Dawn Capri's on Marlo

Dawn Capri's

10121 - Haunted House

10122- Going Home 

(T. Rank, Stagg Music BMI)    

Marlo 1528

1963

Unlisted. One of the most obscure release on the Uncle Buck Lipe label.

Posted by Slappinjake at his blog HERE

Peerless Four on Job's

Peerless Four

28343 ~ Peace in the Valley (lead: Clyde Burston)

28344 ~ Someday (lead - Charles Russel)

Job's 1237-001/002
Also Job's 12001 (see pics below)

Culpepper Music Co. Tri-Us BMI

Recorded at Norfolk Sound Studio Norfolk, Va.
Eng. by Martin Culpepper Jr.

1971

Re-issued in 1972 (pressed by RCA Custom Division and distributed by Laurie Records).  No mention of Martin Culpepper Jr.   Frank Guida name added as producer.  Hill & Range publisher added.

 

Peerless Four (mid-sixties)

Picture : http://www.recordconnexion.nl/start.html

The Peerless Four recorded in the sixties on Gospel Recording Co. a Brooklyn label ("Gospel Music for the whole family").   Members comprised Jake Chambers, vocalist ; Clyde Burston, vocalist ; Eddie Luster, , guitarist ; Geo. (George) Butler, organist.

 Martin Culpepper

Job's Records owner

Photo from his own website

Martin Culpepper  is a veteran in Gospel radio, known as one of  the Original  Pioneers  of Gospel.

Brother Martin Culpepper is also a member of the Gospel Music Workshop of America, Announcers Guild, And Vice Chairman of the Quartet Division. Martin  graduated from Paul Henning’s School  Broadcasting in Norfolk, Virginia.
 

Norfolk Sound Studio

Like many regional record label owners, Frank Guida started as a record store owner. From there, he built record labels (Legrand and SPQR, among them) and then started his studio.

Located on Princess Anne Road in Norfolk, VA, Norfolk Sound produced "The Norfolk Sound": Gary "U.S." Bonds, Jimmy Soul and Daddy G, to name a few.

Sammy Griggs and The Coronets on Job

Sammy Griggs

and The Coronets

Vocal Charles Carothers

CP-1821 ~ Footsteps

(Sam Griggs, Job Publ. BMI)

CP-1822 ~ Long John Silver

(Sam Griggs, Big Song Publ. BMI)

Job Records #100

1959

All other recordings by this Cleveland vocal group were issued in 1953-1955, starting with "Nadine" released by Chess Records, thanks to Alan Freed.

For a few years (1955 to 1959), they were content to just have gigs around town.  At the request of their managers (Joe Petito and Vic Salupo), they went to Audio Studios to cut a couple of songs that Sam had written: "Footsteps" and "Long John Silver."   However, before anything could happen with it,   Pop singer Steve Lawrence also released a tune called "Footsteps," which became a big hit; that was all it took to squash the last hopes for the Coronets.

By the end of 1960, with nothing happening, the Coronets finally threw in the towel and disbanded, "victims of foul circumstance."

See Marv Goldberg The Coronets

Bernie & The White Soul Band

Bernie & The White Soul Band

35375 - Shake Your Bootie It's Bootie Time Pt 1
35376 - Shake Your Bootie It's Bootie Time Pt 2
 

wr. B. McBride, J.Thomas, Al Goodrich, S. Silvo

Produced by Bernie

 

Soul Brother Records

56 Outlook Drive

Hills Sound Service, Worcester, Ma

SAMPLE

Unlisted soul/funk.  Bernie is perhaps Bernie S. McBride, born in 1948.
 

Label picture & sample : ebay (SteadySounds)

Note : address of label is presumably in Worcester.  How was the neighborhood around Outlook Drive in 1975, I do not known, but googling "56 Outlook Drive Worcester" brings today no funky results.  Samples :

4 Feb 2009 – Alfred Harper, 49, of 56 Outlook Drive, Worcester, charged with violation of an abuse prevention order, continued to March 2 on $500 cash bail; ...

