Welfare Cheese!

Emanuel Laskey - Welfare Cheese

Detroit soulster Emanuel Laskey's long but unfortunately unheralded career is covered at length at Soulful Detroit, and he is featured in the new edition of There's That Beat fanzine. I'll defer to both of those fine resources for all the bio and discographical information about Laskey (also spelled "Lasky" in some places). Laskey's voice was slightly unusual, but when it was coupled with the awesome Detroit grooves that graced his 45s for Thelma, Westbound, Wild Deuce and other labels, Northern Soul magic was made.

Today's selection was his first record, which garnered 1963 release on Thelma, Don Davis' first label concern (Davis would, of course, go on to be part of Solid Hitbound Productions and its labels and then would make magic with Johnnie Taylor and others at Stax). "Welfare Cheese" is a nice groovy blues-based number which gave Laskey his first taste of success, albeit only regionally. It's noted at Soulful Detroit that the JFK assassination later in the year hurt the record due to its references to the late president, but it was certainly a strong start to Laskey's career and a great early Northern Soul record.

Get on Down With Johnny Williams!

Johnny Williams - The Breaking Point

Today's post is the last of the Twinight posts for the week. Johnny Williams' 1971 Philadelphia International hit "Slow Motion (Pt. 1)" was his only hit, but before he hooked up with Gamble and Huff in Philly he had knocked around Chicago and scored releases on Twinight that went nowhere. "Breaking Point" is a nice funky thing with great horn charts and a nice guitar riff in the verses. Get on down with it!

Pure, Granulated Soul!

Renaldo Domino - Not Too Cool To Cry



The soulful figure gracing the cover of Twinight's Lunar Rotation is Renaldo Domino (born Renaldo Jones and renamed because his voice was as sweet as Domino sugar), who, had Twinight put more effort into promotion side of things, may have been a major success at the dawn of the '70s. After unsuccessful prior records on Blue Rock in the late '60s, Domino came to Twinight via WVON jock Richard Pegue, who dabbled in production and promotion as a sideline to his radio gig. Although Domino cut several great 45s, including the notorious funk classic "Let Me Come Within," his soulful falsetto failed to make the big time and he eventually faded into obscurity. "Not Too Cool To Cry" is one of those "it's not eccentric, it's awesome" records that always grab me by the lapel when I listen to the Eccentric Soul comps. The atmospheric ballad finds Domino wailing most effectively while the awesome strings and even more awesome chorus work their magic around him. This is "sho' 'nuff" soul right here, and it is worth the price of the compilation all by itself.

A postscript - yesterday I mentioned that Kent had put out a single-disc Twinight comp over a decade ago. It is true that the Numero set includes most of the tracks from the Kent disc excepting the Syl Johnson tracks and a couple of others (see the Numero page for a full track listing and samples), the Numero set is worth buying, not only for the extra tracks but for the liner notes, which leave the scant (by usual Kent standards) liner notes from Twinight's Chicago Soul Heaven in the dust.

Steppin' With Twinight

Annette Poindexter & Pieces of Peace - Mama

The Numero Group has done it again with the newest installment in their Eccentric Soul series! Twinight's Lunar Rotation is a long-awaited comp of recordings from the Chicago label - Kent did a one-disc set, Twinight's Chicago Soul Heaven, back in the '90s, promising a second volume in the liner notes but never delivering - and it meets the high standard we've come to expect from Numero. The excellent liner notes tell the story of how Howard Bedno and Peter Wright ran Twinight (originally called Twilight) as a sideline to their record distributing and promotion business, choosing to buy finished masters of recordings rather than mount up any serious A&R on their own, although Syl Johnson - the label's only true moneymaker - stepped up and produced quite a few records. Johnson does not appear on the comp except as an integral part of the story told by the liner notes and as producer of some of the tracks -which is not a bad thing, as there are plenty of Syl Johnson comps out there - so more room exists for awesome rarities. The first three posts of this week will cover some of those awesome records featured on this must-have compilation.

Annette Poindexter was Syl Johnson's erstwhile girlfriend when she cut two 45s for the label. She was backed by Syl's touring band, the Pieces of Peace, who had also shown significant prowess in the recording studios of Chicago, playing on several hit Chicago soul records. "Mama" is a nice stepping groover redolent of "Mama He Treats Your Daughter Mean," with nice string charts and Poindexter's strong vocals making it work.

Get On Down With The Stepfather Of Soul - Episode 16!

