Ready Steady Soul

07/18/2024

The Velvelettes were an American singing girl group, signed to Motown in the 1960s. Their biggest chart success occurred in 1964, when Norman Whitfield produced "Needle in a Haystack", which peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100, and number 27 in Canada.

Early years and establishment

The group was founded in 1961 by Bertha Barbee-McNeal (June 12, 1940 – December 15, 2022)[3] and Mildred Gill Arbor, students at Western Michigan University. Mildred recruited her younger sister Carolyn (also known as Cal or Caldin), who was in 9th grade, and Cal's friend Betty Kelley, a junior in high school. Bertha recruited her cousin Norma Barbee, a freshman at Flint Junior College. Cal was chosen as the group's lead singer.

A classmate at Western Michigan University, Robert Bullock, was Berry Gordy's nephew, and he encouraged the group to audition for Motown. The group signed to Motown in late 1962 and started recording in January 1963. They recorded at the Hitsville USA studio and "There He Goes" and "That's The Reason Why", produced by William Stevenson, was released as a single via the IPG Records label (Independent Producers Group). The recordings included a young Stevie Wonder playing harmonica. While the group awaited their chance at stardom, they recorded for many producers, some of which were re-recorded by other artists including fellow labelmates Martha and the Vandellas and The Supremes.

The Velvelettes got their break chartwise in the spring of 1964 thanks to young producer Norman Whitfield, who produced "Needle in a Haystack" as a single for the group, on Motown's VIP Records imprint. "Needle in a Haystack" peaked at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100 in mid 1964. The group recorded its follow-up, "He Was Really Sayin' Somethin'", with Whitfield again producing, and spent time on various Motown-sponsored tours as a support act. In September 1964, Betty Kelley officially left the group to join Martha and the Vandellas, and the quintet became a quartet.

The Velvelettes continued performing, with various members leaving and rejoining, as family matters dictated. By 1967, Gill, Norma and Bertha Barbee-McNeal had decided to devote all of their time to raising their families. Cal recruited two new members for concert performances: future Vandella Sandra Tilley (who was introduced by her friend Abdul Fakir of The Four Tops), and Annette McMillan.

With a song on the charts and a place on several concert tours, an album project was started using songs already recorded. However, with the growing success of other Motown groups such as The Supremes, Motown's attention was diverted and the project was left unfinished. The LP was scheduled for release on Motown's V.I.P. label, as V.I.P 401.

Motown released two additional singles, "Lonely Lonely Girl Am I" and "A Bird in the Hand" on their V.I.P. imprint. Both singles did not reach the same chart levels as their predecessors. The Velvelettes continued to record new material until September 1967, with the Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson song "Bring Back The Sunshine", which was retitled "Dark Side of the World" when Diana Ross later released a version of the song. The final Velvelettes single release (after an internal label change to Motown's Soul subsidiary) was "These Things Will Keep Me Loving You", which made number 43 on the US R&B Charts. Carolyn Gill began dating Richard Street, lead singer of The Monitors, who later joined The Temptations. Sandra Tilley joined Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, replacing Rosalind Ashford. Gill married Street in November 1969 and he dissuaded her from continuing with the Velvelettes (preferring that his wife care for the home) so Gill decided to break up the group and it disbanded. Tilley retired from show business in the late 1970s, got married, and died in 1983 from a brain aneurysm.

07/18/2024

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, t...

07/18/2024

"Show Me" is a title track of the 1967 album by Joe Tex, who also wrote the song. The single was Joe Tex's fourteenth release to make the US R&B chart. "Show Me" went to #24 on the R&B chart and #35 on the Hot 100.

Covers:

In 1967, Checkmates, Ltd. released a version of the song on their debut album, Live! At Caesar's Palace.

In 1969, The Foundations covered the song which appears on their album From the Foundations.

In 1969, Lulu recorded a cover that was included in her Lulu's Album release.

