The Generation

This Wilmington, NC band was largely composed of high school students. Their sole 45 release was a very competent beach cover of The O’Jay’s Minit classic “Hold on” on a local Wilmington label in 1968. As The O’Jays version was already a northern soul classic, it was perhaps not surprising that The Generation’s take (Mockingbird MR 1010) would also find favour on the British soul scene. An up-tempo soul dancer, this track is not dissimilar to The O’Jays, other than the blue-eyed vocal presence and a short organ break characteristic of many beach bands. Wigan Casino DJ Richard Searling originally acquired it from John Anderson at Soul Bowl in 1976 and was first to play this on the UK scene. The track was covered up as The Soul Generation – a risky cover up name perhaps, yet its true identity remained unknown to the scene for at least 18 months and it was even released with the cover up name on UK RCA’s northern soul reissue label (Grapevine GRP 131).

Band members were Eddie Miller (rhythm guitar, lead vocal), his brother Bobby Miller (bass guitar, backing vocal), Robert Bordeaux (lead guitar, backing vocal), Chuck Shipton (keyboards) and Randy Luther (drums). Eddie Miller, lead singer for The Generation, still performs today with the Jamie Band throughout the Carolinas. He describes the band’s influences at the time as a mix of the British Invasion and soul – The Beatles, The Who, The Rolling Stones and The Moody Blues, but also Sam and Dave, The Spencer Davis Group, Wilson Pickett and Ray Charles. He also remembered recording “Hold On”. 

The Mockingbird label was the brainchild of ‘Doc’ Johnson, a Wilmington local who had his own recording studio and label. The studio and label slogan was “Listen to the Mockingbird”. There were a couple of other soul orientated releases on Doc Johnson’s label, including the 1969 release by King Louie and the Court Jesters (MR 1007) “I’ve Been Down So Long” a deep soul ballad, with the funk flip “Broadway Up Tight” (King went on a year later to cut sessions, unreleased at the time, at Reflection Recording Studios in Charlotte, NC, backed by what was essentially The Tempests). The Generation were together for two years, from the spring of 1967 until 1969. 

“Eddie, Robert, Bobby and I originally attended New Hanover High School” says Chuck Shipton. “Randy Luther had graduated High School in Statesville NC and came to Wrightsville Beach. He became our drummer in 1967. In 1968 Hoggard High School was opened and Bobby and Eddie went there.  Randy was our leader and influenced our music more toward Motown and soul.  He picked “Hold On” to be recorded at Dr. Hubert Johnson’s recording studio around 1967/68. Mockingbird was the studio label. Doc Johnson was a doctor in Wilmington who had a love for music and enjoyed recording as a hobby. He had built a recording studio in a single car size garage on the back of his house at basement level. It had a small control room in it, say 5 by 10 feet, and an old 16 track reel to reel recorder. A local DJ called Jay Howard was the sound engineer and did the mixing on a 16 channel tube type mixer.  We recorded the rhythm tracks for “Hold On” in two takes.  The vocals were added later.  “Lonely Sea” (originally done by the Ventures) was Dr. Johnson’s favourite even though it was on the “B”side.  We did several takes because Doc wanted the drums to do a large symbol crash like the waves crashing.  I thought it was over the top because the crash was so overpowering, but we did it the way Doc wanted because he wasn’t charging us studio time.  Jay Howard was the prime time DJ on WGNI radio station and he played our record all the time.  He even used “Lonely Sea” for a lead in to the news.”

“We were booked by Jack Ford Theatrical Agency out of Tampa, Florida. In June 1968 we went on tour.  My mother has film of the band playing in the Battle of the Bands in Wilmington 1968. The Generation played 30 days in Myrtle Beach, SC at the Bowery, a bar on the boardwalk of Myrtle Beach. We then did Clearwater, Florida where we played at the Bon Ton Club with “Strawberry Alarm Clock” and did other gigs around Tampa. In Florida, we had a disagreement and The Generation broke up in August 1968.  When we returned to Wilmington we formed the Fifth Generation with a new drummer (Mickey Watson) and new lead guitar (Stacy Jackson).  We were together through the summer of 1969 and were booked by Ted Hall’s Hit Attractions.  Eventually Bobby joined the military and I got married. Eddie, Stacy, and Mickey got a new bass player (Bobby Stover) and formed Jamie. I went with the Brass Park in the fall of 1969. We had a reunion of The Generation, Soul Six, and Brass Park October 2010 and played for a High School reunion at Wrightsville beach recently.”

Bobby Miller has passed away. Eddie has remained in contact with the other three members. Chuck shared this email from Randy Luther:

“Hey, Chuck and Robert! It's been a long, long time. I hope you guys are doing well. I am the world's worst at keeping in touch with people. I have seen Eddie a couple times over the years, but I didn't even know where you guys are. I was saddened to hear that Bobby passed away.  Who would have thought that "Hold On" would have reached England in the 70s, much less that someone still has interest in it and the band today. Very cool. I am curious about how many copies have been sold and who released it on a different label. I still have a copy of "Hold On" and the original recording contract we signed with Doc Johnson. I stopped playing professionally in 1978. I have done a few gigs and a couple of recording sessions since, but I got kinda of burned out on the business part of music in general, and especially the New York scene. I played with some great players and bands though. I have a fantastic drum studio in my home now, and I still play a couple of hours a day. My style and technique have developed over the years into something I am very proud of. I even got some great reviews from Rolling Stone magazine when I was with Warner Brothers in New York. These days I mostly stick with blues and R&B. I have fond memories of playing with you guys in The Generation. The music we played was clean and tight and fun.”

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013.

References

Chuck Shipton. Personal coms. June, August, October 2012.

Eddie Miller. Personal coms. July 2012.

Emily Marriott. Personal coms. June and August 2012.

Richard Searling. Personal coms. June 2012.

Sandy Williams. Personal coms. June 2012.

Stop Records. The Berkshire Seven and Athens Rogues.

Stop Records Inc. out of Nashville, Tennessee was perhaps an unlikely source of rare soul gems. The label was primarily country focussed, founded around 1967 by the Augusta, GA raised Pete Drake, the son of a pentecostal minister and a steel guitar player who had moved to Nashville to chase his dream as a session guitarist in the late 1950s. He quickly developed a career there as a musician and record producer. Pete played on several country hits in the 1960s with a range of country and folk stars including Tammy Wynette on “Stand By Your Man” and on Bob Dylan’s “Lay, Lady, Lay”. Drake's musical involvement with Elvis Presley commenced in 1966 when he played on Elvis’ “How Great Thou Art” LP and went on to perform on several of his movie soundtracks around that time. By 1970 he had been inducted into the Country Music Hall of Fame’s Walkway of Stars. 

As well as his love of country music however, Drake also had a desire to expand his label into mainstream pop and soul. Pete Drake's Stop Records was very capable of making well produced records for that market, albeit with very limited success, as demonstrated by the couple of rarities described here.

The Berkshire Seven’s “Stop and Start Over” (ST255) was originally a Jim Wensiora spin on the UK soul scene in the late 1980s and played around the same time by Colin Law at a variety of Scottish venues. The disc was originally covered up as Mel Wynn “Stop” – and indeed was structurally similar to Mel Wynn and the Rhythm Ace’s classic “Stop Sign” on Wand, with its fast tempo and stop-start phrasing. The ‘B-7’s’ had a second release on the label (“Crazy Kind of Feeling” with flip “I Tried”, ST286) but “Stop and Start Over” was the one which attracted UK soul collector’s interest.