12 Jan 2010 – Robert K. Sorrell, 24, of 56 Outlook Drive, Worcester, charged with firearm use in a felony, trafficking in cocaine, and conspiracy to violate a ..

12 Nov 2012 – Caleb Saysay, 17, of 56 Outlook Drive, Worcester, charged with larceny from a person, amended from armed robbery, continued without a...

ETC.

Miss Lois Powell on Velvet

Miss Lois Powell, vocal...

12597 - I Can’t Think Of Nothing, Baby

...Willie Ghent, piano 
James Brown, drums

12598 - The Long Wait

...Charles Powell, lead guitar
Willie Ghent, piano 
James Brown, drums

Velvet [Records]
General Delivery

Searcy, Arkansa

★

Previously unlisted Rite pressing.   Posted by Howdy HERE    Side A info found at Arkansas 45 RPM Records  

★

Miss Lois Powell's "Woo-Ee-Baby", an unissued acetate recorded in Little Rock, was issued by Cees Klop on "41 Years Collector Records - 40 Was Not Enough"  (CLCD 4550).  You can listed to this song at YouTube HERE.  She sounds a little like Wanda Jackson.

★

A Lois Powell, "Western gal singer" was signed to the short-living Enterprise Records in 1946.  Same "gal"?

 

Billboard, Feb. 9, 1946

 Enterprises Records ad

Billboard Aug. 31, 1946

Billed as Lois Powell and her Western Band

(bottom right of the ad)

★

Finally, I found two songs penned by Lois Powell in the BMI database both published by Bolivar Music Co. : 

     1.     Honkey Tonk Town,

     2.     Juke Box Blues      

Searching the names of the three musicians listed on the label leads to nowhere.

Riley Puckett (GHP Records)

Riley Puckett
Old Time Greats Volume 1

GHP 902
Recordings For The Connosseur

Rite account #2073 (in dead-wax)

1969

Sine One  {Rite 23551]

1 . Away Out On The Mountain .
2 . The Moonshiner's Dream .
3 . Don't Try It For It Can't Be Done 
4 . Dissatisfied .
5 . Send Back My Wedding Ring .
6 . Wait Till The Sun Shines Nellie .
7 . Ragged But Right .

Side Two   [Rite 23552]

1 . I'm Going To Georgia .
2 . On The Other Side Of Jordan .
3 . I'm Getting Ready To Go .
4 . Clover Blossoms .
5 . Curley Headed Baby .
6 . Call Me Back, Pal O' Mine .
7 . Frankie And Johnnie        

Collection of songs by famed country music singer and guitarist Riley Puckett.(1894-1946)   Late-'20s Columbia and the mid-'30s Bluebird sides assembled by East German country music aficionado Gerd Hadeler on his own GHP Records (Cuxhaven, Germany) (=Gerd Hadeler Productions]

This LP was re-issued on Old Homestead Records in 1978 with two tracks bonus and same cover.  Reviewed by Eugene Chadbourne :

Several different labels took cracks at releasing collections by this fine old-timey music artist during the '70s, and this is perhaps the best one for an interested listener to try and track down, as it provides the most complete span of Riley Puckett's career.   It contains work from two different prolific recording periods, the late-'20s Columbia sides and the mid-'30s Bluebird era.   Liberated from his sideman role in the old-timey group Gid Tanner & the Skillet Lickers,   Puckett lets loose with his own guitar style here as it had never been heard before. He has his own peculiar sense of humor and outlook on life, and some of the opinions he expresses may not be politically correct to the hearts and minds of later eras, so watch out.

This entire package was previously released on the GHP label, with the exception of two scintillating guitar solos. Early cowboy and country singer Hugh Cross shows up on two tracks.

Those trying to emulate the unique Puckett guitar style should heed the title of one of the best numbers here, "Don't Try It for It Can't Be Done."

