Maurice King Archive Discovered...

[DWSheffer]

As the membership may have gathered from my participation in the lengthy thread on sharing your Motown collectibles at the start of the pandemic, I love seeking out and acquiring the memorabilia related to Motown as much I love the music of Motown. I'm always on the hunt for anything related to Motown's Detroit days up to 1972. To me there is nothing better than being able to hold things in your hand that really weren't meant to leave the facilities on West Grand Boulevard or Woodward Ave. I'm lucky in the fact that I live in Michigan and have contacts in the record collector business that regularly scour collections in the Detroit area, and keep me in mind when anything Motown shows up.

At any rate, my trip to Detroit on May 21st was two-fold. First, I attended the "What's Going On" 50th Anniversary event at Hitsville. It was a good time and I enjoyed being there with fellow aficionados celebrating the song's release. I met Dayna Hartwick and it was fun to listen to her talk of her experiences of working at Motown, starting at the age of 15! It was very nice being in a small group of 10 people in a slower than normal paced tour. I wish they were always like this to be honest!

The second, just as exciting reason was to meet a gentleman I had connected with early this year. It was months of back and forth and eager waiting on my part, but we finally set the time to meet that day. The man I was meeting buys unclaimed storage unit contents at auction in the Detroit area. A couple of years ago he purchased a unit and concluded the contents belonged to one of Maurice King's sons. Included was the equivalent of a file cabinet's worth of papers and handwritten musical scores belonging to Maurice. OH, and a box of approximately 40 reel to reel audio tapes too! :) There is a lot of material from the years when Maurice was the musical director for the Spinners, but I am happy with the amount of Motown material I was able to discover as well. There is also a fair amount of items from the 1950's and before when Maurice led his band the Wolverines.

If there is interest, I will share some of the discoveries with the forum, and there are some really neat items! I was able to secure a reel to reel player on Monday and have reviewed the audio tapes. Wow is all I can say! I made a post yesterday asking about Chris Clark's appearances at the Roostertail. Well, I can tell you a different performance by Chris has been discovered and is likely from the Roostertail as Scott Regan is the announcer. It's approximately 13 minutes long and the quality is great. Other reels include The Temptations, Tammi Terrell, Martha and The Vandellas, Brenda Holloway, Smokey and The Miracles and more Chris Clark.

Luckily this archive was not lost to the dumpster as it very easily could have been. Most storage unit buyers would have seen a pile of old papers and a pile of spaghetti reel to reel audio tapes and threw them out, almost without a doubt.
Darin

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[lockhartgary]

Wow, what a fantastic find! I would love to see some of the items shared here on the forum. I assume you are going to digitize the reel to reel tapes ?

[DWSheffer]

Yes, I hope to figure out a way to get the tapes transferred into a digital format, but that will be a down the road project at this point. Unfortunately I don't have the proper equipment to be able to do so currently.

[SatansBlues]

What an awesome find!!!! I would love to hear the Brenda Holloway and Tammi Terrell tapes. Have you had a chance to listen to them and the rest? Could you share Brenda and Tammi's set list?

[Roger Polhill]

I`m so glad that this wonderful treasure trove fell into your hands Darin and has not been lost.
If you need donations to help finance their restoration please sing out.

[DWSheffer]

Thank you for the nice comments.

I want to clarify that so far the Chris Clark full live performance is the only one I've discovered of it's type. The majority of them are of Maurice rehearsing songs and coaching the artists, which to me is equally as interesting. It's a behind the scenes listen to a part of the Motown workings most of us have never heard, unless we were there and there are few around today who were. For instance, the Tammi Terrell tape is her and Maurice rehearsing "Almost Like Being In Love" and is pretty short. Some are very long, like the Temptations and The Miracles reels are the whole tape. I laughed listening to the one Tempts tapes as Maurice asked a member to announce each song they were working on and the take number. For "A Taste of Honey" Melvin says the title and "Take one and a half" and you can tell he was clowning with Maurice. Another cool reel is Maurice rehearsing "Real Humdinger" with JJ Barnes. And not all of the reels are Motown, many are earlier from Maurices band leader era and are important as part of Maurice's life story.

I must admit that previous to the last 3 days, I had never touched a reel to reel player in my life as I'm too young to be familiar with the technology! I thought I had reviewed all of the reels, but discovered tonight through the magic of Youtube how to play side 2. I know they are marked that way but I was unsure of how to listen to the other side. I now know so I guess I'm far from reviewing all of them as I still have side 2's to listen to!