Very little is known of the band. An internet blog by lead vocalist Deno Lee provided an insight into their formation, degree of success and eventual demise. The Berkshire Seven were formed in 1967, partly from members of a previous group called The Warlocks. Deno Lee took over as lead vocal when The Warlocks’ singer was drafted. The line up around the time of “Stop and Start Over” included Betty Fried (keyboards), Larry Sallee (drummer), Patrick Schneider (rhythm guitar), Sonny Bayes (lead guitar), John Calkins, Jr. (saxophone), and John Joseph (trumpet). All members of the group were students at the University of Kentucky.

Their manager was Henry G. Foushee, Jr., a florist shop owner in Lexington, Kentucky. The Berkshire Seven first found success when they won a battle of the bands competition at the Garden Side Swim Club, beating the Magnificent Seven, as well as the top local band at the time, The Torques. They started their recording career well with two local no.1's. The Berkshire Seven remained popular for several years throughout Kentucky and Ohio, opening for bands such as Mousie and The Trapps. Deno claimed in the blog that over 20,000 copies were sold in Lexington alone. However “Stop and Start Over” is regarded as a fairly obscure record in the UK even by northern soul standards and doesn’t make frequent appearances in record sale lists.

The Berkshire Seven had a further release on Stop in 1970, but then experienced a constant turnover of members over the next couple of years due to army drafting. By 1973 they had disbanded. John Calkins was reported to have committed suicide with his wife, jumping from the Golden Gate Bridge, San Francisco.  Larry Sallee passed away in the late 1990s. Sonny Bays runs a printing business in Versailles, Kentucky. The whereabouts of Fried, Schneider, Bayes and Joseph are unknown. 

The Athens Rogues “She Could Love Me” (ST185) appeared to have first been introduced to the UK soul scene via Gary Spencer in 1992, initially covered up as The Vondells.  It may also have been played by either Pat Brady or Carl Fortnum at Bradford Queens Hall around the same time.

The band were founded circa 1967. Most members came from Athens High School, GA and included Gerald Fleming (lead vocal, keyboards – and writer of “She Could Love Me”), Glenn Brown (vocal, lead guitar), Jim Cleveland (vocal, rhythm guitar), Bill Walker (drums), Dennis Carter (bass), Terry McGee (trombone), John “JB” Barrett (trumpet), and Larry Moor (sax). Pre "Athens" Rogues included David Woods on saxophone and vocals. They were known for local prom and University of Georgia fraternity party bookings.

“Nashville, TN, in 1968, was anything but the place for rock and roll and soul” says Gerald Fleming. “Especially the soul part. Pete Drake took a huge chance on us. We were the first of our kind - in the minds of many, the thing that made Athens Rogues notable was that we were a rock 'n' roll and soul band, made up of a bunch of white kids from Athens, with a recording contract out of Nashville! JB (on trumpet) and I were close friends at high school, Athens High. I graduated a year before him. We were both trumpet players in the high school band. I went on to the university and into the college band on trumpet, actually my primary instrument for years. I didn't see the guys for a bit. New scene, you know. JB and the guys and I had never played together in any other setting other than academic at that point. I had been performing with a band throughout my high school years that was very successful regionally. That band had been initially built by my brother Horace, who was five years my senior and a killer trumpet player/singer, called The Rhythm Rockers. RR was working every week and was booked as much as a year in advance! That was awesome back then, and I felt like I was swimming around in money. Then, after a four year run, my brother decided to drop out of The Rhythm Rockers to pursue his PhD up at Vanderbilt. BAM! End of that. There I was with a ton of gigs and connections around the region, but with a band that no longer had its signature sound. 

My mom had mentioned that Johnny and some of the old band guys had been practicing at the navy school, and that they had a bunch of horns. She suggested maybe I could talk to them about siding for me with The Rhythm Rockers while I looked for a replacement for my brother. JB and the guys had sounded pretty good, raw as hell but good, and I had always liked the ones of Johnny's guys that I knew. They had a different sax man jamming with them, David Woods, who is one of the really good guys you meet in life. Playing rock ‘n’ roll would be fun. I loved horn sections. I wanted a chance to play keyboard, write big arrangements and had a pretty advanced keyboard rig for the day, as I was training at the time to play classical piano. We started a dialog about the possibilities and the next thing you know I made an arrangement with the cats that played for me in the Rhythm Rockers. I gave them a ton of gigs and let them keep the name until  done. That saw the birth of The Rogues, as we were called then. The "Athens" delineation came later.

You remember the highlights the rest of your life. But mostly the goodlights. It's easy to remember some of The Rogues stuff because of the rather surprising chain of events in such a brief period of time. Whereas we were not the most gifted of bands, we played well together, booked well, were quite popular, were not afraid to explore and had the good sense to stay in the studio as much as possible. Rehearsal was just a matter of course in everyday life. Not long ago, somebody suggested that we were one of the first of the significant American "garage bands". Quite often the practices turned into gatherings. Toward the last days of the band there were more than a few that became large, crazy orgy-type gatherings no less; hard to do those in a garage! But our sound was pretty good for its day because of the time we spent together. 

We recorded some demos at a local studio owned by Jerry Connel and John Harold called "Project 70 Sound" (you think a really forward-looking name in the ‘60s!). That's where "She Could Love Me" and others took shape. We had made some demo tapes at the University of Georgia School of Journalism. Those tapes were absolutely horrible. Wasn't the school's fault. We used an  "after-hours-free-time-with-whatever-student-can-turn-the-machines-on" type approach. It wasn't exactly a masterpiece of engineering but it started something in Athens. The Athens music breakout was now in the making. Not bad overall, The Rogues were recording and now everybody wanted to!”

On a freezing January morning in 1968 Gerald, JB, Jimmy Cleveland and Dennis Carter packed their equipment and a demo tape and made the 260 mile trip to Nashville. They spent a full day making cold calls to just about every producer and publisher’s door on Music Row, trying to get interest from any record label and getting doors slammed in their face at each music house . They started big with the likes of Columbia and RCA who failed to show any interest. Twelve hours later, as light was fading, they turned up at Drake’s Stop Records. Pete felt sorry for the kids’ ordeal that day. He gave them a chance to play their demo tape and was bowled over after the first few bars of “She Could Love Me”. 

“On our first trip into Nashville, when we had showed up at Window Music that night, Pete had fallen in love with my car” says Gerald. “I had that 428ci Ford Torino. Boy, did Pete think that was a great ride! We ended up in this huge parking lot somewhere near the park, cutting doughnuts and doing burnouts and being exactly what we all were, including Pete...kids. So, about a week after we got back to Athens, Pete gives me a call and says, "You inspired me to give myself a present. I'll show it to you when you get up here." When we rolled back into Nashville for the sessions, we met Pete at the studio first thing...and there he was, timed perfectly for our arrival, cutting doughnuts in the parking lot of Starday in a brand new pearl blue GTO!” 

It was two months later when Drake had taken  he band into Starday Studios in Nashville to record three tracks: "She Could Love Me", "Sally, Sally From Tin Pan Alley" and "ESP: Extra Soul Perception":

“The sessions were held at Starday Studios in Nashville. Just a simple layout there. Brick building with an upstairs apartment, which, I believe we spent the session time in for practice and crash. Pete brought us "ESP: Extra Soul Perception" (clever back in that day...haha!) and it was this horn jam. It was hot! You guys have never heard it! It is probably lost for all time! And that is a true shame. In music, I am something of a savant. I have about an 85% recall of every note I hear, and I remember every rote, note and stroke in that one, and it took us musically well beyond where we had been when we had first come into the city. If that cut exists, it should be in the archives of Window Music or Stop Records somewhere - wherever that is now! Believe me, I'll be searching.”

