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The Best of the Nolans RAR: Everything You Need to Know About the Nolans' Career



I don't know much about the Patterson Singers, but their eponymous LP, released on Atco in 1972, is a cracker. I picked up a copy in a charity shop yesterday and I'm amazed that I haven't come across this soul classic before. It seems that they were a gospel group who had some records released in thelate sixties under the name of the Robert Patterson Singers but that this was pretty well their only secular recording. Produced by Wade Marcus, it was recorded at Criteria in Miami, Muscle Shoals and A&R Studios in New York, but there's no other info on the sleeve. A couple of tracks from the LP - Working Together, written by Ike Turner, and That's Understanding, were released on a 45, but all 11 tracks are excellent examples of deep soul. They include compositions by George Soule (My World Tumbles Down and Love Is Color Blind), Joe Hinton (How Can You Say That Ain't Love), Eddie Holland and Norman Whitfield (Throw A Farewell Kiss) Don Covay (A Letter Full Of Tears) and Mac Rebbennack and Jessie Hill (Your Love Is Something Else Again). All are excellent but many of them aren't on Youtube. Here is one that I've put on - track one, side one, My World Tumbles Down. =IRHfu_ftQVA As the year nears its end music deaths continue. One who I missed at the beginning of December was that of Rex Garvin, best known for his 1966 Northern soul/funk song Sock It To 'Em J.B, which is a tribute both to James Brown and James Bond. Rex had a couple of releases on Atlantic in the UK with his band the Mighty Cravers (the other being I Gotta Go Now (Up On The Floor), which were recorded originally for Link. His story began several years earlier when he teamed up with Zelma Sanders and helped formed doowop group the Hearts. Later he wrote Over The Mountain, Across The Sea for Johnnie and Joe, recorded a duet with Marie Adams (I Can't Sit Down), and had several successful records under his own name, including My Darling Dear and Emulsified. =nISSAZ-E62o




the best of the nolans rar




BBC4 showed a repeat of their programme on Roy Orbison this evening, which prompted me to get together my LPs by the Big O. Roy was such a brilliant singer that it's almost impossible to exaggerate his greatness. I saw him live a couple of times, including his tour of the UK when the Beatles were low down on the bill. His voice was exceptional and he was capable of holding an audience despite standing motionless throughout his performance. His death 25 years ago (on December 6, 1988) was particularly sad, as he had only recently been recognised for the great artist he was with the emergence of the Travelling Wilburys. I wasn't aware of Roy when he recorded for Sun but the release of Only the Lonely in 1960 was a revelation. I rushed out to buy it, but my local record shop didn't have it in stock. I nagged them week after week and eventually got hold of a copy, and within a couple of weeks it had reached number one. My photo shows 16 of Roy's best LPs. Details are below.Top row (left to right): There Is Only One Roy Orbison - released on London 8252 (1965); Lonely And Blue - his first LP on London (2342) in 1960; Roy Orbison and others - Ember 2005 from 1965; Roy Orbison Sings - 1972 LP on London 8435.Row 2: In Dreams released in 1963 on London 8108; Regeneration - 1977 LP on Monument; I'm Still In Love With You - Mercury LP from 1975; Crying - London 2437 released in 1962.Row 3: Oh Pretty Woman - 1963 LP on London 8207; Cry Softly Lonely One - from 1967 on London 8357; The Fastest Gun Alive - soundtrack of Roy's acting debut on London 8358; The Classic Roy Orbison - London 8297 from 1965.Row 4: The Orbison Way - 1965 LP on London 8279; Roy Orbison Sings Don Gibson - London 8318 released in 1966; Roy Orbison, Big O - LP with the Art Movement released in 1969 on London 8406; Memphis - released in 1972 on London 8445.Finally, proving that he had lost none of his magic, here is his comeback album Mystery Girl.


