RarePhillySax

Tim Eyermann was a saxophonist and for many years was the led of the jazz fusion band called East Coast Offering from Washington. He was born in Philadelphia. Tim started studying piano at the age of six and continued until he was eleven. At the age of 14 his godmother bought an album by saxophonist Cannonball Adderley. Also his great-uncle was sax player in Downey, California. For this reason he decided to study saxophone. He graduated with a B.S. in Music from Duquesne University, he also completed his Master's degree from the Peabody Conservatory in woodwinds. He worked with Count Basie, Maynard Ferguson, Julie Andrews, The Spinners and Anita Baker. In 1974, he formed a band the East Coast Offering. Tim Eyermann appeared at local clubs for years, toured the East Coast with his group, made about 10 albums and was nominated for two Grammy Awards, but he never made any success. In 1984 Tim released a self-titled album with his group on MCA Records. Tim has had three previous alb...

The Invitations were Herman Colefield, Gary Grant, Bill Morris and Bobby Rivers. They started to record in the mid 60's. Later in 1972, Lew Kirton joined in the Invitations. They recorded some songs between 1973 and 1974. These songs were released on Silver Blue Records. One of them called " Living Together Is Keeping Us Apart ". It was written by Clarence Reid and Willie James Clarke. First recording by Clarence Reid on the album " Running Water " in 1973 on Alstom Records. My copy is a promo 7 inch. Arranged by the great Bobby Martin. Produced by Bobby Martin & Joel Diamond. Joel Diamond was the owner of the label. Amazing arrangement. Enjoy it. Note: The above posted single is not played in full

Καλά Χριστούγεννα Merry Christmas Froehliche Weihnachten Joyeux Noel

One day before Christmas I decided to present a Christmas song by Rodney Friend. This is the super rare gospel album entitled " Call Him Jesus " that I presented eight months ago. It was released on Pandora Records in 1980. It was recorded at Sound Off Studio Compton, California.  Also this album includes some Christmas songs. One of them called " The Greatest Gift ". Composed by himself. Arranged by himself. Produced by J.E.Lauderdale. Note: The above posted track is not played in full

I tried to find info about this group, but it was very difficult. The McPhersons was a family female group. They released a single entitled " Makin Music / If Forever Could Be " on Farja Records in 1981. Both of the songs were produced by George Bohanon.  Both of the songs were written by Roxanne McPherson in 1979. Roxanne McPherson (born in 1958) is the niece of Billy Davis Jr. and Marilyn McCoo. She is an experienced and talented singer who has toured all around the world performing in such places as Las Vegas and in the USO tours. However on the songs the music or the lyrics must have been changed, so for this reason when it was released this 7 inch by Farja Records, on the labels mention that " Makin Music " was written by Roxanne McPherson and George Tavy. And the other song " If Forever Could Be " was written by Roxanne McPherson and George Bohanon.  Rhythm & horn arranged by George Tavy. Arranged by George Bohanon. I found that a...

Wow!!! Ladies and gentlemen, today I'm presenting one of the best albums in 2010. I decided to present this album because in a few days the year will finish. In this way I want to honour this artist and his great album. Ceasar Elloie is the "Caesar" of soul and jazz music with a great deep-voice. He was born in 1953 and raised in the city of New Orleans. As a young kid his favorite toy was his voice. Later around at the age of 14, he discovered that his mother was a clone of Aretha Franklin as she kept music playing at all times in their home. They mostly listened to Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls, Nancy Wilson, Dionne Warwick, Otis Redding, James Brown and just everybody whose music was out there. He began to sing Mardi Grass Indian songs on street corners with the fellows. These were known as chants. As he entered High School, he was invited to sing with his first Band. This was the beginning of his love to perform in public. Later he entered Southern University at New Orle...

Joe Stubbs was the younger brother of Levi Stubbs , lead singer of The Four Tops . Joe had been lead singer with four famous soul groups. The first of these was The Falcons . Then secondly came The Contours . Thirdly with The Originals , and fourthly with Detroit legend Steve Mancha , the wonderful group on Hot Wax, One Hundred Proof Aged In Soul . After such a legendary career, he had a terrible accident with his car and he was slightly brain damaged, but still able to talk, sing, and perform, but left somewhat childlike, and innocent. He tried to return on stage and released a single in 1981 on Atkins All-Star Recording. This single called " Got to make a move " was written in 1980 as " Let's make a move " by himself, William Lanier and Claude Wilson . Claude Wilson or Clyde Wilson probably is the legendary on Northern soul scene Steve Mancha member of the groups Two Friends , The Hollidays , One Hundred Proof Aged In Soul. Produced by Curtis ...

