Carolina Soul Blog

“For the Records” by Joshua Clark Davis.

2011-12-15T01:19:03Z

Our good friend Joshua Clark Davis has just written an article that has relevance to Carolina Soul. �For the Records: How African American Consumers and Music Retailers Created Commercial Public Space in the 1960s and 1970s South� focuses on the history of black-owned record stores in North Carolina and throughout the South and is a recommended new piece of original research that appears in the current music issue of Southern Cultures. The following excerpt touches on some personalities and establishments of the Triangle region:

“Records is a market that can be used to brighten the future of lots of black people with jobs and higher prestige all over the country,� Jimmy Liggins announced in 1976 to the readers of the Carolina Times, Durham, North Carolina�s most prominent African American newspaper. Liggins, a minor rhythm and blues star of the 1950s, was publicizing his Duplex National Black Gold Record Pool, headquartered in Durham, which sought to �help and assist black people to own and sell the music and talent blacks produce.� With the aid of this �self helping program,� aspiring hit-makers could record and release music that Black Gold sold through mail order and at Liggins�s shop, Snoopy�s Records, in downtown Durham.

Kenny Mann (of the band Liquid Pleasure) vividly recalls his frequent trips to Snoopy�s as a teenager in the late 1960s and early 1970s. Liggins �was like a god� to Mann and other young customers who patronized the store. �Everybody knew� Liggins and his two business partners, Henry Bates and Paul Truitt. �These guys, I was listening to them talk about bringing Tyrone Davis and Johnny Taylor and Al Green to town . . . It was fun to go [to their store] because it felt like the place to be; there were girls in there, and I was twelve, thirteen years old.� Not only that, but Mann �never felt the pressure to buy something� like he did in stores in his hometown of Chapel Hill, where white shopkeepers frequently followed young African American shoppers around their businesses, suspecting they might shoplift. �They had a double standard,� Mann remembers. Chapel Hill �really was set up as if they didn�t want to do business with us black people.� In sharp contrast, Liggins envisioned Snoopy�s as �our mall��a �hang out� where black consumers could buy black music in a record store owned and operated by African Americans. Black-owned record stores like Snoopy�s represented a crucial nexus where African American enterprise, consumer culture, community, and of course, music all met.

Many more local luminaries figure in the article, such as Curtiss “Curt” Moore, who was previously profiled at Carolina Soul here and here. Owner of three Curt’s Records Stores in and around Greensboro from the 1960s through 1980s, Moore is seen below in one of his shops circa 1966.

If you�re interested in reading more, you can:

1) Read the article for free if your college or public library subscribes to the ProjectMuse database.

2) Order a hard copy of the Southern Cultures music issue (holiday gift idea!).

3) Or download the article or the entire Southern Cultures issue for your Kindle or Nook.

Enjoy!

Walter Moreland and his new recording “Alone.”

2011-08-08T19:38:29Z

Wendell, North Carolina resident and vocalist Walter Moreland recently released a CD single that delves into a challenging time in his life. Entitled �Alone,� it’s nominally a pop ballad, something of a new direction for the long-time soul singer and former member of national ‘70s-era recording act Mark IV. More notably, and powerfully, it’s a document of his faith in one day reuniting with his late wife, Cynthia Moreland, who was tragically killed in Raleigh in 2006, just shy of five years ago.

Moreland originally comes from Miami, Florida. He wasn’t very deep into music there; as a teenager, he �would just mess around singing� the doo-wop hits of the day for fun by himself. After high school, Moreland served two years in the army, including one in Korea, and then relocated to New York City, soon joining a singing group known as the New System. The New System were active in the region but apparently did not make any recordings: �We did a lot of practicing. We got uniforms. I don’t think we cut a record when I was with them. We did a lot of little gigs up in the mountains of New York, ski resorts….� Before the members moved in separate directions, the New System reached a high point in the form of some back-up work for Little Anthony & the Imperials.