It's a delicious irony that on the very day that Ronnie Biggs, most famous of the Great Train Robbers, died aged 84, the BBC should screen the first part of its drama about the 'Crime of the Century' in 1963. As a teenager this, along with the Profumo Affair and the assassination of President Kennedy, was the biggest news event of the era. Even though the train driver was badly hurt, the robbers were regarded as heroes for getting away with 2.6 million, at a time when a million really was a million. Bruce Reynolds, Buster Edwards, Gordon Goody, Charlie Wilson, Ronnie Biggs and the rest were household names, and many people, me included, were shocked at the length of their sentences when they were caught. 30 years in prison seemed a hell of a long time for men who seemed to be putting two fingers up to the Establishment. Secretly, or maybe not so secretly, most people wanted them to get away with it. And when Ronnie Biggs, who played a fairly minor role in the escapade, escaped from Wandsworth prison many people were delighted.He went initially to Australia and then to Rio, where he lived the life of a celebrity for 30 years, withthe best efforts of 'Slipper of the Yard' failing to arrange his extradition. The high, or low, point, depending on your view, was when the remnants of the Sex Pistols, after Johnny Rotten had left and Sid Vicious had self-destructed, recorded No One Is Innocent and Belsen Was A Gas, which were included, appropriately enough, on the Great Rock 'n' Roll Swindle album. No One Is Innocent reached the UK top ten, despite its dubious quality. Ronnie eventually came back to the UK and continued his prison sentence, before being released on compassionate grounds. He was never a hero perhaps, but he was certainly a personality and an infamous one at that. =D19eYbbFCvQ


Time to leave behind my memories of gigs of the nineties (about time too, say most readers I suspect!) and catch up on some recent music deaths - and there have been quite a few. There always are in December it seems. It's 46 years tomorrow since the death of Otis Redding in 1967, and 49 years since the shooting of Sam Cooke on December 11, 1964: two of the all time greats.Chick Willis, who has died aged 79, was the cousin of Chuck Willis and was his chauffeur during his 50s success. Later he played with Elmore James and recorded some blues 45s in the sixties but he became best known for his controversial Stoop Down Baby in 1972. He went on record several excellent albums for Ichiban, including Chick Sings Chuck, Now, Footprints in My Bed, Back to the Blues, Holdin' Hands with the Blues, Nasty Chick and I Got a Big Fat Woman. He continued to record into the 2000s. =PcytN5f72x8 Larry McKinley, 85, was the founder of New Orleans record label Minit along with his partner Joe Banashak and employed Allen Toussaint as arranger, songwriter and producer, recording many of the New Orleans greats including Ernie K-Doe, Chris Kenner, Benny Spellman and Irma Thomas. A local radio personality, Larry was inducted into the Louisiana Music Hall of Fame in 2005.Although best known as an actor for his role of Bodie in The Professionals, and, before that, in the TV comedy The Cuckoo Waltz, Lewis Collins, who has died aged 67, formed a band called the Renegades in Liverpool and was a one time member of the Mojos, apparently turning down the chance of auditioning for the Beatles. He did, in fact, audition for the role of James Bond, but was rejected because he was too aggressive. Lewis was one of those people whose careers I've followed during my life because his birth date was close to mine (he was born six weeks later than me). Like George Best, another from the same era, he is now no more, which is a sobering thought. I am watching a third contemporary, Joanna Lumley, with interest. Reggae artist Junior Murvin was another from the same era and was believed to be 67 when he died. Born in St James Parish, Jamaica, he came to fame with Police and Thieves, produced by Lee 'Scratch' Perry in 1976 which was later covered by The Clash. Prior to that he had recorded under the name of Junior Soul and was a member of the Hippy Boys. Later albums included Bad Man Posse, Muggers in The Street and Apartheid. =OID0h7X6hmkFrom the jazz world, drummer and band leader Chico Hamilton has died at the age of 92. He played with many of the big bands of the 1940s before recording his first album as leader in 1955. Over the following 56 years he recorded dozens of albums with a variety of artists.Another jazz man to pass on is British pianist and composer Stan Tracey at the age of 86. Stan played at Ronnie Scott's jazz club for several years, accompanying many of the jazz greats and is best known for his 1967 album Under Milk Wood and for Alice in Jazzland.


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