1968-69
were peak years for Bridges, Knight and Eaton with
something like 40 songs finding their way onto disc,
all of which were high quality.
Williams was also creating new
labels like Aquarius and Criss-Cross so the pressure
was constant.
Aquarius appears to have been
dedicated to Candace Love who had the bulk of the
releases, and most noticeably an instant success with "Uh
uh boy that's a no-no" which reached in the Billboard
R&B charts in the fall of '69. This was not a BKE song
but the flip was; another version of Ruby's 'Wonderful
night'.
She would also appear on another Ric Williams' label called
Shock. But this time as the mysteriously named, Woman.
"Candace was a school teacher in
Chicago", says Fred, "How she met Ric I don't know. When
I stayed in Chicago I would stay at her house. I did a
lot of writing there for Candace, The Brothers Of Soul
and others. Sadly she died of kidney failure. She
was a very good friend of mine."
Another label called Joy, which was owned by Joe
Terrell, featured a song by The 21st
called 'The thought of me losing you'. It was a beautiful
recording in the Brothers Of Soul mould. The 21st were
led by
Detroit legend Willie Jones, who had recently been
with the Royal Jokers.
Then there was Epic who issued two songs by New York
Soulstress, Maxine Brown. Both were recorded in Tera Shirma
Studio B after Columbia commissioned Mike Terry to do an
album on her.
Brothers Of Soul had to also find time
to perform in Detroit's vibrant club scene.
One of the most
popular clubs was 'Phelps Lounge' which
was up in Oakland on the near-East Side.
"I could
walk to the end of my street and see the lights blinking
outside the club. Everybody who came to the city
played there and we got our chance too.
The arranger
and bandleader, McKinley Jackson, whom we had worked
with in the studio, usually backed us at Phelp's. I
remember Ruby Andrews opening one of the shows for us. It was quite something.
We used to play the Chit-Chat too, Frantic Ernie's
place up on Fenkell and all across town."
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