R.I.P. Freddie Hubbard

I really wasn't planning on putting up another post for 2008 but in this case, I felt duty-bound to make this exception so that I could acknowledge the loss of another legendary artist.

Jazz luminary Freddie Hubbard has passed away.

According to spokesman Don Lucoff, the 70 year old musician died at Sherman Oaks Hospital, in Sherman Oaks, California, this morning. The cause of death was from complications of a heart attack he suffered on November 26.

A renowned trumpeter and composer who helped define the 1960s jazz era, Hubbard played with artists John Coltrane, Ornette Coleman, Bobby Hutcherson, Oliver Nelson, Andrew Hill, Eric Dolphy, Herbie Hancock, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner and countless others.

He was recorded on over 300 albums as a leader and a sidesman on various record labels such as Impulse!, Columbia, Elektra, MPS, Music Masters, Telarc, Blue Note, Atlantic and CTI Records.

I'll wrap up this post with an outstanding rendition of one of Freddie's signature compositions; Milt Jackson's 1972 recording of "Little Sunflower" (redubbed "Sunflower" for this release) featuring guest appearance by Hubbard himself.

Silk - Midnight Dancer

What's good people? This week, as promised, I bring you part 2 of last week's Anglo Saxon Brown/Silk post. Not gonna get too wordy on this one since I covered the bulk of the info on this band in Part 1.

As of this writing, Midnight Dancer is loooong out of print, but If you want a copy to call your very own, you can try finding one here.

Featured cut: "I Can't Stop (Turning You On)"

Listen and n-joi!

Anglo Saxon Brown - Songs For Evolution

Originally formed in Philadelphia, PA as Anglo Saxon Brown, the group released their first LP, Songs For Evolution on the Atlantic label in 1976.

After a few personnel changes, the outfit reinvented themselves as Silk releasing their 1979 follow-up album, Midnight Dancer, for Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International imprint.

Both albums possess the same key elements; slick production, superb vocal & instrumental arrangements plus that unmistakable Philly sound thanks to backing by MFSB. With all this going for 'em it's really hard to see why these projects weren't able to capture greater commercial success.

Usually, I try not throw up more than one piece per post but since I still wanted to showcase both of these albums, I'll do it this way instead. This week I bring you ASBs Songs For Evolution album and sometime over the next week or so I'll add Silk's Midnight Dancer into the mix.

Singles from both albums are have turned up on various compilations over the years but both LPs in their entirety are still on the OOP list. As usual, you can find copies of each just waiting to be snatched up here and here.

Featured cut: "ASB Theme"

(u can also hear ASB's "Call On Me" in the jukebox)

Listen to the full album here.

Quickie: Sweet Thunder - Everybody's Singin' Love Songs (Disco12" Mix)

Who said you can't get discovered by mailing out a tape? That's how Sweet Thunder, a four man band from Youngstown, OH landed their deal with Philadelphia's WMOT (We Men Of Talent) Productions in 1976. The members were Charles Buie (vocals/lead guitar), Rudell Alexander (bass), Booker Newberry (vocals/keyboards), and John Aaron (drums). They didn't have a name when they submitted their tape to WMOT so an executive at the company came up with the "Sweet Thunder" moniker. WMOT, then distributed by Atlantic Records, released the band's first album Above The Clouds that same year.

By the time the band's self-titled second album was ready, WMOT had inked a distribution deal with Berkeley, Califnornia based Fantasy Records. The album's standouts were the uptempo dance cut "Everybody's Singin' Love Songs" and the Top 40 R&B ballad "Baby, I Need You Love Today."

The band's third and final album, Horizons was released in 1979 to lackluster sales and went virtually unnoticed. Buie and Alexander continued in music as session musicians and vocalists, Aaron became a producer and Newberry went on to pursue a solo career.

Wanna own a copy of this? If yes, then vinyl is your only hope since this mix hasn't seen a CD release yet. But the good news is that the supply is so plentiful you wont end up spending a fortune just to claim a copy. Pick one up here.