Episode #16 is now available for download in stereo or mono! (You can LISTEN to the mono program right here, thanks to Hipcast!) The playlist is the two sets I did at "Rhythm & Booze" on March 17, 2007, so this is a special extended episode! Enjoy! The playlist is as follows:

Set One:

1. Aretha Franklin, "Soulville"
2. B.B. King, "I'm Gonna Sit In Till You Give In"
3. Andre Williams, "Rib Tips (Pt. 1)"
4. Bo Diddley, "Do The Frog"
5. Slim Harpo, "Tip On In (Pt. 1)"
6. Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, "Frankenstein Walk"
7. The Fantastic Johnny C, "Hitch It To The Horse"
8. Rodge Martin, "Lovin' Machine"
9. Tiny Watkins, "Way Across Town"
10. The Stingers, "I Refuse To Be Lonely"
11. Koko Taylor, "Fire"
12. Roscoe Robinson, "How Much Pressure (Do You Think I Can Stand)"
13. Ironing Board Sam, "Non Support (That's What The Judge Said)"
14. Harold Burrage, "Things Ain't What They Used To Be (Since You've Been Gone)"
15. Otis Redding, "Hard To Handle"
16. Howard Tate, "That's What Happens"
17. Marva Whitney, "Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)"
18. Lowell Fulsom, "Make A Little Love"
19. The Olympics, "Baby Do The Philly Dog"
20. Robert Parker, "Barefootin'"
21. Pigmeat Markham, "The Hip Judge"
22. Maskman & The Agents, "One Eye Open"

INTERMISSION - John R, "Soul Medallion" Ad

Set Two:

1. Polka Dot Slim, "A Thing You Gotta Face"
2. Willie Mabon, "Just Got Some"
3. Candy Phillips, "Timber (Pt. 1)"
4. Warren Lee, "Climb The Ladder"
5. Solomon Burke, "Maggie's Farm"
6. Tom & Jerrio, "Boo-Ga-Loo"
7. Diamond Joe, "Hurry Back To Me"
8. Larry Birdsong, "Every Night In The Week"
9. The Mad Lads, "No Time Is Better Than Right Now"
10. The Meditation Singers, "Don't You Want To Go (Pt. 1)"
11. Jackie Moore, "Here I Am"

Kangaroo!

Abraham & The Casanovas - Kangaroo (Pt. 2)

I plan to record and upload the new podcast today, but to tide you over for now, and to allow me to play with Hipcast some more, I present today's selection.

Abraham Ester and his wife, Marion, were part of the Murco Records roster in Shreveport, Louisiana. Dee Marais' Murco concern never was a major success but it enjoyed regional hits like Eddy Giles' "Losing Boy." The Kent CD Shreveport Southern Soul is a great anthology of the label and is worth checking out. Abraham's solo record "Kangaroo" was a two-part 45 on the Murco subsidiary Peermont, which unfortunately was not included on the comp. Part One's vocal is pretty good, but the instrumental Part Two is really where it's at, as Abe calls for solos and the groove really cooks. I need to get a cleaner copy of this 45, because it's just so good.

A New Approach!

Jock Mitchell - Not a Chance in a Million

(EDITOR'S NOTE: Today I managed to get some free time so I decided to check out Hipcast.com. I'm on their 7-day trial right now, so I'll be doing a lot of experimenting to see how this works - bear with me if I make mistakes. Give me your feedback about having the preview browser, etc.)

Well, it's been a very busy week for your ever-lovin' Stepfather of Soul, hence the lack of posts and link refreshing the last few days. In order to make up for the delay I've decided to make the links for Monday and Tuesday's posts valid until Wednesday of next week. Due to time issues I haven't prepared anything in honor of Luther Ingram, so instead I'll encourage you to check out Red Kelly's B-Side post, which contains a great bio and, as always, a nice piece of soul music to meditate over. The plan for this blog, should things go to plan today and tomorrow, is for the "Rhythm & Booze"-inspired Episode #16 of the podcast to go up either tonight or tomorrow and for some posts from next week to focus on the Numero Group's latest and greatest Eccentric Soul release, Twinight's Lunar Rotation, and to include some stuff by Emanuel Laskey, who is featured in the newest edition of There's That Beat.

For today's selection I present with no further ado the Northern Soul classic "Not a Chance in a Million" by Jock Mitchell, an Impact release from the mid-60s. It's uptown, but Mitchell's reading creeps into Jimmy Robins "preacher" mode by the end. I love it. (Check out the Dec. 2006 issue of There's That Beat for the Impact/Inferno Records story.)

RIP Luther Ingram

I have just read that Luther Ingram has passed away at age 69. Ingram, whose "If Loving You Is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)" was one of the biggest R&B hits of 1972 and perhaps one of the definitive "cheating" songs of all time, had been in poor health for quite a few years, requiring a kidney transplant in 2001 (the performance footage of Rufus and Carla Thomas in the film Only The Strong Survive comes from a benefit held for Luther in Memphis). I will do an Ingram post at some point this week. As Stax begins to celebrate its 50th anniversary, Luther's passing reminds me of just how important the label's legacy is and how the links to it continue to fade.

Get on Down With Albert Collins Again!

Albert Collins - Ain't Got Time

I'll defer to an earlier post I did about Albert Collins for information about the late blues master and his tasty guitar workouts of the '60s. Today's selection came from Collins' Imperial LP Love Can Be Found Anywhere (Even In A Guitar), which is chock full of these type of goodies. This is a serious hipshaker featuring the usual stinging guitar from Collins and nice horn charts.

The Queen of Soulville!

Aretha Franklin - Soulville



First of all, I must thank Tim Lawrence for giving me another go behind the "wheels of steel" at "Rhythm & Booze" this past Saturday. It was a rush to spin some great records for a nice-sized, enthusiastic crowd that was ready to party on St. Pat's! I will record Episode #16 of the podcast this week, which will consist of the tunes I played over two sets that evening. Today's selection was the lead-off of the first set.

