Curtis Mayfield Tribute - Peace!

Today were going on a trip down memory lane. The radio show below was broadcast in six thirty minute segments over six weeks in the early 1990's on my Basement Soul show on PCRL, here in Birmingham. Bill Randle came to me with the idea of doing a tribute to Curtis Mayfield's large body of work.

Mayfield had recently been paralyzed by a freak stage accident at a charity show he was doing in New York and the world was in shock. So Bill wrote his piece we cranked-up the reel-to-reel recorder and started splicing the tapes, that's how it was done in those days, no digital editing suites, if you cut the tape in the wrong place you had to record it again.

Anyway the years have gone by and the tapes were getting older and dustier so I decided to transfer the analogue tapes to digital, this was in 2009 and Steve Williams expressed some interest in running the recording on his UK Vibe jazz site, but sadly nothing came of that. The years went by and Bill Randle who has now started his own radio show on Bridge FM in Stourbridge, said; "Wouldn't it be great to put a link to his new web Blog for the recording", also the time is right and with war breaking out again in the Middle East it's time again for that message: "We Gotta Have Peace".  So here it is in Full... enjoy


Track listing:
Impressions - Gypsy Woman
I'm The One Who Loves You
It's Alright
Major Lance - The Monkey Time
Gene Chandler - Nothing Can Stop Me
Walter Jackson - It's All Over
Impressions - Talking 'bout My Baby
Keep On Pushing
You Must Believe me
Amen
People Get Ready
The Woman's Got Soul
You've Been Cheatin'
5 Stairsteps - Little Young Lover
Impressions - I Can't Satisfy
Fascinations - Girls Are Out To Get You
Impressions - We're A Winner
This Is My Country
Choice Of Colours
The Girl I Find Stays On My Mind
Curtis Mayfield - If There Is A Hell Down Below, Were All Gonna Go
Love On Up
We've Only Just Begun (live)
Underground
We've Gotta have Peace
Little Child Running Wild
Pusher man
Freddie's Dead
Back In The World
To Be Invisible
On And On
Aretha Franklin - Giving Him Something He Can Feel
Curtis Mayfield - When Seasons Change
Soul Music
Unknown
How Do You Like To Be Loved?
Your So Good For Me
with Linda Clifford - Between You Baby & Me
Curtis Mayfield - Never Stopped Loving Me
Toot Toot
Hey Baby
Baby It's You
You've Just Got To Be Real
I'm So Proud

Five Stairsteps and Cubie

Five Stairsteps & Cubie - Stay Close To Me

Five Stairsteps & Cubie - Love's Happening - Curtom CRS 8002 (1968)

Stay Close To Me; Don't Change Your Love; Love's Happening; Little Young Lover; I'm The One Who Love's You; Little Boy Blue; Your Love Has Changed; I Made A Mistake; Baby, Make Me Feel So Good; New Dance Craze

Produced By Curtis Mayfield

This has got to be one of my 'all-time' favourites 'Stay Close To Me' it's Curtis Mayfield at his best. The bubbly bass lines are perfect mixed with that Chicago horn sound so prominent about this time. I think a fugal horn is in there with the section giving them a distinct sound. Right from the drum roll at the intro you know your in for something special. On the Uk 45 it was backed with 'Little Young Lover' that is equally as good and was one of my best 60's 45 buys. The only crimes here is that its only 1 min. 55s. long and was never played on the Northern scene!

Album sleeve Notes:

Into the Garden walked Eddie Thomas (he's the President of Curtom), Curtis Mayfield (he's the producer, and lead singer with the Impressions and V.P. of Curtom), Cecil Holmes (he's the Director of Sales and Promotion for Curtom and Buddah), and they said "Here's the First Family of Soul" and one year later they were nominated Best Rhythm and Blues Group of 1967 by the National Association of Television and Radio Announcers, and here is their third Big Hit album featuring their big hit singles "Don't Change Your Love", "Stay Close To Me" and "Loves Happening". You know the rest of the story, don't you? Sure do! They lived happily ever after.

