Girl" on the flip and released on Jacklyn in 1967. However, Kent has gone with the A side from his first release on the label in 1966,  "What Have I Got Now". which also has a superb flip side "Sitting There At Night". Prior to that he'd released four singles on Groovy, all well worth checking out.

Jacklyn was a label owned by Fletcher's father Johnny Haygood and named after his daughter. The label was Chicago based and released just ten singles between 1966-69 (1001-011 with no listing from 1007) with three of them being by Fletcher.

A full Darrow Fletcher Discography was posted many moons ago (migrated from an earlier blog) HERE.

His biggest success was with his debut single on Groovy "The Pain Gets A Little Deeper" / "My Judgement Day" which was #23 R&B and broke into the lower reaches of the Hot 100 at #89. He achieved just two further R&B chart entries "I Think I'm Gonna Write A Song" in 1970 and "We've Go to Get This Understanding" in 1976, but many of his recordings have been played on the UK rare soul scene over the years and he came to the UK to perform at 6Ts soul weekender in 2006.

Available to pre-order from Ace/Kent for release on 28 Oct 2022.

Details

Rating:	9
Explicit:	N
Genre/Style:	Northern Soul
Format:	Single
Media:	7" Vinyl
Label:	Kent / Jacklyn Repro
Cat No:	REPRO 06
Date:	28/10/2022
Key/BPM:	9A/128 / 4A/130
Price:	£10.88

Copyright © 2009-2022 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved

Darrow Fletcher Live @ The Wilton Ballroom, Castleford, 10th Nov. 2012

I've always loved the music of Darrow Fletcher. His 'What Good Am I Without You' on Jacklyn was one of the very first records I bought when I first got into Northern Soul many moons ago!  His work has been criminally neglected until the UK soul scene fell in love with him and he has visited these shores several time to perform, but for whatever reason I've never actually managed to see him perform live ... until now, as Karl 'Chalky' White has just uploaded footage from a gig he did in Nov. 2012 at The Wilton Ballroom, Castleford, Yorkshire (along with footage from other gigs e.g. Richard Caiton).  The Wilton evens were run by Dave Box and his wife Val, Sadly Dave is no longer with us but he posted a detailed interview with Darrow Fletcher on Soul Source in Aug. 2012 Darrow Fletcher - The Interview - The Full Story.

I did a post on Darrow some time ago (Aug 2009), it was originally on my Modern Soul blog which is no longer maintained but is still live.

The sound quality is not brilliant as it captures a lot of the background noise, so if you want to hear the  recorded versions here's the track list.

Changing By The Minute

Honey Can I - great track which is pretty hard to find as it's only on the issue of Rising Cost Of Love [Atlantic] and most copies are same sided promos! I can find only 3 ever listed on Popsike and needless to say latest price is around £200.

(Love Is My) Secret Weapon

The Pain Gets A Little Deeper

No Limit

The Rising Cost Of Love

It's No Mistake - if I had to choose, this would be my favourite track of his!

What Have I Got Now - superb

Sunny - unreleased Crossover recording first issued on Kent compilation in 2012

Darrow Fletcher Discography

NB This was originally posted on ModernSoul on 24th August 2009

Darrow Fletcher Haygood was born in Inkster, Detroit on 23rd Jan 1951. His cousin is another Northern Soul heroine Rose Battiste. 

A child prodigy, Darrow Fletcher started singing when he was six years old. Everybody predicted stardom for the young crooner, who didn't have a shy bone in his body. He recorded his first record while still a student at Hirsch High School; he later attended South Shore. Ironically, the song turned out to be his most popular recording. "The Pain Gets a Little Deeper" was a rough song for a 14-year-old to get into, or so one would think, but Fletcher belted it out as if he had just gone through a knockdown, drag-out divorce. Travels took him to the celebrated chitlin' circuit, where he shared billings with other hot acts. He appeared on many television shows, not big ones like Dick Clark, but smaller soul shows like Ken Hawkins' World of Soul in Cleveland, OH, and Soul Train when it was Chicago-based.