[Roger Polhill]

Sounds really interesting and still side 2`s to go! I hope that you are willing and able to share them with us.

[kenneth]

What a fantastic find! And how fortunate it found its way into caring hands! Please keep us informed as you dig through your hidden treasures!

[lockhartgary]

Just imagine if the producers of "Hitsville: The Making of Motown" had access to those tapes!!

As far as getting digital copies made, you may want to consider having them digitized by a professional company. The tapes may have been stored under less than ideal conditions and that, combined with their age, may have taken a toll on them.

[DWSheffer]

I played a reel last night that I had not reviewed yet and it was Maurice with The Underdogs. I thought that is a rather unique combination! Obviously he worked with and coached everyone under contract with Motown.

I agree lockhartgary, it may be wiser for me to have them digitized by professionals. I'm sure being in a storage unit for who knows how long was not good for them, but luckily I have not had any issues with them. Some are quite dusty but other than that they are not visually degraded or brittle.

[nsoule]

Great find! I have a friend that works at Wayne State and has access to the university's archival equipment. He helped us transfer some of the Don Davis/Groovesville tapes when those first started appearing around town. Feel free to send me a message, and I can give you his contact info if you're interested. It took a while to get the files back, but he might have more availability now with the pandemic.

[danman869]

Darin, that's an AMAZING find! Congratulations! I hope there's a way that those treasures can somehow be [[officially) shared with the Motown fan base because it sounds as though there's a little something for everyone in what you've found! I can't wait to hear what happens next in your quest to get them digitized and...?

[lockhartgary]

I played a reel last night that I had not reviewed yet and it was Maurice with The Underdogs. I thought that is a rather unique combination! Obviously he worked with and coached everyone under contract with Motown.

I agree lockhartgary, it may be wiser for me to have them digitized by professionals. I'm sure being in a storage unit for who knows how long was not good for them, but luckily I have not had any issues with them. Some are quite dusty but other than that they are not visually degraded or brittle.


When you do get them digitized it would also be a good idea to have multiple copies stored in multiple places offsite; that way if the original gets damaged or destroyed you'll have copies to fall back on. Cloud storage, jump drives, hard drives and cds are viable options.

[drewschultz88]

I’m in the Detroit area with a home studio and I’d gladly help transfer tapes to digital! Feel free to send me a message, I’m Drew@Drew-Music.com and I might be able to help get copies to some of the artists themselves as well! What an amazing discovery!

[DWSheffer]

The recent discussion on reel to reel tapes brought this thread back to my attention. Now that I have sifted through the boxes of paperwork, I would like to post some of the more interesting items from the archive. I said I would share items in this thread but time just seemed to get away from me, which I apologize. I will try to keep adding items this week that I feel will be of the most interest to the forum.

First item is a contract sent to Maurice on April 5, 1955 by United Records in hopes of signing the Four Tops. When I saw Duke in May I asked him about Maurice being their manager, as I was unaware of this. He said, Oh yes, he managed us in the mid-50's. In my opinion this document alters the timeframe when the group adopted the Four Tops name. Almost everywhere you read, it says the group was known as the Four Aims until they went to Chess in 1956. This document being from the first 1/3 of 1955 says they were using the name professionally much earlier than '56. I made a copy of the contract and gave it to Duke. He was very interested in it. We had to laugh at the spelling of the names in the contract, ABDUE FAKIR, RENOLDO BENTSON, LAWRENCE PAYTON and LEVI STOBBS. The first photo is Duke looking it over.

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[MIKEW-UK]

Fascinating stuff! How incredibly fortunate these artefacts fell into the hands of someone who recognised their significance. Will any of the recordings surface?
Mike

[DWSheffer]

I would also assume from items found that Maurice managed Willie Tyler early on. The first item is an Artists Engagement Contract for Willie to appear for the African Art Gallery Fund Committee in December 1963. I also found a ITMI management agreement for Willie Tyler and Lester from March 31st, 1964 when Motown evidently acquired his services. I doubt that too many of these ITMI contracts have been seen by others outside of the organization at the time.

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[DWSheffer]

It also appears Maurice represented Barbara Tamiko Jones early on, contract dated December 30th, 1961.

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[DWSheffer]

I would assume this certificate for "Conducting Business Under An Assumed Name" is likely the beginning of Maurice's Talent Unlimited Productions business, dated December 26th, 1957.

20195

[DWSheffer]

Recording log cards for sessions at United Sound Systems.