The final recorded version of “She Could Love Me” required a three part harmony but as Gerald was on lead vocal, Glenn and Jim needed another singer. Gerald quashed rumours that the track featured the vocals of one of Elvis’ Jordannaires:

“Sorry to disappoint. The session for "She Could Love Me", "Sally, Sally from Tin Pan Alley", and "ESP" was cut on 4-track. High-quality tape tracks, but still only four, so choices were limited on how many times you could stack parts, and whereas Dennis and Bill could sing...during a national emergency perhaps...you really wouldn't want to go there, and we desperately needed three-part back-up vocals to help beef us up. So, that meant either utilizing a tracking technique called "ping-ponging", which allows adding tracks but greatly reduces fidelity, or settling for two-part backup harmony since I would be singing the lead at the same time and, consequently, not available. Meanwhile, this young guy I took for about thirty and dressed as we had become accustomed to seeing the studio cats in the city dress...you know, Nashville 60s hip, a bit of coin in his threads and nice boots...had been hanging out in the main studio with Pete and us and the engineer, and Pete had introduced him to me as "one of Elvis's singers". Later in the day when tracking decisions came to bear, and, when asked, the guy said, "Oh, hell yes! I'd be truly honoured to sing with you cats! Whatcha want me to do, Pete?" What a cool dude! He just fitted right in like we'd been on the road together. Wasn't a Jordannaire though.

In the end, we were gone in a flash, but we had the distinct honour of having been produced by Pete Drake. White boys doing black boys' music in the deep south in the sixties …in Nashville! Are you out of your fucking mind? There were 'names' for kids like us. But it was Pete Drake who had the balls, not us. We were the first to break out of Athens, Georgia. Athens Rogues had gotten a major producer and a contract in Nashville, playing soul & rock 'n' roll no less and had done it in record time! We may be all but lost to mainstream music history, but we know what happened on that crazy day. Important to remember too that the groups and the music were just a reflection of the time. Kennedy had died right in front of us. America was in a war we didn't even understand. The world was on fire. Under the boardwalk you didn't think about the distinct possibility of death under the palms of some distant beach.

And so we sang "I love beach music" and did the Shag under the moonlight out on South Myrtle and down on Panama Beach and Lauderdale, and had babies because of those nights, and in some elusive way began defining the boomer generation of the south. And it saw the beginning and the ending of the American Camelot.”

“She Could Love Me” did enjoy some local radio time, but sales success was limited to some extent. By around 1969 The Athens Rogues had disbanded:

“I know that John Barrett is alive and well and in North Georgia up in the glorious Great Smoky Mountain area. Terry McGhee and I spent future time together musically, both in the University of Georgia concert bands as well as in one of the cutting-edge next-gen horn bands after the Rogues. He was an ace t-bone man, and I recruited him into "Nickels & Dimes", my ensuing band and possibly the best rock horn-band in the south at the time. Terry is now a successful MD. Glenn Brown is an influential attorney here in Athens, GA. Jimmy Cleveland is sales rep with one of the major firms of our fair city. I'm not certain about the rest of the guys. Johnny says everybody's still hale and hearty. I suppose that's pretty amazing in itself. Pete passed away 24 years ago, and the world is less for his passing and a damn-site better for his having been here! He smoked too much. It hurt him. He was 55 when he died. Pete had vision. He was a kind and generous person and a gifted musician and producer. I am honoured that he was the first producer to sign me and I am humbled that he was my friend. What he did with the band in Nashville was a brave thing in 1968! Even if you were Pete Drake! 

Back then Pete was established, but you must remember that he was not yet the legend he was later to become. Frankly, in the eyes of some of the Nashville old guard, he was considerably outside the dotted lines with us. And Nashville could sometimes eat its own young.

I'm the only one of the band that made the trade a career. To say that I was fortunate would be perhaps the understatement of the century. Not only did I get to play and record with a host of killer bands and solo artists over a 50 year career, but I was allowed to be the proverbial "fool and his cheque book" without any detectable ill-consequence that I can tell (!), while working for the passion of my life! And, believe me, one would have to hate life to hate that life! Because of the brief shine of The Athens Rogues I had established just enough reputation in the Atlanta studios to be considered for projects, particularly writing, arranging, recording gigs, within a pretty tight music inner circle that led me to a gate-opening gig with another East Coast legend group Bits & Pieces and also Classics IV. After that, I kinda picked my situations as a free-lancer, although I did stay for a year or two here and there. I have very few useful or marketable skills in the basic sense of the terms, but I have lived in eight different countries, been cast in "Smokey and the Bandit", studied sword in America and Japan and became a swordmaster and sandan (a 3rd degree black belt in kendo). Also...get this...I raced formula Ford cars whenever I was off the road, and ended up driving some very heady Formula 1 R&D for the Mario Andretti Grand Prix International and a ride at the Watkins Glen US Gand Prix for F1 in 1978. As we say in the South, ain't THAT a kick in the pants! All because of Pete Drake! What a ride!

Whatever is said of me I would like it known somewhere along the way that I am extraordinarily grateful that anyone...anywhere...would care to reflect on what little we did back in the day when we scarcely knew what we were doing at all. I want to think that somehow what we did escaped the vulgar and the base, because I know that what we did in those early days of a song like "She Could Love Me" was of pure, and quite often innocent, intent.  Jeez! We were kids. Funny thing about the Rogues was, we were really good kids. We loved our moms. We had cute little girlfriends and we drank a bit but didn't even mess around with drugs or the groupies...yet. And to think...I have been allowed to travel this journey my entire life!”

Regarding the Stop label itself, in 1973 co-owner and songwriter Tom Hill went into partnership with Moe Lytle to set up Gusto Records (selling Stop to Gusto), another Nashville label. These days Gusto is known as the largest independent reissue label in the States, owning much of the back catalogue of King, Starday, Federal, Wand, Scepter and Musicor, and even owns the long running Starday Studios where reformatting and new recordings are still made today. 

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013.

References

Amy Brakefield for Gusto Records, Inc. Personal coms. October 2012. Permission obtained for reproduction of publicity photographs of The Athens Rogues and The Berkshire Seven, on the assumption that Gusto Records Inc. are the natural conferred owners of copyright of publicity material of former Stop Records, Inc.

Deno Lee. Online blog / posts. Entry date circa 2008. Available at www.myspace.com/the berkshireseven accessed 18 May 2012. 

Gerald Fleming. Personal coms. October 2012.

Greg Haynes The Hey Baby Days: Blogspot. Available at http://heybabydays.blogspot.co.uk/2009_02_01_archive.html

Novas Nine

Members of this Mooresville, NC group were Gary Brown (vocals), Brian Mann (keyboards), Robert (Bob) Mann (saxophone), Bobby Nantz (trumpet and vocals), Kenny Readling (trumpet and vocals), Sammy Ingram (guitar), Chris Cooke (bass guitar), Lee Suther (drums) and Brett Goodnough (saxophone). Eddie Reynolds (drums), Charlie Snuggs (guitar), Bill Baker (drums) and Billy Harbinson (trumpet) were also members but did not appear on their only release. The band was created from a couple of earlier local bands including The Firebirds, and ran from around 1967 to 1969. 

Both sides of the 1968/69 release are worthy yet contrasting northern tracks. “Why Listen” is a melodic mid tempo piece, almost in the sweet crossover vein but retaining a distinct beach feel, with horns and organ. The 100 mph manic flip “Pain”, with Gary Brown on vocals, suits the northern dancers, and was a big hit for Novas Nine. At one point the group were televised performing “Pain” on WBTV's Jack Kilgore Dance Show in Charlotte. This track was also covered in 1969 by the Minnesota band Michael’s Mystics on Charlie and in 1970 on Metromedia (as the Mystics, popular at Wigan Casino all-nighters), then by Grass Roots in the same year. Yet another version by Flint on Beast (B-1000) is a current dance floor favourite in many UK soul venues at the time of writing. 

