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Joe's personal account in this edition of The Detroit Files encompasses decades of music - from honing his piano skills with a jazz maestro in the military during the 1940s to touring with Hank Ballard & The Midnighters in the fifties, then helping Berry Gordy build the foundations of Motown, working with Mike Hanks and going on to create a rich legacy of superb Soul during the sixties. Dont confuse him with Ivy Jo Hunter different guy.
Sunday Review - The Detroit Interviews 4 - The Mike Hanks Story (2024) 56 Minutes
Mike Hanks was a true pioneer of R'n'B is remembered by his wife, Gracie, and some of the people, such as Johnnie Mae Matthews and Joe Hunter, who worked with him. Mike's career took in the birth of Soul in the late 50s as well as Detroit's heyday as a recording center.
Born in 1938 & passed in 2012 Etta was a true soul lagend. Etta was discovered as a teenager by Johnny Otis, with her first hit in 1955. She recorded for Modern & Kent Records for the remainder of the 1950's. She signed with Chess in 1960, recording with them until 1976. From 1965 to the mid 1970's she battled heroin addiction, as did Esther Phillips , Billie Holiday & so many more sadly.... In 1978 she recorded the Jerry Wexler produced "Deep in the Night", which was her final recording until 1988, returning to the Muscle Shoals Sound Studios to record "Seven Years Itch". From 1988 through 2006, she recorded frequent albums. She was inducted into the Rock And Roll Hall of Fame in 1993. In 2008, the movie "Cadillac Records" told the story of her career through to the late 1970's, with her role being played by Beyoncé Knowles. With a staggering 50 studio albums & over 150 x 45,s she really left her mark on many of us with her powerful performances...........Leonard Chess dispatched Etta James to Muscle Shoals in 1967, and the move paid off with one of her best and most soul searing Cadet albums. Produced by Rick Hall, the resultant album boasted a relentlessly driving title cut, the moving soul ballad “I’d Rather Go Blind,” and sizzling covers of Otis Redding’s “Security” and Jimmy Hughes’ “Don’t Lose Your Good Thing,” and a pair of fine Don Covay compositions. The skin tight session aces at Fame Studios really did themselves proud behind Miss Peaches. This is a fantastic compilation of the tracks recorded by Etta at the famous Muscle Shoals Recording Studio's owned by the legendary Rick Hall. Every track is electric! Etta's performances are spinetingling. That big soulful voice is a true powerhouse. The musicianship is cookin' and the sound quality is awesome. The entire collection is charged with raw emotion. The band was recorded playing live with Etta and it gives a real raw authentic vibe. This is lightning in a bottle or at least originally caught on tape! Nobody knew when they bought the LP years ago that there were more tracks in the can. The album has gone into soul folklore, you listen to these tracks and a shiver runs up my spine anyway,she sure put the `S` in soul. I loved the LP but to have this expanded version is great!
This guy will be a name unfamiliar to many of you guys, but his pedigree is second to none having spent many years as James brown,s Drummer. I hunted for this gem in my collection as a very good friend requested it, just a matter of finding it, & here it is.Tony has only recorded 3 albums and 10 x 45,s in his career as he spent a lot of time out on the road. Very poor art again and no info in the album about him at all, just a picture of a blank wall?...dunno why they bothered ?..Its a great album of funk recorded in August ,Georgia & The Influence of James Brown,Fred Wesley, & Maceo Parker is stronly evident! long deleted from stock. Only one clip on youtube so i,ve added 2 more.
A very old album from this baltimore outfit led by Julius brockington Singer & keyboards player. This is all they recorded plus a solitary 45 though julius did record 3 great albums as a solo artist. on the old blog i did review the excellent "best Of Perception & Today Records" on BBE, might dig that out and rip an upgrade (when i find it). Back to this gem,makes a mockery of its years & was delighted to get a new digital copy with a few of the tracks extended compared to the LP. Dont know who the female lead is,not alfreda brockington although there were 3 sets of soul groups bearing this name in the Baltimore/Philly area. Another album i regretted selling. The tasters were played out at Blackpool mecca back in the day. Very rare album hence lack of youtube clips,again!
