All Platinum Donnie!

Donnie Elbert - This Feeling of Losing You

Donnie Elbert's recording career stretched back to 1957, and his thrilling falsetto graced many great recordings, including the Northern Soul classic "A Little Piece of Leather." His rocky tenure at Avco and All Platinum in the early '70s gave him his biggest successes, although the acrimonious relationshipo he had with both labels probably limited his success, which is unfortunate. He signed to All Platinum and hit with an updated version of the Supremes classic "Where Did Our Love Go" but then signed to Avco. Disagreements with the label about the direction of his album - he wanted to do a lot of Motown covers - resulted in his release from Avco, who dumped his album on the cheapo Trip label and left Elbert with no choice but to return to All Platinum. Today's selection was Elbert's first single on All Platinum after his return, and it's a nice one. Over a nice charging groove, Elbert conjures both his own falsetto and, to me, a touch of Al Green. This record, like most subsequent product, was commercially unsuccessful, and Elbert would leave All Platinum in acrimony, claiming to have written "Shame, Shame, Shame," a big hit for Shirley & Co. on Vibration, an All Platinum subsidiary. Elbert's claim failed, and he continued to toil unsuccessfully until the mid-80s.