RAY T. JONES (source: FUNKY VIRGINIA)

There is a crazy blog called Funky Virginia, where I discovered amazing pearls included the awesome story of Ray T. Jones that I would like to share with you. 

By the mid 60's, as the U.S. dramatically ramped up its involvement in the Vietnam Conflict, Philadelphia native U.S. Navy Seaman E3 Raymond Thomas Jones, was assigned to duty in Norfolk, VA. In February of 1967, Jones's ship, the USS Barney, was deployed to the combat zone off the coast of Vietnam. The ship would return to Norfolk seven months later.

Like many black sailors stationed in Hampton Roads, Ray found himself drawn to Church Street, the nucleus of African American nightlife in a still heavily segregated Southern city. He spent much of his precious off-duty time taking in live shows at legendary spots like The Eureka Lodge, The Enterprise, and The Plaza Hotel. This vibrant scene had a lasting impact on him.

Ray was just starting a family when he came to Norfolk. In a lot of ways the new life he and his wife Vennel had embarked upon seemed a world away from the North Philly neighborhood where they both grew up. With Ray at sea for as long as nine months at a time, and not much of a support system in place for navy families at the time, the young marriage was under strain. One day Ray came home to an empty apartment to find that Vennel had left him, taking their son Ray Jr. with her. As the split stretched on, Ray was moved to write about the situation, forming what would become the lyrics to his first song. "Cause You're Coming Home" tells the story of heartbreak and separation, but also hope, reconciliation and his wife's eventual return. While back home in Philadelphia visiting family, Ray showed the song to his brother Paul, himself an established bassist who had recorded and toured extensively with Freda Payne, Bo Diddley, Garnet Mimms, Jean Wells, The Coasters and The Platters among others. Paul helped Ray with the arrangement, got some musicians together, and booked time at the legendary Virtue Recording Studio on Broad Street. The resulting 1969 recording captures a young Ray Jones delivering a touchingly personal ballad. The tape would remain safely tucked away and unreleased for the next six years.

Ray T. Jones "Cause You're Coming Home"

Jones's military duty continued throughout the seventies. While serving as First Class Fire Control Technician

Jones's military duty continued throughout the seventies. While serving as First Class Fire Control Technician on the Destroyer USS C.V. Ricketts, he facilitated classes and seminars for fellow personnel regarding race relations. In addition, Ray started singing in the ship's band. The racially integrated group performed at a number of USO functions throughout Europe with a repertoire that ran the gamut from R&B to Rock to Country & Western and everything in between. Ray was becoming a fan of all these types of music, and was incorporating different elements of them into his own emerging style. He was particularly enamored with the story telling nature of Country music. An idea started to form. Why not take his favorite parts of the Country sound and combine them with his Soul roots? The band began working with the "Country Soul" concept.

Back on Church Street, at the corner of East Brambleton, Queen's Lounge was probably the hottest club in town. Norfolk heavyweights The House Rockers were packing them in as the resident band upstairs at Queen's Top Side. In addition to the nightly House Rockers gigs, amateur nights were put on by the club. Adventurous souls would give it their best shot fronting the band and braving the usually merciless audience. After being back in town for a while on shore duty, Ray Jones decided to take the stage, no doubt bolstered by his Navy buddies. He put his USO experience to work, and won the crowd over. It probably didn't hurt that he had packed the place with his fellow servicemen ahead of time.

It took a few more strong showings from Ray to convince the club owner to grant him his own 30 minute slot for a set of popular R&B covers backed by the House Rockers. In order to capitalize on the opportunity, Ray sought out his neighbor, former House Rockers front man Sebastian Williams. He paid Williams $50 out of his own pocket to make a guest appearance during his set. Ray started promoting the show and creating a buzz. Sure enough, on the night of the gig Sebastian showed up at Queen's dressed to the nines. "Ladies and Gentlemen... Sebastian Williams!!!", Ray announced as his special guest stepped up to the microphone. The band launched into a smoking version of Wilson Pickett's "634-5789", and Sebastian proceeded to blow the roof off the place. When he was done with his one song, Seb mater-of-factly turned and exited into the Church Street night. Probably the best $50 Ray ever spent!