Here's some chillout music we can really get behind, mellow soul
tracks with a beautifully gentle groove, all cut back in the days when
an artist could relax a bit without ever losing their cool! The set's
heavy on mellow modern soul numbers, all hand picked by Expansion
Records frontman Ralph Tee Of London. Its a collection of Soul rarities. Compiled from the archives of Columbia, Epic, Okeh, Philadelphia
International, Buddah, RCA, Arista, Wand, Scepter, Musicor, Date, King,
Dynamo, Look, Despenza, Garrison, Hollywood, Kudu, CTI, Ariola, Motor
City, Invictus, Hot Wax, Music Merchant and Hi. There's loads of great gentle steppers on the package, sung by some of
the best voices of the mainstream soul scene at the end of the 70s, A simply beatiful album of sweet soul..now long deleted. As much as i love uptempo music its good to take your foot off the pedal sometimes...& chill!
Fabulous double CD from the legend that is Jackie Wilson who i was fortunate enough to see live on 3 occasions...AWESOME!. The compilation Jackie Wilson fans have been waiting for, with 24
unissued recordings and alternate takes. Get right inside the studio
with Jackie and producers Nat Tarnopol and Eddie Singleton to see what
went on in these 60s New York sessions......“I worked with a few evergreen guys, but
nobody could stand head and shoulders with Jackie Wilson, the performer.
Because he had the instinctive gospel singing relationship with an
audience. He knew when to do what with his voice, and not just his
voice; he was as tricky with his feet as his voice. He was the whole
nine yards. There was no escaping Jackie Wilson. If you sat in the
audience he’d find you. He’d find the place you lived, no matter whoever
you were. Being a part of that little bit of history is something
that’s carried me through a lifetime with a lot of pride, because we
were also friends and we had a very good relationship.” Producer-songwriter Eddie Singleton (Shrine Records Owner). Jackie
Wilson’s dynamic vocal style and showmanship earned him the title “Mr
Excitement” from DJ Alan Freed and you’ll see why when you check out the
tremendous music on this 48-track 2 x CD set. Extensive research into the
Brunswick label vaults has uncovered 24 previously unreleased gems and
fascinating alternate takes and versions, all recorded in New York
between 1961 and 1966, which are combined here with collectable R&B
and soul 45s from the same era. Most of the tracks that were single only
are here in stereo for the first time and several are new to CD. Six
tracks are preceded by some priceless studio chat, including some
interchanges between Jackie and his producers Nat Tarnopol and Eddie
Singleton. Two of the unissued uptempo tracks, ‘Me, My Mother’s
Son’ and ‘All My Lovin’’, have had Northern Soul action. There are also
outstanding ballads including ‘I Can’t Stand Another Hurt (In My Heart)’
and ‘The Test Of Time’ that did not gain release at the time. A current
R&B favourite ‘Call Her Up’ is presented as recorded, with the
original female backing vocals, which were replaced by a far less
soulful mixed chorus on issue. Duets with LaVern Baker and Linda Hopkins
are well represented, including an alternate clean vocal take on ‘Think
Twice’ and the stereo debut of ‘Say I Do’. Jackie is in my top 10 artists and this is another re-discovery for me,again i forgot what a knockout album this is,lots of rarities & creeping up in price!..And over HALF the album is littlered with Northern dancers..FANTASTIC & ESSENTIAL..great booklet included!...What a lucky bunch you guys are...lol!
Fascination records was owned by Armen Boldian a turkish immigrant who loved black music in all its forms who went on to found Westbound Records. The label was located in Highland Park, 6 miles north of Detroit. It ran from 1957 till 1962 with a couple of boots done in 1975.
Tuba records was based in Detroit, Michigan and ran from 1962 to 1968. The label was Formed by Mike A. Hanks, the man behind legendary Detroit record labels D-Town and Wheelsville USA.