20196

[DWSheffer]

Below are different personal blank composition sheets from the Wolverines days and items related to Talent Unlimited Productions, and a couple different business cards.

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[reese]

Recording log cards for sessions at United Sound Systems.

20196

Very cool.

WHISTLE MY LOVE b/w CHING CHONG was the Pips' first recording.

[DWSheffer]

Speaking of the Pips, here is Maurice's handwritten score for "Giving Up".....the musicians added their own notations, including "Gladys Knight and The Pimps" and Giving Up...Some Head after the title on the 2nd trumpet score, lol....

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[DWSheffer]

Now we'll move onto Motown related items from the archive. I am not a musician so do not have any knowledge of reading music. I am curious if this score for "Bidin' My Time" for Marvin Gaye is actually known as "Taking My Time"? This is obviously for a live show performance of the song.

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[DWSheffer]

Another interesting handwritten score for the Marvin Gaye Show, "Marvin Gaye Medley", which includes "Stubborn Kind of Fellow" "One Of These Days" and "Hitch Hike".

20202

[sansradio]

Now we'll move onto Motown related items from the archive. I am not a musician so do not have any knowledge of reading music. I am curious if this score for "Bidin' My Time" for Marvin Gaye is actually known as "Taking My Time"? This is obviously for a live show performance of the song.

This is a serious treasure trove! Since the above is a bass part, it's hard to know for certain, but, given Marvin's Nat-King-Cole-and-Sinatra aspirations, I would bet it's the Gershwin tune. Thanks for sharing!

[DWSheffer]

Another interesting Marvin related item....these lyric sheets were sent to Maurice at the Waldorf-Astoria. Possibly Marvin sang a version of "I Can't Help Myself" in concert? Lyrics for "Up-tight" are in the same envelope.

20203

Here is a quick score Maurice wrote out for "I Can't Help Myself", so quite possibly was part of a live show.

20205

[DWSheffer]

Does anyone know if this 1966 Fuqua/King/Foreman piece "Quit Playin' With Me" was recorded by anyone at Motown? I did not see anything on the Don't Forget The Motor City site. Maurice had copies sent to him December 7, 1973 from the Jobete offices in Hollywood.

20204

[DWSheffer]

Ronald Wakefield was in charge of sending out the weekly "Artist Schedule" to the department heads in Artist Development. I'm very fortunate that several of these were discovered in the mounds of music scores. I know I had not seen one of these previous to acquiring the archive, so I'm happy to share them with my fellow Motowners. These are the type of "inside" items I'm always looking out for to add to my collection, items never meant for you and I to see!

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[DWSheffer]

A couple more Artist Schedules.....

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[DWSheffer]

The bulk of the archive is scores, mostly handwritten by Maurice, but some are printed copy. I will try not to post too many scores, but in order to fully appreciate Mr. King I think it's important to share them. I know to some the ability comes naturally, but I look at some of them and it's pretty awe-inspiring even to someone like myself that really doesn't understand what I'm looking at!

I think this composition for "Every Little Bit Hurts" is a great example....

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[DWSheffer]

Here is another great internal Motown item, a memo from Lon Fontaine to the Artist Development department reporting on Martha and the Vandellas performance at the Roostertail on 9-12-1966. I would hazard to say this memo has not been seen by anyone but myself, and now the membership, since it was typed out and sent to Mr. King on 9-13-66.

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I would not be surprised if these scores were the ones used at the Roostertail performance. They were in a file with the memo. I will share that one of the audio reels from the archive is Maurice rehearsing with Martha and the Vandellas. I wouldn't be a bit surprised if it's at the Roostertail. The sad part is Mr. King placed his recorder near the drums if I recall, and this overpowers the vocals, unfortunately.

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[DWSheffer]

Scores for a couple earlier Motown songs, Mojo Hanna and Fingertips. Unfortunately the Fingertips is in rough condition, but it's neat to see the obvious cue is "everybody....[[say) yeah!"

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[MIKEW-UK]

I have to say that sharing these treasures is an incredibly selfless and generous act on your part. Thankyou!!!

[DWSheffer]

I have to say that sharing these treasures is an incredibly selfless and generous act on your part. Thankyou!!!

No problem Mike, glad to do it. Hopefully the forum will enjoy it. In response to your question on the reel to reels, yes, I do hope to someday share these with the forum. I just have to take the time and concentrate on the project at hand!
Darin

[DWSheffer]

These are Maurice's copies of the scores for the arrangements he did for "The Temptations Show", or as it's referred to here "The Temptations Special" in March of 1969. The special aired on July 10, 1969.