Five Stairsteps and Cubie

Five Stairsteps & Cubie (Feat: Dennis) - Find Me

Five Stairsteps & Cubie - Our Family Portrait - Buddah BDS 5008 (1968)

Somethings Missing; Bad News; A Million To One; I Remember You; The New Dance Craze; Tell Me Who; Windows Of The World; Find Me; You Make Be So Mad; Under The Spell of Your Love; The Look Of Love

Produced by Clarence Burke Snr.,

Family groups came out of the mid-60's and were all the rage. Americans love to see child stars on TV and in cinema. I think it all must have started with Shirley Temple. Most were rubbish some like Jackson 5 went on to be mega stars. Others were quite underground in the UK in the late 60's. One such band were The Five Stairsteps & Cubie.

The group even on their 1969 album included Mum & Dad in the mix - nice. Dad was a Chicago detective (shown). He kept the family on the straight and narrow and they were known in black circles as the first family of soul. Today's track though features Dennis Burke on main vocal. "Find Me" is the one that bold me over from this their 2nd album, that had a gate fold sleeve with 17 family photos. I purchased the album from Dan Reddington's shop opposite Moor Street Station here in Birmingham. He was bringing over container loads of US music and sold import singles three for a £1.00 in 1970, this was my sort of price! Still I did have to go and fix his TV from time to time. He still sells music today but web only.

The Stairsteps though consisted of five brothers and one sister; Alohe, Clarence, James, Dennis, Kenneth and at this time 2 1/2 year-old Cubie. The group started out being introduced to Curtis Mayfield's Windy C label by Fred Cash (of The Impressions) in 1966 with "Don't Waste Your Time"/"You Waited Too Long" (R&B 16/Pop 94) written by Curtis Mayfild. Most other songs on their first album were written by Clarence Snr., (Pops)! Oldest member at that time was Alohe at 17, Dad played bass and Mom working on the vocal harmonies. Mayfield had set up the Windy C label for them with Cameo/Parkway distribution and all but one of the eight releases on the label were Stairsteps.

Cameo/Parkway folded in 1967 and Buddah was launched from the ruins and signed the group. The third album was on the newly launched Curtom (Cur=Curtis & Tom=Eddie Thomas) with mostly Mayfield songs, some old and some new, but the group harmonies blended to his sound perfectly. In the spring of 1970, the group released their biggest hit, "O-o-h Child" (written by Stan Vincent), which hit number 14 R&B and number eight on the Billboard Hot 100. This disc sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A.

Aloha left the group in 1971 and along with the 5 chart singles from the Windy C album this was their only success and the group folded after an album for George Harrison in 1976. He had be so impressed at them doing the Beatles song Dear Prudence and was introduced to them though Billy Preston. When the group folded Kenny Burke had a few releases and an album in the 1980's. Rising To The Top being his biggest track. He then did session guitar work for many big names also part of Invisible Man's Band (with Clarence & Dennis).

The Five Stairsteps & Cubie discography:

as The Five Stairsteps:
WINDY C WC (7)
601 Don't Waste Your Time/You Waited Too Long (1966)
602 World Of Fantasy/Playgirls Love (1966)
603 Come Back/You Don't Love Me (1966)
604 Danger She's A Stranger/Behind The Curtains (1967)
605 I Ain't Gonna Rest(Til I Get You)/You Can't See (1967)
607 Ooh Baby Baby/The Girl I Love (1967)
608 Change Of Pace/The Touch Of You (1967)
LP WC 6000 'The 5 Stairsteps' (1967)

as The Five Stairsteps & Cubie:
BUDDAH (BDA)
020 Tell me who/Somethings missing (1968)
026 A million to one/Tell me who (1968)
035 The Shadow of your love/Bad news (1969)
LP bds 5008 'Our Family Portrait' (1968)
LP bds 5017 'Classmates' (various artists*) (1969)
*(above includes 4 tracks from Portrait LP)

CURTOM (5)
1931 Don't Change Your Love / New Dance Craze (1968)
1933 Stay Close To Me / I Made A Mistake(1968)
1936 Baby Make Me Feel So Good / Little Young Lover (1969)
1944 Madame Mary / Little Boy Blue (1969)
1945 We Must Be In Love / Little Young Lover (1969)
LP CRS 8002 'Loves Happening' (1969)