It,s always onteresting when you stumble upon a rare album you completely forgot you had, as is the case of this rare gem. There,s scarce info about these guys except they were a combo, and this was their only album, so if anyone has any more info i would be very grateful guys. initially on chicago,s Brunswick label, i presume their home city. I never actually owned the LP version but the CD has an extra track donated by those wonderful guys at Solid Records in Japan. They are fast become the major diggers for rare soul over there. The album is tight & funky soul from this really great 70s combo, a group with a sound that's much more like the funky 45 underground of the early part of the decade than you might guess from the date of the record! The style is a mix of deep soul with funky undercurrents and some vocals are by an excellent female singer who manages to soar strongly, yet still have this raspy edge that's really personal. A male singer comes into the lead on other tracks and creates this multi voiced quality that really matches the diversity of the grooves especially when he tries out some slightly witty bits. Every cut's an original, and there's some really well penned tracks on the set not throwaway club tracks, nor fillers for a full record but well conceived numbers that really show that Sound Investment's the real deal, all the way through.So if you like the obscure side of our music this is it, back in the day when groups like this recorded unprentious raw soul!
The AB,S who i posted a few of their albums on the old blog soften their style on here With 8 albums under their belts these guys know how to do the biz!...The band are listed on the back cover.
The King group of labels, Federal, DeLuxe, Hollywood etc were hugely productive throughout the soul era, so there are hundreds of releases which have taken years to locate. Hence the 10-year gap since “King Northern Soul Vol 2” was released. Northern Soul collectors used to see the blue King label, immediately think “funky”, skip by it and continue the search for an “arranged by Mike Terry” denotation. There is no doubt that a drab grey label such as DeLuxe (as the Dave & Vee 45 from 1969) discourages the listener even before the needle drops. The mainly monochrome aspects of these labels could never compete with the colourful splashes of Groovesville, Giant, Tayster, Pzazz etc in building up the listener’s expectations; inevitably the music was undermined. We have mainly got over those prejudices now, but it is still a shock to hear how good some of those collected tracks sound on CD. The more obvious big Northern sounds were featured on the first two volumes of this series but there are some great numbers here that have become very collectible over the years. Charles Spurling’s ‘That’s My Zone’ and his song ‘Unwind Yourself’ for Marva Whitney both sound very cutting edge for today’s funk-edged fans, as do the Brownettes and Charles’ super-groove ‘Popcorn Charlie’. There are some terrific tracks from long-serving King acts, such as Hank Ballard’s Rudy Clark-penned ‘I’m Just A Fool’, Otis Williams’ ‘When We Get Together’ and Little Willie John’s Drifters-inspired ‘Until Again My Love’. The lesser known Hollywood label is responsible for four excellent tracks from Robert Moore (who would go on to sing about ‘Party Freaks’ with Miami), L.H. & The Memphis Sounds (one of Packy Axton’s many bands) and Hal Hardy, who provides the superb ‘Name In Lights’. There is an increasing movement to play southern soul tracks at Northern Soul dances nowadays; although King was based in Cincinatti, they licensed in southern productions; mainly from Nashville and Macon. The Toni Williams, Dan Brantley and James Duncan tracks are all evidence of that growing trend. there are still some of those influences contained in the songs from Mary Johnson, Mike Williams and Oscar Toney Jr. All but two of the 24 tracks are from King’s wonderfully preserved master tapes and sound alive again on CD. The booklet, with its amazing cover photo of the Presidents Band, is a darn sight prettier than an old DeLuxe label too.
Starting this sunday i will be reviewing interviews with top Detroit Soul Artists & Personnel that made the Motor City a magnet for Soul music lovers world wide.These guys need no introduction from me i assume you will know them as well. Audio not great on some but interesting to hear what they have to say.
AMM
Sunday Review - The Detroit Interviews 2 - JJ Barnes (1992) 9 Minutes
Makoto Kriya (PF) and Genno Arata Yasui
(Perc), who are active across all genres, have re-debuted their work with
top musicians from Japan and abroad. RHYTHMATRIX, which restarted
after Genno Arata Yasui's return to Japan, took three years to complete
mixing jazz fusion with south american rhythms...I love this genre as does AMM. We like to cater for everyone into good music here. Scans Courtesy Of Hakase ...Thank You!