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[Boogiedown]

so cool!!:cool:

[ralpht]

D.W. Many thanks for taking the time to share this amazing Historic collection. I'll be studying it for a while.

[kenneth]

It is a fascinating treasure trove! Thanks, DW!

[SatansBlues]

Why was Marvin Gaye's rehearsal so long? It lasted form 11 am until 6 pm. Which seems like a really long time. I wonder if this was around the time that he was preparing for his Copa engagement?

[Roger Polhill]

Wonderful information DW many thanks. Re the track "Quit Playing With Me" [[Fuqua/King/Foreman) I can`t find any other song by this trio but Harvey Fuqua and Isabella Foreman did pen "The Children`s Christmas Song" for DRATS.

[Graham Jarvis]

Amazing archive, thanks a lot DW for sharing all of this, I have a lot of acetates and unissued tracks went through all of the tracks, the "Quit Playing With Me" I don't have.

Thanks again.

[reese]

Why was Marvin Gaye's rehearsal so long? It lasted form 11 am until 6 pm. Which seems like a really long time. I wonder if this was around the time that he was preparing for his Copa engagement?

I'm assuming since he was slotted with both Maurice and Cholly that Marvin probably did his act from top to bottom multiple times.

Marvin's Copa engagement was in August of 1966. However, I do recall Berry telling the story of a nightclub act [[in San Francisco?) that Marvin pulled together with the guys. He wouldn't let Berry know what was going on and Berry didn't see the act until opening night. It turned out to be an act that was heavy on standards and very few of his hits. Berry was not pleased. Perhaps it was this engagement that they were rehearsing for.

[reese]

Another interesting Marvin related item....these lyric sheets were sent to Maurice at the Waldorf-Astoria. Possibly Marvin sang a version of "I Can't Help Myself" in concert? Lyrics for "Up-tight" are in the same envelope.

20203

Here is a quick score Maurice wrote out for "I Can't Help Myself", so quite possibly was part of a live show.

20205

Marvin did a medley of I'LL BE DOGGONE/I CAN'T HELP MYSELF/UPTIGHT/HITCH HIKE during his Copa engagement.

[DWSheffer]

Wow Reese, that's great information! Now we have the connection of these pieces to the puzzle.
Darin

[DWSheffer]

I've concluded this is likely a set list for a Jimmy Ruffin show that Maurice was doing arrangements for:
1. Get Ready
2. If You Let Me
3. [[What Becomes Of The) Broken Hearted
4. You Gave Me Love
5. I'll Say Farewell [[Baby Come Back lined out)
6. Let The Sunshine In
7. I've Passed This Way [[Before)
8. [[Gonna) Give Her All The Love [[I've Got)
9. [[Maria) Farewell) Is A Lonely Sound
10. Finale Day Tripper

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[DWSheffer]

Maurice worked with Gladys Knight and the Pips relatively early on in their career and continued on into his later years. These are the earliest Pips items from the archive. Coral records evidently offered them a contract in late 1957, unfortunately they are no longer present, only the letter and envelope.

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Reese mentioned above that "Ching Chong" was The Pips first recording. Below are songwriters contracts for three compositions including "Ching Chong", "Realing And Rocking" and "Tell Me You Love Me" with writer credits to Richard Hunter, Maurice and The Pips. Bob Thiele from Coral Records is mentioned in the letter from Robert Mellin dated November 27, 1957 so must be something was in the works at the time that possibly fell through. If anyone knows please let me know!

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[DWSheffer]

There are quite a few scores for Gladys Knight and the Pips songs, the majority from the post-Motown period when Maurice worked with the group. Below is an itinerary from Oct-Dec 1973.

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[DWSheffer]

There is a lot of music material from Maurice's days at the Flame, as well as other Detroit landmarks such as the Fox Theatre.

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[DWSheffer]

Maurice was in partnership evidently with Cornelius Grant with a venture called "The New Horizon" in the late 1970's. I emailed Mr. Grant asking for any information on the partnership over a year ago and never received a reply. Maybe he was suspicious of someone questioning this out of the blue.....If anyone on the forum knows, please enlighten us.

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[DWSheffer]

Here are four blank musician contracts for the services of 7 musicians at $330 total signed by Leonard Chess.

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[danman869]

Wonderful information DW many thanks. Re the track "Quit Playing With Me" [[Fuqua/King/Foreman) I can`t find any other song by this trio but Harvey Fuqua and Isabella Foreman did pen "The Children`s Christmas Song" for DRATS.