Word got around, not only about Sebastian's exploits, but the up and coming Ray T. Jones. Noah Biggs of Shiptown Records took Ray under his wing, acting as a mentor and manager. As much as his naval duties would allow, Ray began doing shows around the region at venues including the Moton Theatre in Newport News, supporting the likes of Barbara Stant and General Johnson.
With guidance and encouragement from Mr. Biggs and even a little coaching from the legendary Frank Guida, Jones decided to start his own label. In 1975, Ray used his connection with bassist Maurice Glass to enlist the mighty 35th Street Gang (AKA: Raw Soul) to back him on a recording date at Lenis Guess Studio. The first single from the self-produced session, "That Norfolk Sound" was paired with his earlier recording of "Cause You're Coming Home" and released on the newly launched Wee-Too. Ray decided to use his family's Philadelphia address on the label.

Ray T. Jones "That Norfolk Sound"

"That Norfolk Sound" is a gritty ode to the sometimes seedy, always exciting Church Street scene. Jones deftly fuses his diverse influences into a unique mixture of sustained psychedelic fuzz and folky acoustic guitar anchored by a stripped down funk rhythm section. Ray's delicate, almost mournful vocal takes us on a tour through a darker side of the seaport city, down Granby Street and even to a rowdy Country/Western bar to see "fists flying in the night". "Come on down to Norfolk and get some ghetto in your life".

"Are We Ready? Are We Together?" The follow up single came in '76. "Beat The Knees" is probably the record Ray Jones is best known for. It was born out of a vamp that Ray and the 35th Street Gang came up with on the spot in the studio. The hard hitting drums of Grover "Groove" Everett and Maurice Glass's beefy bass line lay the foundation for this deadly groove. Irresistible Fender Rhodes keyboard adds a whole other dimension of hip. The guy named Leroy that Ray raps about was actually a shipmate who was quite the ladies' man. You can use your imagination as to what "beating those knees" signifies. Turns out, last Ray heard, "do-it-do-it man" Leroy had become a man of the church, a preacher. These days he's hitting his knees to pray.

Ray T. Jones "Beat The Knees"


The flipside, "Take Me Back To Norfolk Town", with it's twangy slide guitar and tale of longing, sees Ray's vision of Country Soul fully realized. The song is simultaneously a love letter to his woman and the city he calls home. Out at sea, the sailor "left a lot of love, a lot heartache in Norfolk town". Not only does he miss his family, he craves "the smell and the taste of Virginia ham / the taste, the flavor of fresh steamed clams!" "There's no place like that Norfolk town."

Ray T. Jones "Take Me Back To Norfolk Town"

With two records under his belt, Jones approached Norfolk's WAVY with a proposal for a half hour TV special showcasing his Country Soul music. In December of '76 the project was green-lighted. That winter an outdoor show was filmed on a makeshift stage in a lot right next to the old Bishop Grace House of Prayer (AKA: Sweet Daddy G's) at the corner of Princess Anne and Church Street. The show, entitled "That Norfolk Sound", featured live footage of Ray Jones along with Navy bandmates Jerry Potter, Ron Morin (guitar), Mike Terlouw(Keyboards), Robin White (bass), Art Swimp (drums) and Dennis Eaves. The finished program also included interview footage and aired locally on Channel 10 in the Summer of 1977.

Ray had plans to follow this up with a full length LP entitled (what else) "That Norfolk Sound". He shopped the idea around and even struck an informal distribution agreement with Frank Guida, but a deployment to the Mediterranean put the project on hold. In the ensuing years, Ray's military service and growing family took priority over an entertainment career, although he never really fully gave up on his music. In fact, in the later part of the eighties Ray made a little bit of a comeback, re-releasing "Take Me Back to Norfolk Town" b/w "Cause You're Coming Home" on a Wee-Too 45.

After hitting the Cash 5 Lotto for $100,000 in 1995, Ray bought a house in Virginia Beach where he currently lives with his wife of 25 years Judy. A proud father of seven and grandfather of 14, Ray is retired from the U.S. Navy after 30 years of service, having risen to the rank of Master Chief.

Right now Ray is preparing to re-release his classic Wee-Too 45's. Also in the works is an album (on vinyl!), "I'm Going Back To Norfolk", which will contain unreleased tracks, including ones he cut with his Navy bandmates back in the 70's. Ray continues to write and record songs as Ray "2 Beers" Jones (a nickname he got in the Navy). These days his sound draws a lot more from the Country side of the Country Soul equation. You can get a sampling of what he's been up to on his myspace page. Ray also plans to eventually release a collection of his recent Country flavored material.