  

Wikipedia biography

Discography

Jimmy Wilkins on Band Box

 Jimmy Wilkins And The Blue Falcons
Vocal Background By The Sarands

12945 ~ Goodby, Baby
12946 ~ It's All Right

Band Box 356

 

Jimmy Wilkins and the Sarands

15139 - Move Over

15140 - Crying Tears

Band Box 364

From 1964-1965.  Zilch on Jimmy Wilkins, on The Blue Falcons or on The Sarands.  "Crying Tears" has been played on WWOZ radio in 2010, but I can't find the archive of this show.

The Cut-Ups (Frederick's recordings)

 

 The Cut-Ups

12801 - The Cut-Ups Theme / Little Darlin'

12802 - Forbidden Fruit

Produced by Frederick's of Goldsboro, N.C.

sample

 

YouTube video feat. Carlton Frederick

co-founder with his brothers of Frederick's Music Shop in 1960

The Whole Earth Rainbow Band III

The Whole Earth Rainbow Band

LP
A Piece Of Window   

Wrane Beau


1974

Side One  [Rite 33005]

1. Shuck Jhove  (Kimmel)
2. Nocturne  (Lockwood)
3. Nog Jog  (Kimmel)
4. Bom Ba I    (Kimmel-Wintervold)

Side Two  [Rite 33006]

1. Free ESP Duo  (Kimmel-Lockwood)
2. Sometimes the sadness  (Kimmel)
3. Seventy to eleven/thirds  (Tilley)
4. My Lady  (Kimmel)

Personnel :

Steve Kimmel  Vibes, Congas And   Drums
Terry  Tilley , bass
Bob Rockwell  Tenor Sax
Bruce Wintervold  Drums, Percussions  Congas
Steve Lockwood  Fender And Acoustic Pianos
Mike Croy  Cowbell  

Recorded At Dial Communication

Twin Cities group helmed by Steve Kimmel, best known as a vibraphonist, and as the owner of the Rainbow Gallery, a now-defunct local jazz venue.

Discography (LPs)

1972     Whole Earth Rainbow Band     Wranebeau Records #S80-362-2382S
1973     Concert           Wranebeau Records 1329   
1974     A Piece Of Window              
1975     What's A WERB?     Wranebeau 99005 



Above is the drawing done by Mpls Star Tribune artist Dick Guindon for a half page spread on page one of the Entertainment and Arts section of the Sunday Paper.  I don't recall what concert was being promoted, most likely something at the Walker Art Center.  The band was the Whole Earth Rainbow Band which I and local percussionist Steve Kimmel started in 1970.   Source : https://sites.google.com/site/runegitane/memorabiliaarchive

The Chancel Choir of Central United Methodist Church

     

The Chancel Choir of Central United Methodist Church 1969-1970
 Pontiac, Michigan

Directed by George H. Putman

Side 1:  Rite 27199 

Be Thou My Vision - Ancient Irish Tune.
The Lord's Prayer
He Comes To Us / Jane Marshall
Were You There / Negro Spiritual
Breathe On Me, Breath Of God  Trentham-Jackson
How Great Thou Art - Swedish Folk Melody

Side 2:  Rite 27200

O, Clap Your Hands
Holy Lord God Of Hosts
Say Ye To The Righteous
Crown Him With Many Crowns



A Central Recording


Sample (YouTube)

Sonny Rhodes on Cherrie

Sonny Rhodes

35833 ~ Are We Losing Our Thing
35834 ~ Hen Pecked Man  sample

Cherrie 2380

56 Teresa St.

Dale City, CA 94014

produced by C. White

1975

 

Clarence Edward Smith, better known by his stage name Sonny Rhodes is an American blues singer and guitarist.

Born November 3, 1940 in Texas. He was influenced by such blues musicians as T-Bone Walker, Percy Mayfield, Pee Wee Crayton, L.C. Robinson and B.B. King. He plays lap steel guitar and also learned to play bass guitar. 

His first record was as leader of The Daylighters on Domino Records.  The Daylighters also backed white female singer Joyce Harris on the same label  :

Joyce Harris and the Daylighters never played in public, only on records, so she was adamant about regular rehearsals before they stepped into the studio.

