Motown studio photograph - the Originals

[soulwally]

This is a pic recently sold on ebay. There are more, of such as the Dalton Boys and Rick and Rubin, obviously part of stock from the old Motown publicity department. It's the five-man Originals, including Joe Stubbs

[RossHolloway]

How long was Joe Stubbs in the Originals? Was this before or after he was a Contour?

[soulwally]

Not sure how long, but before he was a Contour. It's his lead voice on the Originals' first single Goodnight Irene/Need Your Lovin' [[Want You Back).
I always feel Joe must have been disappointed with how his career went after being lead singer with the Falcons, and having a number of hits.

[RossHolloway]

Thanks soulwally. He must not have been with either group for long. When exactly did the Originals sign with Motown? '65? And didn't Joe sing lead on the Contours single A Little Misunderstanding in '66?

[soulwally]

He's on Just A Little Misunderstanding and Determination. its flip.

[theboyfromxtown]

Soulwally

They come from the estate of Esther Edwards

[soulwally]

Thanks John. They fetched around £200 each and upwards.

[heikki]

Hi!

The Originals was formed in 1964 in the line-up of Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon and C.P. Spencer.
Freddie: "They started us singing background, and they said we need a lead singer. As a matter of fact, that was just before the Hollands left. They had Joe Stubbs in the company, but I guess they didn't know what to do with him, so they put him in our group. He was with us for about six months. He was on "Goodnite Irene" and the b-side, "Need Your Lovin' [[Want You Back)" - those were the only two."
[[Soul Express: The Originals)

Best regards
Heikki

[thomas96]

The man selling these is Brad Hales, owner of People's Records in Detroit. Are you sure they are from the estate of Esther Edwards? He told me that they were from a man who worked for Motown who wanted to remain anonymous. Maybe it is her estate and he just said that, but I don't know for sure. Regardless, very cool. He has listed hundreds of these over the past year or so. Many went for $200+ with few going for less.

[RossHolloway]

Hi!

The Originals was formed in 1964 in the line-up of Freddie Gorman, Walter Gaines, Hank Dixon and C.P. Spencer.
Freddie: "They started us singing background, and they said we need a lead singer. As a matter of fact, that was just before the Hollands left. They had Joe Stubbs in the company, but I guess they didn't know what to do with him, so they put him in our group. He was with us for about six months. He was on "Goodnite Irene" and the b-side, "Need Your Lovin' [[Want You Back)" - those were the only two."
[[Soul Express: The Originals)

Best regards
Heikki

Hey Heikki - Do you have any more of that intrerview with Freddie/The Originals? How long was Joe Stubbs with Motown before being placed in the Originals? And I wonder if he did any solo recordings while he was there?

[theboyfromxtown]

The man selling these is Brad Hales, owner of People's Records in Detroit. Are you sure they are from the estate of Esther Edwards? He told me that they were from a man who worked for Motown who wanted to remain anonymous. Maybe it is her estate and he just said that, but I don't know for sure. Regardless, very cool. He has listed hundreds of these over the past year or so. Many went for $200+ with few going for less.

And some for even more....my bank account has taken a real beating. And don't let anyone tell you that nobody collects old Motown memorabilia!!! lol

[thomas96]

And some for even more....my bank account has taken a real beating. And don't let anyone tell you that nobody collects old Motown memorabilia!!! lol

Yeah, many went for around $300 and many went for around $400. How many did you buy from him? I probably bought close to a hundred!

[theboyfromxtown]

So you're the reason for me living on bread and water for the rest of my life!!!

LOLOLOL

[thomas96]

So you're the reason for me living on bread and water for the rest of my life!!!

LOLOLOL

No YOU'RE the reason for me living on bread and water for the rest of MY life!

[Methuselah2]

While searching for Joe Stubbs, this interesting info and timeline on The Contours turned up:

http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Contours.html

[phil]

Yeah, many went for around $300 and many went for around $400. How many did you buy from him?

Please Thomas, can you send us a link, or the pseudo of the seller ?