(as Stairsteps:)
BUDDAH (BDA)
165 Who Do You Belong To/O-O-H Child (1970) Eric (1975)
188 Because I Love You/America Standing (1970)
213 Didn't It Look So Easy/Peace Is Gonna Come (1971)
222 Snow/Look Out (1971)
277 I Love You, Stop/I Feel A Song (In My Heart Again)(1972)
291 Hush Child/The Easy Way (1972)
320 Every Single Way/Two Week's Notice (1972)

LP bds 5061 'Stairsteps' (1970)
LP bds 5068 'Step by Step by Step' (1970)
LP bds 5079 'Stairsteps'' (1971)

DARK HORSE (owned by George Harrison)
ams 5505 From us to you/Time (1976)
ams 5507 Pasado/ (1976)
ams 10009 Tell Me Why/Salaam (1976)
LP sp 22?? Keni Burke 'self' (1977)
LP sp 22004 'the 2nd. Resurrection' (1976)

Walter Jackson

It's All Over

Walter Jackson - It's All Over Okeh OKM 12107 (1965)

Side A - It's All Over; A Blossom Fell; That's What Mama Say; It Will Be The Last Time; Opportunity; I Don't Want To Suffer
Side B - There Goes That Sound Again; What Would You Do; Lee Cross; Then Only Then; This Funny World Of Mine; Funny (Not Much)
Produced By: Carl Davis & Curtis Mayfield

If this is the first you've listened to this long well you're in for a REAL TREAT! and for his first album the rest is not at all bad. It's got two Curtis Mayfield songs; It's Over & a reply to the Jan Bradley hit song That's What Mama Said/Say. It's the 'It's All Over Now' that's the masterpiece, it's about as big-a-beat-ballad as your gonna find. Heavy strings and a plodding along production at a slow heart beat make this just as cool as it gets for 1965. This was the first Walter Jackson track that I ever heard and I must say I've never looked back. Listeners to my radio show will know that this song was hammered. PCRL's Lady Cherry at the time I also remember playing Jackson's Chi-Sound stuff.

The song was also re-recorded by Chi-Sound records some years later and still sounded nice in the 70's. The album art is by Saul Lambert who was also used on his next album cover with his crutches (see previous blog). Black artists were rarely put on the covers up until late 60's (in case it put off the White market!) doing a drawing was the next best thing, even Black owned labels would shy away from this.

Walter Jackson

Walter Jackson - Speak Her Name (OKM 12120) 1966

Speak Her Name; Tear For Tear; Not You; After You There Can Be Nothing; They Don't Give Medals (To Yesterday's Hero's); A Corner In The Sun; My One Chance To Make It; She's A Woman; I'll Keep On Trying; It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom

Produced by: Ted Cooper/Carl Davis/Gerald Sims



It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom

Do you have to feel the pain to sing the pain? I think right from the word go It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom says it all. Walter Jackson shown here on his album cover clinging to crutches, was he looking for a sympathy vote or was he just very honest, i guess the later as he suffered from Polio, a desease that was all but eradicated in the second part of the 20th. century, I remember having a childhood girlfriend who also died from this illness. Marvin Gaye always said that his troubled life gave him the inspiration to sing new songs, I guess his father took him too literally.

It seems that way even today with people like Amy Winehouse achieving great success due to her honest portrayal of emotions/lyrics in her music. With Walter Jackson 'the tears' prove one thing if YOUR not crying at the music in this song then you need to receive more pain in your own life perhaps.

An appreciation of the fabulous Chicago production techniques on this album are also to be admired. Just magnificent; After You There Can Be Nothing (and you believe him), Tear For Tear & My One Chance To Make It are all a heavenly fusion of Carl Davis (who discovered Walter in the Twenty Grand a Detroit night club by the way), Gerald Sims and Riley Hampton's combined work.

These titles alone could have been names for movies or best selling novels. Uphill Climb is also available on a single and also had a picture sleeve, quite unusual in the music business at the time (excluding France that is.) Ace Records UK have put this album out now on CD with some unreleased tracks as a bonus, but how special is an album where every track is just supurb anyway!

Walter Jackson was born 19 March 1938, Pensacola, Florida, USA, but parents moved to Detroit while he was a baby. As mentioned he crippled by polio as a child & spent much of his life on those crutches. Jackson recorded in 1959 as a member of the Velvetones one single, but his solo career unfolded on signing to the OKeh label. It's All Over (1964), a Curtis Mayfield-penned ballad, was Jackson's first R&B hit. It was followed by exceptional performances such as Welcome Home (1965) and It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom (1966), both of which reached the soul Top 20.