JOE MAYFIELD

Don't ask me who is Joe Mayfield. I really don't know.

Tried to find out something about his life his career but no tracks.

Just this crazy 45 "I'm On The Move/How's Thing With You" cut for Excello Records in 1965 that I bought a couple of years ago on ebay.

What I can say?

"I'm On The Move" is an average midtempo bluesy tune with cool horns arrangement but...

"How's Thing With You" is magic.

A stunning farfisa with a crazy vibrato and Joe's trembling and raspy vocals...so sweet and obscure.

TARHEEL SLIM (ALLEN BUNN)

                        

Bunn grew up in the countryside, working in the tobacco fields and listening to his mom's Blind Boy Fuller 78's. Eventually he learned to play guitar, and was heard singing and playing in church by Thurman Ruth, the leader of a local gospel quartet called the Selah Jubilee Singers (they'd soon drop the Jubilee part of their name).

Ruth recruited Bunn into his group (putting off his debut until tobacco season was over) and for the next eight years he sang baritone and played guitar with the Selah Singers, who also recorded secular material as the Larks, the Four Barons, and possibly a few other names. As the Larks they cut some nice sides for the Apollo label, and Bunn's lead vocals and guitar can be heard on their 1951 single "My Little Sidecar"

He had already been recorded as a blues singer by the Gotham label in 1949 cutting four sides with only his guitar for backing, but these would not be released until the 1980's. 

His first solo sessions to see the light of shellac were for Apollo in '51 where he recorded two sessions that produced four singles -- The Guy With The 45  b/w She'll Be Sorry.

Discouraged b/w I Got You Covered, Wine b/w Baby I'm Gonna Throw You Out, and My Flight b/w Two Time Loser. These were issued under the name Allen Bunn, and good as they are, none of them sold very well. He was still touring with the Larks/Selah Singers when he cut his first session for Bobby Robinson, the Harlem based record store owner/producer/entrepreneur who is one of the most important figures in the history of New York City rock'n'roll and until recently could be found sitting out front of his record store on 125th Street until a rent hike finally forced him out. For Robinson's Red Robin label Bunn cut Too Much Competition b/w My Kinda Woman. Some of these discs were issued under the name Allen Bunn others as Allen Baum. Around 1955 he met and married Lee Sanford aka Little Ann and they began singing together, first as The Lovers, under which name they recorded some fairly dull sides for the Aladdin's Lamp subsidiary in 1957. 

He also recorded with a group called The Wheels on Premium whom he evidently managed (they also recorded as the Federals on Deluxe), these are also some forgettable sides although enough people like Let's Have A Ball that it regularly shows up as a repro, as well as appearing on recordings by the Southern Harmonaires and Mahalia Jackson on Apollo. 

In 1958 he entered the recording studio again, this time renamed Tarheel Slim, under the aegis of producer Bobby Robinson and with Wild Jimmy Spruill on guitar and Horace Cooper on piano cut his greatest record, a two sided monster--Wildcat Tammer b/w Number 9 Train, issued on Robinson's Fury label, it remains one of the pinnacles of New York rock'n'roll. Both sides feature Slim's burning guitar, with Spruill's scratchy rhythm guitar driving both tunes at full steam, they remain the type of classic performances that never sound old or dated.

Strangely enough, he never again had a solo record released. His next session, held nearly a year later, introduced the public to the recording duo of Tarheel Slim and Little Ann, and their first disc--It's Too Late b/w Don't Ever Leave Me was a minor hit. The record was released by both Robinson's Fire label and Chess' Checker subsidiary out of Chicago, not to mention pressing that have turned up on the Hermitage and Bobby Robinson labels. I assume Robinson leased the record to the Chess brothers and then changed his mind. It's Too Late is a doom laden dirge with Slim's tremolo laden guitar work and Ann breaking down into a sobbing fit at the end.