"One night, the Daylighters didn't show up, and so I got in my car and went looking for them," recalls Harris, a New Orleans native. There was a place over on "the Cuts," slang for East 11th Street, where the Daylighters liked to hang, and sure enough the musicians were coming out of the club when Harris pulled up. "Don't you remember, we've got a rehearsal?" she said. "Get in."   But bandleader Clarence Smith and the other three hesitated.   In Texas in 1961, black men didn't get in a car with a white woman, but Harris would have none of that. "Get in!" she said again, her tone amplified, and the band eventually complied, though it was an uneasy drive across town.

from Little indie label Domino laid down Austin sounds before scene's heyday

Sonny Rhodes discography 

Note : has a few errors, notably the date of this Cherrie single.

Jimmy Patrick on Renaud

Jimmy Patrick

CP-2128 ~ $20 Dollar Bill

Decatur Renaud

 CP-2129 ~ Why Don't You Love Me

Decatur Renaud

Renaud 540314/5

Louisiana

August 1959

Decatur Renaud also wrote “Betty Jane” (jan. 59) and "Queens of New Orleans".  No other info.

Audio : LP "Rockin' and Rhearsing" (White Label 8958, 1990)

Labels : e-bay

Maurice Williams And The Zodiacs on Cole

Maurice Williams

And The Zodiacs

 (Former Gladiolas)

     CP-2466 – Lover (Where Are You)

Williams-Massey, Colehard Music BMI

CP-2467 – She’s Mine

Williams-Gore, Colehard Music BMI

Cole 101

A P. Gernhard And J. Carter Production
Nationally Distributed By National

November 1959

Their second release on the label  (first was as by the Zodiacs ( "  T Town / Golly Gee "  - Cole 100, a RCA custom pressing)

Cole Records, located at 2441 Rigby Dr., Columbia, S. C, was started in the summer of 1959 by Vincent Cole and Phil Bernhardt.    

They were originally named the Royal Charms.   Ernie Young, prexy of Excello Records, changed their name to the Gladiolas after their first recording session in Nashville.  

.

In 1958, when the group left Excello Records, and because the Gladiolas name stayed with the label, they have to renamed themselves :

 

The group would undergo yet another name change. “When the contract was up with Ernie, we decided to go more national, because he only distributed in the southeast. We were in West Virginia getting our car fixed, because the station wagon had broken down and we were in this dealership and there was this car called the Zodiac. My bass player Robert Gore saw the car and suggested we think of the name Zodiacs and we liked it, because it was completely different. It was a European car (U.K – Ford). Then our manager said, ‘We will call you Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs and then you do not have to worry about your name anymore.    Interview with Maurice Williams

Their biggest hit came with "Stay",  a song Maurice Williams had written years earlier about that one Lancaster girl and the night she had to leave because she had to be home by 10 :00 pm.  

In 1960, Herald released « Stay », and audiences loved hearing about Williams’s efforts to persuade his girlfriend to remain past her curfew as he assures her that her parents won’t mind if she stays for just on more dance.  By November, the record had reached #1, and at one minute and thirty-seven seconds the record is well known for being at the shortest #1 record in the history of the Billboard charts.  Today it’s estimated that the record has sold more than ten millions copies.    Carolina Beach Music: The Classic Years by  Rick Simmons, book.

The Flock-Rocker on Planet

The Flock-Rocker
The Crown Prince Of The Blues

CP-1597 - After Hours (No. 2)

CP-1598 - The Chinese Rock And Roll 

Mitchell Hearns, Planet Music BMI

Guitar solo by Johnnie B. Goode

     Planet Record Co. 103

St. Louis 13, MO.