However, the singer's definitive, towering version of My Ship is Comin' In (first recorded by Jimmy Radcliffe and later by the Walker Brothers) sadly failed to chart. Walter later recorded for Cotillion and Brunswick, but between 1973 and 1976 he retired from active performing. Jackson returned with a series of minor hits, including an interpretation of Morris Albert's Feelings, but his health was deteriorating. He died of a cerebral haemorrhage on the 20th June, 1983.

Collectables: All his Okeh albums are knock-out apart from a standards album, Welcome Home, he did and that's just nice. Although hits were lacking with his Chi-Sound work they are very good albums (the 'best of' found on It's Cool - a Charly CD). The 1973 Brunswick single (shown) Let Me Come Back is picking up in value at the moment, up-to £90 on a good day.

Walter Jackson Discography:

Who Took My Girl / Stars Of Wonder (VELVETONES) DEB 1008 1959

I Don't Want To Suffer / This World Of Mine Columbia 42528 8/1962
Then Only Then / Starting Tomorrow Columbia 42659 1963
It Will Be The Last Time / Opportunity Columbia 42823 6/1963

That's What Mama Said / What Would You Do Okeh 7189 2/1964
It's All Over / Lee Cross Okeh 7204 10/1964
Suddenly I'm All Alone / Special Love Okeh 7215 1/1965
Welcome Home/Blowing In The Wind Okeh 7219 5/1965
Where Have All The Flowers Gone/I'll Keep Trying Okeh 7229 9/1965
Funny(Not Much/One Heart Lonely Okeh 7236 2/1966
It's An Uphill Climb To The Bottom/Tear For Tear Okeh 7247 5/1966
After You There Can Be Nothing/My Funny Valentine Okeh 7256 8/1966
A Corner In The Sun/Not You Okeh 7260 10/1966
Speak Her Name/They Don't Give Medals Okeh 7272 1/1967
Deep In The Heart Of Harlem/My One Chance To Make It Okeh 7285 6/1967
My Ship Is Coming In/A Cold Cold Winter Okeh 7295 1967
Everything Under The Sun/Road To Ruin Okeh 7305 1968

The Bed/The Look Of Love Epic 10377 1968
No Butterflies/Ad Lib Epic 10408 1968

Anyway That You Want Me/Life It's Ups And Downs Cotillion 44053 11/1969
Bless You/Coldest Days Of My Life Cotillion 44077 5/1970

The Walls That Separate/A Fool For You USA 104 1971

No Easy Way Down/I'm All Cried Out Wand 11247 1972

I Never Had It So Good/Easy Evil Brunswick 55498 1973
It Doesn't take Much/Let Me Come Back Brunswick 55502 1973 *pic shown

Feelings/Words (Are Impossible) Chi-Sound/UA 908 1976
Baby I Love Your Way/What Would You Do Chi-Sound/UA 964 1977
It's All Over/Gonna Find Me An Angel Chi-Sound/UA 91044 1977
If I Had My Way/We Could Fly Chi-Sound/UA 1140 1978
I Won't Remember Ever Loving You/Manhattan Skyline Chi-Sound/UA 1216 1978

Magic Man/Golden Ray 20th Century Fox 2426 1979

Tell Me Where It Hurts/When I See You Columbia 02037 5/1981
Come To Me/What If I Walked Out On You Columbia 02294 8/1981

Touching In The Dark/If I Had A Chance Kelli-Arts 1006 2/1982
It's Cool/When The Loving(Goes Out Of The Loving) Chi-Sound 110 6/1983

Albums:
It's All Over Okeh 12107 (1964) (see blog)
It's All Over [EP/Mini LP] Okeh 14107 (1965)
Welcome Home Okeh 12108 (1965)
Speak Her Name Okeh 12120 (1967) (see blog)
Greatest Hits Okeh 12128 (1969)
Feeling Good Chi-Sound 656 (1976)
I Want To Come Back As A Soung Chi-Sound 733 (1977)
Good To See You Chi-Sound 844 (1978)
Send In The Clowns Chi-Sound/20th.Cent 586 (1978)
Tell Me Where It Hurts Columbia (1981)
A Poirtrait Of Walter Jackson Chi-Sound 2009 (1983)
It's Cool Charly 305 (1992) (see blog)
Touching The Soul Westside (1999)
Speak Her Name Ace/Kent CD

