Fred shares his
memories, but 6072 14th Street is no longer there
Fred
met up with a guy called Richard Knight at the Dodge Assembly
Plant and found that they both got on well together and in
fact complemented each other's writing styles.
This
was put to good use on La Beat's first songs which were by
Al Williams.
"Al was a big
guy and the nicest man you could ever meet. We were real
good friends and played a lot of chess together. He liked
being around me when I was writing songs and for a while
he lived across the street from the studio in one of Beatty’s
motels. Boy, I miss him, we spent a lot of time together
but I don’t know where he is now.
The tracks were "I am nothing" and "Brand
new love", the top side being an uptempo shuffling number
which has gained huge popularity on the Northern Soul scene
in England where it commands large sums on both La Beat and
Palmer, the latter being a re-release on another label in
north west Detroit.
The next release on
La Beat was by James Shorter whom Fred remembers as being
another likeable guy with a big baritone voice who always
on the move. This time the tunes were more laid back but
carried a lot of clout in terms of quality and innovation,
especially the flip "Modern
day woman" which was also significant because a new
songwriter was in the mix, Robert Eaton.
This was therefore the start
of the era of Bridges, Knight and Eaton, a partnership which
would forge over 50 songs in the next four years.
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