Fern Bledsoe -- Singer & Motown Secretary

[jsmith]

Is much known about Fern Bledsoe's time @ Motown ... when it started & ended ?
I know she started out in a group with Martha Reeves around 1960, Martha quit the group before it changed it's name to the Fascinations. Also in the group was Shirley Walker aka Shirley Lawson. The group landed a record deal in 1962 and had some success [[which led to gigs all over the US, including Miami). They then lost their record deal, so Fern joined the Aprils [[who then started recording as Fern & the Aprils). Shirley Walker went solo under the recording name Shirley Lawson.
But Curtis Mayfield got the Fascinations back together, signed them to his Mayfield label and they had quite a few more hit 45's ... Their "Girls Are Out To Get You" became a UK club anthem and was released here in 1967, again in 68 and for a 3rd time in 71 [[when it made the UK pop charts).
By all accounts, Fern was a contact for Dave Godin when he was running the UK Tamla Motown Appreciation Society around 64/65.
It seems strange that the girls were Detroit based & one of them a Motown employee but no Detroit record company [[including Motown) ever seemed to show any interest in them.
Dave Godin picked up a Shirley Lawson 45 for release on his Soul City label, no doubt having been familiar with Shirley's work via Fern.

[jsmith]

The Shirley Lawson 45 was released in the US on Backbeat.
Unfortunately, Duke / Peacock / Backbeat put little or no background info on their 45 releases, so no producer / arranger details are shown ... I guess her "The Star / One More Chance" tracks were cut in Detroit with someone like Andre Williams being involved. Motown musician Johnny Griffith co-wrote one of the songs [[the other being assigned to D Malone aka Don Robey as most Duke recorded songs were).

[SatansBlues]

Shirley Lawson came up on my music stream a couple months ago.

[robb_k]

The Shirley Lawson 45 was released in the US on Backbeat.
Unfortunately, Duke / Peacock / Backbeat put little or no background info on their 45 releases, so no producer / arranger details are shown ...[[1) I guess her "The Star / One More Chance" tracks were cut in Detroit with someone like Andre Williams being involved. Motown musician Johnny Griffith co-wrote one of the songs [[the other being assigned to [[2) Don Malone aka Don Robey as most Duke recorded songs were).

[[1) Joe Hunter had a large, contracted, production agreement with Duke/Peacock/Backbeat/Sure Shot's Don Robey in 1965, in which he produced and recorded some of Robey's Texas-based artists in Detroit [[mostly at United Sound), using Detroit production people and musicians, and also traveled to Houston [[along with producers and some Detroit-based singers, and musicians) to use Robey's facilities, and to record in Houston, but also produce some of Robey's Houston-based artists, and sometimes using Texas-based musicians, arrangers, and production people. Andre Williams worked on his Robey projects, as did other Detroit Producers. Hunter used some Motown "moonlighters", other Motown part-time freelancers, and other Detroit-based non-Motown production people.

[[2) "D. Malone stood for "Deadric Malone", which was Robey's songwriting and producer pseudonym [[alias), which was used on hundreds of his credits. I can't recall him using the pseudonym, "Don Malone".