i'm diggin' some bobby reed, produced by van mccoy

[the_classic_master]

a killer double sider from 1970
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ZQPYgGPi9d8
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9lWzUrT-BSE
1966 cut i'll find away
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=qNIo_axY_uQ

here he is on the brunswick label [[don't know if van produced this)
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fEgec0bgJtk

today was my first time hearing these cuts, i've always admirer the underrated genius van mccoy. who is bobby reed? is he still with us? i can't believe this wasn't a hit, bell records were pretty big in 1970

[robb_k]

"You Are" was NOT a Van McCoy production, nor did he write it. It was written by Leon Barbour and Eugene Todd, and, I suspect, produced by them [[RSVP Music Productions). That is true for the reverse, "I'm Not Coming Back". It was released on Brunswick 55282, in 1965.

"I'll Find A Way" made the charts in a modest way. It should have been a hit.

[oldiesmusicfan]

I have the CD We're A Lover - Brunswick / Dakar's Brothers Of Soul [[A Chicago Rhythm And Soul Compendium 1966-76) which contains "You Are" by Bobby Reed. Here's what the booklet has to say about him and his music.

"Bobby Reed croons his way through a swinging 1965 recording, "You Are", which was picked up by Brunswick for a one-off national release [[as #55282), after being a local outing on Claytown [[#17700). Believed to be Washington D.C. born, Reed turned up on Loma as 1968 kicked in and, and a year later, with a Van McCoy production [["The Time Is Right For Love" c/w "If I Didn't Love You") on Bell [[#888). Reed's other McCoy-produced single for Okeh "I Wanna Love You So Bad" c/w "We'll Find A Way" is no less noteworthy. Also noteworthy is the arranger credit on "You Are" - "F. Perren", the same Freddie Perren who went on to such hugh success with such name acts as the Jackson 5 and Tavares."

Oldies

[robb_k]

I have the CD We're A Lover - Brunswick / Dakar's Brothers Of Soul [[A Chicago Rhythm And Soul Compendium 1966-76) which contains "You Are" by Bobby Reed. Here's what the booklet has to say about him and his music.

"Bobby Reed croons his way through a swinging 1965 recording, "You Are", which was picked up by Brunswick for a one-off national release [[as #55282), after being a local outing on Claytown [[#17700). Believed to be Washington D.C. born, Reed turned up on Loma as 1968 kicked in and, and a year later, with a Van McCoy production [["The Time Is Right For Love" c/w "If I Didn't Love You") on Bell [[#888). Reed's other McCoy-produced single for Okeh "I Wanna Love You So Bad" c/w "We'll Find A Way" is no less noteworthy. Also noteworthy is the arranger credit on "You Are" - "F. Perren", the same Freddie Perren who went on to such huge success with such name acts as the Jackson 5 and Tavares."

Oldies

That is an error. Bobby Reed never had a single on Okeh records. "I Wanna Love you So Bad" is the flip side of "I'll Find A Way" on Loma 2089. Reed was raised in Washington, D.C. He may have sung in one or two unrecorded groups before his Claytown record. He met Van McCoy in D.C. before the latter went to New York.

[mark speck]

The Loma record is great. Every time I think of the Bell record, I get sick to my stomach...not that it's bad, mind you, but I have a VERY sad story to tell about finding copies of this record, which is now going for big bucks in the UK.

Best,

Mark