Nolan Chance [[AKA Charles Davis):
Nolan Chance [[AKA Charles Davis):
If you are interested in a playlist of more than 4 hours of Chicago Soul Music mid 60s though 70s, I have a playlist on Spotify. It is entitled 'Chicago Sounds Of Soul'.
If you subscribe to Spotify then you will get continuous music with no adverts. Cheers Mike
https://open.spotify.com/playlist/6n...SaqZlW-N4If8pQ
Last edited by MIKEW-UK; 06-16-2020 at 09:42 AM.
Hi!
I noticed one interesting detail among those Robb's fine examples above : It's A Weakness that Joe Murphy recorded in 1964 - as well as the A-side - was written by two members of the Dells - Chuck Barksdale and Mickey McGill - as well as Wade Flemons and Barrett Strong.
Best regards
Heikki
Yes, from 1963-64, Barrett Strong was working in Chicago, for VJ, [[and later, in 1965, at Columbia/Okeh, with Carl Davis' crew). At VJ, he worked along with A&R Man/chief producer, Calvin Carter, other main producer, Richard Parker, Jerry Butler, Curtis Mayfield, The Dells, Wade Flemons, Bunky Sheppard, Al Perkins, Dee Clark, arrangers Riley Hampton, Al Smith, and Johnny Pate, and others on VJ's Soul songwriting and recording sessions. He was one of VJ's chief songwriters, and an assistant producer with both Carter and Parker.
He filled a similar role with Carl Davis' production crew at Okeh Records from early 1965 through early 1966, working with The Artistics, Major Lance, Billy Butler, and on Davis' work for ATCO with Mary Wells, and for Davis' work with Ewart Abner, Bunky Sheppard's, and Art Sheridan's Constellation Records, with Gene Chandler, Bobby Miller, and Dee Clark, before he returned to Motown later in 1966.
Barret had moved to Chicago in 1962, while he had his artist contract with ATCO Records, and he had one 45 released on that label, and also had a 45 released on VJ's Tollie Records subsidiary, in 1964. He also worked on productions with VJ's other subsidiary, Vivid Records, in 1964.
Last edited by robb_k; 06-17-2020 at 02:33 PM.
Thank you, Robb, for this information.
I wasn't aware of Barrett's work in Chicago in THAT amount.
Best regards
Heikki
I'm getting all kinds of interesting and surprising information following and researching
things in this thread. Re the Barrett Strong mention if you check wikipedia or the often
disappointing allmusicguide there's no mention of him ever doing anything pre Motown.
That he knew The Dells and in fact later in their careers did go back and work for them
again makes we wonder if they and the Temptations had ever crossed paths. Anyway
on the album Barrett did arrangement they were guested by Theresa Davis who for
almost 4 years sang in The Emotions though allmusic makes no mention of that either.
Wade Flemons went on to be in the first edition of Earth Wind and Fire which Maurice
had to fire as he revealed in his memoirs Wade was trying to take ownership of the group
which he'd built from the ashes of his earlier group, The Salty Peppers....
Back in 2011, Marv, Timmy and others discussed the documentary on Chicago's Record Row and it is timely to watch it again. It covers artists, labels, distributors, and all aspects of the evolving sounds of Chicago. Cheers Mike
That move by Barrett to Chicago, recording for other labels, and working in production, was NOT "pre-Motown", it was BETWEEN his 2 stints at Motown. His work in production and songwriting at VJ and Okeh gave him the experience to be re-hired by Motown[[1966), and write for other artists, and significantly, Motown's most important artists, and also work in production of their records [[Temptations and others), upon his return, rather than having had previously written only bluesy songs mainly for himself, and a paltry few for similar Bluesy artists like Gino Parks and Mable John [[1959-61), to work in Motown's top level.
Last edited by robb_k; 06-17-2020 at 04:36 PM.
Hi!
I went back to my 3-part Dells Story [[published already in 1998) to see, if the guys had something special to say about Barrett, who co-wrote "Stay In My Corner", but they concentrated on Bobby Miller instead.
Also his song "You Can Depend On Me" on the Dells 1988 album , The Second Time, didn't attract enough attention for comments. It's a nice beat-ballad, though.
Best regards
Heikki
Great post,this is why[sdf]is the best soooo much music history!
Weren't the vontastics from chicago?
Yes, they were. Their first recording contract was a result of their winning a contest sponsored by The Chess Brothers' radio station, WVON. They ended up getting a recording contract with Chess-distributed Satellite Records. They recorded 3 of my favourite Chicago-Sound records: "Peace Of Mind", "I'll Never Say Goodbye" [[video above), and Keep On Rolling".
Here's "Keep On Rolling"
Here's "Peace Of Mind"
I love their remake of the beatles-we can work it out.