Clarence Reid - I've Been Trying

I've Been Trying

Clarence Reid - Dancing With Nobody But You Babe (Atco 1277) 1969

Nobody But You Babe; Twent Five Miles; Doggone It; Get Back; Don't Look Too Hard; I've Been Trying; Tear you A New Heart; Part Time Lover; Shop Around; Fools Are Not Born; Polk Salad Annie; Send Back My Money

Produced By: Clarence Reid

On this November day we have a Curtis Mayfield song from the Clarence Reid album Dancin' with Nobody But You Babe. I've Been Trying was recorded at the Zoo Recording Studio, in Miami Florida, arranged & produced by Brad Shapiro and Steve Alaimo, with supervision of Henry Stone who was to be the owner of TK Records but at this time a part of Alston Records. Atlantic Records licenced the album and put it out on Atco in 1969. The cover photograph is a very tacky Miami bar scene taken by Bob East. There are also two Northern type dancers contained within; Part Time Lover, Fools are not born, both Reid songs. I just love the backing vocals on I've Been Trying, provided by the Reid Sisters also, Wayne Jackson & Floyd Newman (The Mar-Keys) provide the horns.

During the late 60s and through the 70s, Clarence Reid, singer, songwriter, talent scout, and producer for Henry Stone’s labels, was involved in just about every recording that came out of Stone’s studio. Reid teamed up with Willie Clarke, a fellow Miami songwriter and producer.

They decided to pay legendary South Florida record producer Henry Stone a visit. Stone, who had been turning out hits for years, decided to take Reid and Clarke under his wing and show them how to make hit records. Reid and Clarke, determined to make hit records, spent hours learning the ropes from Stone, which paid off for everybody concerned.

As talent scouts, it was Reid and Clarke who first discovered a 12-year-old singer named Betty Wright in a Liberty City record store in 1966. During the next 10 years, Reid released countless singles for Stone’s Alston label. It was Reid and Clarke who penned Betty Wright’s 1971 No.1 R&B single Clean Up Woman, Reid and Clarke wrote Gwen McCrae’s No. 1 R&B single Rockin’ Chair.

During the 70s Reid went underground, only to resurface as masked recording artist Blowfly, writer and producer of highly X-rated party albums released on Stone’s Weird World label.

Photos; Album Cover, Henry Stone & Betty Wright (aged 14)

Curtis Mayfield

Just Want To Be With You

Never Say You Can't Survive is one of those album covers that you just can't relate to a title, I suppose it's the handwriting all over the sleeve that messes it up for me. I've always been one for clear labeling. When I buy a new cd the first thing I do is re-type the track listing so i can read it easily. A dim-lit radio studio has always given me this challenge.

Some shows I've done using just the light from the mixer desk Vu meters. On two occasions when going live! (turning mic on) I remember the light bulb blowing (on a 2am shift) and then another occasion a pigeon flying in while tring to read someones bio! But once you put the headphones on you're lost in the groove...and then someone goes and phone's you up... ooh well!

Anyway the groove in question today is Just Want To Be With You from the above 1977 album. Curtis on lead guitar, Rich Tufo: Keyboards/aranger, Joseph Scott: Bass, Kitty and the Haywoods on background vocals. As usual strings: Sol Bobrov, Henry Gibson: Congas/Bongos. The other nice groove found on this set is I'm Gonna Win Your Love, the album also contains his version of Sparkle, nothing like Aretha's or Irene Cara, there's also nice ballad called Show Me Love.

Curtis Mayfield

Cannot Find A Way

Cannot Find A Way is taken from the album Gotta Find A Way Curtom 1974. I had to slow it to -3 to fit the mood. The album was produced by Mayfield and arranged by Rich Tufo. Previous to this album we had songs like; Back To The World; Other Side Of Town; Underground; We Got To Have Peace and Beautiful Brother of Mine all in the the same social political vain, but always sung in such a loving way.