N-joi!

R.I.P. Dee Dee Warwick

*SIGH* More bad news to share, I was shocked and saddened to hear that we've lost one more soul legend. The phenomenal Dee Dee Warwick has passed away.

Dee Dee Warwick, a soul singer who won recognition for both her solo work and her performances with her older sister Dionne Warwick, has died. She was 63. Warwick died Saturday at a nursing home in Essex County, said Kevin Sasaki, a family spokesman. She had been in failing health in recent months, he said, and her sister was with her when she died. Warwick had several hits on the soul and R&B charts in the 1960s and 70s, including "Foolish Fool," "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)" and a version of "I'm Gonna Make You Love Me" that was later covered by Diana Ross and The Supremes.

Most recently, Dee Dee provided background vocals for her sister's recent one-woman autobiographical show, "My Music & Me," which played to sold-out crowds in Europe this year. She also performed on the title song from Dionne Warwick's gospel album, "Why We Sing," released January 2008.

For more info on Miss Warwick, check out my Dee Dee post here.

Clarence Wheeler & the Enforcers - The Love I've Been Looking For

The second fantastic album from Chicago saxophonist Clarence Wheeler and his hard-hitting Enforcers combo -- a group who were one of the brightest lights in soul jazz at the start of the 70s, really helping to keep the genre fresh and exciting! The groove here is in the tenor/organ mode first popularized in the 60s -- but the overall sound is a lot more expansive, and filled with unusual time changes, complicated rhythms, and inventive solo work that go way beyond more familiar albums of this nature on Prestige or Blue Note!

Sonny Burke is the organist in the group, and he's got a touch on the keys that's a lot like Jack McDuff at his best -- filled with great sounds and unusual notes that always keep things interesting. Added to that is trumpet from Sonny Covington, guitar from Eric Gale, and tenor from Wheeler -- all vamping and grooving in an amazing way! There's a bit of the Charles Earland sound from the same period going on here -- and like Earland, the group have a great way of keeping things slightly funky, even when mellow!

Source: Dusty Groove America

The Love I've Been Looking For is still OOP on vinyl but with patience & persistence, you can find a copy here at a decent price.

On the upside, a Japanese CD reissue is available and you can get yer paws on it right here.

Featured cut: "We've Only Just Begun"

Listen to the full album here.

Quickie: Al Hudson & Soul Partners - I'm About Lovin' You

"I'm About Lovin' You!!" I've been looking for an original copy of this 45 for ages now and I can't seem to catch one for less than a car payment. A copy just sold on the 'bay for over 2 bills!!! Somehow I just can't see myself laying out that kinda dough for a 45 unless I was makin' a livin' off my collection like Gilles Peterson or Felix Hernandez. Oh well, maybe I'll get lucky and come up on one buried in a dusty basement or backroom one of these days. Anyway, Detroit's Al Hudson & Soul Partners (later to become "Al Hudson & The Partners" then "One Way Featuring Al Husdon" and then finally "One Way") brought us this one in 1975 recording for the Atco label.

If you like what you hear and wanna try and snag an original pressing of your own you can break out that checkbook and patiently wait until the next copy pops up for sale at Gemm or ebay. On the flipside, if you don't wanna sell a kidney or you're more interested in the music than the medium on which it's delivered you can also cop the tune on an excellent Rhino UK comp called You Better Believe It!, Vol. 2 here or here for a nominal fee.

N-joi!

The Lovelites - With Love From The Lovelites

Not to be confused with the Brooklyn girl group of the same name, the Lovelites were a Chicago-based vocal group composed of sisters Patti Hamilton, Rozena Petty and friend, Barbara Peterman. In 1967, the trio recorded for local Chicago label, Bandera Records. In 1968, Peterman left the group and was replaced by Ardell McDaniel.