Moxysoulandjazz
Courtesy Of Moxysoulandjazz....Thanks m8 Love It! The Tasters!
Composer, Blues pianist, and singer Clarence “Frogman” Henry was born
Clarence Henry II in 1937, in New Orleans, Louisiana, to
Clarence Henry, an L&N railroad porter, and Ernestine Henry. They
had six children and reared them in the Algiers neighborhood on the West
Bank of the Mississippi River. As a child, Frogman began piano lessons
with the legendary Blues pianists Antoine “Fats Domino” Dominique Domino
Jr. and Henry Roeland “Professor Longhair” Byrd. Young Clarence Henry
earned “Frogman” because of his interpreted frog-like falsetto sound.....This album contains some Great mid 1960s to early 1970s sides from a genuine New Orleans R&B icon. Featuring nine previously unissued titles. Limited edition of 1500. Every lover of New Orleans R&B knows Clarence “Frogman” Henry, the guy who “can sing like a girl and sing like a frog”. Clarence has been a favourite all over the world since the 1950s when he burst on the scene with ‘Ain’t Got No Home’. He was a regular visitor to the UK charts in the early 60s and supported the Beatles on their first US tour in 1964. Clarence made his hits for Chess Records, and they have seldom been out of print since the advent of the CD. The recordings he made subsequently have been less well anthologised something this Ace collection strives to rectify. This album brings together almost all the recordings Clarence made with Texas based producer Huey Meaux over a period of almost 10 years, with the bonus of four tracks cut for Buddy Killen’s Dial label in Memphis in 1967. Those who like Clarence’s Chess recordings will find plenty to enjoy, as many of the early tracks have the sound that made hits such as ‘But I Do’ and ‘You Always Hurt The One You Love’ so popular in their day. Huey Meaux mostly recorded Clarence inTexas but used New Orleans musicians to capture his sound and style in the way his Chess classics did. The results were invariably successful, as you will hear. By the 70s Huey had expanded Clarence’s repertoire to embrace soul, blues, country, funk and even reggae in an attempt to keep him sounding current. The results of the later sessions are never less than interesting and usually much more than that. In typical Ace fashion, this is the most complete collection of Clarence’s post Chess recordings to date, 28 titles in total, including nine issued here for the first time. All tracks are mastered from fresh tape transfers made in Houston’s Sugar Hill Studios in 2013. Clarence is still entertaining audiences and bringing the house down with a show that includes all his hits and some of the songs featured here...He recorded only 4 studio albums that i know of and 40+ 45,s...Read The Booklet its all in there.
Born William Ballard Doggett in 1916 in Philadelphia he passed in 1996 in Manhattan, New York City. He was a Pianist/organist/bandleader/songwriter as well as a prolific performer. Bill was a busy man in his career with 40 studio albums and 160 45,s recorded...James Brown has never really been portrayed as a sympathetic man, but for a short period in the late 60s he was suddenly taken by a sense of duty to artists who had been fixtures at King Records when he was first signed there over a decade earlier. First up was his tribute album “Thinking About Little Willie John And A Few Nice Things”, which mixed originals with versions of songs John had first sung. Next he began working with Hank Ballard, who had been signed to King since 1953; the collaboration produced the LP “You Can’t Keep A Good Man Down”. He then produced a couple of sides with organist Bill Doggett, who’d reached #1 R&B/#2 Pop with his 1956 instrumental ‘Honky Tonk’. A hit of that size meant that Doggett was never short of gigs, and in its aftermath he reached the R&B Top 20 five more times. In 1960 he left King, signing to Warner Brothers, then with Columbia in 1962 and Sue Records in 1964. In the meantime, King kept up a steady release schedule of Doggett records and he re-signed with them in 1965, staying for two years. 