Robinson really liked these overwrought crying ballads, and would later have some success with the kings of the genre-- Jackie And The Starlities

The follow up--Much Too Late reversed the formula, basically it's the same tune, only this time it's Slim who breaks down. While neither record charted, they were good sellers in the New York area and can be found cheap even today. Speaking of which, I once stumbled onto an entire dumpster of Fire, Fury and Enjoy 45's and 78's on Broadway and dragged home hundreds of free records, every one of them was good. Getting back to our subject, in 1959, Tarheel Slim and Little Ann cut a couple of killer rockers- Security and Lock Me In Your Heart , both tunes are excellent with Slim and Jimmy Spruill's guitar work predominant on both tunes, kind of like Mickey and Sylvia playing rockabilly. 

Unfortunately their commercial peak had already passed with their second release and soon they were recording drek like covers of country tunes Send Me The Pillow You Dream On and I Love You Because and standards like Good Night Irene. Leaving Robinson briefly they recorded for Atco, then returned to record for Robinson's Port and Enjoy labels. Bobby Robinson had more labels than some people have hairs on their head. Since he was an indie with no way to collect from distributors, every time he'd get a hit record-- Wilbert Harrison's Kansas City, Lee Dorsey's Ya Ya, etc., he'd end up getting run out of business since he had to pay to have the discs pressed but couldn't collect from the distributors until he delivered another hit. Each hit record seemed to be followed by a bankruptcy. Still, Bobby Robinson was a tenacious sort, and always bounced back with a new label, and kept making great records. He would go on to record Lightnin; Hopkins, Lee Dorsey, Elmore James, Wilbert Harrison, and dozens of street corner doo wop groups. Meanwhile Taheel Slim and Little Ann pretty much dropped from sight, their career seemed to peter out around the early 60's and nothing was heard from them until the early 70's when blues researcher Peter Lowery dug up Tarheel Slim to play a few gigs where he performed with an acoustic guitar in the style of Brownie McGhee (who was earning a good living playing to white college audiences in a style that has been dubbed "folk blues"). Tarheel Slim played a few festivals in 1974 and was well received, but once again he seemed to drop from sight. In 1972 he released two killer and unlucky acoustic blues records "No time at all" and "Superstitious" for Pete Lowry's Trix Records.

How he spent the years from 1975 until his death in 1977 we do not know, I imagine some of it was spent watching Sanford and Son, Good Times and The Jeffersons. That's what I was doing.

In 1977 he was diagnosed with throat cancer and died from pneumonia brought on by the chemotherapy.

ARCHIE BROWNLEE AND THE FIVE BLIND BOYS

Archie Brownlee was one of the greatest hard gospel lead singers of all time. Archie Brownlee could sing sweetly, then suddenly make his voice soar into a piercing scream - he seemed to get more music into a scream than any singer imaginable. The emotional heat from his singing caused many who listened to fall out, perhaps because his spiritual fire was too intense, even for him to contain. He died at the peak of his career on February 8, 1960 at the age of 35. For his entire career, Archie Brownlee sang with only one group, The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi.

The Five Blind Boys of Mississippi are among the greatest singing groups in popular music history. Their smashing harmonies and the leads of Archie Brownlee not only influenced numerous gospel ensembles, but such secular artists as Ray Charles or Jerry Butler. Their origins date back to the '30s, when Archie Brownlee (Brownley in some accounts), Joseph Ford, Lawrence Abrams, and Lloyd Woodard formed a quartet. They were students at the Piney Woods School near Jackson, Mississippi. They began as The Cotton Blossom Singers, and did both spiritual and secular material. The quartet sang on the school grounds in 1936, then were recorded in 1937 by Alan Lomax for the Library of Congress. After graduation, they decided to become professional singers and for a time performed under dual identities; they were the Cotton Blossom Singers .for popular songs and The Jackson Harmoneers singing almost strictly religious material for black church audiencesl. By 1944 the group decided to go professional, singing pop material for primarily white audiences.  Their repertoire and singing style was a mixture of sprituals and jubilee tunes similar to the Golden Gates. Around that time they got another lead singer to work with them, Melvin Henderson and moved the base of the operations to New Orleans. Here they became popular on local programs and began a daily radio program on WWL. They regularly shared programs with the biggest local quartet, the New Orleans Chosen Five also known as Soprocco Singers.

When Percell Perkins replaced Henderson in the mid-'40s, they became The Five Blind Boys.
Oddly, Perkins, who doubled as their manager, was not blind. 
They made their recording debut for Excelsior in 1946, after meeting label owner Leon Rene in Cleveland. They recorded for Coleman in 1948, the same year Joseph Ford was replaced by J.T. Clinkscales. But when they joined Don Robey's Peacock label in 1950, the Five Blind Boys became superstars.

