Rite Records custom pressings Cincinnati, Ohio, 1955-1985
" 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. "
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.
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’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.
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.
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.
“My earliest memory I was singing with my dad…a quartet singer,” said Evelyn Turrentine-Agee about her singing career. “He’d hold me up and say, ‘Sing baby sing.’”
Hudson 4 - 45 rpm - red vinyl - Belvaderes
Hudson 4 - 78 rm - Duster's"The easiest way to sum up my forty-six years in the music industry is to say, "Time flies when you're having fun." My whole family enjoyed music. We would frequently patronize the only African American music store in St. Louis. In 1950, I realized the popularity of this entertainment medium, and its potential for growth. As a result, I opened my first retail record store, "Hudson's Embassy Records, Inc." The logo was a phonograph record with the credo "First With The Latest" emblazoned on the rim.
The "Embassy" portion of my name came from the concept that American Embassies serve as safe havens for American Citizens overseas. I wanted to give artist a safe and friendly outlet for their music and music lovers a safe and friendly place to listen to and purchase music. By 1982, Hudson's Embassy Records, Inc. expanded to eleven retail record stores. In addition, the concept for "Hudson's Embassy" was franchised six times. In 1965, I opened one of the first African-American owned distribution companies serving approximately 100 independent record labels and artists with distributions along the the Eastern seaboard, Midwest and Southeast.
Ted's One Stop, Inc. opened in 1968 as a wholesale operation servicing local and regional retail record stores. I also opened an advertising/promotional agency, a recording studio for independent record labels and artists and an electronics wholesale business. I am fortunate to have been a founding member of the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers (NATRA) and the Black Music Association (BMA). As for the future, I recently resigned my political office as Committeeman of the 19th Ward of the City of St. Louis. My wife and I plan to sit back and enjoy life's little pleasures. I'll probably always own some type of business, it's just who I am.
Jimmy Boxx and the Country Knights
DeWitt Scott
Mor Thiam Ayo Ayo Nene (Blessing For The New Born Baby)Side two [30948]
Sindiely (Song For The Black Beauty)
Kele Mubana (Overpain And Struggle To Black)
Kanfera (Return ofFisher)
Africa Dedication to all the People
Mor Thiam was born in Dakar, Senegal to a family of historians from the Dagon tribe, who sued drums to tell their stories of the Wollof people in Senegal. Incidentally his surname, Thiam, means “historian” in his native tongue. He started playing the drums from an early age and professionally from the age of 12.Further reading : Conversations with Mor Thiam
He perfected his skills, learning to play various African drums including thetama, the
sabar, and the
djembe.
His percussion skills got the attention of noted choreographer Katherine Dunham who invited Thiam to join her dance company in the United States as its composer-in-residence.
The Singing Wonders