The initial local release on Heritage is hard to find, and largely unknown to collectors in the UK and Europe. Chris Cooke reports that only 500 copies were pressed on this label, costing the band $500 at the time. That said, this was the version played on local Charlotte radio, which ultimately lead to the ABC picking it up for national release after further mixing. 

Whilst Brian Mann was the writer of both sides, at under 18 years of age he was too young at the time to own copyright. His father Bob Mann appears on the writing credits on the ABC release (ABC 11127). Novas Nine members Chris Cooke and Brian Mann shed some light on the band formation and the somewhat bitter relationship with ABC:

CC: The beginnings of Novas Nine started as a neighbourhood band called The Firebirds, about 1965. We were an instrumental band, like The Ventures. I played guitar. Brian’s brother Robert was on bass. It eventually morphed into Novas Nine, with the addition of a few more members added from another group from our hometown of Mooresville. Mooresville these days is best known as the home of NASCAR, but back then it was just a small town.

BM: Most of the band members were neighbours. I had just started college and when I came home I heard the band the Novas, whom my brother and neighbours were in. They had three back up singers. I suggested that they added me as a keyboard player. Some other guys were fired. A month later I wrote the two songs and we recorded them at Arthur Smith's Studio in Charlotte, NC. “Pain” was the second song I had ever written and took me about 30 minutes. The first local release was a deal the band made with Arthur Smith to cut 500 custom label Heritage 45s. The drummer took the acetate to Big Way’s, the number one radio station in Charlotte. Two of the DJ's, Jack Gale and Long John Silver, liked “Pain”. It was their pick hit of the week and made it to number 4 on their charts. They had contacts. We had three record contract offers. We chose ABC Paramount.  The only difference between the acetate which was recorded at Arthur Smith Studio in Charlotte(recorded on a 4 track Ampex 1" tape) and the ABC version was the editing and mastering. The 4 track original was sent to ABC, who obviously got their publisher, PAMCO Music and the ABC studios in New York to master the project. They cut out three bars of the instrumental bridge and that was that.

CC: We were young naive kids and missed things in the contract. Our first quarter royalties were $28,000 at 4 cents per record....do the math! But we had a minus nett of $187. They said we owed them for all promotional expenses and printing.

BM:  Signing was a huge mistake. They stole the song from us and gave it to ABC Dunhill's Grass Roots.  The whole deal was to screw nine green behind the ears musicians from Mooresville, NC, and give it to Grass Roots, who sold 800,000 on their "Lovin' Things" album and countless millions overseas. We were fucked. At that time, ABC/Dunhill was a hot record division, and was signing acts like Grass Roots, Blood Sweat and Tears, Chicago, Cold Blood and others. “Pain” became a world wide hit for Grass Roots. Our band got shit out of the song and I was screwed out of thousands of dollars of royalities. Our original tape which was procured by ABC Paramount's publisher PAMCO Music was probably sent to Universal, when they were bought out.

During the band's existence Novas Nine did have some hectic live gig work. They were popular all over North Carolina, South Carolina including Myrtle Beach, Virginia, Georgia and Tennessee, playing numerous colleges and clubs including their regular venue the Cellar in Charlotte, NC.

Chris Cooke explained the band eventually fell apart due to family, college and other personal commitments and generally went different ways. Chris, Brian and some of the other members are still involved to different extents in music today. Gary Brown also continues in the music business. His resume includes singer in beach bands such as The Catalinas, Bill Deal and the Rhondels, The Original Men of Distinction and most recently, The Holiday Band. Sammy Ingram became a Professor of Graphic Arts at Clemson. Bob Nantz went on to play with The Catalinas. Chris Cook is in Statesville NC. Robert Mann is in the nuclear power business. Sadly Kenny Readling committed suicide in 1969. The last the band heard of Brett, he had moved to Greece in 1969.

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013


References

Chris Cooke. Personal coms. June and August 2012.
Brian Mann. Personal coms. June and August 2012.

The Delacardos

The Delacardos were an all black vocal and instrumental group from Charlotte NC, who formed initially at high school. They made at least nine records between 1959 and 1967, some of which received national release on major labels. Vocalists were Vernon Hill, Chris Harris, Harold Ford and Robert Gates and later George Morris. Publicity shots generally featured the vocalists only, but regular musicians included Luther Maxwell (tenor saxophone and band leader), Amos Williams (guitar), Ronnie Grier (bass), Dallas Steele (drums), Timothy Donald (baritone saxophone), and on piano and guitar, Jeremiah Shepherd and James Knight. Ronnie Grier wrote most of their sides which appeared on Atlantic. The Delacardos were managed by Will Rhyne, and newspaper reports from the early sixties indicate that they were a popular live act at high schools, rock and roll revues and on the college circuit.

The group have long attracted the attention of doo-wop record collectors for their first release in 1959, “Letter to a School Girl” (Elgey 1001) and beach music enthusiasts for “Hold Back the Tears” (United Artists; UA 310), recorded two years later. For northern soul fans, there is their 1966 Q-City / Atlantic release “She’s the One I Love” (45-2368); the original version before Lee Tillman and the Secrets (a Baton Rouge, Louisiana group whose take also had plays on the UK scene). The local Q-City format is a much tougher find than the national release. A further up-tempo Atlantic release from the same year (and possibly the same session) “I Know I’m Not Much” (45-2389) has also been of longstanding interest to soul fans.

A previously unlisted demo of The Delacardos’ “Dance Gypsy Dance” (Dimension 1040) has surfaced recently via collector Bob Abrahamian. This quality early Impressions style mid-tempo dancer was written by Vernon Hill and arranged and produced by Gene Redd. Redd came from good musical stock. His father was a sax player, bandleader and A&R man for King Records, who also worked with James Brown between 1956 and 1963. Redd Jnr. was a prolific supervisor and writer and for many soul artists, many of northern interest. In the mid sixties he was part time producer along with George Kerr and George Clinton for the Jobete office in New York. Rumour has it that it was the unwanted Motown product from here which found its way onto the Stephanye label such as Roy Handy, Shirley Scott and The Prophets. Redd went on to set up his on label Red Coach in 1973 which gave us The Carstairs classic “It Really Hurts Me Girl”. This Delacardos number though is of course a much earlier affair, likely November 1964. It appears that “Dance Gypsy Dance” failed to get past the demo stage from currently available information.

The Delacardos’ pre-Atlantic recordings were made in the studio garage of Bob Richardson in Charlotte. Bob’s first successful recording as an engineer was on The Delacardos’ 1962 release “On the Beach” on Imperial. Nat Speir and his Rivieras recorded in Bob’s studio when The Delacardos were still there about a year or so later, and knew them well:

“To us white teenagers they sounded like the black groups of the late 50s to early 60s. They favoured the early Isley Brothers and sounded that way, but there was originality too. Vocally they were perfect. Their tenor lead Chris Harris had a smooth vocal and the band had a world class fiery tenor sax man, Luther Maxwell. He was my first up-close sax hero. They impressed. I think it might have been Bob Richardson who placed them with Atlantic. The Delacardos had some excellent national releases, not only “She’s the One I Love”. We became good friends early. Both bands recorded a couple of years before this one in Bob Richardson's garage studio and their drummer taught my brother about funky drumming. Luther Maxwell was the best tenor sax player around - a stylist with power and drive. He was a King Curtis type in those days but his tone was lighter. How did some of these minority guys get to be so good so young? I learned that there were two black high schools, both with most excellent legendary band directors. Black sax players received better instruction and encouragement than most whites.”

