For more
than sixty years, the Windy City has been a home for acclaimed Blues, Jazz,
Rhythm & Blues, Doo Wop and Soul music. There has long been an appreciation
in the U.K. (and elsewhere) for sixties and seventies soul dance music
affectionately referred to as “Northern Soul.” From March 4 through March
11, SoulTrip USA 2009 celebrated “Northern Soul” music in Chicago with a
last day side trip to Detroit. Close to 200 people crowded the event,
mostly from the U.K. but many others from Spain, Belgium, Australia and the
U.S. Kev Roberts and his staff from Gold Soul in the U.K organized the
event. We were able to join the event in Chicago.
FRIDAY
We arrived
on the afternoon of Friday, March 9, expecting traditional Chicago winter
weather but were greeted unexpectedly with sunny skies and 60° F
temperatures. It was the last good weather we would see there.
We checked
into the Ambassador East Hotel, a historic landmark in Chicago’s Gold Coast
neighborhood since 1926, just north of downtown. The hotel’s restaurant,
the Pump Room, has been a favorite haunt over the years for celebrities from
Frank Sinatra, Bette Davis, Humphrey Bogart, Lauren Bacall, Robert Wagner,
Natalie Wood, Liza Minelli and Judy Garland to David Bowie, Fleetwood Mac,
Olivia Newton-John and Mick Jagger.
We took
advantage of Friday’s good weather to take a walk along Lake Michigan, where
the melting chunks of ice filled the water.
(Charlie &
Pam along Lake Michigan)
Friday
evening, we made our way to the Second Floor Lounge to hear some great
Northern Soul music spun by disc jockeys and to meet some music celebrities.
The heart of any Northern Soul meeting is its dee jays, spinning great, rare
soul dance 45's. We don't have the qualifications to say which dee
jays were the best but we do know we heard many superb sides over the course
of SoulTrip Chicago.
(SoulTrip
organizer Kev Roberts spinning records)
(Friday
night in the Second Floor Lounge)
One of the
first people we ran into was soul music historian and writer Chris Laylor
from Belgium. We knew Chris from his outstanding articles for
There’s That Beat magazine and have been corresponding with him by email
for some time.
(Charlie &
Chris Laylor)
We then
met Bobby Thomas and Clifford Curry from the Notations. The Notations were
a great Chicago 1970’s soul harmony group. Their first record, “I’m Still
Here” was one of our favorites. It was written by Clifford Curry and
produced by Syl Johnson whom we’d see at SoulTrip the next night. The
Notations went on to record quite a few other great harmony sides for the
Gemino and Mercury labels.
(Notations'
Clifford Curry, Pam, Bobby Thomas)
(Notations'
biggest record, from the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
In the
hallway, we were surprised to meet Jeronne “Jerry” Johnson. Jerry sang with
the great 1950’s doo wop group, Ze-Majestics who recorded “Bobbi Ann” for
the Fox label. He was also with the group as they evolved into the
soul group, the Trends, who recorded many superb sides for the Smash
and ABC Paramount labels in the 1960’s. Jerry and Bobby Thomas are
now singing together in the soul group, Chanel 3.
(Pam and
Jeronne Johnson of the Ze-Majestics and Trends)
(Trends on
ABC from the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Barbara
Green of “Young Boy” fame (Vivid label) was also present. She was
very nice and we enjoyed talking to her several times during the weekend.
(Charlie
and Barbara Green)
SATURDAY
Germinia
Place was designated the original location of the Saturday night
meet-and-greet plus performances by soul stars, but we understood that
Germinia Place was closed. We all met upstairs at The Ambassador Hotel
instead. The crowd in the main room was jam-packed and the “green room”
across the hall was overflowing with soul stars. The first singer we met up
with was John Carter from The Kool Gents and El Dorados. We had previously
met him at The Black Swan concert in New Jersey. Charlie had interviewed The
Kool Gents/El Dorados along with Todd Baptista. The band for the evening, The
Willie Henderson Band was relaxing in the green room. They were the band
that backed many of the soul performers on OKeh and Brunswick
labels during the 1960’s.
(John
Carter of the Kool Gents & El Dorados, Pam and Charlie)
(Kool
Gents' record on Chicago's Vee Jay label. From the Classic Urban
Harmony Archives.)