In 1972, Barbara Mandrell recorded the song for her album The Midnight Oil. Her version peaked at #11 on the Hot Country Singles chart

07/18/2024

Classic northern Soul sound

07/18/2024

Dorothy Berry is an especially interesting singer, having recorded a string of excellent singles (under her own name, with Jimmy Norman, as part of Dorothy, Oma and Zelpha, and with the African Bag All Stars – between 1962 and the early 70s, and because she was for a time, Mrs Richard ‘Louie Louie’ Berry.

‘Shindig City’ is a as booming, fast moving and danceable a soul 45 as was ever made in the classic era, and oddly enough you can thank future Bread-man David Gates for that.

For those in the know, Gates is much more than Bread, having left behind a very long (and very good) string of records in rock, soul, rockabilly, and pop for a string of labels as writer, producer, arranger and performer from the late 50s right on up to the formation of Bread in the late 60s.
He was – like Leon Russell and JJ Cale, both of whom he worked with – part of the Oklahoma expat music scene in LA.

Gates wrote, produced and arranged ‘Shindig City’, as well as almost everything else recorded for the short-lived Dot Records subsidiary Planetary in 1964 and 1965, including both of Berry’s 45s for the label.

‘Shindig City’ – which has a fair amount of popularity on the Northern scene, like many Northern Soul faves starts with the Motown sound as a template, but takes it in a more muscular, Wall of Sound direction, seemingly testing the limits of magnetic tape to see exactly how much sound it can contain.

The drums are thundering, the horn section (specifically the trombones) creating waves of sound and Berry’s wailing vocal abetted by a female chorus.

It’s one of those records that verily drags people out of their seats and onto the dance floor, and sounds amazing coming out of a big sound system.
Though in a sane world ‘Shindig City’ should have been a big hit, it only had a brief period of regional success (in New England) in May of 1965.

Dorothy and Richard Berry (who sings backup on the flipside of this 45) would divorce in the late 60s, and she would go on to join the Ray Charles R***e as a Raelette, a job she would hold into the early 80s.

Above from this page: https://funky16corners.com/?p=6982

07/18/2024

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, t...

07/16/2024

Frank Edward Wilson (December 5, 1940 – September 27, 2012) was an American songwriter, singer and record producer for Motown Records.

Biography

In 1963, Berry Gordy asked the producers Hal Davis and Marc Gordon to set up an office of Motown in Los Angeles. Wilson accepted an offer to join the team. In December 1963, "Stevie" by Patrice Holloway (V.I.P. 25001) was the first single released from the West Coast operation and featured Wilson in the songwriting credits. Asked by Gordy to re-locate to Detroit, Wilson went on to write and produce hit records for Brenda Holloway, Marvin Gaye, the Supremes, the Miracles, the Four Tops, the Temptations, Eddie Kendricks, and more. He became particularly important after Holland-Dozier-Holland left the company. Additionally, after leaving Motown, Wilson produced a gold disc earning album by Lenny Williams, former lead singer for Tower of Power, Marilyn McCoo & Billy Davis Jr., former members of the Fifth Dimension, Alton McClain & Destiny, New Birth and the Grammy nominated album, Motown Comes Home.

He also launched his own publishing firms, Traco Music and Specolite Music, Ascap and BMI companies. During the next four years, Wilson recorded, released and published more than 40 copyrighted compositions, including, "It Must Be Love", by Judy Wieder & John Footman, "Stares and Whispers" by Terry McFadden and John Footman, "Star Love" by Judy Wieder and John Footman, and "You Got Me Running" by Judy Wieder and Clay Drayton. Earlier, Wilson had also tried his hand at being a recording artist himself, recording the single "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" for release on the Motown subsidiary label 'Soul.' Supposedly 250 demo 45s were pressed, but by that time Wilson decided he would rather focus on producing and he had the demos trashed. Somehow at least two known copies survived, one of which fetched over £25,000 in May 2009

07/16/2024

The full story of Do I Love You (Indeed I do) - Frank Wilson by Andy Rix. The definitive story of this iconic northern soul motown anthem

07/16/2024

Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the English Midlands in the late 1960s from the British mod scene, based on ...