Recenty I renewed my article about Lady Bianca. You can see here below. http://souldennis.blogspot.com/2009/01/lady-bianca-thornton.html

I remember that I bought this album some years ago for a ballad song called " I belong to you ". This song peaked  at #30 on the R&B chart in 1978 and also it was included on the album " Straight from the heart ". The Rance Allen Group is a gospel music group formed in Monroe, Michigan and based in Toledo, Ohio. The Rance Allen Group was formed in the late 60's by vocalist, guitarist, pianist, and songwriter Rance Allen with his brothers Tom Allen and Stephen Allen. They recorded many albums from 1972 until today. They signed to the Stax imprint Gospel Truth and they recorded for the Stax organization throughout the 1970s. In 1978 they released an album on Stax Records called " Straight from the heart ". It was recorded at Fantasy Studios, Berkeley. The musicians were Gregory Levias on keyboards, Gregory Crockett and David Pruitt on guitars, Romeo Williams on bass, Kenneth Elliott on drums, Robert Zimmitti on percussion. Background vocals by ...

November 28, 2010 Yvonne Depatis-Kupka , wife of Stephen "Doc" Kupka of the Legendary Tower of Power needs a liver transplant. By Dr. Al Carlos Hernandez Herald De Paris Steve Kupka is one of the founding members of the soul band Tower of Power. TOP, The Kings of East Bay Soul have been touring the world for over 42 years bringing their brand of horn fueled furious funk and sweet soulful ballads. "Yvonne is on the California liver transplant list, seriously ill and urgently in need of this surgery. Simply put, the cost for this major surgery and post-operative care substantially exceeds her health insurance coverage and the family's resources. Major surgery shouldn't bankrupt a family or threaten to financially ruin their lives. So the Friends of Yvonne and Doc Kupka have organized this medical fund to help cover the uninsured portion of these extreme medical expenses. How You Can Help (1) Please make a PayPal donation to the medical fund: For More Inf...

Melvin Davis in studio First of all, I want to thank John "AJ"Carter for all his info . For several years many collectors and radio producers thought that Melvin Davis was the lead singer of the group called Charisma . One reason was that the voice of singer seemed with the voice of Melvin Davis. The second reason was that the record was released on Rock Mill Records, label of  Melvin Davis. In fact Charisma was a soul/funk group which was formed by Ray Green the brother of Jerry Green of the Contours who had his own version of the Contours touring Detroit from 1976-1981. The members of the group were Ray Green , Louis Carter Jr , Al Chisholm (former Contours), a gospel singer named Chris and Chris' brother named Doug .  John "AJ" Carter was collaborator and manager. Melvin Davis recorded the song " Let love in your life " in 1978 for himself, but the song didn't take off and Melvin shopped around for someone to produce it on. This song ...

Its with Lee Ritenour and Don Grusin Its  was an obscure soul jazz group from Japan.  Its  were Izumi Kimoto , Teruhisa Tohgoh and Sumie Shima . They released an album entitled " Rainbow " on JVC Records in 1980. It was recorded at Victor Studio, Sound Inn Studio, Tokyo. In this album participated some great Japanese musicians such as Masahiko Satoh on piano, Kazumi Watanabe on electric guitar. Also Kenji Ohmura on guitar, Yasuaki Shimizu on tenor saxophone, soprano saxophone, Akira Okazawa on bass, Shuichi Murakami and Yuhichi Togashiki on drums and Tadaomi Anai on percussion. Kohji Hadori , Tokikazu Suyama , Takehisa Suzuki and Tetsuo Fushimi on trumpet, Eiji Arai , Yasuo Hirauchi , Sumio Okada , Tadao Taniyama , Akira Fujimoto , Katsuyuki Sugimoto on trombone, Yukihiko Nishizawa , Akira Fujiyawa , Takeshi Shinohara on flute. Strings by Ohno group. Arranged and conducted by Masahiko Satoh. Produced by Akira Taguchi. Most of the songs are c...