We were
very happy to meet our friends James “Zeke” Brown and Curtis Campbell from
the Blenders on the Aladdin label. Zeke had also sung with Calvaes
and Accents and was another person we met in New Jersey at The Black Swan
concert. [For more information on the Calvaes, Blenders and Accents, see our
recent article on them in Echoes of the Past.]
(Blenders'
Curtis Campbell. Pam and Zeke Brown)
We met a
very friendly gentlemen dressed in a red suit. We thought he might have been
a celebrity and to our pleasant surprise it turned out he had been a member
of the Ebon-Knights on Stepheny, who recorded “The Way The Ball
Bounces” in 1957. We had a great time talking with Mack Jay Jorden and hope
to write an article on The Ebon-Knights in the near future.
(Ebon-Knights' Mack Jay Jorden, Charlie & Accents' James Brown)
(Ebon-Knights record, from the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
While we
were talking to Mack, we noticed that Marshall Thompson of the Chi Lites
entered the room. Like many people, we’re big fans of The Chi Lites and
love all of Marshall’s records from The Desidero's and Hi-Lites, to the Chi-Lites.
(Marshall
Thompson of the Desidero's, Hi-Lights and Chi-Lites with Pam)
(Marshall
Thompson's first record with the Desidero's)
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(Early Chi-Lites
record under name Hi-Lites)
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(Early Chi-Lites
record)
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
We were
fortunate to see the Spellbinders perform at the New Jersey SoulTrip USA in
2006 and happy to meet Eller Weas Pennington of the Spellbinders who flew in
to Chicago from New Jersey.
(Spellbinders' Eller Weas Pennington and Pam)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Chess
label recording star Jackie Ross, known for her hit, “Selfish One,” was
happy to talk about her career and pose for photos.
(Charlie
and Jackie Ross)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
We met a
young looking Redale Israel who informed us he was a later member of The
Esquires.
(Charlie
and the Esquires' Redale Israel)
One of our
favorite soul groups is The Steelers. We were thrilled to meet Alonzo Wells
an original member of the group. The Steelers have a new CD coming out with
an anti-violence, anti-drug message. When it becomes available, we’ll let
you know on this website.
(The
Steelers' Alonzo Wells and Pam)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Our main
contact for Chicago groups, Richard Murray, was at SoulTrip Chicago. Robert Pruter
who wrote THE book, Chicago Soul was also in attendance.
We saw the
legendary Willie Henderson Band setting up, so we knew it was time to move
to the main room. Kev Roberts introduced the band and it was show time!
(Kev
Roberts getting ready to start the live entertainment.)
(Willie
Henderson and Band)
We
managed to get close of the front of the stage just in time to hear Lou
Pride singing “I’m Coming Home in the Morning.” The audience was standing
throughout the show.
(Lou Pride)
Jimmy
Burns is said to be active now in the Chicago Blues scene, but he took the
time to sing his Northern Soul Classic “I Really Love You” for us. We’ve
never been fortunate enough to own a copy on the Erica label but we understand
this record belongs in the heavy box.
(Jimmy
Burns)
(Jimmy
Burns & La-Casics, from the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Jackie
Lance, Major Lance's daughter stopped by to say hello.
(Jackie
Lance)
Holly
Maxwell was next, dressed in a studded black dress and headdress with silver outer
garment. I took many photos of her and enjoyed her animated performance.
She sang, “Only When You’re Lonely” which is a northern soul collectable.
(Holly
Maxwell)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Next up
was Jo Ann Garrett who was captivating. As group harmony fans, we’ve always
enjoyed the recordings she made backed up by the Dells. On this night,
Jo Ann sang a Northern favorite, “A Whole New Plan”.
(Jo Ann
Garrett)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Bobby Hutton
also dropped by. Bobby's best known to Northern Soul fans for songs
like "Come See What's Left Of Me" and "More Today Than Yesterday."
(Bobby
Hutton)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Two of the
Opals made a quick appearance. They were Rose “Tootsie” Addison and Myra Tillotson. The Opals, from East Chicago, Indiana, recorded on the
OKeh label as well as doing backup work for Jerry Butler and Gene Chandler.
(The Opals'
Rose "Tootsie" Addison and Myra Tillotson)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Cicero
Blake, whom we’d met and interviewed in New Jersey at The Black Swan show was here
for a brief appearance. Cicero sang with The Goldentones who evolved into
The Kool Gents after he left. He’s now a famous Blues and Soul singer.
(Cicero
Blake)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
B.B.
King’s daughter was introduced. The Vows/Major IV also came on stage for a
quick introduction.