Released 58/08/21

note : guitarist Johnnie B. Goode is probably Bennie Smith, tough Blues Records discography doesn't list him as member at  the Planet session, incidentally erroneously dated 1961  (see discography below)

Born Mitchell Hearns, the Flock-Rocker, also known as Gabriel,  was born in Louisiana, he attended Lincoln High School in East St. Louis at the same time as Miles Davis.  Gabriel was buddies with Davis brother, Vernon Davis, and the two played in school bands together.  He had his own band in the 1950s that included the "Dean of St. Louis Electric Guitarists" Bennie Smith.

Through the years, Gabriel came to know many of the musical greats. Gabriel has hung out with Muddy Waters, Howlin Wolf and Chuck Berry. A buddy of another blues and rock elder, Ike Turner, Gabriel occasionally mentions on air that he used to shuttle Turners ex-wife, Tina Turner, to gigs because Ike trusted Gabriel not to make a pass at her.


He ran a record store called the House Of The Blues in St. Louis where he sold nothing but blues and gospel music. He owned part of the old Majestic Theater in East St. Louis, but problems with his business partner cost him more than $20,000 in the deal, a financial debacle from which he says he's never quite recovered.

" The first mistake I made was opening the thing up with a convicted felon, Gabriel says. He couldn't get a license, so I put up all the money for it. The thing went belly up, and they're still sending me bills. Now that place is on the registry of historic buildings. Who was the idiot there? Poor, dumb me. "

St. Louis Radio Hall of Fame :

 Gabriel was a personality on WOKZ in Alton, IL., in 1952, mixing blues and R&B with hillbilly records, jazz and the old standards.
     His next stop was WTMV in East St. Louis where he did live remotes, moving across the river to KATZ where he started doing fill-in work for vacationing deejays. When PD Dave Dixon went on vacation, he asked Gabriel to take over his many remotes.
     Gabriel was then hired to do the Sunday gospel shows on KATZ, which led to a full-time slot from 7:30 - 9:00 each night, for which he won the St. Louis Sentinel's award for Best Radio Personality. He later took the 1 - 6 a.m. slot from the late 1950s until 1969.   Then it was on to a year-long Sunday night stint on the market's most eclectic radio station, KDNA, which was supported solely by listener contributions.
     He left the market briefly from 1973-1976, returning to a job at WESL. He ended up doing a weekly show on KDHX in 1989 on which he re-created the programs he had done in the 60s. In 1999 he won the Riverfront Times award as the Top St. Louis Radio Personality.
     Gabriel produced and recorded some R&B and blues classics, including the first 45 by Tina Turner, which was recorded in Ike Turner's living room and kitchen on Virginia Place in East St. Louis in the late 50s. At various times he also ran a couple record stores, a theater featuring live music acts and a nightclub.

At KDHX

He only plays music out of his own collection. While KDHX has a large and varied music library, it pales in comparison to Gabriel's, which dates back to the 1920s and includes approximately 50,000 records, tapes and CDs.

During breaks, the portly man rolls up the sleeves of his blue and black flannel shirt and shuffles over to the suitcases, the cuffs of his faded black denim pants stopping at the tops of his dusty wingtips with worn soft rubber soles.

He flips through his tapes looking for some song that probably only he could remember. Gabriel has spent the better part of the past three years transferring his old vinyl sides to the computer so he can burn them onto CDs, which are easier for him to carry.

Back in the day, I would have four or five of those suitcases filled up with 45's, 78's and everything you can imagine, Gabriel says. That was like movin' your whole house.

This suitcase DJ system has been with Gabriel as long as he's been on the air. And he's been on the air a long, long time.

Jim O'Neal, owner of Stackhouse Records has been working on a Gabriel collection for over a decade, hunting-down original 45s, 78s and acetates from all over the collector’s market  (from a now defunct website, http://www.realbluesmagazine.com/BluesNews.htm)  :

 Jim O’Neal’s Stackhouse label will be releasing the much-anticipated compilation on the legendary The Flock Rocker (a.k.a. Gabriel & His Trumpet) who had over a dozen releases on the Planet, Norman, Tempora 500 and Royal American labels, all out of St. Louis/East St. Louis.   What’s really special about these recordings is that various members of Ike Turner’s Kings of Rhythm do backing along with the super-hot Bennie Smith on guitar. Jim has been working on this collection for over a decade, hunting-down original 45s, 78s and acetates from all over the Collector’s market.    