One year after the change in lineup, the single, "How Can I Tell My Mom & Dad" was released on Lock records. The tune, written by lead vocalist Patti Hamilton & producer Clarence Johnson, boldly addressed the then taboo subject of teen pregnancy and went on to sell 55,000 copies locally and 400,000 nationally, peaking at number 15 on Billboard's Soul chart and landing the group a deal with MCA-owned, Uni Records. By this time, the group had also undergone yet another personnel change, as Joni Berlman stepped in for Rozena Petty.

The girls continued working with Johnson as well as producer Johnny Cameron and went on to release their only full-length LP, With Love From The Lovelites. Unfortunately, the album wasn't nearly as well received as the group's previous single and subsequently flopped. After leaving Uni, Johnson started up Lovelites records and the group released a handful of singles.

By 1972, the girls had signed to Atlantic subsidiary, Cotillion records, where they released 2 singles as "Patti & The Lovelites." By 1973, the group disbanded.

Sadly, as so many of these stories go, due to shady dealings and being too young and unaware of the ins and outs of the recording industry, Patti, the group's leader, holds no portions of the publishing rights for any of the songs she wrote and recorded with the group. Clarence Johnson took advantage of Hamilton's inexperience and claimed all the rights and accompanying royalties for himself. Johnson also copyrighted the Lovelites name without notifying the group or their manager. Today, Patti Hamilton resides in Chicago where, as of 2000, she makes her living as a CTA bus driver while trying to launch a career as a gospel singer.

If you're interested in finding an original copy of With Love From The Lovelites, you wont have too much trouble finding it on ebay but be prepared to dig deep in those pockets cuz this is one of those albums that routinely sell for $120 and up. On the other hand, if hundred dollar vinyl isn't quite your bag you still have some options. Click over to Amazon where you can buy 11 of the 12 tracks from the original LP as digital downloads.
Still not happy? Well if you head over here you can cop the CD version of the same songs offered on Amazon plus get yourself a few bonus tracks from long lost female soul trio The Fuzz to boot.

Featured cut: "Oh My Love"

Listen to the complete LP here.

Major Harris - Jealousy

Sorry this one's a little late folks. I was holdin' off posting it until I could clean up the vinyl a bit. Never got around it, but no matter.
Born on February 9, 1947 in Richmond, VA, Major Harris III (yup, that IS his birth name) represents the continuation of a long musical legacy, with vaudeville-performing grandparents, a professional guitarist father, choir-directing mother, and talented sibling (Joe Jefferson, Philly songsmith who penned major hits for the Detroit Spinners) and cousin (legendary guitarist, songwriter, and super-producer Norman Harris). With a lineage like that, it was pretty much predestined for Major to make his mark on the music world. It would, however be twenty-eight long years of dues paying before he'd make that mark.

Major started out, like so many other soul legends, singing in church and later in junior high school, where he'd sing in the bathroom, "cause you know, it had that sound in there," he explained in a 2001 chat session over at SoulPatrol.com (you can read the complete transcript here).

In following years, Harris performed with numerous R&B groups, including The Charmers, Frankie Lymon's Teenagers, and The Jarmels. He recorded as the lead with Philly group The Nat Turner Rebellion, and released a few solo sides for both Okeh and Laurie labels; none of these efforts, however, garnered much success. In 1970, Major joined The Delfonics as a replacement for Randy Cain (who would later go on to help form the group Blue Magic).

In 1974 he left the group and put together his own band [in an effort] to try his hand as the frontman for a new act. He successfully landed a deal with WMOT (We Men Of Talent) Productions, which in turn quickly led to a label signing with Atlantic records, and release of the single "Each Morning I Wake Up," credited to The Major Harris Boogie Blues Band. The outfit, comprised of Harris, Allison Hobbs, Phyllis Newman & Karen Dempsey, enjoyed minimal success with the single, but it was to be Harris's next release as a solo act that would become his first big hit.