(The
Vows/Major IV)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Barbara
Green gave us a nice rendition of her song, "Young Boy." Barbara was
only 13 when she recorded this song for Vee Jay's Vivid label
subsidiary in 1964. The backup group at the time was the Dells.
The song was re-released in 1968 on the Renee label and became a hit
all over again.
(Barbara
Green)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmon Archives)
Willie
Henderson's band then entertained us with "The Chase Is On." The song
was very appropriate since since Willie's band had supplied the instrumental
to that song by the Artistics in 1967. The next guest was Marvin
Smith, well known lead of the Artistics! Marvin Smith made his first
record with the post-Perkle Lee Moses "Four Eldorados" on the Academy
label in 1958. He joined the Artistics in time for their last for
records on the OKeh label and sang lead on the Artistics biggest hit,
"I'm Gonna Miss You" (Brunswick). [For a comprehensive bio of
the Artistics by Dave Moore, visit the Hitsville Soul Club our
LINKS page.]
(Artistics'
Marvin Smith)
(Rare
Purple wax copy of Artistics' "This Heart of Mine")
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Somatta
Acklin, the daughter of Barbara Acklin, sang her mother’s song, “Love Makes
a Woman”. She is a fabulous singer. Marshall Tompkins came up on stage and
the two singers talked about how Marshall came over to the Acklin home to
rehearse. (Somatta’s stepfather was Eugene Record of The Chi-Lites).
(Somatta
Acklin)
(Somatta's
mother's big hit. From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(Odd label
for "Love Makes A Woman." From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives.)
The Consensus of our site visitors is that this is a bootleg.
(Marshall
Thompson and Somatta Acklin)
Singing
next was Syl Johnson who gave his rendition of the Al Green composition, “Take
Me To The River”.
The record was a Top 10 R&B hit for Syl on the Hi label, his biggest
record.
(Syl
Johnson)
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Eddie Sullivan of the Classic Sullivans
was introduced to the crowd, though we weren't able to get a photo of him.
Like Marshall Thompson, Eddie Sullivan began singing with the Desideros.
(From the
Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
Last to
sing was Ruby Andrews who began singing backup on records by the C.O.D.’s
and then did her first solo record as Ruby Stackhouse. Of course, everyone
knows her big record “Casanova”. She sang “Just Loving You,” a Northern Soul
favorite. The show ended in the early morning hours but lots of energy
remained in the crowd.
(Ruby
Andrews)
(Ruby
Andrews first solo effort. From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives.)
(Ruby
Andrews first solo effort. From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives.)
SUNDAY
On Sunday,
there was a great record show. While there were only a few dealers, the
selection of Northern Soul records was large. B.B. King’s daughter was there
selling B.B.’s products (memorabilia).
We also
got a chance to talk to Bob Abrahamian, who’s radio program, “Sitting In The
Park” has brought us detailed interviews with many of the artists present at
Soultrip USA. To listen to these interviews on the Internet, check out
Bob’s website from our Links Page.
(Radio dj Bob Abrahamian and Charlie look through records at the Record Show.)
At the
record show, we had a chance to meet Marvin Smith of The Artistics.
We'd seen Marvin sing the night before but didn't get to talk to him then.
(Four El
Dorados & Artistics' Marvin Smith and Charlie)
(Marvin
Smith and Pam)
(Rare
Purple wax copy of Artistics' "Get My Hands On Some Lovin'")
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
At the
Record Show, Barbara Green came in looking for copies of her records.
We had a copy of “Young Boy” that we brought along on the trip and gave it
to her.
(Pam,
Barbara Green and Charlie)
MONDAY
Monday, we
visited Record Row on South Michigan Avenue. During the late 1950’s and
1960’s this was the center of Chicago’s soul music industry with dozens of
record labels and distributors. Sadly, these are all gone now.
The Chess
Studio, at 2120 S. Michigan, is now a museum with memorabilia and music
items for sale. It's operated by the Willie Dixon Blues Heaven
Foundation. While most of the museum is dedicated to Blues Music, with
little reference to the great vocal groups like the Moonglows and Flamingos
or to Chess' rich legacy of Soul Music, it's still good to see the home of
Chess/Checker Records preserved. We toured the building and took
photographs. While we were there, a Blues singer was brought in to entertain our large group.