1969 saw him back again at King for another couple of years. Doggett’s recordings from this period took two distinct paths: some were almost cheesy easy listening sides, while others suggested he was keeping up with modern trends. The most obvious manifestation of this was his collaboration with James Brown and his JBs, who were incredibly tight on the top-side of the super-rhythmic ‘Honky Tonk Popcorn’. The popcorn was Brown’s dance rhythm of the year, he had made #1 R&B with ‘Mother Popcorn’, #2 with ‘Let A Man Come In And Do The Popcorn’. The B-side of the single was Doggett’s funk update of ‘Honky Tonk’, which worked even better than Brown’s own 1972 remake. King then gathered up a bunch of recent Doggett recordings to make the “Honky Tonk Popcorn” album. It was marketed as a James Brown production but, other than the two single sides, it contained no cuts produced by Brown. Instead it featured a fascinating mix of grooves that evoke smoky clubs and juke joints. ‘Mad’ and a scorching version of Edwin Starr’s ‘Twenty Five Miles’ were released as singles. For this reissue Ace have turned up five bonus tracks. Of these, ‘Before Lunch’, ‘Short Stack’ and ‘Some Kind Of Head’ were lined up for inclusion on an album to be called “Take Your Shot”, but this did not make it past the planning stage and was replaced by “Honky Tonk Popcorn”, with these three dropped to make room for the two James Brown-produced cuts and ‘Twenty Five Miles’. ‘Before Lunch’ sounds like the finest record Booker T & the MGs forgot to make, while ‘Short Stack’ ups the pace to frantic. Best of all is the brilliant ‘Some Kind Of Head’, which takes the feel of a Stax instrumental. The other bonus tracks, ‘Sassy B’ and ‘Wet And Satisfied’, offer a fascinating insight into the history of Funkadelic. In the time between recording Funkadelic’s first two albums guitarist Eddie Hazel and bass-player Billy Nelson left the group. Nelson joined Doggett’s band for a short time. Until now Eddie Hazel’s participation on a Doggett session was unknown. However, the songwriting credits and the guitar style suggest that he too was working alongside Nelson and Doggett. The ‘Honky Tonk Popcorn’ single and album did not return Doggett to the charts, but he remained active. He kept recording and toured until the year he died. He tended to revert to the style which made him famous: the 50s boogie shuffle that had been the basis of his defining hit. When he died in 1996 his short sojourn into funk was largely forgotten except by a few clubbers around the world who coveted this in-demand LP...He even got spins on the northern scene.
Numero,s prices seem to be climbing like the cost of living, i had to pay £24 for this!...Brand new release from Numero is a staple diet for any lover of feminine funk, the album gathers 15 sultry singles from across the Numero vaults. From Sandy Gaye’s Cruella-synched “Watch The Dog That Brings The Bone” to James Brown’s soul sister number 1 Marva Whitney, teenage girl gangs The Trinikas and Promise, Miami’s queen of soul Betty Wright, plus a previously unissued belter from Chicago’s Sonics Band, Beehive Breaks picks up where sister funk left off. This is not for the faint hearted as its raw funk in its purest unapolgetic form, some will love it others will loath it, thats why were all different thank god! Only northern track is Mae youngs that first was issued legally on the Boddie collection reviwed ages ago on here after only being available via acetate..Some great funk killers on here from these gals!..Numero need to really do something about their poor artwork on their releases, talk about cheap as chips!
The label was originally founded by Ron Carson in San Francisco. Later run by Lenny and Wally Roker in Los Angeles as part of the Roker Record Group of labels, along with RRG Records, Roker Records, Canyon Records , and Stardom. These labels will be reviewed soon. many great soul records issued & top dancers, a 100% soul label!
Another long deleted CD found in my collection/clean up..For those that were around, Cast your minds back to 1964. This is how UK listeners got to hear these two Soul giants for the first time. James Brown's 1962 King recordings made up his first UK studio LP, and Eddie Floyd's 1964 singles, on the Lu-Pine (Detroit) and Safice (Washington D.C.) labels, these were collected together for an LP release a year before Eddie signed with Stax as the cover rightly states. The album is worth having for eddie,s rare releases alone! This album was originally released on UK Ember only way back in 1964 as REMemberING Roots Of Soul, still a gem! The first taster is Eddies mega rare northern dancer on safice that you dont hear anywhere these days and james was on fire with thses tracks,two incredible talents that were destined for greatness in the music world!