Around this time Bob Richardson was also the Mercury label south east rep. By the mid to late sixties he worked with music publisher Bill Lowery to set up a studio in an old schoolhouse in Atlanta, GA and subsequently engineered a string of hits for Billy Joe Royal, The Swinging Medallions and The Classics IV. This studio was the precursor of the famed Atlanta Mastersound studio which in the seventies and eighties was one of the most technologically advanced facility of its kind, attracting artists such as James Brown and Isaac Hayes. 

Regarding The Delacardos' Atlantic tracks, Ronnie Grier confirms that “She’s the One I Love” was recorded at Arthur Smith Studios in Charlotte, NC in 1966. The lead singer on this one (and the flip) was George ‘Bubba’ Morris with Odell Grier on guitar and Ronnie Grier on bass guitar. The Q-City release was a Carolina label but credits Phil Walden and Redwal Music for publishing and distribution, as does the Atlantic release for publishing. Redwal Music was the culmination of an earlier extremely successful R&B  Walden was a student at Mercer University he had set up his own company to promote Otis Redding (whom he had met a couple of years earlier) and over 40 other R&B acts. Phil and his brother Alan were determined to promote Otis as far as they could. In 1965 on the back of the success of the “Otis Blue” album, they set up Jotis Records, and with that, the Redwal production, a publishing and management arm. The Jotis label itself spawned only four releases by Arthur Conley, and two minor artists Billy Young (an army acquaintance of Phil when he was drafted for two years) and Loretta Williams, a singer who backed Otis on tour. However the activities of Redwal extended beyond Jotis, and they represented a whole host of future stars including Bobby Womack, James Carr, Clarence Carter and Tyrone Davis. Often Otis would produce and work directly with some of these artists. The Waldens already knew The Delacardos from the early sixties, when they promoted the band as a live act at a local club alongside Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs. 

“In the sixties the members of The Delacardos generally drifted away or went to work or college ” says Nat Speir. “There was a story that their (original) lead singer Chris Harris got hard up for cash and was caught stealing a safe. I think he eventually got an early parole. Don't know what happened to most of the other guys - except for Luther. He got out of show business about 1972 or 1973. By then he was working for Western Electric. Luther took advantage of social and business changes and worked hard and moved up and up in the local office. By the late 1960s he had bought a house on Providence Road, eight to ten miles south of town in white rich folk country. He retired not long ago, a wealthy man. His children went to the best colleges and he lived in what was once an all white south Charlotte neighbourhood. Ronnie kept going musically, making recordings with his daughter at home in his studio, doing early hip hop.”

Van Coble of The Tempests reports that most of the musicians, with the exception of Amos Williams and Ronnie Grier, are now deceased. Sadly Luther Maxwell passed away during the preparation of this project. 

Copyright  E. Mark Windle  2013.

References

Bob Abrahamian. Personal coms. November 2012.

Van Coble. Personal coms. August, November 2012.

Ronnie Grier. Personal coms. August to November 2012.

Ted Hall. Personal coms. October, November 2012. 

Nat Speir. Personal coms. July, August, November 2012.

http://www.gearslutz.com/board/so-much-gear-so-little-time/4000-rip-atlanta-studio-pioneer.html

http://swampland.com/articles/view/title:alan_walden

Bob Collins & the Fabulous Five

Bob Collins and the Fabulous Five from Greensboro, NC were a popular frat party booking throughout the Carolinas and Virginia. Venues in the 1960s included the Polo Club (Winston, Salem), the Casino (Nags Head, NC) and the National Guard Armoury (Greenville, NC). Their largest mainstream hit in the mid 1960s was “If I Didn’t Have a Dime” a.k.a. “Jukebox”, a previous minor hit for Gene Pitney. Their version was released on the Greensboro label Jokers 3. The band was originally formed in 1961 and continued until 2007. It had at least twenty-five members in its long history.

From a northern soul perspective, “Inventory on Heartaches” (Main Line ML1367) and its flip “One and Only Girl’ both written by Donny Trexler are of most interest. Both tracks stand up as top quality up-tempo northern dancers, possibly with “Inventory” having the beach edge with its catchy phrasing and “One and Only Girl” taking a grittier soul duo type approach.

The first time “Inventory on Heartaches” was introduced to the northern scene is unclear. Kev Roberts reports that he came across the record in 1981 whilst living in the US.  However Butch got his first copy around the same time from collectors Dave Withers and Rod Shard, and then located a second copy about a year later, which he thinks was given to Rob Marriot in exchange for a copy of  The Hyperions “Why Do You Wanna Treat Me the Way You Do”. All parties agree that “Inventory on Heartaches” was never really given the initial exposure on the northern scene that it deserved. At the time, the flip was better known, albeit played as an Eddie and Ernie “cover up” by Rob Marriot. 

This situation seems to have reversed in latter years however. “Inventory on Heartache” was reissued in the US in 1990 on vinyl and a year later on “Grand Strand Gold Volume 3” (Ripete CD). Further releases occurred as part of the CD box set sold along with the publication of Greg Haynes’ Heeey Baby Days book in 2006 and in the UK two years later on the beach / northern soul related CD  “Ain’t Nothin’ Like Shaggin’ ” (Goldsoul). Marion Carter from Ripete further reported that the label re-recorded another version of the song in the late 1990's by some original members of the Fabulous Five including Donny Trexler, although Bob himself was not involved in the project. The original Main Line label was just one activity of the Main Line distributing company based in Cleveland. The company distributed appliances, appliance parts – and records. The label logo was the same as that used by the business in all its activities. Main Line was part owned by RCA. The label even utilised the services of legendary Detroit writer and arranger Dale Warren at one point for a recording by local Cleveland band Selective Service.

Tracking down band members was a challenge. Bob Collins who (contrary to previous reports) sang lead on “Inventory on Heartaches” is now retired from singing and has moved from Myrtle Beach to High Point NC. However, Donny Trexler, band founder and writer of both sides of the Main Line release still performs at venues along Myrtle Beach and was available for interview. 

Donny was the founder, writer, guitarist and vocalist for The Fabulous Five between 1961 and 1968. He began his singing career at a tender age in Summerfield, near Greensboro, NC. He initially sang in church, and at eight years old performed with Joe Stone and the Dixie Mountain Boys, a blue grass band. In 1958 Donny was hooked on rock and roll and taught himself guitar. At high school aged 14, he formed a five piece band called Donny and the Blue Jets (the name of the school football team), and then joined another group which eventually evolved into the Fabulous Five. As well as his time with The Fabulous Five, he recorded throughout the seventies with his wife in two long running beach bands. In November 2000 Donny was presented with the Carolina Beach Music Academy Award for lifetime achievement, inducted into the South Carolina Rhythm and Blues Hall of Fame a year later and received the Palmetto Award from the local Governor Hodges. In 2007 he was nominated for Carolina Beach Music Awards (CBMA) Instrumentalist of the Year Award. Donny and Susan now live and work in north Myrtle Beach.  

“I wrote "Inventory On Heartaches" and "One And Only Girl" in 1967; at that time the Fabulous Five had been a group for about six or seven years." Donny says. "The group started around 1960 as The Sixteens in a club called Henry's Danceland in Stokesdale, NC near Greensboro, NC I was an original member. The Sixteens took on Bob Collins as a drummer in the summer of 1960 and then the group was renamed Chuck Tilley and The Fabulous Five in January of 1961. Bob Collins became the lead singer in late January 1962 when the group dismissed Chuck Tilley. We performed in clubs, for fraternity parties, for debutante parties and in many other venues throughout the south-east U.S. We opened for groups like The Impressions, Anthony and the Imperials, the Tams, Wilson Pickett and many more in the 60s. In 1966 we recorded “If I Didn't Have A Dime (Jukebox)”, on which I sang the lead. That song was a great success for us and still is for me.”

