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This was a one off project from this band on Kenny gambles label from Philadelphia. They were Formed in 1972 or 1973. Sadly the album did not bring them quite the success they had hoped for in the big leagues of the scene at that time with Funkadelic and Mandrill riding high.The band was disbanded when Dexter Wansel joined Gamble & Huff's creative staff at PIR, and Karl and Roland Chambers joined MFSB. The rest of the guys are giants on the jazz fusion scene. LP only release for years till the CD was released in Japan in 2010. Now on many wants lists.
AMM
The Tasters!
Line Up
Roland Chambers — guitar, producer Idress D. Young — bass Dexter Wansel — keyboards Ron Harding — electric saxophone Lester Young — congas, percussion Karl Chambers — drums, producer
I posted a full bio of garnet way back in May when i reviewed the Early years he had with the gainors on Jasmine records. This really is an essential collection for the discerning soul fan. The A and B sides of all 14 of the Philadelphia soul hero’s United Artists and Veep 45s. Many titles on CD for the first time. Incredibly, it’s been more than 50 years since Garnet Mimms served notice of his excellence with the astounding ‘Cry Baby’. It was a peerless way for the former Philadelphia doo wopper to announce his arrival, and it remains a high water mark in soul music history. Under the supervision of his mentor, songwriter/producer Jerry Ragovoy, Garnet spent most of the mid-60s delivering one stunning single after another, most a match for ‘Cry Baby’ in terms of soulfulness and all highly prized among collectors. He may never have been able to match ‘Cry Baby’ in terms of chart profile but, as you will hear in this collection, he consistently equalled it in terms of serious soulfulness. Their blend of superb material, impeccable arrangements, musicianship and production, and formidable gospel infused vocals is guaranteed to thrill in the 21st century as it did when ‘Cry Baby’ topped the R&B chart in 1963. This isn’t the first time Garnet’s work has appeared on CD as most of you know, but it’s the only occasion on which all his US singles have been assembled in one place. Kent also found room for ‘As Long As I Have You’, the title track of the second of his three United Artists albums, but inexplicably only ever released as a single in France ? Other than that, the 27 tracks issued across 14 US singles on United Artists and Veep show just why this great artist is still held in such high esteem by lovers of 60s soul particularly in the UK, where he toured 11 times between 1967 and 1973. Time has done nothing to erode the impact of ‘Cry Baby’ or the reputation it established for Garnet. It was not the first soul record but it did much to herald a new style that would dominate black American music for the remainder of the 1960s and beyond. I never trie of these great records and they never age..Stunning!
These tracks are from the US East Coast, taking in New York, Philadelphia, Detroit and Chicago. Names were all familiar with, featured artists range from famous names like The Ronettes, Patty
LaBelle & The Blue Belles, The Chantels, Erma Franklin and Shirley
Ellis to Brill Building Soul sisters like The Shirelles, The Exciters,
The Cookies, Little Eva & a strong Motown contingent of stars. Lots of Northern goodies included!
Since i started researching Saxie Russell etc i came across this guy via clips on youtube who completely blew me away!...Bobo Jenkins (January 7, 1916 – August 14, 1984) was an American Detroit based blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He also built and set up his own recording studio and record label in Detroit. Jenkins is best known for his recordings of "Democrat Blues" and "Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night" both included as bonus tracks. He was born John Pickens Jenkins in Forkland, Alabama, but when less than a year old his father, a sharecropper, died and Jenkins grew up with his mother and uncle. However, he left home before the age of 12, and arrived in Memphis, Tennessee. He had a wife at the age of 14, the first of ten marriages (he liked wedding cake then!...lol!). Jenkins took casual work in the Mississippi Delta for several years and then enrolled in the United States Army. Following his 1944 military discharge, he relocated to Detroit, working for Packard and managing a garage, before spending twenty seven years working for Chrysler. In the late 1940s Jenkins learned the guitar and starting writing songs. He penned the politically motivated "Democrat Blues" on US Election Day in 1952. Therein Jenkins expressed his disquiet about Dwight D. Eisenhower becoming the first Republican in the White House for almost twenty years. With assistance from John Lee Hooker, Jenkins recorded "Democrat Blues" in Chicago in 1954, which was released by Chess Records. A further issue appeared on Chicago's Boxer Records, and then "Ten Below Zero" (1957)
on Detroit's Fortune Records. In 1959 he set up his own record label,
Big Star Records, whose first release was Jenkin's single "You"ll Never
Understand" and "Tell Me Where You Stayed Last Night." He met and played alongside Sonny Boy Williamson II, before self-constructing his own
recording studio. He recorded mainly local musicians including James
"Little Daddy" Walton, Little Junior Cannady, Chubby Martin and Syl Foreman. Jenkins went on to promote the first Detroit Blues Festival in 1972,
and the same year issued his first album, The Life of Bobo Jenkins.