(Pam at
Chess Records)
(Charlie at
Chess)
(Charlie &
Pam at the Chess Records Museum)
Next we stopped
off at 1449 S. Michigan Avenue. 1449 was once the proud home of Vee Jay
Records. When Vee Jay went bankrupt in 1967, Carl Davis
purchased the premises and used it for his Dakar and Bashie
labels and during his early days running Brunswick. Historic
1449 S. Michigan is unfortunately now all boarded up and for
sale.
(The once
proud home of Vee Jay Records)
We also
tried to find Universal Recording Studios at 46 E. Walton. We wanted to see
where thousands of recordings were done, including so many Chicago R&B
artists during the late 1950's and 1960's. The block is still there
but it’s now home
to numerous clothing stores.
(Universal
Recording Studios, ca. 1956)
(Pam in
front of 46 E. Walton, former home of Universal Recording Studios.)
Monday
evening our friends Zeke Brown and Curtis Campbell returned to SoulTrip’s home at
the Ambassador East Hotel. We had told them that Chicago soul music icon Carl
Davis was scheduled to make an appearance. Fifty-one years ago, Carl Davis
produced The Blenders first record “Two Loves”. We believe it was the
first record Carl
ever produced. Carl and the Blenders had not seen each other since then.
Kev
Roberts brought Carl Davis on stage and gave a summary of his long and distinguished
career. Carl recalled his first commercial success as a producer of
Gene Chandler and the Dukays. He then reflected on his long music
career. Carl Davis was, of course, the driving force behind the
success of soul acts on the Pam, Okeh, Dakar, Bashie, Brunswick, Chi-Sound
and numerous other labels. He's a legendary figure in Chicago music.
Kev then
handed the microphone to
Charlie who asked Carl if he remembered producing the
Blenders’ record. Zeke Brown and Curtis Campbell then came out and greeted
him.
(Kev
Roberts and Carl Davis)
(Carl Davis
and Charlie)
(Left to
right: Carl Davis, Blenders' Zeke Brown & Curtis Campbell, Charlie)
(Zeke
Brown, Carl Davis, Curtis Campbell)
(The
Blenders record, Produced by Carl Davis, Dec. 1958)
(Label Photo courtesy of Val Shively)
(Carl Davis
and Charlie)
It was a
great night made even better when we were told our friend Mill Edwards of The Sheppards
had arrived and was asking to see us. We had interviewed Millard at
the 2008 Black Swan Concert in New Jersey. Mill is the last surviving
member of the Sheppards of "Island Of Love" fame. He was also the bass
on "Get On Up" by the Esquires.
(Sheppards'
Mill Edwards and Accents' Zeke Brown)
(David
Ferguson from "There's That Beat" and Sheppards' Mill Edwards)
![[New!]](images/smallnew.gif)
(Charlie, Mill Edwards & Pam)
(Photo courtesy of Bev & Dave Moore)
(Sheppards'
recording of a Mill Edwards composition.)
(From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives)
(Pam and
Zeke Brown of Accents, Blenders & Calvaes)
(Accents'
"Northern Soul" side. From the Classic Urban Harmony Archives.)
(Pam, Charlie, Zeke Brown,
Curtis Campbell & Dave Ferguson)
(Photo courtesy of Bev & Dave Moore)
(Blenders'
Curtis Campbell, Charlie, Zeke Brown)
(David
Raistrick and Pam)
One final
thrill for us... a raffle was held for a giant SoulTrip poster, autographed
by most of the celebrities in attendance over the weekend. Proceeds
were donated to a charity. Not only did the raffle raise $900 for a
local children's charity, but we won the poster!!!
The next
day many from the SoulTrip took a side trip to Detroit for the day. From reports we’re
received it seems that they had an amazing time.
We enjoyed
meeting the “There’s That Beat” soul fanzine staff (Dave Moore, Bev Moore, & David
Ferguson). “There That Beat” is one of our favorite magazines and we hope to
contribute articles to them. To find out how to subscribe, go to our
Links
page.
(Charlie &
Pam with Bev & Dave Moore of "There's That Beat")
Most of
all, we want to
thank Sam & Kev Roberts and their staff at GoldSoul for the concept of SoulTrip
Chicago and all the preparations they did to make it a gigantic success.
Visit GoldSoul's website through our
LINKS Page.
(Pam and
Charlie with SoulTrip organizer, Kev Roberts)
This
Soultrip Chicago was billed as “the final chapter”. We would love to see
another one in the near future because this trip was just so remarkable. How
about Baltimore/Washington?
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