 The single "Our Father" was a Top Ten R&B hit, and they became a prolific ensemble, recording 27 singles and five albums for Peacock through the '60s. Brownlee died in New Orleans in 1960. His riveting, chilling screams and yells were among gospel's most amazing. Perkins left the group soon after becoming a minister. The list of replacements included Revs. Sammy Lewis and George Warren, as well as Tiny Powell. Roscoe Robinson took over for Brownlee, and was assisted by second lead Willmer Broadnax, who was also a masterful singer. The Five Blind Boys continued through the '70s and '80s and into the '90s, though Woodard died in the mid-'70s, and Lawrence Abrams in 1982.

THE JACKSON SOUTHERNARIES "DOWN HOME"

On Friday, April 15th 2011, Malaco's historic studio and headquarters at 3023 West Northside Drive in  Jackson, Mississippi was destroyed by an EF2 Tornado.

I've been concerned, for the most part, with the essential role they played in keeping Southern Soul music alive during the seventies and eighties. Especially they did something I'd like to try and focus on that for a moment  here.

In late  1975 was targeting the gospel market again with the Jackson Southernaires. 

The Jackson Southernaires have a long history of musical training and awards that have made them one of the best gospel groups in Mississippi. 

This group contains five members: Huey Williams, Roger  Bryant Jr., Maurice Surrell, James Burks and Luther Jennings.  

In 1940, the Jackson Southernaires were organized by Frank Crisler in Jackson,Mississippi. The Jackson Southernaires began much the same way as the Mississippi  Blind Boys. They began singing at an early age and did a lot of performing around their hometown. The Jackson Southernaires was the first gospel group to use bass, drums, keyboard and guitar in Mississippi. The Jackson Southernaires have signed many recording contracts during their singing career. They signed their first contract with Duke/Peacock Records in 1963. Too Late was one of the top recording albums on this label. Later on, the Jackson
Southernaires signed a contract with the ABC/Dunhill Label. "Save My Child" and "Look Around" were the top two albums on this record label in 1972-75. 

In 1975 the Jackson Southernaires signed a recording contract with Malaco Records. 

"Down Home" is their debut on Malaco

Stunning Record.

Though lyrics, powerful vocal harmonies and a great rhythm section.

Here we have :

"don't let him catch you (with your work undone)"

 

And the soulful Travel on:

Every album that was released by this record label reached national acclaim. 

In conclusion, the Jackson Southernaires have had a long and prosperous career. 

They believe without God they cannot make it,  with God on their side they will be a success.

Huey Williams, the leader of this group, says on the liner of one of their albums,

 "God has allowed the Jackson Southernaires to sow seeds across America and abroad".

DARONDO

William Daron Pulliam, who performed in the 1970's under the name Darondo, was a funk and soul singer from the San Francisco Bay Area.  A mystery to most, Darondo records are high on the wants-lists of many collectors. He is spoken about in hushed-tones by other Bay Area musicians. Back in the day he was seen cruising around town in a white Rolls Royce (with a "Darondo" license plate). He opened-up for James Brown and lived a colorful lifestyle hanging with folks like the notorious Fillmore Slim. Take a listen to these tracks, released for the first time together on an album, and you may agree that he could have been the next Al Green or Sly Stone. But about 25 years ago Darondo disappeared.

Releasing three singles in the early 1970s (as Darondo, Darondo Pulliam, or the miss-spelled Dorando) he mixed low-rider soul with blues and r'n'b. He delivered in a variety of styles from the socially-charged "Let My People Go"   

to the sexually-driven funk of "Legs".

All three singles were recorded in the San Francisco Bay Area, and both sides of each of the singles are fantastic productions.

"You can hear a little bit of everything," says Darondo about his music style. "There's a little jazz and a little soul. They say if you Black you supposed to have soul. I got Latin flavor in me so there's some Latin in it. Definitely got the Blues in it. I sound kinda' country but I grew up in the Bay Area," he adds.

But after the release of his three 45s Darondo stopped recording. 