Dee Edwards was born on June 19 in 1945. Her real name was Doris Jean Harrell. Dee Edwards was married with the arranger Floyd Jones. She was a member of The Paragons. Edwards was more known with the song called " I Can Deal With That " which released on De-To label in 1975. Two years later De-To re-released this single with some differences on the sound (strings and tambourine). In the continue she went to New York and released two albums entitled " Heavy Love " and " Two hearts are better than one " on Cotillion Records in 1979 and 1980 respectively. Then she left from Cotillion Records and returned to Detroit. She signed for Morning Glory Records and released a single entitled " Once you give it up / My fantasy " in 1982. Produced and arranged by her husband Floyd Jones. Composed by D.J.Jones and F.V.Jones. Backing vocal by Ridgeway Sisters. Ridgeway Sisters were known for their collaboration one year ago with Gene Dunlap. Composed by ...

He is an unknown singer from Baltimore. Most of the collectors, really don't know this jazz singer with a great baritone voice. I think that Judd Watkins deserved much greater recognition. He started in the late 60s in Baltimore music scene when participated in the quartet along with guitarist O'Donel Levy, drummer Chester Thompson and organist Charles Covington. In the early 70s he appeared with Webster Lewis when they recorded some live tracks in Oslo. Some of these recordings were released on the Webster Lewis album called " Live In Norway – The Club 7 Live Tapes ". In 1973 he sang and played percussion for O'Donel Levy album entitled " Everything I do gonna be funky ". This album was released on Groove Merchant Records. Judd Watkins sang a self-titled song " Everything I gonna be funky " which released as single on the same label in 1974. This song was written by Allen Toussaint and was recorded in 1969 by Lee Dorsey. Also Watkins...

Pastor Sam Nix has served as The Senior Pastor of The Lighthouse Gospel Center Church - Dallas, Texas, as minister in Los Angeles, Milwaukee, Hartford, Ft Worth, Indiana, and Buffalo, as Mentor and Teacher, as producer and as author. Also he is graduate of International Seminary with a Master Of Theology Degree. As a singer released his first album entitled " Expressions " in the mid 70s. Later he released the second album on his own label called Nix Music. The album is entitled " Heaven on your mind " was recorded at Sword & Shield Studio, Arlington,TX. The musicians were Randy Wills on piano, Tim Benton and Dave Adams on drums, George Anderson on bass, Tom Smith on rhythm guitar and Bill Ham on lead guitar. Also Richard Page on organ, Charles McCambell on congas,percussion and Rick Weidemann on saxophone and flute. Background vocals by Shana Nix (wife of Sam Nix) and Debra Leblanc . Rhythm section arranged by Sam Nix and Randy Wills. Produced ...

Freddie Waters began his musical career in Nashville Tennessee in the mid 1960s as lead singer for a vocal group called the Hytones. They were featured regulars on a legendary television show called " The Night Train ". Through this exposure they were discovered by producer/arranger Robert Holmes. He produced a couple of obscure 45s (on a small Excello subsidiary) for them and then was hired as arranger for Ted Jarrett's Ref-O-Ree label. Mr. Holmes brought Freddie Waters and Eddie Frierson (another member of the Hytones) along with him to the new label. Freddie & Eddie recorded a couple of duets together in a Sam & Dave style but soon Freddie was out on his own as the label's most visible artist. He had several regional hits, most notably " Singing A New Song ". As this record started to get action in several major southern markets, it came to the attention of Curtis Mayfield who leased the master and re-released it on his Curtom label. The record ...