Pulled from on his '75 debut album My Way, the timeless ballad, "Love Won't Let Me Wait," penned by guitarist Bobby Eli, skyrocketed to the top spot on the R&B chart and climbed as high as number five on Billboard's pop chart. The song would go on to sell 8 million copies worldwide.





The following year, Major released his second LP for Atlantic. Sticking to the formula that created his first album, Jealousy was loaded with the usual Philly soul ingredients, lush orchestration by MFSB, arrangements by Norman Harris, Ron Kersey, and Bobby Eli, and background vocals by "The Sweethearts of Sigma," a trio of made up of Barbara Ingram, Carla & Yvette Benson, also known as "The Sweeties," (basically Philly soul's equivalent of the southern soul's Sweet Inspirations) all cooked down at Joe Tarisa's Sigma Sound Studio for that signature, silky-smooth, slick sound. [How's that for alliteration?]

Still, with all that going for it, the album stalled on the charts. The same year, Major hit the stage with labelmates Blue Magic and Margie Joseph at New Jersey's Latin Casino; the end result was the 2-LP set, Live.





In 1978, Major signed with RCA records, where he teamed up with producer Jerry Ragavoy for his next solo lp, How Do You Take Your Love. After the solo hits stopped coming, Harris reunited with the The Delfonics and enjoyed a busy touring schedule.





In 1984, Harris took another break from the group and went back into the studio as a soloist, this time with Butch Ingram (brother to Barbara (see above)). Butch, former lead member of the family group The Ingram Kingdom (later redubbed Ingram), took the helm as the project's sole producer and arranger. The end result was the Streetwave records release, I Believe In Love.


Throughout the next two decades, Harris reunited with The Delfonics several times and was featured on the group's 1999 album, Forever New. As of this writing, he continues to tour both as a solo act, as well as part of The Delfonics with original members William Hart & Randy Cain.

If you're looking for Major Harris reissue material, the best place to go iz 'zon or Dusty Groove-- at either you can track down his first solo LP, My Way, as a Japanese import and the WMOT Live album with Margie Joseph & Blue Magic as an affordable US reissue on Collectables. As for Jealousy... sorry this one's still in the vaults. On the bright side, you can easily find low-cost original vinyl pressings of it and most of Major's other albums on the bay or GEMM pretty easily.

Featured cut: "Jealousy"

Help yourself to my vinyl rip here. [Note: this one's a li'l dusty in spots, but who cares; if you're really into this kinda stuff, a little needle noise shouldn't matter right? It comes with the territory.] Anyway, judge for yourself. The audio is more than good enough to decide whether or not you wanna drop coin on yer own copy. Who knows... if time allows, maybe I'll re-rip it after a good scrubbing.

[Sidebar: It's a long story with more than I care to get into but I'll boil it down and try not to bore y'all with the details. It goes like this....

I'd been putting it off for years because of the ridiculous price tag, but a flooded basement and a few crates of mildew-ridden vinyl made it a necessity, so I gave in and nabbed one of those pricey record cleaning machines for a steal on a certain auction site. Great right? Wrong!! The seller pulled a fast one on me and I wound up gettin' got. Well... kinda. . He had a high enough positive rating for selling high-end audio gear, so I didn't balk when, after shellin' out my hard-earned shekels, 2 weeks pass by with no deliveries from my friendly neighborhood postal carrier. It looked like he was playing some kinda waiting game that stretched on for about four weeks. When I finally spoke up, he claimed stories like he was out of town, missed the end of the auction then had a friend ship it; then the friend went on holiday and couldn't be reached for info. Really?? All the while he maintained he had no idea where it could be and that I should keep waiting for it to arrive. After a few more letters from me, he offered me a refund and said if it showed up we'd deal with it later. Now lemme get this straight, you sell something worth almost $400, have no idea where it is and cheerfully offer to give up the only thing you have to show for it?? That's so nice.....too nice. Maybe I'm wrong, but something just doesn't sound right about that. I have absolutely no way of proving it, but my conspiratorial gut tells me he probably wanted a bigger fish and decided to throw me back. I guess I have no real beef since I did get my dough back. But still...]