"It was mostly me, just having a good time with a real good hobby" he says. "It wasn't about money but about having fun. Something I just liked to do. Maybe your dream is to be a James Brown or Frank Sinatra but those were just mostly dreams to me".
Outside of the music business Darondo was living life to the full, and it eventually caught up with him. 

"Folks would say 

"Daron got that dough?"

"Daron Do?"

"that's how I got the name. I used to get my suits tailor made, one of a kind, like my rings. A player can't have the same ring as someone else. Got my rings specially made with diamonds and stones. But in order to get yourself together you had to get away from all the fastness. I was driving around in a Rolls Royce, I was a fast young man," adds Darondo.
Darondo now lives in Northern California with his wife and family.

Recorded in the early 1970s, tracks from the demo reel were taken into a San Francisco studio in the summer of 2005 for enhancement. Darondo over-dubbed missing background vocals and guitar parts alongside up and coming San Francisco soul man Bing Ji Ling. Darondo warmed up quickly, he hasn't lost his touch.

BLACK NASTY

 Along with George Clinton's Parliament/Funkadelic, Black Nasty was among the first crop of self-contained funk bands to emerge from Detroit's vibrant R&B scene. A family affair led by drummer Artwell Matthews, Jr. that featured the lead vocals of his sister Audrey and her future husband Terrance Ellis, the group was shepherded by Artwell and Audrey's mother, veteran singer, songwriter, and producer Johnnie Mae Matthews, whose earlier finds included the Temptations and Mary Wells. Notable among these greasy slices of early Seventies Motor City funk are the John Lee Hooker–inspired "Black Nasty Boogie" and such message songs as "It's Not the World," "Booger the Hooker," and the title track. After the album made little impact, Stax dropped Black Nasty, which changed their name to Nazty and recorded a couple of singles for Excello. After some personnel changes, the group became ADC Band, getting an R&B Top Ten hit with "Long Stroke" in 1978 and recording as late as the mid-'80s.

Found on the tube the sweet midtempo "I Have No Choice":

BLACK RUBY

Barbara Jean Stackhouse was born in Hollandale Mississippi, the 12th March 1947.

Recording as Ruby Stackhouse she released in 1965 through Kellmac records her first single:

"Please Tell Me/Wishing".

Changed her Name in Ruby Andrews she left Kellmac and released through the chicago based label Zodiac owned by Ric Williams two years later the single:

"Let's Get a Grove Goin On"

The third single "Casanova (Your Playing Days Are Over)/I Just Don't Believe It" reached number 9 in the R&B charts and number 51 in the pop charts in 1967.

Successful follow ups on Zodiac and Ruby released between 1967 and 1973 16 singles and one album.

"You Made A Believer (Out Of Me)/Where Have You Gone" is my favourite one of the lot.

number 18 in the R&B charts and number 96 in the pop charts.

Another gem is "Help Yourself (lover)" with sweet vocal harmonies on the chorus.

During these hard years of her career she was a night club dancer.
Finally in 1971 Ruby released his first full lenght album named "BLACK RUBY",  def one of the great "black rock" record ever made, two years before the famous Betty Davis debut.

All song were written by Fred Bridges, Robert Eaton and Richard Knight.

 

 

BARBARA & GWEN LIVSEY

Barbara & Gwen were sisters and their surname was Livsey, but Barbara may be best known as Barbara Blake thanks to her success as Barbara & The Uniques. 

Barbara, who was born in Atlanta, GA on 27 May 1946 started out as a member of the Du-ettes in her adopted home in Chicago singing girl group pop/soul for the Leaner Brothers' various labels. At the end of the 60s Gwen joined her sister for this super one-off release for Gerald Sims and Leo Westbrook. "Right On" is hard Windy City soul of the finest kind. 