Hayes and Dhaniels are Regina Hayes (born 1952) and Thaddaeus Daniels (born 1948). They released a single entitled " Spend a perfect day / Everybody wants a piece " on Phonograph Records from Chicago probably in 1983. Also Regina Hayes, Thaddaeus Daniels along with Reginald House wrote many songs at the same time, but I have never seen them. Some of them are " Night life / There will come a time / Come into my world / Tell me, were you going / Party ". This ultra rare single on Phonograph Records appeared some months ago in England for the first time in the world. Now I have the pleasure to present this rarity. You enjoy " Spend a perfect day ". Produced and composed by Hayes & Dhaniels.   Note: The above posted single is not played in full

He was born in Jamaica, joined his parents in England in 1965. He started in singing career in 1972 and has made numerous records. His first major release was " Let The Heartache Begins ". In 1983 he released album entitled " Out of reach " on World International Records. All the musicians were unknown. Earl Lewis on bass, John Kpiaye on guitar, Paget King on piano, organ and string, Angus Zeb on drumms, Martin Drover on trumpet, Ray Warleigh on sax, Malcolm Griffiths on trombone. Backing vocals by Chris Thompson, Lawny Rogers and Martha. Produced by Winston Curtis. I chose two songs entitled " Young hearts run free " and " I don't wanna talk about it ". " Young hearts run free "  is a great soul song which the original recording was by American soul singer Candi Staton. It was released in 1976 and was composed by David Crawford. " I don't wanna talk about it " is a soul ballad which the original recording was by ...

Today I will present one more representative of Northern soul scene called Chuck Payne. Chuck Payne was an obscure singer with deep voice in the 60s and 70s. Chuck was more known for another single in the 60s on ABC Paramount Records called " Ripple In The Stream / Your Blue Horizon ". This single is ultra rare and released on Adventures Records in the late 70s. Adventures Records is one of the oldest labels in New York. Founded in 1946. Chuck Payne collaborated with Juggy Murray Jones. They recorded two songs entitled " Round Midnight " and " Understanding Heart ". It was a big surprise for me when I noticed on the label about Juggy Murray. Arranged by Tommy James. Produced by Juggy Murray.  I have chosen the song " Understanding Heart ". Composed by himself. Note: The above posted single is not played in full # The other song " Round Midnight " is a jazz standard song which was composed by pianist Thelonious Monk. It is though...

Some months ago, I presented a great singer of Northern soul scene J.G.Lewis (AKA) Johnny Gilliam  from Pittsburgh. However I didn't present in fact the last one single by J.G.Lewis. Now I have the pleasure to do this. This single called " That's her (That's the girl for you) / Dance lady dance "  was released on a small label called " Al & The Kidd " from Washington. Both of these songs were written by himself. Arranged by himself and Leroy Kirkland. Produced by himself and W.Prodocimo. Note: The above posted single is not played in full

Sharalee Lucas was born in 1949 on August 13, in Lauderdale, Florida. She is an obscure gospel singer. She appeared in the mid 70s when she recorded an album along with Paul Johnson on Word Records. Next year she released an album entitled " Jesus, You Are My Friend " on Petra Records. In 1978 she released one more album entitled " Daughter of music " on Greentree Records. It was recorded at Great Circle Sound, Nashville,TN. Most of the musicians were unknown. Shane Keister on piano, Joe Osborn and Jack Williams on bass, Lari London on drums, Bobby Thompson, John Thompson and Steve Gibson on guitars. Also Farrell Morris on percussion, Buddy Skipper on sax and Bobby Taylor on English Horns. Backing vocals by Kathy Thompson, Bob Farrell, Michael Jon Albrecht, Scott Roley and Alan Moore. Strings by Shelly Kurland. Arrangements by Ronn Huff. Produced by John Thompson and Shane Keister. I have chosen fantastic song entitled " When you're near ". I...

Jesse Gomez was born and raised in Los Angeles California and began singing when he was 10 years old. He worked with a popular band in Los Angeles called “ Smooth Water ” in the 70’s and 80’s. Les Baxter was a great influence in his music career. Les Baxter was singer, pianist, composer and producer. He also wrote the " Whistle " theme for the TV show " Lassie ". He worked on movie soundtracks for American International Pictures where he composed and conducted scores films. In 1974 Jesse Gomez sang on all tracks from the movie entitled " Savage Sisters " where the music was composed and conducted by Les Baxter. In the early 80s Jesse Gomez recorded along with his band some tracks in a small recording studio. Then he released an EP album which included 4 tracks entitled " Baby I really want ya ", " Sidewalk cafe ", " Sweeter than honey " and " Lace " on Bax Records.  Les Baxter was the owner of Bax Records. Les B...