 
 Jim O'Neal made a mention of the scheduled release on his blog (November 6, 2009) here :

 Next Stackhouse release is the long-awaited compilation of 1950s and ‘60s sides by East St. Louis DJ, singer, and trumpet player Gabriel (he has a last name but doesn’t think you or the IRS need to know it) –- rocking, sometimes zany stuff including snippets from his radio shows and tracks with the great Bennie Smith on guitar. Gabriel still broadcasts every Sunday night at midnight on KDHX – check out his show at www.kdhx.org.

But I can't find any evidence that the compilation was ever released.  And Stackhouse Records seems to be inactive now
 .

 

 Flock-Rocker discography

 (scanned from the Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven Blues discography)

Mitchel Hearns recorded as The Flock-Rocker,  Gabriel,   Gabrel, his trumpet and Band of Angels,  and Gabriel & the Angels.

Not to be confused with the Gabriel and the Angels on April, Amy and Swan  :

 Gabriel and the Angels was the remnants of the FIVE SHARPS. A very popular combo consisting of Rick Kellis (Gabriel) on SAX, etc., Ed Badyna on Trumpet and Valve Trombone, Frank Pizzutello on Bass and Accordian, Rick Magee on Guitar, Larry Costanzo on Drums. Rick Kellis replaced the Original SAX man Joe Mariano who is also retired from the Insurance business. The FIVE SHARPS were very well known around N.J,PA,DE, and N.Y. Especially the Shore Points and Universities.

Sources, ressources

• DJ Gabriel embodies the St. Louis blues, article by Daniel P. Finney Of the Post-Dispatch 11/06/2004
•  Flock-Rocker discography (see pic above) : Blues Records 1943-1970: Volume 1 A-K by Mike Leadbitter and Neil Slaven

Mike Mitchell and the Play Boys on Bango

Mike Mitchell and the Play Boys

8859 - Josephine   (Vocal Ernie Greene)

Gus. Kahn and Wayne King, Leo Feist Pub. ASCAP

8860 - Playboy Boogie Twist (instrumental)   sample

E.C. Mitchell, Blair's Music BMI

Bango 502

1962

1906 Clements Street
Detroit 38, Mich.

Not much is known about the owners of Bango Records, Clarence .L. Blair and Rose E. Blair.    They had certainly some kind of Philadelphia connection as several acts issued on their other label, Fine Arts, were from the City of Brotherly Love.

Mr Blair was probably born around 1900 : "I've Got The Blues To-Day" is one of the first song copyrighted by Clarence Blair (1923, Detroit).

Here I Go, Where the Morning Glories Grow", another of his composition, was copyrighted in 1938 (his address is then Philadelphia).   "Here I Go" was recorded in 1950 on Gotham Records, a Philadelphia label, by Roland Burton, a former Lionel Hampton balladeer.     The copyright for this song was renewed in 1952 with the name of Rose Blair then added.

Bob Tyree on Monza

 

Bob Tyree

22151 ~ Honky Tonk  Man
22152 ~ Momma Don't Allow

Monza

10435 Val Tierra S.W., 

Albuquerque, NM

1968

Nothing found on the internet about Bob Tyree, unless that he is/was THIS Robert Tyree, country singer,  who ran off with his  2 years old daughter, named Dodie Tyree.  There were rumors that he killed her and buried her in the desert.