The first time I was in the presence of Curtis it was in a Birmingham club, Barbarella's I remember circa '73, the room was so ram that people were passing out, my pal's girl-friend also fainted was carried out of the room. The other over-whelming memory of that occasion was his bongo player he was wild, so much so I brought myself some bongo's and a tambourine the following day.

The next time I bumped into him in Tower Records, London, signing copies of his new album in the entrance passage, Something To Believe in, I think It was. I wish I had spoke to him, I was too busy looking for import CD's. Soon after he was involved in an awful accident when a lighting scaffold was blown over at an out-door charity gig. He was paralysed and his drummer was killed. This guy had done nothing but good he was soft spoken and unassuming and a believer in God - where is the justice?


Albums (as a solo artiste):

• Curtis (1970)


• Roots (1971)


• Curtis/Live! (1971)


• Superfly (1972)
• Rapping (Promo radio show) (1972)


• Curtis in Chicago (TV Show/with Impessions) (1973)


• Back to the World (1973)


• Got to Find a Way (1974)


• Sweet Exorcist (1974)


• There's No Place Like America Today (1975)


• Give, Get, Take and Have (1976)


• Short Eyes (1977)


• Never Say You Can't Survive (1977)


• Do It All Night (1978)


• Heartbeat (1979)
• Something To Believe In (1980)


• Love is the Place (1982)


• Honesty (1983)


• We Come in Peace with a Message of Love (1985)
• Take It to the Streets (1990)


• New World Order (1997)

The Staples

"Let's Do It Again" - STAPLE SINGERS

The only number one 2-stepper as far a I know although Barbara Streisand may had one, After Sex is a stunningly dreamy tune from this album that was used behind PCRL's Radio Black Hero programmes in the late 1990's to good effect.

The Staple Singers spent most of their career as a gospel group and one of the most unique of family groups of all time. Father Roebuck 'Pops' led the group with a style of pre-war Mississippi Delta blues. Pops had grown up in Winona in 1915 and moved to Chicago in 1935. Curtis Mayfield must have loved family groups and tried to involve them in his output. Mama & Papa Stairstep sang with their siblings on more than one occasion there'll be more about the Stairsteps later.

Pops had been getting his family ready for singing in a group in the late 1940's he built the group around Mavis's contralto and his own tenor alto. From 1953-55 the group recoded at Leonard Allen's United/States labels but when they moved to Vee Jay five albums between 1954-60 with pop/folk style writings they were big in the gospel circles.

Then Riverside and Epic Records through the 60's and ending with Stax in 1968. Respect Yourself (1971), I'll Take You There (1972) and If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) (1973) were big crossover soul hits but Stax folded in 1975. Great footage of them was captured on the Wattstax film singing respect yourself and is now on DVD. Also this year a documentary film about Stax (Respect Yourself) was in selected cinemas and is also now on DVD. When The Staples came to Curtom via Warner Brothers they had been recording for 25 years. It was the soundtrack for Let's Do It Again a film directed and featuring Sidney Poitier and Bill Cosby. Mayfield wrote it and it was Number 1 for eighteen weeks. This was also to be the groups all-time best seller. Pops died on 19th. December 2000 aged 85 after singing with his family for 40 years!

The Staples - love me Love Me Love Me

"Love Me, Love Me, Love Me

Today's masterpiece is 1976's "Love Me, Love Me, Love Me" from The Staples' album Pass It On written and produced by the master Curtis Mayfield and arranged by Rich Tufo. The Staples are of course the famous Gospel outfit the Staple Singers. Yvonne, Mavis, Cleo and Pops all happilly fit into the Chicago groove on this track. The other nice 2-Stepper on this vinyl is "Take This Love Of Mine" Mayfield plays the guitar and me thinks Pops wouldn't have been too keen to give up his lead roll. Tufo is found on keyboards and the strings were provided by Sol Bobrov. The group are all looking dapper on the album sleeve with lots of kissing going on or is it just passing it on. As useual I have a copy of the album on original Warner vinyl if anybody wants to buy it.

The Notations

"Take It Slow"

The track that I've selected: Take It Slow is from the groups first album. The notable Modern track from this album is There I Go. At the time of this recording the group consisted of Clifford Curry, Robert Thomas, Walter Jones (who replaced Jimmy Stroud) and LaSalle Matthews and were managed by Marv Stewart and Emmett Garner (the former Trends singer).