07/15/2024

"Working in the Coal Mine" is a song with music and lyrics by the American musician and record producer Allen Toussaint. It was an international hit for Lee Dorsey in 1966, and has been recorded by other musicians including Devo in 1981.

Lee Dorsey original version

After Toussaint returned to New Orleans from the U.S. Army, in which he served from 1963 to 1965, he formed a production company, Sansu (also known as "Tou-Sea Productions"), with partner Marshall Sehorn. He produced a number of singles performed by Lee Dorsey in 1965 and 1966, including "Ride Your Pony" and "Working in the Coal Mine".

Written, arranged and produced by Toussaint, the song concerns the suffering of a man who rises before 5 o'clock each morning in order to work in a coal mine, five days a week, where the conditions are very harsh and dangerous, but which offers the only prospect of paid employment. The singer repeatedly asks the Lord, "How long can this go on?" and complains that when the weekend arrives, he's too exhausted to have any fun. In the instrumental section, as in the song's fade, he says: "Lord, I'm so tired / How long can this go on?" The song features the sound of a pickaxe clinking, as if the musicians were working in a mine. Says producer Allen Toussaint "There wasn’t as much percussion as you might think on there. It was a certain drummer and we had my brother hit the mic' stand with a drum stick for the pick sound. Those were the two percussion instruments."

The recording took place at Cosimo Matassa's Governor Nichols Street studio in the French Quarter of New Orleans. Musicians included guitarist Roy Montrell, drummer Albert "June" Gardner, and bassist Walter Payton.

It was a hit for Lee Dorsey, released on Amy Records (catalogue number 958), and entered the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 on July 23, 1966, eventually peaking at #8, while reaching #5 on the Billboard R&B chart. It also reached #8 on the UK Singles Chart.

Toussaint said that neither he nor Dorsey had ever been down a coal mine: "We didn’t know anything about a coal mine". He said of Dorsey:

"He was very good to work with. Very inspiring because he had such a happiness about him. He loved what he was doing when he was singing. He was a body and fender man when he wasn’t singing and even at his peak, when he would come off the road at the end of a successful tour, he would go and get into his grease clothes, his dirty work gear and go and work on cars. Straightening out fenders and painting bodywork. But really it was his finest hour when he was singing. He was a very good person for me to work with and he totally trusted me every step of the way."

07/15/2024

Lee Dorsey (December 24, 1924 December 1, 1986) was an Afro-American pop/R&B singer during the 1960s. Much of his work was produced by Allen Toussaint with i...

07/15/2024

07/15/2024

Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1972.

Luther Thomas Ingram was born in Jackson, Tennessee on November 30, 1937. His family moved to Alton, Illinois in 1947. Ingram's early interest in music led to formation of a gospel group, the Alton Crusaders, which included his brothers Archie and Richard. They eventually began singing doo-wop, and accompanied by bandleader Ike Turner, they recorded as the Gardenias for Federal Records in 1956.

In 1965, Ingram recorded his first solo record. His first three recordings failed to chart but that changed when he signed for KoKo Records in the late 1960s, and his first hit "My Honey And Me" peaked at #55 on the Billboard Hot 100 on 14 February 1970. Many of his songs appeared in the pop and R&B charts, even though Koko was only a small label, owned by his manager and record producer, Johnny Baylor. Koko and Baylor were closely associated with the Memphis based Stax Records label during the height of its commercial success.

Ingram is best known for the hit, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", written by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson. The song reached number one on Billboard's R&B chart and peaked at number three on that publication's Hot 100 chart in the summer of 1972. The track stayed in the Hot 100 for 18 weeks, ultimately selling a reported four million copies. The song was later successfully covered by Millie Jackson, David Ruffin, and Barbara Mandrell; it has also been recorded by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Rod Stewart and Isaac Hayes.