 DISCOGRAPHY BY BOSKO ASANOVIC: 

The Du-Ettes (Members Barbara Livsey (Born 27-May-1946 In Atlanta, Georgia) And Mary-Francis Hayes)  

Mecca 2422 - Donny Ugly / Wild (Instrumental) – 1959
M-Pac! 7201 - Mister Steel / I'm Yours – 1963
M-Pac! 7209 - Move On Down The Line / Have You Seen (My Baby) – 1963
M-Pac! 7214 - I'm Gonna Love You / The Cool Bird - 1964
One-Derful! 4827 - Lonely Days / Please Forgive Me - 1965
Mar-V-Lus 6003 - Every Beat Of My Heart / Sugar Daddy - 1965
Lost-Nite 1003 - Lonely Days / Please Forgive Me – 1965

Barbara & Gwen (Members Barbara Livsey And Gwen Livsey)

New Chicago Sound 6970 - Just The Two Of Us / I Love My Man - 1969 ~ 1970

Barbara & The Uniques (Members Barbara Livsey, Gwen Livsey And Doris Lindsey)

New Chicago Sound 69710 - There It Goes Again / What's The Use – 1970
Arden 3001 - There It Goes Again / What's The Use – 1970
Arden 3002 - I'll Never Let You Go / You're Gonna Make Me Cheat On You – 1970
Arden 3005 - You Make Me Feel So Young Again / Take Me As I Am (Don't Try To Change Me) – 1970
Abbott 37006 - He's Gone / Take Me As I Am (Don't Try To Change Me) - 1972
20th Century Fox 2089 - It's Not That Easy / Prize Possession – 1974

Barbara Blake & The Uniques

20th Century Fox 2129 - Teach Me / Everlasting Thrill – 1974
20th Century Fox Tc-2210 - I Need Your Love So Bad (Stereo) / I Need Your Love So Bad (Mono) – 1975
20th Century Fox 2210 - I Need Your Love So Bad / Let Me Down Easy - 1975

BOYD RIVERS

Boyd Rivers was born December 25, 1934 in Madison County, Mississippi.

He was brought up in the church by his mother and was influenced by regional musicians such as Clyde Maxwell and  his uncle, the gospel legend, Reverend Cleophus Robinson.

Rivers started out on two nails and a wire on awall, and played blues guitar as early as 13, but switched into sprituals around the age of 16.

When he was 29 he married Ruth May who was a non professional singer from the local gospel choir.

He moved to Canton, Mississippi where in 1978 was filmed by Alan Lomax,  John Bishop and Worth Long  in a stunning performance. He played :

"You Got To Take Sick And Die"

"Come Out The Wilderness"

"Fire In My Bones"

"Wrapped Up, Tied Up, Tangled Up"

"Heard The Angels Singing"

"Soon One Morning"

"I Done Die Time One Time (Ain't Gone Die No More)"

Axel Kunster and Siegfried Christmann recorded Rivers recorded later Rivers in the same year for the L&R records series "living country blues" and he appears on "Living Country Blues vol. 11".

Alan Thomposn dedicated in his book "Woke Up This Morning"  a chapter tohim.

Boyd Rivers died in Jackson, Mississippi on Novenmber 22, 1993.

Here is a CRAZY version of "You Got To Take Sick And Die" live from the 1979 Mississippi Delta Blues Festival.

JANET HELMS

Nobody knows about Janet Helms.
No tracks of her on the net.
The Washing D.C. label "Stone Groove" also known as "Jaston Record Corporation" released in 1972 a stunning 45  "sad sad lover/I love, love you baby" both written by Lloyd Smith.

After  two years the same label released a full album called "Ship On".
Arranged and conducted by Fernando Gumbs, Roger Hogan and Lloyd Smith.

  
Side 1:

• Ship On (3:14)
• Surer Than Yesterday (3:43)
• Ode To Freddie Harris (3:53)
• I Love You Baby (2:42)
• Can’t Get Over You (4:07)

 Side 2:

• Our Sweet Refrain (3:19)
• Sad Man (2:55)
• Bird Song (3:10) Click here to listen
• The Sweetest Life’s The Life Of A Lover (2:49) Click here to listen
• Time Rolls On (3:42)

Here's the title track "Ship On":

REV. WILLIE MORGANFIELD

Preaching and singing have been closely connected for Reverend Willie Morganfield. The pastor of Bell Grove Missionary Baptist Church in Clarksdale, since 1975. Morganfield started out as a singer. He performed with a number of gospel groups included the New Orleans Chosen Five and The Kings Of Harmony. Eventually he became known as a soloist and released several hit recordings in the 50's and the 60's.
Since accepting the call to the ministry in the 1960s Morganfield has made preaching his priority.
His experience as a musician still comes through in the rhythms and verbal phrasing that he uses in his sermons. Morganfield has gained a national reputation for his preaching skills. 

I have this beautiful copy of his "While I can" released through Paula Records in 1967.