Along with fellow former New System member Candido �Lucky� Antomattei (baritone), Moreland (first tenor) met up with two Georgia transplants, Lawrence Jones (second tenor) and Jimmy Ponder (lead). The four started a new singing outfit that they named Mark IV. They connected with performer and Alaga Records owner Roy C., who produced their debut single �Honey I Still Love You�:

Roy C. sold the rights for this hit single to Mercury Records, and the new support of a major record company led to many touring opportunities, including four appearances at the Apollo Theater and co-billings with Wilson Pickett, Gladys Knight and the Pips, the Stylistics, B.B. King, and nearly even a gig at the famous Copa. While on tour in Raleigh, playing a gig at a club near downtown, Moreland met Cynthia Wilkerson:

We were playing at the Inner City Club in Raleigh here. I don�t know, call it fate. I don�t know why we had to play here. I don�t know why she had to come because she was only like 16. We were playing at the Inner City Club, and we started singing, and there she was…standing right there in front of the stage, standing right there. I saw her, and I said �I got to talk to her,� and I started talking to her…I said �Can I have your phone number�? She said, �I don�t have a phone,� and I said �oh well, there�s another brush off.� And then she said, �But my neighbor has a phone.� And I lit up, I said �Sure, give me that.� That�s how it started. I started calling her. Every time we would go further south like Alabama, when we finished, I would stop here.

Mark IV candid photo with Walter Moreland, second from right.

The pair began dating long distance until Moreland found touring �unbearable,� leading him to quit the group and settle in Zebulon with his soon-to-be wife. Finding employment at Wake Medical Center in Raleigh, where he still works to this day, Moreland also started performing with local soul groups such as Seduction. Later known as Klass, this little-known group would release a 12�-single in 1989. Following is some rare footage of Klass doing the A-side �Body Language� on country singer/broadcaster Slim Short’s �Carolina Today� television program:

From the 1990s until recent times, Moreland was less active on the music scene and more involved with his family, church, and work. Prior to making “Alone,” he did provide the vocals several years ago for an instrumental track made by William Killinger, a physician at Wake Medical Center. The product is some jangly pop called �The Way.� Click on the player below to hear a bit of both �Alone� and �The Way.� Moreland reflected recently on how his life and his singing have changed in the face of tragedy:

When I sing now…if it wasn�t for my wife being killed, I wouldn�t be able to have sung this song. I wouldn�t be more in depth in church. I wouldn�t be going to the temple every week like I�m supposed to. In a way I think God opened my eyes to show me that…because I put Cynthia first. I put her first. He didn�t plan it, but he didn�t stop it. He just made me open my eyes. ‘You�ve got to humble yourself; be more humble. I�m first.’ If it wasn�t for her, I wouldn�t be doing the things that I�m doing now.

Chambers Bros play UNC, 1969

2011-07-28T22:59:33Z

While visiting North Carolina rock stalwart Stewart McLamb at his songwriting compound in Black Mountain, NC, I came across a 1969 edition of The Yackety Yak that he had recently purchased at Father and Sons in Raleigh. The Tarheel tome was a beautiful, full-color annual that, through photographs, interviews, and editorials, gave great insight into academic life, race relations, and the political climate of Chapel Hill at this time. Although the Chambers Brothers concert was a marquee event for the Student Union, the photo below was simply used to illustrate nightlife on Fraternity Court. As thousands of bands from across the country frequented the Greek circuit, there is no guarantee that this was a local ensemble. No identifying characteristic accompanies the snap shot, just the word “Hasson” emblazoned across the bass drum. Any guesses?

Odyssey Five - 2nd Time Around

2011-07-28T22:15:24Z

(Photo by Andy Tennille)

Odyssey Five’s performance last Saturday, as part of the Crossroads Concert Series at the Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art in Winston-Salem, is the very reason one gets into the “business” of prying into the lives and related legacies of our state’s musical veterans. Only teenagers when they recorded their lone LP, First Time Around, for Brunswick Records in 1975, the ladies of Odyssey Five are far more familiar with these songs today than they were when the lyrics sheets were shoved into their hands by producer Alonzo Tucker some 35 years ago. Time has also been kind to the voices of Odyssey Five, taking on a far more mature and finessed timbre in the intervening decades. Retro-upstart Ronnie Levels and his Genius Band, having cold-called Carolina Soul with the question: “Why doesn’t someone around here organize a soul revue?” were given the mandate to become part of the solution, and rose to the occasion. We hope this is the beginning of not just beautiful things for Odyssey Five and Ronnie Levels, but other Carolina Soul combos wishing to get a little more mileage out of their catalogs. We have proven that there is both a platform and an audience for this type of affair, and hope that Saturday’s time-machine talent show is the first of many.