At least three more singles on Groovy Records didn't come close to equaling the minimal success of his debut; he switched labels again and again, but sales never amounted to much. He recorded some solid singles, though; "Sitting There That Night" was a monster in Chicago, but never got much further than the city limits, due to Jacklyn Records' small budget. He cut "What Good Am I Without You" (1968) for the same label with the same results. Chicago's big city lifestyle, combined with his local success, got him flossy gigs at the Regal Theater with stars such as Stevie Wonder, Jimmy Ruffin, B.B. King, the Radiants, and others. His "The Way of a Man" (B-side of this listing) on Revue Records made CKLW's (Detroit/Windsor) heavy rotation, notching well into the station's Top 20 survey. Pushed and managed by his father, Fletcher tried but never signed to a label with deep pockets. He had two other releases on Revue Records that went totally unnoticed everywhere but at the Fletcher abode. In 1970, "Dolly Baby" b/w "What Is This" dropped on Uni Records, but made no noise. "Now Is the Time for Love" came out on Genna Records, another midget.

After a while, Fletcher gave up the dream. A Darrow Fletcher compilation isn't on the market, and despite all his recordings, he never made an album. Some of his songs can be found from time to time on Northern soul websites playable via Real Audio. Some select cuts are on various Northern soul compilations, mostly imports, which can be hard to come by in the States. Other notable recordings include "What Have I Got," "I've Gotta Know Why," "My Judgement Day," "Gotta Draw the Line," and "My Young Misery," the follow-up to "The Pain Gets a Little Deeper."  

Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide

Since the above was written (some time ago) by Andrew Hamilton, Kent in UK have rectified the compilation situation with the release of 2 CDs:

Crossover Records 1975-79 LA Sessions in 2013
The Pain Gets A Little Deeper - The Complete Early Years 1965-71

There is also another released in 1995 by Belgium's Marginal - which is essentially a collection of 29 sides of his single releases:

What Is This

Discography A full (?) 45 discography courtesy of Dave Rimmer at ww.soulfulkindamusic.net.

Links to YouTube will open in a new page.

1966	The Pain Gets A Little Deeper	Groovy	3001	A
1966	My Judgement Day	Groovy	3001	B
1966	My Young Misery	Groovy	3004	A
1966	I Gotta Know Why	Groovy	3004	B
1966	Gotta Draw The Line	Groovy	3007	A
1966	I Gotta Know Why	Groovy	3007	B
1966	That Certain Little Something	Groovy	3009	A
1966	My Judgement Day	Groovy	3009	B
1966	What Have I Got Now	Jacklyn	1002	A
1966	Sitting There That Night	Jacklyn	1002	B
1967	Infatuation	Jacklyn	1003	A
1967	Little Girl	Jacklyn	1003	B
1967	What Good Am I Without You	Jacklyn	1006	A
1967	Little Girl	Jacklyn	1006	B
1968	The Way Of A Man	Revue	11008	A
1968	I Like The Way I Feel	Revue	11008	B
1968	Gonna Keep Loving You	Revue	11023	A
1968	We Can't Go On This Way	Revue	11023	B
1969	Those Hanging Heartaches	Revue	11035	A
1969	Sitting There That Night	Revue	11035	B
1970	I Think I'm Gonna Write A Song	Congress	6011	A
1970	Sitting There That Night	Congress	6011	B
1970	When Love Calls	Uni	55244	A
1970	Changing By The Minute	Uni	55244	B
1971	What Is This	Uni	55270	A
1971	Dolly Baby	Uni	55270	B
1971	Now Is The Time For Love (Part 1)	Genna	1002	A
1971	Now Is The Time For Love (Part 2)	Genna	1002	B
1975	Try Something New	Crossover	980	A
1975	It's No Mistake	Crossover	980	B
1976	We've Got To Get An Understanding	Crossover	983	A
1976	This Time I'll Be The Fool	Crossover	983	B
1978	Improve	Atco	7083	A
1978	Let's Get Together	Atco	7083	B
1979	Rising Cost Of Love	Atlantic	3600	A
1979	Honey, Can I	Atlantic	3600	B
2012	No Limit	Kent Select	CITY 024	A
2012	What Good Am I Without You	Kent Select	CITY 024	B
2018	(Love Is My) Secret Weapon	Kent Select	CITY 053	A
2018	How Can You Live Without Love	Kent Select	CITY 053	B
2019	(Love Is My) Secret Weapon	Kent	TOWN 173	A
2019	It's No Mistake	Kent	TOWN 173	A
2020	(What Are We Gonna Do About) This Mess	Kent Select	CITY 068	A
2020	Honey, Can I	Kent Select	CITY 068	B

Bonus Tracks

A previously unissued track taken from the recent Masterpieces Of Modern Soul compilation entitled
'Hope For Love'.

A few LP only tracks from Crossover Records 1975-79 LA Soul Sessions:
'Sunny'
'(And A) Love Song'
'Election Day'
'Fever'

Darrow appeared at the legendary Cleethorpes Weekender in June 2006.