“Regarding the other band members, there were many throughout the years. When “Inventory” was recorded in January 1968 they were Bob Collins (lead vocals), Tommy Tucker (saxophone), Allen Brewer (bass), Lenny Collins (on drums, and no relation to Bob), John Cook (keyboards) and Donny Trexler (lead guitar). I stay in touch with Allen and John but not much contact with anyone else. Tommy Tucker died in 2008 and I heard that Lenny Collins isn't doing too well health-wise. I left the group in late February 1968 to start another group called the Music Era. We were on Atlantic Records and had an upbeat remake of “What The World Needs Now”, the old Jackie DeShannon tune. I wrote the flip side called "I Can't Take It."  The Music Era disbanded in late December 1968 because of the military draft. I then joined The Okaysion's and played with them (MW: as lead singer and on guitar) until spring 1972. My wife, Susan, and I started a group called Swing in September 1972 that lasted 16 years. We even did a remake of "Inventory On Heartaches" in 2005 with Susan Trexler on lead vocals. That was a number one song in beach music at that time. I still do five or six gigs a week and Susan sings with me sometimes.”   

Billy Ray Smith, drummer with the band between 1978-1980, provided some insight into the whereabouts and current activities of some of the former band members:

“I was with a group called The Shapparells at the time and became Bob’s drummer when that position came open. At that time the only original members left were Bob and John Cook on keyboards. During that period, beach music and blue eyed soul were still popular around the college campuses so we did a lot of those up and down the east coast. We also continued to play the beach clubs and festivals with all the other beach bands. These festivals are still popular today with several still going on annually in Virginia and the Carolinas. The band I am currently with, The Impacts, contains three former members of The Fabulous Five: John Cook, Randy Case, and myself. We do the old Fabulous Five tune “Jukebox” in most of our shows. We get a lot of requests for it because people know we're the closest thing to the original Fabulous Five left now. Randy Case joined the Five in 1977 and stayed for about a year. The band disbanded in 2007 and John Cook joined The Impacts later that year. John has appeared in many bands through the years doing guest spots or just playing where he could when bands he was with were taking time off. He has MS and playing music is about the only way he is able to make any money so he tries to stay busy. Unfortunately, his years of performing haven't provided much of a retirement fund. He had taken some time away from The Impacts this year but is scheduled to rejoin us in June. I am afraid his age (now 68) and the illness are starting to take a toll on him so please keep him in your prayers. Again thanks for remembering us.”

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013.


References

Billy Ray Smith. Personal coms. April and May 2012.
Donny Trexler. Personal coms. May 2012.
George Gell. Personal coms. May and July 2012.
Kev Roberts. Personal coms. June 2012.
Ripete Records. Marion Carter. Personal coms. May 2012.
Mark Dobson. Personal coms. June 2012.
Susan Trexler. Personal coms. May 2012.
Website: www.theimpactsband.com
Website: http://livemusicjunkie.blogspot.co.uk/2008/09/donny-trexler-comes-of-age.html
Website: http://www.donnyandsusantrexler.com/about.html

Bob Meyer and the Rivieras

Bob Meyer and the Rivieras (not to be confused with the Indiana Rivieras) were another band from Charlotte, NC. They were one of the earlier beach groups, originally formed in 1958 by Nat Speir and Charles VanWagner. Bob Meyer joined as lead vocalist in 1963. A year later they released “Behold”, co-written by Bob and Nat. An up-tempo pop group vocal number, “Behold” was a very popular sound on the coastal areas and was ultimately released in 1964 on Casino (103) and Lawn (L-238-Y). The flipside “You’ve Got to Tell Me” was introduced to UK soul fans by Keb Darge, again at Stafford’s Top of the World all-nighters in the early 1980s, and has remained a popular record on the northern soul scene ever since, primarily via the more common Lawn release.

“I Only Get That Feeling” on Blue Soul (BS-45-101) initially appears to be a solo effort by Meyer, although clearly there were still some links with the old band as this was arranged by Nat Speir.  Recorded in 1967-1968 at Belmont Studios in Belmont, NC , this was a version of the original Big Dee Irwin northern soul classic dancer from the same time which appeared briefly on Redd Coach, Cub (9155) and ultimately on Imperial (66295). Bob’s take on it was a similar tempo, but  with a much rawer edge and prominent wah-wah guitar effect, almost a psychedelic approach perhaps signifying a sign of the times musically in the south east and elsewhere. The track was also covered by Chuck Jackson on ABC in 1973. Bob Meyer died in 1998, but Nat Speir was located for interview:

Nat Speir (NS): The Rivieras began as five or six junior high school friends and acquaintances, mostly aged 13, who had an interest in R&B. We were all extremely interested in the music of The Midnighters, The Moonglows, The Flamingos and also the great sounds of New Orleans. We attended as many shows at The Charlotte Coliseum as we could (no age requirements to get in) and we soon added horns and dance routines. The late 50s and early 60s were a great time to perform in our area because our audiences appreciated everything from doo wop to James Brown. We came of age in the 60s - cars, girlfriends, and frequent weekend gigs. Our repertoire was quite mixed in the early days - although the ‘great groups’ and Huey Smith were mainstays. We also got to know the music of Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions pretty early. The group first met and worked with The Impressions in 1963. By then we had a nine piece band and we began to do back-up work for The Drifters and many others. Then there was Georgia Hand. My brother and I met her in 1964. It was immediately apparent that she could sing better than almost anyone we had met locally, black or white. Georgia was from Memphis but she loved the same music we did. She always wanted to be the south-eastern US Dusty Springfield. Georgia was a trouper and didn't even ask us to lower the key on "Dancin’ in the Street". She was always hoarse after four hours with our band. 

Mark Windle (MW): What kind of venues did you play at this time?

NS: The gigs were usually fraternity or debutante parties, or typical high school sock hops alternating with ‘show and dance’ engagements with national artists. We worked a radius of several hundred miles, causing our parents some concern! Exciting times. The Rivieras were booked with the largest agency in our area, Hit Attraction, but we never had a formal manager.

MW: I always assumed The Rivieras were an all white line up?

NS: In about 1964 we had a black tenor sax player named Henry, who we borrowed from The Zodiacs. Henry was a good player, probably better than I was, who was in training to sell insurance. Poor Henry, a quiet and friendly fellow was involved with us in our first racial situation. We were on our way to Myrtle Beach. We stopped for a burger at a drive-in in the middle of nowhere and out of an old Pontiac came three guys who tried to turn our car over. Our manager at the time got out of our car and asked them to spare us, saying we were army recruits on our way to basic training. Really flimsy, but they bought it for a few minutes and we got away. Henry got scared after that and resigned. Many of our jobs required hours driving on backroads in NC, SC or Georgia - in the middle of nowhere. Going across the mountains to Tennessee was like watching "Deliverance" - some scary people in those days!

We had some black fellas from New York (Bo, Tap and two others) who were with us for less than six months. They were smart and fearless. We ran once and talked our way out of trouble a few times. Still, the boys from NY didn't want to go through that crap. They wanted to sing, so they did that back in NY. When I worked with The Zodiacs in '65-‘66 I was threatened for sharing a beer with the black drummer. The club owner pulled a gun on that redneck, and I am told that the bouncer took care of him. The club owner was protecting his business and his profits. That's all. Bob and I performed with many good black musicians in our time together, but The Rivieras didn't have another black member until 1990. Miss Pam Phiffer became the lead vocalist of the new Rivieras. She was a charmer and things have changed a lot.