Record was produced by Don Logan and arranged by Sammy Steven There is a bluesy with a strong "early BB king" influence: "Lord I Need Thee (As I Can)"

 

ANDREW WARTSS & GOSPEL STORYTELLERS

Andrew Wartts was an aspiring songwriter from Greenville, MS who grew up singing in church choirs, moved to St Louis, Missouri, worked for the police department and sang in the Southern Wonders gospel group between 1961 and 1967. In 1983, while living in Bloomington, Illinois (a next-door neighbour and good friend of the late Donny Hathaway) Wartts formed the Gospel Storytellers, hoping to interest other artists in his heavily scriptural compositions.

"I wanted to do something different with gospel music and still make people feel good about life,"
 says Wartts. 

"The truth is that all of the songs on that album were written for the express purpose of getting some major group to record them. I wanted to be a songwriter. However, no-one was interested. I mean we sent those songs out to so many people and couldn't get anyone to record a single one. Now, as life goes, shortly after we recorded the album I was approached by a representative for a major Rhythm and Blues star who is now deceased. But he was a big star. Everyone knows his name. He was interested in doing a gospel album. He liked what he heard and wanted me to write the material for him. I began to think that maybe the songs were pretty good."

Stunning songs. Wartts holds hard to a then-outmoded JB's/Curtom sound, with funky drums, soft, wailing organ, golden harmonies and Oliver Sain guitarist Earl Wright laying down a minor-key chicken-scratch soul groove. Wartts burrows into the far corners of the Bible (the 37th psalm; 25th verse; Luke, Chapter 16; John 14; the third chapter in the book of Acts), his sweet harmonies making these dusty, forbidding words sound like the mesmerizing entreaties of Curtis Mayfield. A silvery, euphoric sound, that is also effortlessy funky, it comes close to convincing you that the way of the Lord is a joyous one, not merely the mean choice between being a sinner or a winner.

WHO AM I

My name is Luca.

I'm a true and real lover of soul music, especially the one that is felt from the heart.

I set up this blog to share "obscure" pearls discovered through the years somewhere around.

more about me

MARION BLACK

One of the turning points in the career of William Roger "Bill" Moss came in 1964, when he left everything and  moved to Columbus, Ohio which was to be his home for the next 41 years.

Having been divorced, Moss married Ruth, who was to be his wife for the rest of his life.

Bill and Ruth Moss were to own and operate a restaurant, Nassau Daddy's Pit Barbecue, which specialized in barbecue items. Moss recorded a few songs musically, including the 1969 song 'Sock it to 'em, soul brother'. In 1970, Moss founded his own record label, Capsoul, which was designed to be the Columbus alternative to Detroit's Motown. Unlike Motown, Capsoul had just a few minor hits over several years before going out of business.

During his audience with local talents he discovered Marion Black with his self-penned song "Who Knows".

"Most of my time was down South, on the East Coast," Black remembered during an interview at his Near East Side home. In fact, Black said he could only remember publicly performing his music once in Columbus.

The road was another story. Black toured for months on the back of "Go On Fool," a gospel-infused slow-drift that peaked at No. 39 on the Billboard R&B chart. After a dispute over royalties with Capsoul founder Bill Moss, Black left Capsoul for Prix Records and never scored another hit.

Even when he sold his song "Off the Critical List" to Chess Records in 1974, the label folded shortly after. Eventually Black gave up on music and stuck with waiting tables at the Holiday Inn on Lane Avenue, where he worked for 25 years before retiring in 1995.

Then, suddenly and surprisingly, this decade has brought Black more attention than ever. First, Columbus native RJD2 sampled Black's "Who Knows" on his acclaimed 2002 album Deadringer.

 Then Numero's Capsoul reissue rocketed the song into the pop-culture consciousness. "Who Knows," the neglected B-side to "Go On Fool," has appeared on TV shows "Who Killed the Electric Car?"

"I thought it was dead in the water a long time ago," Black said. "I never had an idea that it would do what it's doing."

 

The royalties keep rolling in. Black said he's made more money from his music this year than all his other years combined. That's small consolation in the face of his faltering health and the death of his wife last year, but even a little bit of good news can go a long way towards curing the blues.

In 2012 I recorded my own version of "Who Knows".
 


 WHO KNOWS by Luca