Clarence Johnson And His Tom Cats on Jerome

Clarence Johnson And His Tom Cats

12985 ~ That's Not Right

12986 ~ Baby Come Back To Me

 Jerome 7363

1964

 

 One copy of this RARE record was recently auctioned by records dealer (and blues collector) John Tefteller, described as follows  :

M- GREAT AND RARE!!! Rockin' Country Blues Masterpiece! MB $2000

 Clarence Johnson

On Feb. 18, 2006, Clarence Johnson, 86, was found wrapped in clothes, trying to stay warm in sub-freezing temperature in an unheated, ramshackle duplex at 480 N. 26th St. in East St. Louis. Johnson died 20 minutes after reaching the hospital

 

It was rumored among the blues community that he was the son of the renowned blues guitarist Lonnie Johnson, whose distinctive style he drew from heavily. But Fannie Harper, his half-sister,  discounts the connection. "I don't know where they got that from," she says of the legendary lineage. "His father was Jack Johnson."

Perhaps shrewdly, Clarence did little to clarify the matter while he was alive.
 

Johnson worked mainly as a sideman.  He backed up a young Miles Davis, as well as several other area musicians.   Over the years he managed to lay down a few tracks of his own for Jerome.   Though he played music all his life, he earned his keep fixing radios and other small electronics out of his house.

Sources:

• Beth Hundsdorfer, obituary published in Belleville News-Democrat on March 8, 2006 :  Blues singer identified; family to be at funeral
• Malcolm Gay,  "Going Down Slow" article, Riverfront Times,  Apr 26 2006

Jerome label

The Jerome label is listed in the Song-Poem records discography (Phil Milstein)

http://www.songpoemmusic.com/labels/jerome.htm
 

See also http://www.45rpmrecords.com/ST/Jerome.php

See also Rockin' Country Style

 The question of who operated the label is still open. 

The Northanaires on Process

The Northanaires

11525 ~ I Have A Song To Sing 

(Melvin  Blue, Process Music BMI) 

Lead by Theodis Buchannan

11526 ~ You Pray For Me 

(Clarence McGuire, Process Music BMI) 

Lead By Clarence McGuire

Process 118

1964

Black gospel group from Akron, Ohio. They had another single on United Audio in 1970.

Theodis Buchanan transitioned to his heavenly home on July 13, 2011. He was born April 19, 1928 in Tuskegee, Alabama to Narcisus and Walter Buchanan.

He moved to Akron in 1951 where he resided until his transition.   Theodis retired from Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co. in 1987, after 37 years of service.   He was a member of various gospel singing groups, including The Buchanan Brothers, The Northernaires and The Buchanan Singers. He was a devoted member of New Trinity Missionary Baptist Church, where he faithfully served as a Deacon for decades. His hobbies included watching sports, fishing and gardening. He won numerous “Keep Akron Beautiful” Awards for his gorgeous yard. He was a role model and father figure to many.   [Obit.]

Johnny Dot And The Dashes on Vaca

Johnny Dot And The Dashes

 

CP-5233 ~ I Love An Angel
CP-5234 ~ Just For You

Both songs wr. Johnny Dot

Opal Music, Co.

 

Vaca 102

 1961

 

[ Also issued on in the UK on Salvo in March 1962 ]

 

 Johnny Dotson, leader of Johnny Dot and the Dashes

There is a strong possibility that Vaca Records was owned by Speedy West (1924-2003), steel guitarist who frequently played with Jimmy Bryant, both in their own duo and as part of the regular Capitol Records backing band for Tennessee Ernie Ford and many others.     If he wasn't the owner, he was certainly involved with the label.

• Opal Music, publisher of both songs, was owned by Speedy West
• The opportunities no longer available for country musicians in the L.A. area, Speedy made arrangements to go to work for Fender Musical Instruments as manager of their warehouse in Tulsa, OK.   He moved to Tulsa in September, 1960
  
  

After moving to Tulsa, Speedy continued to play steel guitar, although not full time because of his employment with Fender. He had his own band for several years and played at various locations in the Tulsa area for dances, special events, etc.  

 

The Lyrics (JWJ 1002/1003)

The Lyrics

20711 – Stronger Than Before (R.B.Johnson, Barlak Music)

20712 – What Do I See ? (R.B.Johnson, Barlak Music)

Produced By D. Wright - J. Johnson

    JWJ Enterprises 1002/1003

217 Lincoln St. 

Allegan Michigan 49010

This is the second of the four records issued by this soul/RnB group on JWJ. Enterprises. 