Hey Roger! I think you likely confused the actual songwriter name, Freeman, with the name listed on this mystery song--Foreman. In another thread in the DRATS forum last month, Children's Christmas Song was being discussed and I think it was determined at that time that Isabelle Freeman was the wife of LA arranger/conductor Ernie Freeman [or maybe it was Ernie writing under his wife's name due to contractual issues? Maybe?]. Anyway, the names [Foreman/Freeman] are close, so I can totally understand confusing the two.

Isn't this thread by DWSheffer A-M-A-Z-I-N-G?! It's literally peeking into a cool treasure trove of stuff we'd normally never get to see!

[DWSheffer]

I assume this is a short speech Maurice may have given presenting Richard Street to an audience somewhere, which obviously references the Grammy winning Temptations song "Papa Was A Rollin' Stone". Maurice's composition for "Papa" is 15 pages long. We all know Paul Riser won a Grammy for his arrangement of the song as the Best R&B Instrumental of 1973.

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[DWSheffer]

A couple blank recording studio contracts from D.M.D. Recording Co. in Ann Arbor, MI and V.R. Recording in Dearborn Heights, MI.

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[DWSheffer]

My biggest hope was I would find some Supremes nuggets in the boxes. Unfortunately there weren't any rehearsal tapes with the ladies or any specific paperwork referencing the Supremes. There was one reel that was labeled Supremes, but unfortunately they were not on the tape contained in the box. At any rate, these are the only items I could possibly tie to being in the room during a rehearsal between Maurice and the Supremes. I would almost bet these pieces of sheet music were used by Mr. King in the rehearsals with the girls. [[On most all the tapes I have it's just Maurice on the piano coaching the artist's vocals.) There is also a handwritten arrangement started for "You're Nobody" which we all know the story surrounding Diana's "love" for that tune initially! :p

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[DWSheffer]

Two more compositions, for the Detroit Emeralds "You Want It You Got It", as well as a solo David Ruffin piece "Yesterday Medley".

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[DWSheffer]

Another composition for "Try It Baby" for The Temptations Show TV special in 1969.

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[NativeNuYorker]

What a treasure! Thank you so much for sharing. Duke is looking pretty sharp and you look much younger than I anticipated to have such an interest and collection. After I cook dinner I'll take a leisurely look. I love Motown, but especially The Temptations. My goal is to visit the Motown Museum this Spring or Summer. Thanks again.

[DWSheffer]

I believe I'm now at the end of posting the most interesting items from the archive. I left my favorite find for last. When I acquired these items, it was a jumbled mixed up mess of totes full of papers. You would look through a pile, and in between each composition as items from different eras of Maurice's life were mixed together. When I found the grouping below I was extremely happy. I had posed a question to the forum at the time, but didn't reveal why until now.

https://soulfuldetroit.com/showthread.php?27913-The-Temptations-quot-Singing-In-The-Rain-quot&highlight=temptations+singing+rain

I still do not know what this piece was created for. Maurice combined "Singing In The Rain" and "Rain" into this "Rain Medley" written for The Temptations. As you can see, the original sheet music for "Rain" belonged to Cholly Atkins.....we'll assume Maurice just borrowed it, haha!

I was beyond excited when I found the rehearsal lyric sheets signed and notated by David Ruffin, Melvin, I know the one is Otis' handwriting, as well as Maurice's notes. This was the most special and personal connection to the Motown inner workings I found in the archive, besides the reel to reel tapes which are in a category of their own!

I do hope everyone has enjoyed seeing the highlights of the Maurice King archive!
Darin

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[DWSheffer]

Here is David's copy:

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Melvin's copy:

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Otis' copy:

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I believe this one was Paul's copy:

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This one I'm not certain who it was used by:

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[SatansBlues]

Thanks for sharing your collection. Any idea what you might do with it all? Do you think that the Motown Museum might be interested in some of this material?

[DWSheffer]

I have it separated between the Motown items, and the pre and post Motown eras of Maurice's career. I do plan on ultimately offering all of my Motown collection to the Motown Museum, if they are interested and have a proper place to house it. I briefly chatted with Robin Terry about this at Duke's book signing in May. I maybe wrong, but I doubt they will want the bulk of the King material. I've considered donating that to a number of other museums in Detroit/Michigan.