Dungeon Family

2011-07-07T00:52:15Z

Preparing for Crossroads 2 at SECCA (Southeastern Center for Contemporary Art, if you’re nasty) has sent me scrambling across Winston-Salem, screening bric-a-brac and artifact for the exhibit that will accompany this monumental concert event. Pictured here are several players and participants from Golden-Era Winston-Salem as seen through the lens of former parks employee and nightclub owner, Rodney Sumler. These very community events, everything from voter registration drives to portable concerts aboard the Showbobile, sewed the seeds for Sumler’s legendary Dungeon Club, which showcased too many Carolina Soul luminaries to mention (one, Odyssey 5, will be performing at Crossroads 2). These collages themselves were the basis for the monthly collages found in the pages of Sumler’s enduring AC Phoenix, which has served the Triad community for over 27 years.

75 years of the Silver Stars.

2011-06-30T22:32:39Z

The Silver Stars gospel group of Orangeburg County, South Carolina enters their 75th year this fall, and they’ll celebrate the occasion on September 11, 2011 in Holly Hill, South Carolina. To purchase advance tickets, contact us at , and we’ll put you in touch with the appropriate parties.

When asked about the Stars’ longevity, vocalist Nehemiah “Slim” Small (who was only born the year that original manager Robert White Sr. assembled the first line-up) explained that “we know what people like and what people don’t like.” Mr. Small, who’s been with the group for 40 years (second only to George Inabinett, who’s clocked in a half century), also added that “the biggest things that break up a group are women and money.” Here’s a photo from one of his first years:

And here’s the 2007 line-up:

One staple of the Silver Stars’ programs throughout the years has been “The Bible Days,” and we are pleased to share a late-‘70s take that’s found on their only-ever 45-rpm release.

Star Search - The Leder Brothers

2011-06-26T21:41:14Z

Upon the release of “I’d Like To Touch A Star,” Steven and Sheldon Leder were enamored with soul musicians like Stevie Wonder, but more likely to be mistaken for Steely Dan. Wilson, North Carolina, although a safe distance from the coast, was well-within the event horizon of beach music’s influential reach. So between regional sets by the Embers and treks to see Count Basie in some intracoastal bowling alley, the Leder Brothers kindled a manner of music they felt made dutiful nods to all of their influences. All one-thousand of them.

Oddly, Steven and Sheldon Leder were not even the most famous Leder Brothers in Wilson County when this record (and the corresponding LP, Capitol Hill) materialized. Brothers Leon and Morris Leder got a forty-year head start, opening their own Leder Brothers enterprise in 1934, a department store which still serves the needs of the Tobacco-centric city to this day. Being recent emigrants from Eastern Europe, Leder Brothers catered to all residents, Black, White, or otherwise. Once Steven and Sheldon began demoing songs, scheduling gigs and recording dates, what better name than the reputable Leder Brothers? The name you can trust? Several of Leon’s children maintain the shop, a mom-and-pop (brother-and-sister, rather) stronghold for Wilson County residents seeking anything from Sunday Best suits to tube socks.

“Natural Attraction” by Family Sircle.

2011-06-18T15:54:36Z

Durham, North Carolina’s Family Sircle group plans to release two CD singles ahead of a 14-track full-length in mid-August. The first single, which you can preview below, is entitled “Natural Attraction.” The group will be performing this number and many others in concert at the Alston Avenue Elks Lodge on Saturday, July 2nd (3920 South Alston Ave, Durham, NC). This will only be their third performance since long-time vocalist Edgar Saunders passed away in the fall of 2009.

These sweet soul specialists’ Carolina Soul roots run deep. Edgar Saunders (in the middle on the cover of their 1999 debut, below) sang with several local ‘70s-era acts including Blue Steam (aka Formula 12) and the Modulations. His brothers Stanley Saunders and Jerome Saunders worked with Duralcha and the Differences, respectively, and represent half of their re-vamped vocal line-up (they’re on the left and right in the picture at the top of this entry). Barry Nichols (pictured in the middle, above) and Pierce McKoy (not pictured; worked out-of-state for a spell with national artist Main Ingredient), share the singing duties.