Conversely the LP became known as the "red album", due to the color of the
record sleeve, which included a photograph of a younger Jenkins (who, by
now,was 56 years old) within a star shape, to tie in with the Big Star
Records name. Jenkins was one of the headline acts in the Detroit blues
review part of the 1973 Ann Arbor Blues and Jazz Festival. Recordings from
the festival were released by Schoolkids Records in 1995, which included
two tracks by Jenkins. In 1974, Jenkins penned another song with
political overtones, "Watergate Blues," which appeared on his next album
"Here I Am a Fool in Love Again2. It boasted the same cover design as the previous
release, but with a change in color was alternatively dubbed the "green album". Session musicians used included Ann Arbor based artists such
as Sarah Brown, Fran Christina and Steve Nardella. In 1976 Jenkins performed at the Smithsonian Institution, as part of the celebrations marking the US Bicentennial."Detroit All Purpose Blues" was issued in 1977, his so-called "yellow
album", which utilised other Detroit based blues musicians such as Buddy
Folks and Willie D. Warren. In 1982, he went to Europe with the American
Living Blues Festival tour, but due to poor health he returned home
after his first concert. Bobo Jenkins died in Detroit after a long illness in August 1984, at the age of 68. As you all know the "D" is top of my soul cities and ive always known about it being a huge Blues centre over the years but never came across this guy till recently. Huge thanks go out to Xyros for providing these albums all of which will be posted in due course.
AMM & Bluesway
**********REQUEST**********
Review Courtesy Of Xyros
The Tasters!
13 Bonus - Democrat Blues -
Chess.mp3
14 Bonus - Tell me Where You
Stayed Last Night - Big Star.mp3
This 2 x CD set Features the first two compilation albums ever released
by the legendary Motown label plus 36 bonus tracks featuring the superb
Motown artists: Barrett Strong; The Miracles; Mary Wells and more. Also on offer here are many US chart hits from the likes
of: Marvin Gaye and The Supremes plus some of the earliest recordings
from such artists as: Martha Reeves; Stevie Wonder and once again The
Miracles. You cant go wrong with Motown and 56 tracks to boot! Again lots of Northern goodies and lots of bonus tracks!
This is a very rare album indeed as with most on the Guinness Label. She only recorded this one album and no 45,s of note. I heard 2 great tracks at Blackpool Mecca back in the 70,s and thought wow! that is some voice, "Never Would Say" & "do it any way you wanna"(Peoples Choice & was Posted) and they are still played out to this day by discerning jocks. Its so rare there are NO CLIPS ON YOUTUBE or anywhere else for that matter. She was mainly a backing singer for the likes of the great Bill Brandon,Millie Jackson,Brenda Lee,Johnny Cash, the list is quite long so she always had plenty of work. Nothing about her personal life at all i,m afraid. If you wanted to buy this LP only release you would have to pay £85-£120. Moxy tells me that Track 4 is duplicated with track 5 due to an error at the pressing plant.
I did a full bio of Dee when i posted the Constellation Masters a year ago here....https://music-is-the-colour.blogspot.com/2021/12/dee-clark-constellation-masters-1963.html.This is a great 31 track album with more rare tracks from those naughty guys in Belgium,
This album was a huge hit via the jazz/Funk Scene here in the UK, the tasters say it all! That scene really opened my ears to this most addictive genre as my number one Soul.A hugely successful guitarist and composer, Larry Carlton emerged from
the Los Angeles studio scene of the late '60s, To date nearly 40 studio
albums to his credit. Larry first came to prominence as a member of The Crusaders (11 albums recorded as a member) where I became aware of his talent . From there, he developed into an in-demand session player, recording on up to 500 albums a year and appearing on over 100 gold albums. His studio credits from the '70s and early '80s include work with musicians and groups like Steely Dan, Joni Mitchell, Michael Jackson, Sammy Davis, Jr., Herb Alpert, Quincy Jones, Bobby Bland, Dolly Parton, Linda Ronstadt, and literally dozens of others. Although he recorded a number of LPs under his own name as early as 1968, he didn't land a major-label contract until 1978, when he signed with Warner Bros. and began a long stretch of releasing his own albums. Along the way he also expanded into film and television work, and picked up his first of four Grammy Awards for his work on the Hill Street Blues theme. With over 30 of his own albums and a regular touring schedule, Carlton remains a well-respected, highly sought-after performer. He went on to form goup Fourplay.He is up there with Lee Ritenour and a great jazz fusion Guitarist and His albums defy the passage of time sounding as good now as back then.
