| The opening of Tera Shirma
Studio B in February 1968, gave BKE some new options and
like Studio A, it had it's own unique character.
Fred recalls "I liked the view I could get
from the elevated control room. There was also plenty
of space for musicians and separate rooms for horn
players and other musicians."
'The love I found in you', 'Come on back', 'You better believe it',
'A lifetime', 'Love is fever' and 'One minute baby were all recorded in Studio B.
Some truly magical songs.
'You
better believe it', led by Fred, became BOS second most
successful 45 after Ric negotiated a distribution deal
with Fantasy-Galaxy
Chuck Bernard's three BKE outings were also recorded
there in 1969. Two tracks, 'Bessie girl'/'Love
can slip away' made it onto Zodiac1014. The other
song, 'The other side of my mind', was released on the
flip side of Zodiac1018.
Chuck originally hailed from St Louis and
joined Williams in 1968 after a stint at Satellite
Records in Chicago.
Fred remembers him as "a great performer and
singer, used to work two clubs in the one night, nice
guy."
One other Brothers Of Soul 45 was cut in Chicago, 'Wait
for me' b/w 'I'd be grateful'. This time Fred's
arrangements were put on paper by legendary music man
Johnny Pate who was working at that time with Curtis
Mayfield at Curtom Records. Johnny was also a key player
at Okeh and worked with numerous artists over the years as
both an arranger and producer.
A change had also taken place within the Brothers
of Soul for this 45 when former
Imperial, Ben Knight (no relation), replaced Richard
Knight. "Ben took
Richard's place when Richard was detained in New York on
a minor charge." says Fred.
Other spin offs came from
Fred's travels to Chicago.
One of Ric's buddies was a promotions
man there. He was also managing a short and pretty
light skinned Black girl called Sheryl Swope. Apparently
Sheryl, who hailed from the Windy City, was a sister
of the guy's girlfriend.
Fred recalls
bringing Sheryl over to The Place on Linwood Street. "I
remember we did 4 songs on Sheryl Swope. At least
three of these were BKE songs and they were all
released on the Duo label." says Fred. "The first on Duo7451
was 'Can't get him off my mind'. The other on Duo7453
was 'Ain't gonna do you right this time' b/w 'Run
to me'."
Mike Terry
also approached the team with an offer from Don
Robey in Texas who had been releasing a number
of quality Detroit productions on his excellent
Backbeat label.
The artist
was to be Little Carl Carlton who became a fixture
at Backbeat between 1968 and 1973. Chicago Soul
Queen Joshie Armstead was also involved, as were the
Funk Brothers and other worthy musicians from Detroit.
Carl
Carlton
The outcome
was a string of excellent songs in 'Look at Mary
wonder'(#42 R&B June 69)/'Drop by my place'
and 'Two timer'(#12 R&B, #78 Pop June 70/ 'I
can feel it' (#47 R&B January 1971).
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