MW: Did you open for or were billed with any national sixties soul / R&B acts?

NS:  We played with almost every major soul and R&B act of the day: Stevie Wonder, The Tops, The Temps, The Marvelettes, The Platters, The Olympics, The Five Royals, Chuck Berry, Jimmy Reed, Barbara Lewis, Peaches and Herb, Wilson Pickett and many others. Bob Meyer was with us for one year, 1963 - that was probably our best year in many ways, although our work with the above mentioned acts was also a highlight. My old band mates and I talked the other day about our favourite R&B groups we worked with. I think it was Curtis Mayfield (and The Impressions) hands down. We got them to come with us after a gig once to play a late night party and jam for us and our friends. We had a ball. They stayed around to go bowling too, their favourite pastime, at one of our lanes the next day. I also remember Curtis in our dressing room singing a new song of his “Sad, Sad Girl and Boy” just for us. Maybe practising a little too?

MW: What was your connection with Bob Meyer?

NS:  I had a long friendship with Bob, stretching more than 30 years. Bob was a vocally precocious child. He was a featured soloist in the Charlotte Boys Choir in our home town. At 16, Bob became the lead vocalist for The Catalinas. As you probably know the group are still together. About 1960-1961 Bob met Sam Hemby, a bachelor from a wealthy banking family who became his personal manager. Together they travelled to L.A., New York and New Orleans. Those trips yielded a Fire/Fury contract for Bob. He was singing a rather blatant copy of Lee Dorsey over a Toussaint track meant for Mr. Dorsey. I have the record, and it is without much merit - although Bob is on pitch and trying very hard. This was produced by Marshall Seahorn for Bobby and Danny Robinson of Fury Records. After spending 18 months or so with Sam Hemby, Bob took some time out. That's when Bob and I began writing together. I had known Bob from his early Catalina days. During the same period (1962-63) my group lost Howard Chadwick, our lead singer. We had a rather disciplined group with a number of shows and dance routines. We wanted Bob but he was hesitant because he didn't care for discipline very much. In the end we got a one year agreement - which he stuck with - and took us to new heights with his Ray Charles and Isley Brothers medleys etc. Bob was also a great background singer. Bob and I also worked on the side with Maurice Williams and The Zodiacs.

MW: Bob Meyer and the  Rivieras "You Got to Tell Me" - do you have any memories of recording this? Which recording studio?

NS: We recorded Bob's tunes with Bob Richardson (later president of RIAA) in his garage, on a two track recorder. Bob Richardson had great faith in Bob Meyer and The Rivieras and did all he could for us. He was with Mercury records, and later owned and operated Mastersound Studio in Atlanta. Memories of this one? Sure. It was our regular (10 year) band on it. We had notions of big studio reverb, and back up girl groups- but it ended up as five guys recorded "dry" on a two-track. We were very satisfied anyway. Bob Richardson and his partner, Harry Karras, The Swinging Medallions' producer, shopped the song around and got the commitment from Lawn (Swan). The member line up at the time was Bobby Speir (drums), Nat Speir (tenor saxophone and keyboards), Eddy MacAleer (bari saxophone), Bud McNeely (guitar) and Doug Neal (bass).

MW: Bob Meyer’s “I Only Get That Feeling” - the 45 lists Bob Meyer only as the artist but I know you had some involvement - to what extent was this? Was this The Rivieras in effect? Do you know the member line up for this one?

NS: I was co-producer, arranger, and tenor sax player. Bobby Speir (drums), Bobby Donaldson (guitar), Sidney Smith, of  The Catalinas, (bass) were on it. The horns were the usual 60's guys; me, Danny Michael on trombone, Ray Alexander on trumpet. With the exception of Bob himself - Bob travelled for a record distributer by this time - the band was The Rivieras, less the vocalists of that day. 

In 1969 Bob and I travelled to Memphis to record with Elvis’ studio band at American studios.  Bob wrote a number of tracks and five were recorded though unfortunately all but one saw the light of day and the demo tapes are untraceable.

MW: What happened to the band in the end?

NS: I kept The Rivieras going until 1970 with some good people. My brother stayed on drums and we found James Bates, from The Spontanes, to sing lead. About 1972 I became a social worker with our local mental health centre. I got fired after four years for "moonlighting" as a musician. Figures. I've been exclusively a musician and music teacher for 35 years now. Bob died in January 1998.  Alcoholism and suicide. Very tragic. He was a lot of fun in the earlier Catalina and Riviera days. He and I would go fishing every week. We went fishing on the coast every Thanksgiving when the Spot and the Bluefish were running. Big fun. His drinking was moderate then. But that got progressively worse. He ran out of friends, and finally shot himself. He was found leaning against the couch with the small 25 automatic in his lap. The other original members studied and got masters or counselling degrees (two became Presbyterian ministers but gave that up in favour of social work). 

Two made it big in real estate and financial planning: one of them also owned the Budweiser franchise for the Raleigh and Chapel Hill areas. Howard Chadwick, our first lead singer with a beautiful baritone voice got into the evangelical stuff, and sang for Dove Records. Don't see him often, but a great singer. Ray Alexander (our trumpet man) and I never left the music business. Ray toured with The Temps, Tops and Spinners for 20 years. Several were drafted for Vietnam in the late sixties. They saw action but there were no fatalities. Even considering the Vietnam service for some, Bob is the only tragic story, we were lucky. 

The black guys from New York also were successful and I think there was a reunion for them in NY recently. They all went into community work or social work. Did well for themselves. Georgia sang with us until 1968, then left to return to Memphis without any notice. We missed her; she was a great singer with a great smile and a warm personality, she had been our friend. For us a lot of things ended with the close of that decade. The candid snapshot I have sent you was from Georgia's last gig with us Spring of 1967. Although the picture quality is not great, this is an important one to me. We were at the Tanglewood Country Club in Winston-Salem, NC. These were happy and sad times. Reminds me of the last five minutes of American Graffiti.”

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013.

References

Nat Speir. Personal coms. July to October 2012.

Dave Abbott. Personal coms. July 2012.

Ted Hall. Personal coms. October 2012. 

The Greater Experience

The Greater Experience ran from 1969 to 1975, and were an eight man band from Lynchburg, VA. Despite their “Don’t Forget to Remember” having been around for years on the UK scene, well known and classed as an established ‘alternative oldie’ by some, the actual 45 has remained elusive to collectors and has maintained a high price over the last 30 years. Until a couple of group members were located for this project, very little was previously known about the label or band history. Technically this track falls just outside our focus on sixties soul (having a release date of 1970), however more than deserves inclusion here due to its popularity amongst sixties soul fans in the UK. Despite its relatively late release it has all the spirit and feel of 1960s beach and then some, with its infectious and relentless uptempo rhythm and impressive organ and horn section. Band members were Jerry Mitchell (lead vocals), Roger Scruggs (guitar), Chip Wood (alto saxophone, flute, rhythm guitar), Johnny Dodson (hammond organ), Ed Burnette (trumpet), Robert Tunkel (tenor saxophone, trumpet and flute), Chuck Wall (drums) and Russ Hovda (bass guitar). The label name Colony ‘13’ refers to Virginia state, as one of the original thirteen colonies that declared independence from the British Empire. The record itself was distributed by Colony Sound Productions from Danville, which gives a clue to some of its history. This record had links with Frank Koger’s House of Sound recording studios, sharing the same Colony Sound Production credits as The Mustangers release on Piedmont, one of Koger’s labels. Chip, Ed and Chuck remember that the track was recorded in Greensboro, North Carolina but was pressed up in Danville.