The Sweet Inspirations - Sweet Sweet Soul

The Sweet Inspirations were formed by Emily "Cissy" Drinkard (later taking the surname Houston after marriage). In the fifties, Cissy, her sister Lee (mother to Dee Dee & Dionne Warwick), along with Judy Guions (who later became Judy Clay), Marie Epps, Larry Drinkard, Nicholas Drinkard, Ann Moss were members of The Drinkard Singers, a family-based group that marked history in 1958 by having the first gospel album to appear on a major label.

In the early sixties, a collection of female vocalists consisting of Doris Troy, Dee Dee & Dionne Warwick found themselves in great demand by producers and songwriters throughout the industry. Around 1963, Doris and Dionne dropped out of the outfit to pursure solo careers and Sylvia Shemwell (sister to Judy Clay) and Cissy Houston stepped in to fill the gap with Cissy as leader of the troupe. When Dee Dee bowed out of the group in 1965 to nurture her own recording carreer, Myrna Smith served as her replacement. Shortly after, Soon after, Estelle Brown joined the group to complete the line-up.

In March 1967, the girls provided back up vocals for Van Morrison's classic, "Brown Eyed Girl". At this time the group still didn't have a name so one day at the suggestion of R&B crooner Chuck Jackson, the quartet was dubbed The Sweet Inspirations. One month later after the Morrison recording, the group recorded its first sides for Atlantic records. One of the tunes was a cover of the Staples Singers song, "Why (Am I Treated So Bad)". You can hear Sweet's version of "Why" on the jukebox featured on this site. While the singles did little in the way of sales, Atlantic stuck with the group and released their self-titled debut LP.

A few months later, The Sweets headed back into the studio again to work on their follow-up LP, a Gospel set entitled, Songs Of Faith & Inspiration. It was released in 1968 under the name "Cissy Drinkard & The Sweet Inspirations".

Not wasting any time, fresh off the Gospel album release, the ladies quickly got to work on their next project. The end product was the 1968 album, "What The World Needs Now Is Love". The LP featured two charting cuts the first, a cover of "To Love Somebody" originally recoded by the Bee Gees and the second, a soulful reading of the Righteous Brothers hit, "Unchained Melody". By this time, the Sweets had begun working with Elvis Presley in dual roles as backup singers and opening act.

The group's 4th Atlantic LP Sweets For My Sweet was issued early in 1969. For this set, the followed the formula of their first LP utilizing Alabama's Muscle Shoals rhythm section as the main backing band.

The ladies ventured into Philly's Sigma Sound Studio where they hooked up with Gamble & Huff staff producer, Ugene Dozier to begin laying groundwork for their next LP. Cissy's last recording date with the quartet was in October 1969, since left the group to pursue a solo career and put more focus on raising a family (I didn't bother to mention eaerlier that Cissy is the mother of Whitney Houston, I figured it was common knowledge already). The session produced the girls' next R&B hit, "Gotta Find Me A Brand New Lover" penned by Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff. With Cissy's departure, Ann Williams signed on to finish the rest of the recordings that would make up the group's fifth and final album for Atlantic; Sweet Sweet Soul, released in 1970.

Williams left the group during a 1971 tour with Elvis. The girls pressed on as a trio recording the album, Estelle, Myrna and Sylvia for Stax in 1973.

In 1977, the Sweets teamed up with Philadelphia producer/arranger Richie Rome to record the one-off single, "Black Sunday". Released on CBS subsidiary, Caribou Records, the song was a disco take on a John Williams composition for the motion picture of the same name.

In 1979, another line-up change saw Gloria Brown replacing Estelle Smith. Brown toured with the group but didn't actually sing on their last album, Hot Butterfly issued in 1979 on RSO records. After a tour as the featured act on the Bee Gees' Spirit's Having Flown Tour, the Sweets disbanded.