To compliment the post a few days ago here,s a very interesting Docu about the man. Sir Doug & The Genuine Texas Cosmic Groove tells all about Doug . The music business seems to attract a lot of very colourful characters and Doug is no exception.Some of his music wont appeal to everybody, but the Docu is fascinating.
I had a few emails about this great record which happens to be my all time fave dancer on Eddie Thomas,s label from chicago who released 13 stunning 45,s apart from saxie,s gem The Amazers,Cash McCall,Jamo Thomas(Eddie,s brother) The Brooks brothers & mamie Galore...and the man behind the name,well his real name is Russell Taplin who was a member/session man mainly for gigs of the Bobo jenkins band (real name John Pickens Jenkins) out of chicago who cut a few discs with Boxer records who also recorded the great Mckinley Mitchell. The label was owned by john moore who,s business partner was a lady called Eva Russell....Bobo came from Detroit and was a blues singer/songwriter/guitarist as Russell "saxie" Taplin came from Chicago....What happened to saxie ? god only knows as i have spent hours researching his whereabouts and what happened to him ...Zilch sadly...I hope that answers your queries, thats all i humbly know.
AMM
Bobo Jenkins, Saxie russell, & Unknown drummer taken circa late 1950,s
The Vibrations are legends with soul lovers and the northern scene with so many great dancers and records under their belts. They hailed from Los Angeles, California, and active from the mid-1950s to 1976. Most notable among the group's hit singles were "My Girl Sloopy" (1964) and "Love in Them Thar Hills" (1968). The quintet's members included Don Bradley, Carl Fisher, Dave Govan, James Johnson and Ricky Owens. They underwent changes over the years and i think i have included photos of all the line ups. The group initially began recording as The Jay Hawks, and had a hit in 1956 with "Stranded in the Jungle" (US #18). After a few lineup changes, the group hit again in 1961 with the song "The Watusi" (US #25) concurrently, they had a hit under the name The Marathons with "Peanut Butter" (#20). It would require a full-length article to sort out the story of the Vibrations and their relationship to the Jayhawks, the Marathons, and the Olympics, but suffice it to say that this Los Angeles vocal group was at a nexus of musical activity in the '60s.The group recorded many Northern Soul classics since their initial hit on Atlantic Records in 1963. A cover version of "My Girl Sloopy", retitled "Hang On, Sloopy", was a hit for the McCoys in 1965. But it was at the Okeh label where they performed their strongest material in my humble opinion knocking out classic after classic. Studio wise they recorded 5 albums and 50+ 45,s. They should have met with greater success, as they were a fantastic group but stardom sadly never beckoned as with The Metros a similar story. it's interesting to hear a crack soul group adapt such unlikely material as Doris Day's "Secret Love" and the easy listening standard "Days of Wine and Roses." "Gonna Get Along Without You Now" is not the Patience and Prudence song, but borrows heavily from it, and "Canadian Sunset" is a vocal version of the instrumental tune (previously a hit for Andy Williams). Great Soul Hits has no liner notes or annotation and the sound quality is merely so so as with all marginal CD,s, but it contains a number of tracks that are not available elsewhere. The Vibrations briefly broke up in 1971. At this time, Owens became a member of The Temptations, although he was let go after his first few engagements. Owens and the other Vibrations regrouped and continued, eventually become a nightclub act in the mid 1970s, before officially dissolving the group in 1976. Again a group that should have been as big as the temptations as they had the quality but still enter AMM,s hal lof LEGENDS! ..Marginal missed out on "cause Your Mine" as its part of their dance history i,ve included it here. If you want to know what pure northern soul is get a load of these wonderful dancers,mind blowing!!!
As explained in the previous post this was carl,s first release on
his own private press.here he plays guitar on most tracks with a jazzy
feel and sings on a few ,one is a great accapella track. This guy really
can do it all,Soul,Funk,Jazz,Gospel,Accapella..Brilliant stuff! some amazing talent outta N.O....sorry
no tasters from this album available, but check out his other stuff...it shows how rare this gem is!