Other popular tracks for Ingram included "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)", "Let's Steal Away to the Hideaway" and "I'll Be Your Shelter (In Time of Storm)". He also co-authored "Respect Yourself", a million seller for the Staple Singers, on the Stax label, in 1971. The acetate demo version of Ingram's, "Exus Trek" (an instrumental backing-track released 1966 as the B-side of HIB Records #698), became a sought after Northern soul track. With the Stax connections, Ingram recorded at the Memphis label's studios, as well as other southern-based studios such as Muscle Shoals. Ingram was opening act for Isaac Hayes for some years, and often used Hayes' Movement band and female backing group for his 1970s recordings. He recorded into the 1980s and performed in concert until his health began declining in the mid-1990s.

07/15/2024

Copyright Disclaimer Under Section 107 of the Copyright Act 1976, allowance is made for "fair use" for purposes such as criticism, comment, news reporting, t...

07/03/2024

The Soul Survivors first played together in New York under the name The Dedications, founded by Kenny Jeremiah, who released several singles under this name in 1962 and 1964. They adopted the name Soul Survivors in 1965. They signed to Philadelphia label Crimson Records, who put them in touch with Gamble & Huff. "Expressway to Your Heart" was a #1 hit regionally in Philadelphia and New York in the fall of 1967, and the tune reached #4 on the Billboard Hot 100 nationally. "Expressway to Your Heart" spent 15 weeks in the charts and sold over one million copies.

The follow-up was "Explosion in Your Soul", which was not as successful (U.S. #33); a third release, "Impossible Mission", also was a minor hit in 1969 (U.S. #68). They quit playing for a few years, but re-formed with a different lineup in 1972. They had one more hit, "City of Brotherly Love" in 1974. In the 1970s, the group lost its record contract and its manager and eventually disbanded. Charlie Ingui became a landscaper, Richie Ingui became a house painter, Paul Venturini became a restaurateur, and drummer Joe Forgione owned an auto body shop. At that time, Steely Dan noted in their song "Hey Nineteen": "It's hard times befallen the Soul Survivors".

In 1987, the Inqui brothers began playing occasional gigs as the original Soul Survivors and signed a five-record contract in 1991 with Society Hill Records. As of 2006, they were playing occasional dates in the Eastern United States. Chuck Trois also went on to release a solo 45 rpm single on A&M Records in August 1969, with "Mr. Holmes" on one side, and "A National Band" on the other.

Paul Venturini (b. June 10, 1945) died on April 17, 2001. Richie Ingui died of heart failure on January 13, 2017, at the age of 70. Jeremiah died of COVID-19 on December 4, 2020, at age 78

The song reached No.3 on the R&B chart and No.4 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1967, and was ranked No.18 on Billboard magazine's Top Hot 100 songs of 1967

This was the first hit record written and produced by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who helped create the Philadelphia Soul sound with songs like "If You Don't Know Me By Now" and "TSOP (The Sound of Philadelphia)," which were released on their Philadelphia International label. Gamble and Huff are from Camden, New Jersey, which is just east of Philadelphia, and often took the Schuylkill Expressway, which is the "Expressway To Your Heart."

Gamble wrote the lyrics, and he explained to National Public Radio: "I was on my way over to see a young lady, and the expressway was backed up. This is when they just started the expressway in 1967 - I was sitting there for what seemed like hours, so I started beating on the dashboard and singing, 'Expressway to your heart, trying to get to you.' Songs come from your imagination. You have to be quick to capture the moment."
This song starts with the sound of car horns, which came from records containing sound effects. The horns were inspired by the Lovin' Spoonful song "Summer In The City," which also used the effect.

07/03/2024

Provided to YouTube by The Orchard EnterprisesExpressway (To Your Heart) · The Soul SurvivorsWhen the Whistle Blows Anything Goes℗ 2019 Oldies.comReleased on...

07/03/2024

Provided to YouTube by Phoenix Music International LtdThe Champ (Original Version) · The MohawksThe Champ℗ 1968 Pama RecordsReleased on: 1968-05-01Producer: ...