Marv had already brought The Natural Four to Curtom with small success now he was introducing this band to Gemigo (formed in November '73) a Curtom subsidiary in 1974 although the Warner Brothers pressed them in the UK.

They were a Chicago based vocal group, veterans of the the towns vocal-group scene. The group formed in 1965, a brief time with Tad Records brought them the rarest of tracks in 1968 Trying My Best To Find Her/Gonna Get Ready (Tad 205) selling in 2005 on ebay for £305 ($611 USD), but it was not until 1970 before they had signed with Twinight Records they had a hit. The first release was Am I Still Here produced by Syl Johnson and became a national hit in December of that year and as with all the Twinight singles are highly collectible. The following two singles did well in Chicago but not elsewhere. They had a two singles with Cash/CRA Records in 1973 ; What More Can I Say & I Don't Want To Be Late.



Clifford Curry recently on stage

With Gemigo success came straight away with the blinding ballad It Only Hurts For A Little While written by Richard Tufo and Gerald Dickerson in March of 1975 and they had two more hits that year written by Marvin Yancy and Chuck Jackson. By 1977 Jones had left the group and the rest of the group left Curtom over royalties. One single with Mercury Judy Blue Eyes and then the group broke up. The group has reformed in the 90's and Curry is seen onstage above and a new album is available at their website: http://theoriginalnotations.com/

Good luck guys because you deserve another chance.



the new album

The Natural Four

"Heaven Right Here On Earth"

During 1975 and 1976 the group came up with four more chart singles, but at most only stayed on the chart for 5-6 weeks. One of these was the now classic "Heaven Right Here On Earth" from the album of the same title, a lovely dry snare drumming groove, early synths and tight vocals with a Stylistics type guitar groove - Love heaven!!!

Modern soul fans will find "Love's So Wonderful" a track not to be ignored any longer. "Baby Come On" and "What's Happening Here" are the other steppers of note. After 1976 it looks like the band broke-up after having little or no recognition, recently the three Curtom albums have been put on CD. If anybody knows more about them please let me know also I have all of the Curtom albums I have for sale.

The Natural Four - Try Love Again

"Try Love Again"

I've started my 'Blogg-life' with a classic Chicago album by The Natural Four and although the group originated in the mid-60's from the San Francisco area with Willie Hoskins' Boola Boola label and they later only had minor success with an album and single for ABC Records, "Why Should We Stop Now" in 1969.

Earlier the band recorded the popular Northern Soul tunes "I Thought You Were Mine" and "Hanging On A Lie" for Boola Boola in 1967+68 and then the later remixed in 1969 on an ABC 45 and the ABC album Good Vibe.

The early Boola Boola 45's:-

Hanging On To A Lie/Twelve Months Of The Year (WH 1001)
You Did This For
Me/Why Should We Stop Now ( WH 1001 & WH 6384)
You Did This For Me/I
Thought You Were Mine ( X 2382)

The above tracks in mint condition fetch up-to £400 ($800 usd), with the ABC remix 45 at about half the Bulla Bulla value. The 'a' and 'b' sides of these singles have different numbers thus confusing dealers and collectors alike. The group though with little success had broke-up by the early 1970 and group member Chris James soon relaunched the band in 1971 along with a new crew; Steve Striplin, Darryl Cannady and Delmos Whitley singing the fine ballad "Give A Little Love" leased to Chess Records sadly at a time when the label was failing and thus gave them little attention.

Later that year Marv Stewart auditioned the Natural Four at an Oakland concert and signed them with Curtis Mayfield's Curtom label in 1972 and released the first of three albums and nine singles with his label; Natural Four (1974), Heaven Right Here On Earth (1975) and Nightchaser (1976) the lesser great of the bunch and least valuable of the four albums thus far. The first Curtom album was produced by Leroy Hutson who had replaced Curtis Mayfield as the lead singer for a while with the Impressions and later to lay down some classic steppers himself that we shall visit soon.

The standout 2-Step tracks here are; "Try Love Again", "Can This Be Real" and "Love's Society", all in that similar funky groove. Can This Be Real is considered one of Leroy Hutson's finest compositions and went to Number 10 on Billboard's R&B charts and lasted 18 weeks at the end of 1973 and early 1974.