Shirley Clinton CD release concert in Greensboro, 6/25/11.

2011-06-16T20:18:18Z

R&B vocalist Shirley Clinton will celebrate the release of her third solo CD “Just Think About It” on Saturday June 25, 2011 at the American Legion Post in Greensboro, North Carolina (3214 McConnell Road; near NC A&T’s Aggie Farm). Opening acts include Betty Jackson, a new solo artist and a sister of Ms. Clinton, and Psychic, a Greensboro-based reggae performer. More details are on Facebook.

A niece of George Clinton, Ms. Clinton’s first record “You Mean the World to Me” came out in 1992; her sophomore effort “So Love” followed 17 years later under the moniker Queenie ToVahn. Preceding her solo career, Ms. Clinton cut her teeth on the 1980s Carolina Soul scene. By the mid-‘80s she was the lead vocalist for the Undertakers Band of Greensboro. Later known as Horizon, this outfit was managed by Curt Moore for a time. The musical leaders of the group were the guitarist brothers Johnny and Allen Woodard and Clinton family friend Lonnie Dodson on keys. (Dodson now tours with the Chairman of the Board.) Before breaking out on her own, Ms. Clinton next joined the Mighty Majors, subject of previous Carolina Soul posts.

Voices of the Monitors.

2011-06-15T18:57:02Z

�We go all the way back to 1957. It�s when we organized this band. I�m one of the only original people who�s still left. These guys will quickly tell you that they aren�t that old. Don�t let them fool you, they are. We organized the band, and we called ourselves the Monitors. I don�t know if you�re old enough to remember this, but there was a radio program called The Monitor, I think it was NBC. And it was the first time that they started putting all the news on one program: the sports, the weather, the local news, the state news, the national news, all in one program. So when we heard that, we said �that�s what we want to do, we want to be a band that can play all kinds of music.� Anything you want to hear, we�re able to do that. We got guys who played around James Brown for years�Clarence Carter, they�ve been all around the world playing. Our repertoire is very extensive. We could be here all day long and never repeat the same song. That�s what we�ve been doing for years, and we just love music, and we�re going to keep on doing this until we just don�t have any more air.�

Those are the words of Bill Myers, early in a PineCone-sponsored gig on Saturday, June 11, 2011 at Bond Park in Cary, North Carolina. His group, the Monitors, traveled from Wilson, North Carolina to showcase their time-tested blend of jazz, r&b, soul, and oldies to a receptive crowd at the Sertoma Amphitheatre. The band will be performing on a national scale in early July; they�ll play several dates at the Smithsonian Folklife Festival on the National Mall in Washington, DC.

From right to left: Sam Lathan (drums), Bill Myers (saxophone), Richard “Dick” Knight (trumpet), Gerald Hunter (guitar), Mollie Hunter (vocals/percussion).

Follow the link below for an audio montage featuring several of the group�s long-time members in concert last Saturday. You�ll hear from Mr. Myers (who had a hand in the original 1960s recording of “The Love Knot”), guitar player Gerald Hunter (vocalist on �A Lover�s Question”; he led several groups in the 1970s such as the Evening Light Gospel Singers), vocalist Mollie Hunter (on �Jazzy Lady�), drummer Sam Lathan (vocalist on �More Today Than Yesterday�; he anchored James Brown’s rhythm section for a time in the 1960s), and trumpet player Richard �Dick� Knight (soloist on �Mister Magic”; this one-time James Brown band member founded Kinston’s Dick Knight and the Bossatettes in the 1960s).

Butch Kennedy photo archives.

2011-06-08T14:12:07Z

Butch Kennedy of Charleston, South Carolina wrote in last August and revealed his amazing connections to Moe the Rooster, King Clyde Perkins, Lady Jam, and Midnight Blue, all of whom were previously profiled here at Carolina Soul:

�I just viewed your site I was wondering if moe the rooster is still alive. I just found out king clyde is no longer with us. My name is Butch Kennedy I was a DJ in the 70�s I was Mr. Boogie I worked with Lady Jam and was curious we used to play at Clydes Celestial !! all the time I also played with Midnight Blue from 1972 until 1976 thanks for the memories.�

Since then, Butch has gradually made his way through his photo albums, sharing with us these priceless images of himself and Lady Jam:

Thank you!