This album consists of their first 2 recorded albums on Soul Clock that are impossible to get hold of on vinyl, namely "planets Of Life" & "The Whispers"(Bonus Tracks) ...even this CD has been deleted from stock...These guys are true soul legends on the Northern/Funk/Disco scenes, they literally have done it all with 24 albums and 130 45,s under their belts Recording for Soul Clock,Dore,Janus,Soul train,Solar,Capitol,Interscope,Satin Tie & Kingdom, like the rollin stones they have been together forever till a few passed away!...The Whispers formed in 1963 in Watts, California. The original members included identical twin brothers Wallace "Scotty" and Walter Scott, along with Gordy Harmon, Marcus Hutson, and Nicholas Caldwell. After being invited to the San Francisco Bay Area in 1966 by Sly Stone, the group relocated there where they began developing a reputation as a show-stopping live act. Walter Scott was drafted to serve in the Vietnam War during that period for eighteen months, returning to the group in 1969 after discharge. After Harmon injured his larynx in a driving accident in 1973, he was replaced by former Friends of Distinction member Leaveil Degree. After a series of singles on Los Angeles label, Dore, the group signed to a small LA label, Soul Clock, run by producer Ron Carson, who was responsible for their breakthrough hit, "Seems Like I Got to Do Wrong" in 1970. Moving to the larger New York-based Janus label, they continued to be produced by Carson, before he sold all of his recordings to Janus with the group then recording mainly in Philadelphia in the mid-1970s. In 1978, the group signed to Dick Griffey's(their manager) SOLAR Records. The group scored many hits on the R&B and Billboard Hot 100 charts throughout the late 1970s and 1980s, and they hit number one on the Hot Dance Club Play chart in 1979/80 with "And the Beat Goes On" / "Can You Do the Boogie" / "Out the Box". In the UK, "And the Beat Goes On" peaked at No. 2 and "It's a Love Thing" became their second top 10 in 1981 peaking at No. 9. In 1987, they enjoyed a brief tenure in the US top 10 when "Rock Steady" became their first top 10 success on the Hot 100, reaching No. 7, while also capturing the No. 1 spot on the R&B chart. TheyThe Whispers later established their own production company, Satin Tie Productions, through which they released their independent 2006 album For Your Ears Only. The group opened Game 2 of the 1989 World Series at Oakland–Alameda County Coliseum with their rendition of the National Anthem. Marcus Hutson left the group in 1992 due to prostate cancer. According to the Whispers' website, when Hutson died of it on May 23, 2000, they vowed to never replace him, and started performing as a quartet. Jerry McNeil resigned from his position as the keyboardist in the latter part of 1993 in order to spend more time with his family. In 2014, the Whispers were inducted into the Official R&B Music Hall of Fame. The Philadelphia soul songwriter team Allan Felder, Norman Harris, Bunny Sigler, and Ronnie Baker provided several of the Whispers' songs, including "A Mother for My Children" and "Bingo". Nicholas Caldwell died of congestive heart failure at his San Francisco home. Founding member Gordy Harmon died at his home in Los Angeles on January 5, 2023, at the age of 79...many 45,s played out on the Northern scene over the years.....TRUE LEGENDS!
This is an UPGRADE from the old blog...Wonderful album from 1977 and regarded as a classic!..Not the sort of thing Benny Golson did as he was a straight ahead jazz man, but with the wind of change in the 70,s for a funkier sound and fusion taking off he thought he would try his luck, and boy did he come up with a cracker!..The CD has 3 Extra tracks to enjoy. With nearly 60 albums to his credit the man has worked with so many great artists, see his site HERE sub links are at the top of his page. He is a multitalented and internationally famous
jazz legend, - a composer, arranger, lyricist, producer, and tenor saxophonist
of world note, Benny Golson was born in Philadelphia and is still with us thankfully.
