R.I.P. - J.J. Barnes Born 1943 - Passed December 2022 - Tribute To A Legend! - The Groovesville Masters 2 x CD (1998) Goldmine (MP3) HQ + Bonus Tracks

I had to do this today regardless how i feel to show the man the love we had for him..Its with great sadness another great Detroit Soul Legend has passed away a few days ago. To say the influence this man had on soul music,collectors,& the northern scene is incomparable ! Yet only 4 studio albums (3 in the UK), 9 compilations, and 50 odd 45,s released highlights the pure quality of the mans output is beyond belief! In my book he was one of the greatest american Soul singer/songwriters to walk this planet.Virtually unknown in the United States, clocking up only three minor Billboard R&B hits, but whose recordings achieved more lasting recognition in the United Kingdom where they helped define the early Northern Soul sound,so much so that he has been called The King of Northern Soul (but there are many contenders) Born James Jay Barnes, in Detroit, Michigan on 30th November 1943, and brought op in the notorious Black Bottom area of detroit which was a predominantly black neighborhood., in his teens he attended North Western High School  and sang in two local groups; the first the Halo Singers sang Gospel, the second the Five Seniors sang Doo-Wop. Overheard by his postman Fred Brown who just happened to have his own record label he was offered a recording deal. It was therefore at the age of 17 that J.J, released his first single, "My Love Came Tumbling Down" for Kable Records. Produced by Don Davies and featured backing vocals by( the Del-Phi,s who would go onto change their name to Martha & The Vandellas). the record achieved national distribution via Rich Records but failed to chart. Kable released a number of further singles by J.J. on its Mickay lable Just One More Time did well enough to be picked up by Scepter Records but the sales never amounted to much. J.J. had one release through Ring Records in 1964, "Poor Unfortunate Me", before returning to the Mickay lable for what proved to be the last time in 1965 for "Lonely No More" Kable Records ceased trading and J.J. ended back on the Chrysler Motors assembly line but not for long, as he was soon back recording for a new Detroit label named Ric Tic along with Golden World owned by Ed Wingate plus his namesake label. His first release was "Please Let Me In" in 1965 was promising, but its successor "Real Humdinger" gave J.J. his first taste of success, hitting number 20 on the R&B chart and number 60 on the pop chart. A George Clinton produced version of the Beatles' "Day Tripper" which achieved some success in the United Kingdom where it was issued by Polydor. Unfortunately for J.J. (as it turned out) there was another record label in Detroit, owned by one Berry Gordy Jnr that didn't like the competition, and eliminated it by the simple expedient of buying it up. The Ric Tic/Golden World empire was acquired by Motown Records and with it J.J. Barnes's contract. Despite recording a great deal of material for Motown, nothing was ever released. The tale is that J.J. sounded too much like Marvin Gaye (and he does), and there already was one Marvin Gaye at Motown, and he'd married the owner's daughter and didn't like the competition, so J.J.s career hit a dead end . He co-wrote a couple of songs that were recorded by other Motown artists , but that was as much exposure as he got, so he asked for and obtained a release from his contract, frustrated no doubt at having almost but not quite making it. he was quoted as saying "I got the hell out as soon as I could!...Meanwhile in Detroit, producer Don Davis set up a company named Solid Hitbound Productions with Lebaron Taylor which was to release material on the Groovesville and Revilot labels. Freed from his obligations to Motown, J.J. joined up with his old friend and released "Baby Please Come Back Home" in 1967 which made number 9 on the Billboard R&B chart, which, it has to be said, was the closest that J.J. Barnes ever really got to any kind of real commercial success in the country of his birth. Its successor, "Now That I Got You Back" only made number 44 and the third release, "Sweet Sherry" by some strange aberration of fate, failed to sell at all ? (one of my dave tracks). In the end, tired of competing for attention with the might of Motown, Don Davies decided he'd had enough , and went south with the master tapes to Memphis. Lebaron Taylor struggled on single handed, issuing material on the Revilot label including "Our Love (Is In The Pocket)" for J.J. 2 years after Darrell Banks Issue before going out of business. Don Davis went to Memphis for a purpose, he had a job working as a staff producer for Al Bell,s Stax Records. Without a record deal in Detroit, J.J. followed the trail to Memphis but the end result wasn't particularly successful with only the one single "Got To Get Rid of You" being released on the Volt label. However the Don Davis association with Stax did result in the repackaging and release of some previous Groovesville material on the Rare Stamps album. This album featured five tracks by J.J. on one side 11 with other side featuring fellow Groovesville artist Steve Mancha. Rare Stamps might not have threatened the charts but it did bring J.J. wider exposure, particularly in the United Kingdom. His hardest to locate 45 was in 1974 on the tiny Invasion label outta detroit, you,d need a mortgage to buy it!..This guys influence on me as a soul loving person has been immense over the years,i saw fim perform 4 times and he always came through with clasic after classic. I regard him and Edwin Starr as perhaps my fave artists from the "D"..Lets hope their both dueting somewhere !..I feel the way i felt when i heard Marvin,Wommack,& Edwin passed away...Gutted... but his music lives on and we shall never forget ANY OF THEM!....+ Essential Bonus Tracks listed under back cover. I choose this album and bonus tracks as i consider them to be his best songs. I have everything available by him so any requests fire away.

AMM

                                                                        The Tasters !

Bonus Tracks

Ric Tic - 110 (A) - JJ Barnes - Real Humdinger

Ric Tic - 115 (A) - JJ Barnes - Day Tripper

Ric Tic - 115 (B) - JJ Barnes - Don't Bring Me Bad News