The group reformed in 1994 with new member, Portia Griffin. In 2005, an all new full-length project entitled, In The Right Place was released on Frixion records. For the latest info on the group, visit their official website here.

In 2002, Sweet Sweet Soul was reissued on CD alongside Sweets For My Sweet as part of a 2-fer series on Spy Records (a division of Rhino). If you're interested, click here and grab a copy now...it's been out for six years already...who knows when it'll go OOP.

If CDs aren't for you and you just gotta have that flat black plastic, then you can get it right here.

Featured cut: "At Last I've Found A Love"

For the full album, listen here (password req'd)

Dee Dee Warwick - Turning Around

Delia Mae Warrick was born on September 25, 1945 in Newark, New Jersey. Like her older sister Dionne, Delia (nicknamed Dee Dee) decided to change her last name from Warrick to Warwick in the early sixties.

In 1964, she signed to Mercury records subsidiary, Blue Rock Records where she saw her first charting single, "We're Doing Fine". The record was produced by Ed Townsend, who enjoyed his own chart success with his 1958 recording of "For Your Love". In years to follow, Townsend would go on to pen and produce mega-hits for Marvin Gaye, The Impressions and a host of others.

However, before any of that would happen he teamed up with Warwick once again in 1968 and the pair delivered the Grammy-nominated, Top 20 scorcher, "Foolish Fool" on the Mercury parent label. The single served as the lead release for Warwick's second album which soon followed.

Despite this success, none of her follow-up Mercury sides made much noise in the marketplace. She kept recording for another two years before making a move to Atco Records in 1970 where she released her third and final LP, Turning Around. She scored a Top Ten single on the R&B charts with "She Didn't Know (She Kept On Talking)". Backed largely by the Dixie Flyers rhythm section and backup vocal supergroup The Sweet Inspirations, Turning showcased a rawer, grittier, southern sound than her more polished Mercury sides.

Beatheads and crate diggers have long been familiar with the LP for the oft-sampled open drum break at the top of "I'm Glad I'm A Woman". Other album bright spots include, "Who Will The Next Fool Be?" and a completely reworked cover of the 1969 Spiral Staircase pop hit, "More Today Than Yesterday". Warwick continued to release singles for Atco over the next few years with minimal chart success but, unfortunately, the bulk of her output for the label never seemed to resonate with the record buying public. In later interviews she would attibute the lack of commercial success to Atlantic (Atco's parent company) throwing most of its promotional weight for female soul singers behind Aretha Franklin and Roberta Flack.

In 1973 Warwick re-signed with Mercury records for a short time and released the single "All The Love That Went To Waste".

Throughout the remainder of the decade, Dee Dee recorded for Sutra, RCA (under the name Dede Schwartz), and Private Stock where she had her last charting record in 1975, "Get Out Of My Life" released under the name Dede Warwick.

After being inactive as a recording artist for the years that followed, in 1999, Dee Dee finally received some recognition for her years as a soulful recording artist in the form the Pioneer Award from the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. Towards the end of 2006 Warwick returned to her performing career, singing background for sister Dionne on tour and contributing vocals to a song for the Tyler Perry film, "Daddy's Little Girls" entitled, "Family First".

In 1996 Ichiban Records compiled all of her Atco recordings and released, She Didn't Know- The Atco Sessions as part of their Soul Classics Series. The 22-track CD contained all the songs from the Turning Around album as well as a few non-LP singles and seven unreleased tracks from the vaults.

In 2001 Mercury followed suit and came up with, I Want to Be With You: The Mercury/Blue Rock Sessions although there are one or two missing tunes it's still the your best bet for getting on some of her rarer cuts on CD.

As of today, both CDs are out of print and tend to fetch top dollar. There is, however, some glimmer of hope for the budget conscious . The Mercury collection has been made available as a digital download via iTunes or Buy.com.

If what you desire is more of a tangible sort, you can try your luck at picking up the Atco sessions CD here or the Mercury sessions CD here.