[thomas96]

Please Thomas, can you send us a link, or the pseudo of the seller ?

Hi Phil,

NO! Not more people driving the prices up! Just kidding! Here's a link to the seller's ebay profile:

http://myworld.ebay.com/burl*one?_trksid=p2047675.l2559

The only thing is, I'm not sure he's selling them any more. This and the others posted here on SDF were listed in March and since then there haven't been any new ones. But you never know, so stay on the lookout!

[theboyfromxtown]

Thomas96

He's waiting for the likes of guys like you and me to get our bank balances healthy again!

lololol

[mysterysinger]

Yeah but who holds the negatives?

[captainjames]

Oh I love it .sooooooooooooo cool ................THANKS

[thomas96]

Yeah but who holds the negatives?

Brad has told me he has many negatives, but I don't know if he has the ones for these photos specifically. If he doesn't have these, then I would bet the photographer still has them if they are alive.

[heikki]

Hi RossHolloway!

We didn't talk more about Joe Stubbs with Freddie Gorman, but I believe that prior to the Originals, Joe worked with the Falcons, the Ohio Untouchables and the Contours. I think he replaced Billy Gordon in that group.

In another interview Dennis Edwards told me that "...at the time, however, the lead singer of the Contours had to be hospitalized. Thay asked me if I wanted to go out on the road with them. I did, and we ended up opening for the Temptations."
"I sang with them for a year, and when I came home I had found out that I was a good enough singer to be out there. I didn't enjoy the will of the Contours. The Contours didn't want to go where I wanted to go. Sometimes you'll be with a group, and they're good, but they don't want to really be the number one group. I wanted to be a little better. So I came back home to my Firebirds."
Dennis recorded Your Love Grows more Precious Every Day with the Contours [[completed on January 10, 1967).

According to Keith Hughes' excellent DFTMC site, Just A Little Misunderstanding was completed with Joe on March 10 in 1966 and Goodnite Irene on November 5 in 1966, so that's why I believe Joe was in the Contours first and then in the Originals.
After that, as we know, he went solo and worked with 100 Proof Aged In Soul on Hot Wax.

Best regards
Heikki

[thomas96]

Joe Stubbs did have a few releases on Lu Pine before he came to Motown. I'd guess he came to Motown around '63 or '64.

[RossHolloway]

Hi RossHolloway!

We didn't talk more about Joe Stubbs with Freddie Gorman, but I believe that prior to the Originals, Joe worked with the Falcons, the Ohio Untouchables and the Contours. I think he replaced Billy Gordon in that group.

In another interview Dennis Edwards told me that "...at the time, however, the lead singer of the Contours had to be hospitalized. Thay asked me if I wanted to go out on the road with them. I did, and we ended up opening for the Temptations."
"I sang with them for a year, and when I came home I had found out that I was a good enough singer to be out there. I didn't enjoy the will of the Contours. The Contours didn't want to go where I wanted to go. Sometimes you'll be with a group, and they're good, but they don't want to really be the number one group. I wanted to be a little better. So I came back home to my Firebirds."
Dennis recorded Your Love Grows more Precious Every Day with the Contours [[completed on January 10, 1967).

According to Keith Hughes' excellent DFTMC site, Just A Little Misunderstanding was completed with Joe on March 10 in 1966 and Goodnite Irene on November 5 in 1966, so that's why I believe Joe was in the Contours first and then in the Originals.
After that, as we know, he went solo and worked with 100 Proof Aged In Soul on Hot Wax.

Best regards
Heikki

Heikki- Thanks for that info. Wasn't there some talk a while back about Dennis Edwards writing a book? I find this type of information really interesting. So it seems that Edwards would have joined the Contours late 1966 and stayed there until he replaced David in the Temptations in mid-68.

[heikki]

Hi RossHolloway!

After the Contours, Dennis continued to work with his own group, the Firebirds, for a short while, then cut a solo single and only after that replaced David.

Best regards
Heikki