Jackie Wilson

Jackie Wilson - You Left The Fire Burning
Jackie Wilson - You Got Me Walking - Brunswick - BL 754172 (1970)

You Got Me Walking; What A Lovely Day; You Left The Fire Burning; My Way; Try It Again; Forever And A Day; The Girl Turned Me On; Hard To Get Thing Called Love; Love Is Funny That Way; The Fountain
Produced By Carl Davis

This track is half 2-Step & half Modern a hybrid of my favorite grooves! The guitar/piano interplay gives this track it's stand out groove. Then just add the usual Chicago brass and strings and Jackie's killer vocal style and you come up with another winner. This track was produced & written by Jack Daniels and Johnny Moore. Other stand out tracks on this set are; What A Lovely Day, Try It Again, Forever And A Day & Hard To Get Thing Called Love.

The album came out during a dry period of hits for Jackie that really continued until he suffered a stroke on stage at a Dick Clarke show in 1975. The fall to the floor banged his head and put him in a coma for over 8 years. While all the legal arguments ran about where the cash would come for his hospital fees, much needed help, was not given during the early stages of his coma and he never recovered.

He was the only artiste to refuse an interview with us when we approached him at the Lafayette Club in Wolverhampton. I did record the show however on reel to reel.

It's quite weird that his biggest UK hit came after his death, like artists I suppose, 'Reet Petite' was recorded in the late 50's and with the 'r&r' revival of the late 70's got re-issued and went to no.1 (although it did make no.6 in the UK in 1957!). I had a square picture disc of the single made into a clock for many years. Strange how it always filled the floor for me for years before it was re issued but rarely did after!

I was always a BIG Jackie fan. I couldn't understand why every one else wasn't? I played "Nothing But Blues Skies" and "You Showed Me How To Be Happy" at a Soul nite at the Birmingham Holiday Inn in 1973 to an empty dance floor, was this the end of my DJ'ing career? my two best tracks and no response - ooh well I guess now it was just a Birmingham thing!

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)

The Dells

The Dells - I Touched A Dream - 20th. Century T 618 (1980)

So You Are Love; All About The Paper; Passionate Breezes; I Touched A Dream; Just A Little Love; Look At Us Now; Your Song

Produced by: Carl Davis/Eugene Record



The Dells - I Touched A Dream

Today I received the sad news that Johnny Carter of the Dells had died, Friday morning the 20th. August aged 75.

I remember the first single that I brought that featured his voice heavily and that was 'I Can Sing A Rainbow' back in 1969 and thinking these guys are really powerful what else have they done? As the years went by I discovered many songs that touched the soul.

The group has been together since 1952 and had no personnel change since 1960! They also sang the theme music in the film Five Heartbeats that was loosely based on their life story. Johnny joined The Dells as a replacement for Johnny Funches in 1960 having already been in the Flamingos.

The featured track today comes from their 28th. Anniversary year 1980 and is a Eugene Record song and production and is titled I Touched A Dream. I remember the first time time this song came at me out of the radio it was being spun by Lady Cherry a PCRL Birmingham radio deejay at the time and I remember ringing her up and asking her to marry me! (I was that imprest - in jest you know). The album also contains the Groovesville/Bobby Womack dancer'Your Song', that has sold for £157 when search fever hit the streets, settled now though now at about £50.

Johnny's voice is in this song like many others it seems always in the background as though to say yes THIS IS the Dells your listening too. Surviving members: Chuck Barkdale, Marvin Jones, Verne Allison, Michael McGill. The group up to this point was the longest lasting original group of all time, 57 years!

James Brown

James Brown - Hot - Polydor Super 2391 214 (1975)

Hot (I Need To Be Loved, Loved, Loved); So Long, (I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons; The Future Shock Of The World; Woman; Most Of All; Goodnight My Love; Please, Please, Please

Produced by James Brown



James Brown - So Long ('75 remake)
This is just a great unknown Northern mid-pacer, and with the passing of the 'Godfather of Soul' it is quite sad to hear him say the words 'So Long'.

The original "So Long" started its life being cut at local radio station and being put out at on NRC in Greenville. Recorded on 17th December 1962 and again released on King in 1964 and on a UK Ember EP in early 1965. It did not enter the R&B charts or Pop charts and I'm not surprised because it was poor.

In 1975 James decided to put out the 'Hot' LP with mainly remakes of old songs. This had worked earlier with 'Bewildered' that he had cut again in 1969 to great effect. Sadly though it went 'tits-up' this time again. The album contained new versions of Please, Please, Please and Try Me, both of which he chats before the intro to explain why he's doing this!

Calling himself the Minister of New New Super Heavy Funk the album hardly contains funk that you would have previously credited him for. All very strange!

The song was written by Morgan, Harris & Melsher. Terry Melsher was the son of Doris Day and had wrote songs for the Beach Boys and The Byrds. The new version is arranged by Dave Matthews and produced by James Brown. Anyway thanks to my good friends Steve Williams and Heinrich Buttler in Germany the song will now live again - enjoy