[Roger Polhill]

Hi Dan, You

[Roger Polhill]

Hey Roger! I think you likely confused the actual songwriter name, Freeman, with the name listed on this mystery song--Foreman. In another thread in the DRATS forum last month, Children's Christmas Song was being discussed and I think it was determined at that time that Isabelle Freeman was the wife of LA arranger/conductor Ernie Freeman [or maybe it was Ernie writing under his wife's name due to contractual issues? Maybe?]. Anyway, the names [Foreman/Freeman] are close, so I can totally understand confusing the two.

Isn't this thread by DWSheffer A-M-A-Z-I-N-G?! It's literally peeking into a cool treasure trove of stuff we'd normally never get to see!

Hi Dan , I`m sorry I messed up and thanks for the correction. I`ve made up lists of all the composers what they wrote and who sang them and I stuffed up on this one - I`ll amend it. Yes we are indebted to DWSheffer for sharing this wonderful paperwork with us. Just imagine what Berry Gordy is holding on to!

[heikki]

Hi!

This is an interesting thread.
Please find a photo of "Ching Chong" below:
https://www.soulexpress.net/deep1_2014.htm#gladys

Best regards
Heikki

[snakepit]

excellent work...very interesting.

[tvaillan]

Hi Darin My name is Ted Vaillant I am a big band leader in Thunder Bay Ontario [[north of Duluth MN
I am intrieged by this Maurice King collection. I know that prior to his days at Motown he was the musical director of an all girl big band called THe International Sweethearts of Rhythm. I am planning a concert saluting women in jazz and am looking for any of the chafts mr King wrote for this band. Here are some titles Maybe they are in your collection.
Galvanizing
THat man of Mine
Dont get twisted
shes crazy with the heat
vi vigor
diggin dykes

i know its a long shot but are any of titles in the collection?

ted

[DWSheffer]

Hi Ted,
The bulk of the charts are earlier material. I can't say right off if any of these titles are in the boxes of thousands that I have. I would surmise though that there are definitely examples from this era. I don't know what sort of timeframe you're working on but if I had time I might be able to do a general search.
Darin

[tvaillan]

wow that quite kind of you...probably anything with labeled "The International Sweethearts of Rhythm" would be great but the real kickers would be original composed charts by Mr King. Even if our band could one number at our Women in Jazz show it would be special...our show is scheduled for early March but anytime would be great. Thanks Again
Ted in Canada

[Philles/Motown Gary]

Wow, Darin! Congrats on a truly fantastic haul! I'm especially impressed by those reel-to-reel recordings. It's especially exciting knowing that those reels were being recorded in the background at Motown while the rest of us were simultaneously falling in love with Motown from hundreds of miles away.

[ctproduced]

"I'm new here"...


I've been working on a career retrospective of Tamiko Jones. I just wanted to thank you for posting the Morris King contract. It's the earliest record of Tamiko in Detroit apart from a listing for a November 1961 as "Timiko" and on the bill that night at the Flame showbar was also Maurice King.


So the December signing would make perfect sense. What is interesting is she was using the family name Jones. Her mother had separated with Barbara's father by 1950 and was back living with Barbara's grandfather, the census shows them as Furgeson. Tamiko was born 1943, not 45 as listed everywhere.

++Mark.
https://ctproduced.com

[mysterysinger]

If I remember correctly, Tamiko Jones married John E Abbey of Blues & Soul magazine.

[ctproduced]

Yes, indeed Tamiko was married to John Abbey, but only until 1987.

Their marriage was covered extensively in both Jet and Ebony magazines, their divorce less so. I understand there was some dispute over shared assets when they split.

There are so many more interesting things about Tamiko than her marriage to John though. Tamiko is still alive living in retirement in North Atlanta, GA.

[paul_nixon]

Does anyone know if this 1966 Fuqua/King/Foreman piece "Quit Playin' With Me" was recorded by anyone at Motown? I did not see anything on the Don't Forget The Motor City site. Maurice had copies sent to him December 7, 1973 from the Jobete offices in Hollywood.

20204

It appears that Quit Playin' With Me was performed by Martha and the Vandellas and recorded at a Roostertail concert [[no dates on paperwork). Now should Martha's Live LP ever be expanded and reassembled this could well be included. It is a know fact that the stereo and mono versions of the live LP are from different performances but in fact in lots of cases they are from different venues as well and several of the songs performed were cut from the final LP.

[mysterysinger]

Martha [[and The Vandellas) will be on tour in the UK in September - along with the Four Tops [[Duke) and The Tavares.