Here's a rare one by General Crook. "In The Warmth Of My Arms". Written by Wade Flemons, Maurice White and Don Whitehead, original members of The Salty Peppers from which evolved Earth Wind And Fire......
And here's a nice short personal documentary on Tom Tom Washington, freshly posted on Youtube.
General Crook was so deserving of a larger career. He had so much soul. This track
reeks of it to me...
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cvWbuiGermM
Hi splanky, I couldn't agree more regarding General Crook, and the record you selected is his very best IMO. I thought his song writing and phasing was so identifiable. As his recorded output was so slim, I am glad to get anything he did. And here's an absolute favourite composed by General, reeks of him , and sadly much overlooked. "Message To The World", performed by The Chi-Lites, uncredited lead vocal by Frank Reed who took over when Eugene departed to go solo. All the usual Chicago crew in attendance for this 1976 recording, produced by Marshall Thompson but most importantly arranged by Tom Tom Washington.
Here's a nice song from 1970 by Chicago's Superbs. Alteen Records was about a mile and a half northwest of my house, and about one mile south of my father's store:
Here are The Ideals:
Here's another Alteen Record from Sunday Williams:
This is sort of a Chicago/Detroit hybrid, with Mike Terry arranging, but its a Chicago-written song, with a sound of Chicago. Those are Chicago type strings, and a Chicago style song-Garland Green's first that I know:
Here are The Buckner Brothers:
Here's a New York, Brill Building song [[by Jerry Goffin and Carole King [[no less), recorded in Chicago's Universal Sound Studio, by a Chicago producer, and using a Chicago arranger, Chicago musicians [[note the Chicago-style guitar and horns), all for a Chicago Juke Box factory and distributor, to supply their customers with extra records to fill their boxes, and to play when they get tired of hearing current hits. I'll have to admit, that this is one of the best "budget records" I've ever heard. Note that The Ink Spots, Mills Brothers, and some other famous groups and single artists recorded budget records during the '50s and '60s. If you've ever wanted to hear what a Brill Building song would sound like if it were recorded in Chicago, this is your chance:
Last edited by robb_k; 06-30-2020 at 01:08 AM.
Here's one by Chicago's Dontells that I bet none of you have heard. It was recorded by VJ A&R man, Calvin Carter, at Universal in 1965, and arranged by Johnny Pate, and never released until 2017:
Here are The Dynamics on Brainstorm - the label where The Emotions started:
Here's a dead rare record - only 10 copies known to exist-The Classics [[Eddie Sullivan's group-singing a Billy McGregor song[[He's a 1st cousin of Detroit drummer George McGregor):
Here's The Marvelows singing a Curtis Mayfield tune arranged by Johnny Pate:
Here's Major Lance singing his first recorded song, written by Curtis Mayfield:
Here are Chicago's legendary Steelers, another group from my favourite DJ, Al Benson's labels:
Even though everyone has heard this a million times, I couldn't leave it off, as it's the epitome of The Chicago Sound:
I also couldn't leave this off:
It seems that Seeburg Juke Box Co. had a VERY unusual low-budget record label, which provided filler records for their Juke Box customers. Unlike Hit Records, and Tops Records, and all the others, that made mostly poor quality versions of current hit records, Seeburg used some of the best musicians, arrangers and recording studios in their main city, Chicago, and also [[to a lesser extent), in their other city, Nashville. This lead singer has a familiar voice. I think she is a reasonably well-known Chicago Soul singer from the 1960s. See if you can identify her voice. I hear some of the better Chicago session players in this song's instrumentation [[as I did in "Oh No, Not My Baby", above. We should also try to figure out who sang THAT song. I feel confident that I've identified the lead singer in the song I'm going to post next:
The background singers sound like The Starlets, but the lead doesn't.
Last edited by robb_k; 06-30-2020 at 04:59 AM.
This group sounds very like Chicago's Kittens. The lead singer sounds like their lead, Bernice Wills. Just listen to "Hey Operator" and "Ain't No More Room" and tell me if I'm right or wrong. But first, listen to this Motown almost cover remake:
This version of "Twine Time" is excellent. I like it better than the original. The mix is cleaner, and it's more Jazzy. The guitarist may even be Phil Upchurch. These are really good musicians. It's so hard to believe, after having heard all the drek Hit, and Tops, and the other 1950s budget record labels put out. Hard to understand how they were able to hire some of the high quality musicians, arrangers and singers, and even record in good sound studios. I guess there were enough competent people in each field that wanted to make extra money, even at a lower rate than usual, and sound studios wanted to fill up their empty time slots [[possibly for less than usual?). Listen to the nice organ playing and the great guitar and sax solos:
Last edited by robb_k; 06-30-2020 at 03:00 PM.
