soul detective

case seven

Alright folks, every once in a while here on Soul D we get to do something really cool, like introduce a 45 that nobody (well, practically nobody) even knew existed. As I told you back when we opened this can of worms, we were fortunate enough to have been handed a stack of vinyl that belonged to the late Memphians drummer Oscar Sales by his daughter Charisse, who was kind enough to allow me to take the records back to New York so I could scan them and transfer the audio to the computer. It took me a while to finally get it done (and even longer to actually get us started here on the case), but once I finally started paying attention, I was amazed.

If you recall, we've been talking recently about the work The Memphians did backing up Joe Perkins. That is Joe in the only known photograph of him at right, which I lifted from John Ridley's excellent Deep Soul Heaven article that we have spoken about in the past. Last time out we questioned whether the Sapton single that Joe cut with Dan Greer and George Jackson that John dated as being from 1961, had actually been released later on. It certainly seems that way, as George Jackson didn't cut his own first single (for Ike Turner's Prann label) until 1963. I'd always heard that his partnership with Dan Greer started around the time they formed their own 'Gre-Jac' label in 1966, and released the version of You Didn't Know It But You Had Me that was picked up by Goldwax as part of the deal when Quinton Claunch signed them on as songwriters for the label.

So where, then, did Sir Shambling who (I think we can all agree) is simply one of the most knowledgeable people out there when it comes to Memphis Soul, get the idea that the record was cut in 1961? Well, as it turns out, the same tracks had also been released on the Berry label. Here's the R&B Indies listing:

Apparently the label's only release, perhaps the question mark should have been placed next to the date, rather than the location...

BERRY 102 B

Until You Were Gone (edit)

I was able to locate a scan and a short audio clip of the B Side of that Berry 45 on eBay (where it's going for $49), which does kind of sound like it might possibly be from 1961. The names of Dan Greer and George Jackson are nowhere to be found on this side of the record, however. In addition to Wylie Sappington (whom we mentioned earlier) a certain J. Horton is listed as his co-writer on this tune, and it looks like it says 'Prod. by H. Gordon', but its difficult to tell for sure. Do those names sound familiar to anybody? (I don't know why Wylie was the only guy who got to use his full name instead of an initial, but it's all good, I guess...).

Be that as it may, Shambling goes on to say; "From this period came the unissued deep ballad 'I Know What You're Up To' - really one of his best recordings." Well, Lo and Behold:

TAURUS 100 A

I Know What You Are Up To

This fantastic number we have here actually was issued, on yet another obscure Memphis label named Taurus. Has anybody out there ever heard of it before? Once again produced by our man Julius Bradley, and written with his brother Archie and the mysterious 'M. Smith', you can bet the farm that that's The Memphians playing behind Joe on this one. Truly an excellent record all the way around, check out Preston Shannon's guitar, Archie's sweet sax solo, Kurl McKinney's fat B3, and the tight battery of Julius on bass and Oscar Sales on the drums just knocking it out. This was one great band, man, and I'm sure Joe Perkins was happy to be their lead singer whenever he got the chance.

So, here comes the cool part... I get to introduce the B side of a 45 that nobody knew existed - a previously unheard addition to the Joe Perkins (and Memphians) discography (Thank You Charisse Sales!):

TAURUS 100 B

Your Love Fits Me Like A Glove

Can you say Funky? Yeah, Baby! This is one cookin' track, boys and girls, with that trademark Memphians 'breakdown' there in the middle, I am just lovin' it! Once again, I think it gives you an idea of how great they were. Joe is just going for it, man, with a couple of screams worthy of Lee Bates! Written by the Bradley Brothers, and produced by Julius, the publishing company is listed as North Bluff City Music, just as it was for the Plush single. So, where do you think this one fits in... is it pre-Bluff City and post Plush, or somewhere in between? If you notice, down there on the bottom, it says 'A Division of C & G Enterprises'. Hmmm... I'm willing to go with the idea that the 'C' refers to Crawley, as in Ed, but then who do you think the 'G' might be? Dan Greer?

To Be Continued...

James Duncan

Allen Orange

Charles Soul
Brown

J Hines

Lee Bates

Joe Haywood

Elton
Anderson

James
Rivers

Paul Gayten

Burning
Questions

That's right, folks, it's that time of year again... time for our Fourth Annual Mystery Contest! rather than go back to the infamous tape , I thought we'd try something different this year:

I know you're all familiar with the tune... and I'm digging this kind of beret wearing goateed bachelor pad version of it, but who, pray tell, is performing it? There is no artist listed on the label. All it says is that R&J Records is a division of Roye Dodge Studios, along with an address in New City, New York. New City? I had to google that one, but it turns out to be just north of the big town, up near Spring Valley, where the Thruway makes that big left turn. It seems kind of odd that a cool record like this would exist, without so much as a clue to who's working that Hammond, or smokin' that guitar, or blowing those fine horn lines...

Well, further googling turns up another R&J 45 at, you guessed, it Funky 16 Corners (you just knew Grogan would be involved somehow). Another swingin' cover of a top ten hit, once again the anonymous players get no credit at all, toiling on in obscurity all these years. Larry says that he discovered (although he doesn't say how) that 'Roye Dodge' was a choreographer, and that his guess is that these 45s were produced for use in dance schools "so that rooms full of students might have something to shuffle along with." But, like, where were they recorded? Who arranged them and produced them? And, I mean, it wouldn't have taken much to list somebody as the artist (like, say, The Roye Dodge Players or something like that)...

Just the sort of mystery we love here at Soul Detective.

There is an excellent discography site called New York Soul Recordings, that focuses on obscure labels that released soulful 45s in the upstate regions of the Empire State, but, as fate would have it, the discographies end at the letter 'P' - so there is no information available about R&J.

SO, we're looking for any and all information about this tiny label, about Roye Dodge Studios, about where and when they recorded this 45, and - most importantly - about who our mystery artists might be.

As always, the first to come up with an answer in the 'comments' will be our lucky winner. Here's what we've found out so far...