If what you're really after is an OG vinyl pressing of Turning Around, then you can usually find one here or here.

Featured cut: "I'm Glad I'm A Woman"

For the full album, listen here (password req'd)

Johnny Bristol - Bristol's Creme

Johnny Bristol first came to local fame in the Detroit area as a member of the soul duo "Johnny & Jackey" with Jackey Beavers, an associate he met while in the U.S. Air Force. The pair recorded two singles in 1959 for Anna label owned by Gwen Gordy and Billy Davis and four more for Gwen Gordy and Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi record label, none of which were successes beyond the Midwest US.

In the mid 1960s, Tri-Phi was absorbed by Motown Records, and Bristol began working with Fuqua as a songwriter and producer. Among Fuqua and Bristol's successes as producers were hit singles such as Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell's "Ain't No Mountain High Enough" (1967), "Your Precious Love" (1967), and "If I Could Build My Whole World Around You" (1968); Edwin Starr's "Twenty-Five Miles" (1969); and David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)" (1969). On his own, Bristol co-wrote and produced Gladys Knight & the Pips' "I Don't Want to Do Wrong" (1971) and "Daddy Could Swear, I Declare" (1972), and several singles by Jr. Walker & the All-Stars such as "What Does It Take (To Win Your Love)" (1969)

Notably, Bristol was the producer and co-writer of the final singles for both Diana Ross & the Supremes and Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, before each group lost its namesake lead singer. While the Miracles' "We've Come Too Far to End It Now" (1972) was an original, the Supremes' "Someday We'll Be Together" (1969) was a cover version of a Johnny & Jackey single from 1961 (pictured above). The song was written as an ode to their wives who they'd miss whilst on the road touring. Bristol is the male voice on the Supremes' version, singing response to Diana Ross' lead vocal.

Dig the original version!!!

[Sidebar: As the story goes, towards the end of the session for 'Someday', Ross was getting tired and not delivering as strong a performance as she was at the start. Bristol decided to step into the vocal booth and sing along with Diana in an effort to provide some soulful inspiration that might help Ross complete the take. Johnny's vocals were supposed to be edited out of the final version but when Berry Gordy heard the session results, he wound up liking them so much that he decided to keep them in. Incidentally, the song was initially meant to be Ross' first solo single so she recorded the song with session singers instead of fellow Supremes Cindy Birdsong & Mary Wilson.]

Bristol left Motown in 1973 to resume his singing career, joining first with CBS Records and almost immediately moving to MGM Records. In 1974 he successfully re-launched his career as a performer with the hit, "Hang On In There Baby". The album of the same name also yielded the classic single "You and I". But when 1975's follow-up set for MGM, Feeling The Magic, didn't fare as well as it's predecessor, Bristol left MGM for Atlantic Records.

Bristol's Creme was the first of two albums he'd record for the label; best known for its first single, "Do It to My Mind" and the other gem, "I Sho Like Groovin' With Ya". Chartwise this album didn't do very well but despite it poor positioning, "Creme" is still regarded as a sought-after, solid body of work.

In 1982 Bristol released the single "Love No Longer Has A Hold on Me" and album, Free To Be Me on Handshake Records in the US. By the mid eighties Johnny's core audience was based primarily in Europe, so it's not surprising that in 1989 he signed to the UK label Motor City, where he delivered one of his most popular releases "Man Up in the Sky" and later, his own reading of "What Does it Take to Win Your Love".


Johnny's last releases were a 12" single in 1991 for Whichway Records "Come To Me"' and the 1993 album, entitled Life & Love released solely in Japan.

Johnny Bristol passed away at his home in Brighton Township, Michigan March 21, 2004 due to natural causes, he was sixty-five.

Featured cut: "Do It To My Mind"

It's fairly easy to track down an original vinyl pressing of Bristol's Creme. You can probably grab one for under $20 right here. As for the CD reissue, you can pick that up here or here.


Listen to my crispy vinyl rip right here