Carl Marshall hails from Independance just outside of New Orleans and his popularity has grown rapidly the last several years. But Carl’s actually given his all to the music world for over 30 years now. He grew up in the music streets of New Orleans, Louisiana with his guitar in a band called Sam & the Soul Machine. During the 7+ years he was with them members consisted of Aaron Neville (leave vocals) Sam Henry (keyboards) Gary Brown (sax) Richard Amos (bass) Cyril Neville (congas) Robert Bush (drums). This was His first recording on Amherst Records in 1976 LP only release. Under the name Soul Dog. In the early 90s Carl started his own label Gifft, and began issuing his own LPs of Funk, R & B, Blues, Gospel and Jazz. His first release was "This Gift" coming up next by request. He joined with Senator Jones’ Hep’ Me Records for one CD, “You Can’t Stop A Woman”, which spawned a regional hit with the title cut. This was followed up with a one album stint at Mardi Gras Records (“A Woman Want A Man, She Don’t Want No Punk”) in 2001. Carl went back to cutting albums for his Gifft (and later Unleashed) label, scoring “Southern Soul” market hits. During this period Carl also served as a radio personality at the Meridian, Mississippi Clear Channel station Kiss 104.1 (also a Gospel station, WYLD, in New Orleans.) In 2005 Carl released a song called “Good Lovin’ Will Make You Cry”. At first it was ignored, then gradually over the next couple years the song began to grow as the song began to connect with an audience. By mid 2006 it was one of the hottest songs in Southern Soul music. For over two years it was one of the most loved, played and known song in the genre. His producer credits include: Jean Knight, Guitar Slim Jr., The Love Doctor, David Brinston, Willie West, Jerry L, Rue Davis, Stan Mosley, Michelle Miller, Charles Wilson, Nellie Tiger Travis, Cicero Blake, TJ Hooker-Taylor, Captain Jack Watson, Chuck Roberson, Gregg A. Smith, Stephanie Pickett, Jim Bennett, Mister Zay, Bobbye Doll Johnson, Patrick Green and more.A very underated talent outside of the "Big Easy" Carl is well know for his stylish snazzy outfits. This is still a very rare album.
Maxine Brown was born in Kingstree South Carolina in 1939 and
first started singing during the long, balmy summer days alongside her
sister and an upstairs neighbour. The product of a turbulent marriage
The girls became quite accomplished as a three part harmony outfit but
Maxine’s sister wasn’t as interested in spending the summer singing so
the girls sought out a couple of other neighbours and before long the
newly formed quartet were performing Gospel standards in the local area
churches as The Angeleers. Due to their father’s violent outbursts
Maxine and her sister were removed from the family home and fled to New
York with their mother where they settled. Sadly Maxine’s mother passed
away at the tender age of 34 but she stayed in NY and continued her
education. On graduating High School, Maxine, now living in Queens,
enrolled at the Central Needle Traders which was then affiliated to the
Fashion Institute of Technology. As Maxine moved into her mid teenage years the church influences
solidified when Maxine was asked to join another Gospel group The
Royaltones which led to a move to Brooklyn, where the group spent the
late 50s performing their Gospel repertoire...But this is about her years at the Wand Label and much more information in the booklet about this iconic soul singer i rate as an uncrowned superstar. This album replaces the deleted “Oh No Not My Baby” CDKEND 949, first issued in 1990. That disc could have used as its subtitle but this time around Kent were stricter and re-released the 1961 and 1962 Nomar hits ‘All In My Mind’ and ‘Funny’, which were in a noticeably earlier style. However kent have been intentionally lax in including the ABC recording ‘Am I Falling In Love’. This is in order to represent Maxine’s first ever Wand release, which was surprisingly an album consisting mainly of ABC tracks that Scepter/Wand owner Florence Greenberg had bought from the major label when buying Maxine’s contract. Since the old CD was issued, Kent have used other previously unreleased Wand tracks, dotted about on several Various Artists CDs but they gathered them together for inclusion here. The main Kent package since “Oh No Not My Baby” was 2000’s “Spotlight On / Greatest Hits” (CDKEND 187) which featured all the tracks from the “Spotlight On” LP but only some of the “Greatest Hits” LP, as those two Nomar hits were included on the vinyl version but, as they were not Wand, are not on the CD. It is impossible to deliver the best of Wand without also including several of the “Spotlight On” tracks and there are seven of those twelve tracks duplicated here. Kent have used the mono versions of the songs, as opposed to the stereo of “Spotlight” to offer Kent collectors the chance to hear the songs how they were, in most cases, issued in the 60s in their true glory. Sticking with the Kent history theme (so that you know what