The Epics on Lifetime

 

The Epics

 

CP-3349 ~ Let's Dance

CP-3350 ~ Lonely

 

Lifetime 1004

 

black vocal group

 

Billboard review, October 31, 1960

Lifetime Recordings was founded in 1952 by Lester W. Osband (1913-2009).  As a local custom recording company, Lifetime recorded various Rochester High School bands, church choirs, etc. before launching his own Lifetime label in 1959 The initial release was by The Capris, a black vocal group, now a rare item.

Lifetime records pressed by Rite Records are listed HERE.

The Marcelles on Renown

The Marcelles

24017 – Ding-A-Ling, Act I

24018 - Ding-A-Ling, Act II

Richard Lucas and Charlie Williams

Renown Records & Publications BMI

 Renown 1024

Soul/funk from 1969 on Durham, North Carolina label. The label, started in 1957, had a dozen of releases until 1960 in a 100 series .  The most successful Renown releases from the period were by Wayne Handy, a rock 'n' roller who performed both up-tempo numbers and Elvis-type ballads. 

Renown Records seems to have been dormant during the most part of the sixties and was reactivated with a new 1000 series, all known releases being by country singers, with the exception of  The Marcelles.

Lee Hazen & Rana Leggett on Tropical

 Lee Hazen

 12061 ~ Don't Known A Thing About Money

Bishop-Way, Alison Music ASCAP

Tropical 108

1964

Lee Hazen : 

My hobby was making sound on sound recordings in a method similar to Les Paul's - two recorders bouncing back and forth adding parts to make up a complete recording.   I started doing that for fun in l958 using a Berlant Concertone series 30 full track recorder and a borrowed Ampex A 112 1/2 track recorder that belonged to Ted Merthe's dad in Daytona Beach.

I made many recordings with Ted our Senior year at Seabreeze High - 58-59 and some of my recordings were heard by Bob Quimby at the National Songwriter's Guild.   Bob offered me a job singing custom demos.   I remember the first one I sang called "LIttle Jenney" and will never forget the melody.   I also played guitar and bass on the demos in an assembly line fashion.   Bob played piano, I played guitar and the vocalist sang the tune.   We would typically cut 15 songs in an afternoon.   Later, we would play back that tape and overdub - Bob playing a snare drum and cymbol and me playing my Fender Bass VI 6 string bass guitar. 

Bob had different names for groups according to the type of song we were demoing.  The Surftones was
Chuck Conlon, Marshall "Chuggy" Letter, and myself.   The vocal sound was pretty tight and the Surftone demos are memorable. But NOT anything I sang as a solo artist. Anything for a buck ! I got $2 per part I played and $2.50 per song I sang, so if I sang lead AND background, I could make up to $9 a song !

Leaving Bob Quimby, he spent one year at the Criteria Studios,   Next, he handled the recording and the mastering department at King Records in 1966 where he recorded Hank Ballard, James Brown, Freddie King, Stanley Brothers, The Casinos, 2 of Clubs and many others.

Next, he was in Nashville, working at Glenn Snoddy's Woodland Sound Studios  in Nashville.   And, finally, Lee opened his own studio, the "Studio by the Pond" at his home by Old Hickory Lake near Hendersonville, TN. 


 

Rana Leggett

12062 ~ One More Lesson

Bishop-Palenske, Alison Music ASCAP

Tropical 108

1964

Rana/Rayna Leggett

Thanks to Lee Hazen who was then working at the King Records studios,  Rana/Rayna Leggett was signed in 1966 to the Cincinnati label.   King issued only one record by her : "Let The Little Girl Love / Now The Shoe Is On The Other Foot ". 

"Carellen recording star" Rayna described as a "Southern Belle, with an extremely great talent in the vocalist department" was featured in "Daytona Bech Weekend", a teen beach party movie from 1966 (starring Del Shannon).

She sings two songs in the movie : "Hopeleslly" and "You're the Boy for Me".