“Don’t Forget to Remember” was brought to the attention of the UK northern scene in 1978, following a Philadelphia record buying trip by DJ and collector Arthur Fenn:

“I went on a trip with two friends, Dave Raistrick and Ady Dundas, in the early part of ‘78. I'd been told of this huge warehouse called the House of Sounds (no connection with Koger) in Upper Darby in Philly.  I have a book in my office about the corruption in the music business with MCA. It talks about John Lamonte (the warehouse owner) and how he was a small time player! Yeah, with 30 million 45s. How funny is that? Anyway, we were shown a new batch of 45s - some 300,000 of them. The place was so big and this load was just sitting in one corner of one room on one of the floors.  We were offered a deal for the lot at three cents each, or cherry pick at 25 cents.  We went pickin’. 

Even then, we were after records we didn't know and pulled anything that looked interesting. I remember when I found The Greater Experience, I thought it was something else as the label is similar to a record on Holly by Billy Arnell (“Tough Girl”). I was disappointed and just put The Greater Experience record in our pile of unknowns. Later in the trip we found ourselves at Fred Bohn's house in Pittsburgh, way before he opened up Attic Records.  Fred was given the job of splitting the unknowns of our trip between the three of us, we each had 7 records. Three of mine were The Greater Experience, Danny Owens on Manhattan, and Don Ray on RCA. It wasn't until I got home that I realised what a great record The Greater Experience was and decided to keep it a secret by giving it the false name of Billy Parker "I Can't Let Go". I had just got my first two big DJ spots at Cleethorpes Winter Gardens and the Fleet all-nighter at Peterborough. I did something at these two places that I've never done before (or after) - to start and finish all my spots with that record. I guess it stayed an exclusive for a couple of years by which time I'd played it at many clubs around the UK, including my one time guest spot at the Wigan Casino, before selling on to Soul Sam in 1980.” 

Since then, a few copies of The Greater Experience have surfaced. Ten copies were reported to have turned up in a thrift store in Virginia in October 2003, where the lucky finder paid 35 cents each for them, not aware of their value at the time (bear in mind this is a £400 piece of vinyl at the time of writing). Most were quickly moved on via ebay and one directly to a US private collector. No further reports have been made since of more finds. Initially locating the band members was impossible. UK soul collector Dave Abbott did have some communication from a close friend of Jerry Mitchell, after Jerry died:

“He passed away March 16, 2011 in Roanoke, Virginia at the age of 62. He found out he had cancer about seven months ago. He was a very talented singer. I have a video from the beach at Outer Banks one year we went on vacation of him singing "Brick House" and "Easy" by The Commodores. It was awesome. I just wish now I'd had more things recorded. Thanks again for posting that song. It means a great deal to me.”

Roger Scruggs and Chip Wood are still active in the music business today. Roger gave a potted history of the band: 

RS: Chip, Chuck, Ed, and I went to E.C. Glass High School (Lynchburg). We graduated in 1970 / 1971. Jerry, Johnny, Russ and  Robert were older guys who lived and played in bands around Lynchburg, VA. We had all played inprominent local bands and met through friends. We mainly played colleges, frat parties and lots of local private parties. We could take The Greater Experience into just about any type of social gathering! We played soul from the late 60’s like Wilson Pickett, Otis Redding, Sam & Dave, & James Brown but we were also into Blood Sweat & Tears, Cold Blood and The Ides of March.

MW: How many records were pressed of “Don’t Forget to Remember”? Five hundred? Less?

RS: Jerry Mitchell kept up with the records. Probably under five hundred were pressed. I have one copy in my collection. It was a thrill to hear ourselves on the radio. Jerry Mitchell once told me he was driving around with his son telling him about our song being on the radio. When he turned the radio on “Don’t Forget to Remember” started playing. He said his son thought it was magic that his dad could do that!

RS: It got a lot of airplay on local WLLL. Jerry Mitchell also worked for WLVA, local TV. We actually launched the record on WLVA’s Christmas party, which was televised 1970.

MW: Did you guys know The Lost Soul on the Raven label (“A Secret of Mine” and “I'm Gonna Hurt You”), though it might have been a year or two before you guys? Any other memories?

RS:  I believe those guys were from Waynesboro or Staunton, VA. A girl I went to school with gave me their 45rpm. I still have it. They were a couple of years ahead of us. It was a great time to be alive and to be playing music. When I first met Jerry Mitchell he used to come by my house and hang out. He was a real lady’s man and could get us young guys into lots of good trouble! When I first heard Jerry had cancer I really felt bad. I pulled out my old E.C. Glass 1970 High School Annual that I hadn’t looked at in years. When I picked it up several small pieces of paper fell out. They turned out to be Jerry’s hand written lyrics to “Don’t Forget To Remember”. I guess Jerry stuffed them in there back in 1970. Everytime I think about it I feel like he wanted me to remember him. A few months later Jerry died.

MW: Were any other tracks made at the session you did for “Don't Forget to Remember” for Colony 13?

RS: “Don’t Forget to Remember” and the flip side “Carole’s Carol” were the only two songs we recorded then. Carole’s Carol was written by our sax and flute player Robert Tunkel, for his wife Carole. I do have several old reel-to-reel tapes of the band playing live back then. We did have another original tune somewhere on one of those tapes. Chip also has some old reel to reel tapes. We need to sit down and go through them soon. I have sent you a live recording we made in fall of 1970 at Lynchburg College. The quality is pretty bad as it came from an old reel to reel recorder. I believe it's the first time we played ‘Don't Forget to Remember’ out live before it was recorded to 45 rpm record. Unfortunately only got about half before the tape ran out.

CW: It is pretty cool that there is so much interest in our band after all these years. I came across an auction several years ago that had the 45 record listed for bids.  At the time the bid was pretty high and I was shocked.  It is great that the song is still being played and enjoyed by northern soul fans.  As to where the recording was made, I really don't remember.  What I remember most was the studio cost of $1.00 per minute and knowing we had to pay for this was scary.  I kept thinking the longer it takes the more it will cost.  In 1970, $1.00 a minute was a lot of money.  I also remember as we were leaving town to go to the recording session we were listening to WLLL radio.  Our then manager Stan Jason was the DJ on the air at that time and he dedicated a song to us wishing us luck on our way.

After the Colony 13 release, the band members took a different musical direction, being influenced by the Allman Brothers and ‘southern rock’, reflecting the change in the general music scene in those parts during this period. By 1975 the band members had dispersed. Some went on to college, some married and others took local jobs. Keyboard player Johnny Dodson died in 2010. Chuck designed and installed large home theatre systems before he retired.  Chuck, Ed and Chip still get together occasionally. Ed Burnette is currently the General District Judge for the City of Lynchburg. Russ Hovda  is still playing music today. Roger Scruggs is still very much in the business with his band Surrender and mentioned a planned get-together:

“I spoke with Chip Wood last week for the first time in about 30 years. Chip, Ed, Chuck, and I are supposed to get together later this year to talk over some old times. I’ll tell them about you and your friends in the UK. Until recently we never knew the record meant anything to anyone but us old band members and our close friends. I'm glad you enjoyed the record! On behalf of me and the rest of The Greater Experience band, we feel really blessed and thrilled that someone as far away as the UK could be interested in our music after all these years. Good luck.”

Copyright  E. Mark Windle 2013.

References

Arthur Fenn. Personal coms. May 2012.

Chip Wood. Personal coms. June and August 2012.

Dave Abbott. Personal coms. May and June 2012.

Jack Garrett. The History of Raven Records. Sowcase Magazine, 4 January 2012. Available at http://issuu.com/showcasemagazine/docs/jan_12_rave_web

Mike Gibbs. Personal coms. May and June 2012.

Roger Scruggs. Personal coms. June and July 2012.