you’re getting here), like the original “Oh No” CD, they included several tracks that we originally discovered in the Wand vaults in the mid-80s and debuted on the LP “Like Never Before” (Kent LP 047). In order to give the collector good value, three of those waxings were included on the “Spotlight” CD but they have revived another eight of them on here. Fortunately further research into their mid-80s Wand trawl has revealed several more excellent recordings to give the great Kent public a “must have” CD for their collections. The two of interest to all soul fans will be those that Maxine cut with Otis Redding producing at Fame Studios in Muscle Shoals, Alabama. They put the more obvious ‘Baby Cakes’ and ‘Slipping Through My Fingers’ out on “Like Never Before”; the former is here, the latter on “Spotlight”. Kent had confused ‘If I Had Known’ with the similarly-titled ABC recording, ‘If I Knew Then’, which is actually a line in this song’s lyrics and as for ‘That’s All I Want From You’, put it down to human error. Though not as obviously southern as the first two Otis tracks kent released, these are well worthy of inclusion and the quotes from Maxine on the sessions and Otis’ subsequent death are revealing. Maxine kindly granted kent a two hour phone interview about some of the specifics on this CD and her thoughts and stories helped them fill in more details of her illustrious career and to the ways of Scepter/Wand in the 60s. She also provided some splendid shots of herself, looking as fabulous as ever, to go with the several exclusives they had already sourced. Other notable bonuses for Maxine’s many Kent fans are a noticeably alternative vocal on the Ashford, Simpson, Armstead dancer ‘I Want A Guarantee’ and, for the first time on any CD, the correct version of ‘Let Me Give You My Lovin’’ is used. There’s another treat for lovers of the uptown, uptempo style and that is the previously unissued ‘Why Did I Chose You’ another dancefloor hit from the great lady. They even feature three of the very best Wand 45s sides, unavailable elsewhere, on here: ‘You’re In Love’, ‘Put Yourself In My Place’ and ‘The Secret Of Living’. You need this CD even if you’ve got the other two and Maxine Brown is magnificent and reinforces my statement that she is one of the greatest soul singers ever!
This was Phyllis St James (Yvonne Williams) only album under that name. Phyllis St. James is an accomplished singer, songwriter and percussionist now based in Los Angeles. After a very acrimonious divorece from Jerry (Swamp Dogg) Williams she changed her professional name. She had penned songs for a wide range of artists during the '80's. These include Norman Connors on his 'Take It To The Limit' album, Jean Carne on her 'Mystic Stranger' outing along with 'Bet Your Lucky Star', Rodney Franklin on his 'You'll Never Know' album, 'Parkay Man', 'Endless Flight' and 'Return To The Source', and The Jones Girls on their 'The World Will Sing Our Song' set. As a solo singer Phyllis signed to Motown in 1984 where she recorded this one album. Phyllis has, additionally, sung background vocals for various artists including Rodney Franklin, singing the lead on 'Windy City', Randy Crawford, Teddy Pendergrass, Gerald Albright and Atlantic Starr.She has also sung with several rock artists including Pink Floyd (on their 1987 album 'A Momentary Lapse Of Reason') and Paul Young (on his 'Other Voices' set) as well as writing films scores and songs for TV & Movies. One very talented lady indeed and she could bang out a tune or two!
I thought it was about time we had some Blues albums posted as i do tend to ignore this great genre....Queen Bee & the Blue Hornet Band were a popular band from State College Pennsylvania in philly Playing a mixture of blues styles with a touch of soul, they were a stalwart of the Penn State music scene for much of the 80's and 90's, though their popularity was much further reaching. Started in 1985, the band was comprised of core members Tonya Browne (lead singer), Mark Ross (lead guitar) and Jack Wilkinson (drums), along with a varied complement of capable players (such as bassist Rene' Witzke and saxophonist Terry Owen). The band played a mixture of blues standards and their own originals, becoming well known in blues circles for Ross's guitar prowess and Browne's husky, powerful vocals. The band released 6 albums, and were nominated for a Blues Grammy in 1993 for Dealin' the Blues. They have toured all over the world playing their brand of blues. The band has opened for and played with some of blues' greats,besides
opening for B.B. King, Queen Bee and the Blue Hornet Band has shared
stages with Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown, Buddy Guy, The Holmes Brothers
Band and even played two sets with Eric Clapton's guitar hero, Otis
Rush. Check out their albums apart from this tribute as they are superb! Sorry no tasters on youtube from this album but feel free to check out their tracks that are available..Take my word it is Awesome and will appeal to soul fans alike!