In 1960, Aretha Franklin, with her father's blessings, signed to Columbia Records under the auspices of John Hammond, and she recorded for the label until 1967, when she moved to Atlantic and proceeded to earn the "Queen of Soul" mantle (an honorific legendary WVON disc jockey Purvis Spann claims to have given her) right out of the gate with "I Never Loved a Man." As a result of her immense success with Atlantic, her Columbia recordings have been greatly ignored or, at best, presented as a poor fit for a newcomer artist. Although it is fair to say that Jerry Wexler and company at Atlantic capitalized best on her talents at a time when Columbia, with Mitch Miller at A&R and with an attitude common to most major labels of the time, chose to attempt to break Aretha more as a pop (not rock-n-roll) singer than as an R&B singer, her Columbia output is very good and it deserves more praise. "Soulville" was one of the few R&B hits Franklin had while on Columbia, and you know it's going to be good from the opening piano notes through Aretha and the backup group's workout of the lyrics and the great uptempo groove. The Queen of Soulville had arrived!

(Postscript - Titus Turner, co-writer of the tune, also recorded a nice version of the tune that sports a more New Orleans-flavored groove and a singing style that makes it fit almost as a perfect bookend to Mr. Fine Wine's classic theme song, "Downtown Soulville" by Chuck Edwards.)

(EDITOR'S NOTE - I have decided for the time being to stick with GoDaddy.com's Online File Folder for the downloads for this blog. Although I liked the preview feature and the fact that I didn't have to update links every 100 downloads, the fact that there were pop-up ads and issues with Firefox compatability for readers who use that browser have convinced me to, at least for now, stick with what I've been doing. I have looked into using Hipcast, which would allow me to put a preview pane inside of the blog - thus no pop-up ads, etc. - but at $9.99 a month I would be increasing the costs of doing the blog instead of having money to buy records with!)

The Memphis Soul of Revilot?

Terry Felton - You're Welcome Back

Most of the material that was released on the Solid Hitbound Productions labels including Revilot was in-house material produced by Don Davis, LeBaron Taylor or George Clinton, but there were lease-in deals. On Revilot those were the Little Sonny recordings and today's selection, a single produced by Memphis session musician/producer/vocalist Charles Chalmers, whose story (including his unlikely rise to popularity as a backup singer vis-a-vis his singing, with the Rhodes sisters, on Al Green records) can be read here. "You're Welcome Back" was a Chalmers production on Terry Felton, about whom I know nothing. There's a nice Memphis mid-tempo groove on this one (it sounds to me like it may have been recorded at Hi). Felton's singing is a little cloying, but she moves the song along nicely. It's a nice groover to end the week with.

(A postscript - The flip of the 45, "I Don't Want to Have to Wait," was also a production by Chalmers on Barbara & The Browns, which was leased to Chess, for whom Chalmers cut an instrumental LP, Sax and the Single Girl.)

Deep Soul Devastation, Gospel Style

Rev. Julius Cheeks - Just Crying

I know that usually gospel tunes don't appear on the blog during the week, but I was listening to today's selection on the way to work and knew that it was today's pick. Gospel music didn't necessarily always deal with salvation, blessings or warnings to the unchurched. Sometimes gospel songs dipped into pretty dark territory, telling sad stories that even soul singers usually didn't touch, and not necessarily offering much religious content. Most of such songs involved death and the sadness it brings, despite religious belief in a positive afterlife. Songs like "Children In The Fire" by The C Lord C's (Su-Ann) touched on the tragedies of sudden death and a great many songs addressed the sorrow of the passing of "dear old Mother." Julius Cheeks' 1970 Peacock recording "Just Crying" finds the gospel legend describing his happenstance attendance at a child's funeral. After his opening, which has a "Crying in the Chapel" motif, Cheeks settles into his customary practice of narrating songs and letting the background singers do most of the work. (As I mentioned in a prior post, Cheeks' voice was ravaged after a career fronting the Sensational Nightingales.) But when Cheeks opens up in the choruses, the pain and anguish in his voice hits like a hammer. I can see how gospel audiences ate this up when it came out, but it's equally as strong a deep soul record as anything that came out in those days.

"Just Crying" was included on the Julius Cheeks Sings LP on Peacock, which was comped along with the Swan Silvertones' I Found The Answer and the Sunset Travelers' On Jesus Program over a decade years ago on Raisin' The Roof, a great boxed set on Mobile Fidelity Sound Lab. The whole set is worth hearing, especially the Cheeks material and the Sunset Travelers LP, on which a young O.V. Wright shows off how good a gospel singer he was before he switched to R&B and Peacock's Back Beat label. The two-disc set has long been out of print, for which I despaired when I loaned out my set and never got it back, but my good friend John Glassburner was so kind to make this track his "Gospel Pick of the Day" on the Yahoo! Southern Soul group and share it with me.

(EDITOR'S NOTE - The feedback about ZShare has been more negative than positive, particularly in technological aspects, and unless I hear strongly otherwise, I'm going to go back to GoDaddy next week.)