07/03/2024

"The Champ" is a song by The Mohawks, a group of session musicians assembled by Alan Hawkshaw. It was originally released in 1968 but failed to chart. However, a re-release made #58 on the UK Singles Chart in 1987 after being sampled many times. The song is based on "Tramp", a 1967 Lowell Fulson record that was covered extensively after its release. The song chants the word "Tramp" rather than "Champ".

The song is perhaps better known for its usage as a sample in over 700+ songs; it has been widely sampled and emulated (but not exclusively) in hip hop music. Songs to have sampled or interpolated it include:

07/02/2024

The band: Steve „The Colonel“ Cropper (g), Donald „Duck“ Dunn (b), Al Jackson, Jr. (dr), Booker T. Jones (org), Memphis Horns00:00 Otis Redding: Shake02:58 B...

06/21/2024

Four Tops "Reach Out I'll Be There" performed on "The Ed Sullivan Show" on October 16, 1966. Subscribe now to never miss an update: https://ume.lnk.to/EdSull...

06/21/2024

"Reach Out I'll Be There" (also formatted as "Reach Out (I'll Be There)") is a song recorded by American vocal quartet Four Tops from their fourth studio album, Reach Out (1967). Written and produced by Motown's main production team, Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song is one of the most widely-known Motown hits of the 1960s and is today considered the Four Tops' signature song.
It was the number one song on the Rhythm & Blues chart for two weeks and on the Billboard Hot 100 for two weeks, in October 15–22, 1966. The track also reached number one in the UK Singles Chart, becoming Motown's second UK chart-topper after The Supremes' 1964 release "Baby Love". It reached number one on October 27, 1966, and stayed there for three weeks.
Rolling Stone later ranked “Reach Out” number 206 on its list of "The 500 Greatest Songs of All Time". Billboard ranked the record as the number four song for 1966. In 2022, the single was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry.
In 1966, Holland, Dozier and Holland were writing new songs for the Four Tops to record for an album. Lamont Dozier said that he wanted to write "a journey of emotions with sustained tension, like a bolero. To get this across, I alternated the keys, from a minor, Russian feel in the verse to a major, gospel feel in the chorus." He developed the lyrics with Eddie Holland, aiming for them to sound "as though they were being thrown down vocally." Dozier said that they were strongly influenced by Bob Dylan at the time, commenting: "We wanted Levi [Stubbs] to shout-sing the lyrics... as a shout-out to Dylan."
For the recording, the writers and producers intentionally put Levi Stubbs at the top of his vocal range, according to Abdul Fakir of the Four Tops, "to make sure he'd have that cry and hunger and wailing in his voice." Arranger Paul Riser overdubbed instruments including a piccolo and flute in the intro, and a drum pattern made by using timpani mallets on a tambourine head. After the recording was completed and on hearing the final version, the group begged Berry Gordy not to release it; according to Fakir, "for us, the song felt a little odd." However, Gordy insisted that it be issued as a single.
Lead singer Levi Stubbs delivers many of the lines in the song in a tone that some suggest straddles the line between singing and shouting, as he did in the 1965 hit, "I Can't Help Myself (Sugar Pie Honey Bunch)". AllMusic critic Ed Hogan praises Stubbs' vocal as well as the song's "rock-solid groove" and "dramatic, semi-operatic tension and release." Critic Martin Charles Strong calls the song "a soul symphony of epic proportions that remains [the Four Tops'] signature tune."
In 2014, interviewed by The Guardian, Four Tops singer Duke Fakir said:
Eddie realized that when Levi hit the top of his vocal range, it sounded like someone hurting, so he made him sing right up there. Levi complained, but we knew he loved it. Every time they thought he was at the top, he would reach a little further until you could hear the tears in his voice. The line "Just look over your shoulder" was something he threw in spontaneously. Levi was creative like that; he could always add something from the heart.