Here,s an unusual group who have sold records to all genres of fans,Blues,Soul,Northern Soul,Country,Rock. This album deals mainly with their dance inspired output from the Tribe label where they backed up many soul acts from that imprint and out on tour.The Sir Douglas Quintet burst on to the music scene in 1965 in San Antonio,Texas with their breakthrough hit ‘She's About A Mover’, presenting themselves supposedly as knighted British gentry hence their name. It was a ploy that only lasted a nano-second or two as their infectious brand of laid back Texan Blues/Soul/Rock told a very different story. Fronted by Doug Sahm's bluesy vocals (The leader of the band born in 1941) and Augie Meyers' distinctive reedy Hammond organ, their sound was instantly recognisable, When their career was established (subsequent to working with Texas record producer Huey Meaux known to most soul fans), the band relocated to San Francisco. despite ever-changing group personnel. Over their long career they issued many albums(24 studio) on a bewildering number of labels, with this one coming from the Tribe label. Despite this jumping around, they tended to rely on their proven and popular material, keeping audiences very happy along the way.They were popular over here in the UK back in the day with the Mod,Northern,& Blues fans ever eagerly snapping up their albums and 45,s. Their most active years were from 1964 to 1973 after which the band disbanded with Sahm And Meyers continuing to perform and record up till Sahms death in 1999...This reminds me of my old mod days!
As the good doctor - Dr John - says in his autobiography: "I feel real blessed to have been around AFO, because they were putting down so much of the new and fascinating music that was coming out of New Orleans at the time. I was on the inside with this new funk style from the beginning. "'Still Spicy Gumbo Stew' is Volume 3 in the Ace story of AFO Records, the crucial New Orleans' record label. As the titles have it, the first course was 'Gumbo Stew' (CDCHD 450), the second 'More Gumbo Stew' (CDCHD 462) and this time around the dish is Still Spicy! There's Dr John with The Point, Eddie Bo with his Check Mr Popeye, the mighty fine Alvin Robinson (he of Down Home Girl - covered by The Rolling Stones), Willie Tee, Tami Lynn and the late piano great James Booker with his End Of A Dream previously unreleased . The Tick Tocks in demander is here and not on youtube its that rare!..As is Alvin Robinsons killer in the tasters! So many northern killers here!The stew this time is a littler jazzier but from the same great pot that was AFO - one of the finest of the early '60s New Orleans' R&B organisations.
Got a request for this now very rare album from San Franciscan Yvonne Williams the Ex wife of Jerry (Swamp Dogg) Williams.Although it has a very 80,s feel to it the vocals are superb.She only recorded 2 solo studio albums under this name and another under Phyllis St James on Motown which i have lined up to post in the near future. I sold my original CD years ago for some reason ? but had the sense to rip an mp3 copy as i tended to do years ago when i sold anything. Its an album that gets under your skin when played out. Beautiful sweet soul !
There could be no finer introduction to one of New Orleans R&B's finest labels - AFO - than Gumbo Stew. This CD features classic material from Willie Tee, Barbara George, Tami Lyn, Alvin Robinson, Prince La La, Eddie Bo and, of course, Dr John. AFO (an abbreviation of 'All For One') was formed in New Orleans in 1961 by ex-Specialty A&R man Harold Battiste and fellow musicians - or executives - Melvin Lastie, Alvin 'Red' Tyler, Roy Montrell, Peter 'Chuck' Badie, and John Boudreaux. As hit-making session men they had seen a constant stream of white independent record owners pillage the talent that abounded in New Orleans. They hit the charts almost immediately with Barbara George and I Know (You Don't Love Me No More), which reached No 3 in the national pop charts in that very first year. However, chart activity was short-lived. Juggy Murray spirited Barbara away to Sue Records. AFO continued to release class records by young artists like Dr John and Eddie Bo, but in 1963 Harold Battiste moved to the West Coast where he went on to produce Sonny & Cher's I Got You Babe and Dr John's Gris Gris album. Compiled by John Broven (author of the classic book on New Orleans R&B Walking To New Orleans), Gumbo Stew is a long overdue in-depth look at one of New Orleans' finest little labels. An essential label for any collector from N.O. Many great dancers included!