Some really interesting tracks, Robb. What strikes me is just how 'charming' so many of these records were. They are a real pleasure to discover for the first time. Your knowledge and time are much appreciated!
Thank you, Robb!
I enjoyed this music.
The lady on "You Beat Me to the Bunch" sounds really familiar, but I'm afraid to guess yet.
I'm sure I have one or some of her records.
Best regards
Heikki
There is one more "Soul" genre song on Seeburg that sounds like a Chicago record, it's a cover, or fairly quick remake of Jan Bradley's "I'm Over You". It's a little down in quality in relation to the other Seeburgs above [[e.g. a little more like a budget knockoff - but still much higher quality than all the non-Seeburg labels).
Interesting that at the end of the song, the lead couldn't follow Jan's ending, because she didn't have nearly Jan's large range, so she couldn't even try to reach the higher notes, so it was a much less energetic and emotional finish, leaving a letdown to the listener.
Last edited by robb_k; 06-30-2020 at 01:04 PM.
I so enjoyed hearing the great Jazz musicians play on Seeburg's instrumental recordings that I'm going to start another, separate thread for them, because they are not "Chicago Sound" records. So, give it a look, and listen, as there are some quality sounds among them. It may be fun to listen to the individual musicians and see if we can recognise them.
Last edited by robb_k; 06-30-2020 at 03:04 PM.
Yes, her voice sounds very familiar, - but not as a Chicago artist. So, maybe she recorded in Nashville. But, the band sounds like recognisable Chicago musicians, and the acoustics sound like Chicago's Universal Sound Studio. So, maybe the instrumental and background vocal tracks were recorded in Chicago, and the lead singer in Nashville?
Here's a '70s sound of Chicago that is typical of "The Chicago Sound" developed by Curtis Mayfield, Carl Davis, Billy Davis, Bill Sheppard, The Leaner Brothers, Calvin Carter, Johnny Pate, Riley Hampton, Marshall Thompson, Eugene Record, Al Smith, Gerald Sims, Monk Higgins, and the rest. It was brought up by Mr. June in another thread. He said, "I think it was a local Chicago record". That brought Stu Bass' comment that "Chicago didn't have a distinctive sound of it's own like Detroit, Memphis, Philadelphia" to mind. And I still have to disagree strongly. You just have to hear the first few bars of THIS song to KNOW it came out of Chicago:
Hey folks,
Here's an interview with Aaron Cohen, author of the book, "Move On Up: Chicago Soul Music and Black Cultural Power."
From the 'Sound Opinions" podcast
#765 Chicago Soul
55 minutes [[Jul 24, 2020)
"From Curtis Mayfield to Minnie Riperton, Jim and Greg explore the Chicago Soul scene. They’ll examine how the music tells the story of political and cultural change in Chicago. Plus, they look at the movement’s lasting impact."
https://podbay.fm/p/sound-opinions/e/1595556000
or
https://sound-opinions.simplecast.com/episodes/765-chicago-soul-FZlC6E1G
"Curtis Mayfield. The Chi-Lites. Chaka Khan. Chicago's place in the history of soul music is rock solid. But for Chicagoans, soul music in its heyday from the 1960s to the 1980s was more than just a series of hits: it was a marker and a source of black empowerment. In Move On Up, Aaron Cohen tells the remarkable story of the explosion of soul music in Chicago. Together, soul music and black-owned businesses thrived. Record producers and song-writers broadcast optimism for black America's future through their sophisticated, jazz-inspired productions for the Dells and many others. Curtis Mayfield boldly sang of uplift with unmistakable grooves like "We're a Winner" and "I Plan to Stay a Believer." Musicians like Phil Cohran and the Pharaohs used their music to voice Afrocentric philosophies that challenged racism and segregation, while Maurice White of Earth, Wind, and Fire and Chaka Khan created music that inspired black consciousness. Soul music also accompanied the rise of African American advertisers and the campaign of Chicago's first black mayor, Harold Washington, in 1983. This empowerment was set in stark relief by the social unrest roiling in Chicago and across the nation: as Chicago's homegrown record labels produced rising stars singing songs of progress and freedom, Chicago's black middle class faced limited economic opportunities and deep-seated segregation, all against a backdrop of nationwide deindustrialization. Drawing on more than one hundred interviews and a music critic's passion for the unmistakable Chicago soul sound, Cohen shows us how soul music became the voice of inspiration and change for a city in turmoil."
P.S.
'Couldn't make the first link "clickable." You'll have to "copy and paste."
'Sorry
Last edited by dylan; 08-29-2020 at 01:35 PM.
Robb, have you read the book "Move On Up" by Aaron Cohen? I found it while placing a hold on the "Chicago Soul" book. It's just as good and they both compliment each other. Also, do you know if Carlton Black is still around?
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