Anthony Hamilton’s Secret Hook

2011-03-27T19:48:12Z

The shock waves of Carolina patriotism were still still being felt long after Petey Pablo’s “Raise Up” stubbornly evaporated from rotation in the early aughts. In 2004, Charlotte’s Crime Family penned their own anthem to the Old North State. Of the SEVEN individuals mentioned on this label, omitted is that of Queen City’s R&B King, Anthony Hamilton, whose breakthrough album Comin’ from Where I’m From had been released just months prior. Although nostalgic shouts to institutions like Bike Week and Myrtle Beach decorate this more-than-successful Carolina Rap relic, the Crime Family does a greater deal of block hugging and gangster posturing. Although I often question the authenticity (and more often the logic), of committing such court-admissible braggadocio to record, Charlotte’s Hidden Valley Kings, as revealed on that episode of Gangland (History Channel), practiced comparable caution. To aspiring drug dealers: If wire tapping devices start falling out of your customer’s pockets, be a little more skeptical of the “It’s radios and shit” explanation. However, to aspiring rappers: THIS is how you fit Michael Jordan, Julius Peppers, and Clay Aiken into one verse. Kudos.

Stillman-Davis Misdiagnosed

2011-03-24T23:09:44Z

As with most Tarheel records from the 1980s, this is largely unlistenable. The term “novelty” only begins to contextualize the piano boogers, cowbell abuse, Huey Lewis sax-foolery, and wet-noodle vocal posturing that mar this attractive picture disc. What is actually pretty cool is the Switched-On rendition of “Stars and Stripes Forever.” That I can live with. Although College Town records maintained a post-office box in Durham (strike one), the Stillman-Davis Band also produced a picture disc for the Fighting Illii, leading one to believe that the the hyphenated duo didn’t have Tarheel-specific Fever after all. Regardless, they’d clearly come down with something. I guess that’s what you get for messing around in Durham.

Hark the Sound of Tarheel Voices

2011-03-17T20:14:12Z

Not to give anyone the impression that Carolina Soul has been bought out by ESPN, or, heaven forbid, Fox Sports South, but March Madness offers welcomed respite from all the other manners of madness that plague us April-February. I keep trying to tell my fellow Winston-Salemites/Tarheel brethren Stuart Scott and Hubert Davis—People don’t want all this sports gossip, off-court drama, and contract politics. They want iPhone photos and locker room improvisations. Props to Alan Lomax, the Mike Jordan of Field Recording. Props to the 2011 Carolina Tarheels Heels—Go wherever the winds of basketball greatness may take you.

Duke Scores! One Real Band

2011-03-17T19:00:40Z

Nate Smith is a New York native and Duke University graduate student, who hosts Funk Disco Dance Fridays on WXDU 88.7-FM, Fridays from 6-8 pm.

This rich, White Yank was granted the olive branch of blog space on Carolina Soul to bring some real love to Duke University for their 2011 ACC Men�s Basketball Championship. Coach K would not recruit Chuck D, but I feel like Radio Raheem right now: right hand, left hand, love and hate, Duke and Carolina� Left hand hate KO�d by love! I love you Carolina fans for being who you are and thinking what you think. But as my friend would say, Baby blue, Carolina is not populist! That�s State. Go cheer on that.
If you want to hear a band that flips preconceptions about Duke on its lid, look no further than the One Real Band. Duke�s Harlequins may be �Carolina Soul-lite,� but ORB has soul. Former Durham club operator Bro. Yusuf Salim (RIP) says ORB �offer a repertoire of great variety, guaranteed to move you no matter what your favorite style may be.� And these guys had style (@jalenrose, I am awaiting my Twitter apology). We�re talking jazz, funk, proto-rap, soul, and (regrettably) standards. A trio of brothers Kimbrough, Duke alum and harbinger of Plumlee, led the band, which crossed town-gown boundaries to fill out its seven-piece. Guest singer Fleecia Heath, in her first Google hit and only appearance on their sole 1981 LP It�s Nice To Know There�s Still ONE REAL BAND, offers the most fragile of modern soul vocals, telling her counterpart Nat Martin, �We come back once again to the place where we began�one time in hate, the next in love.� Carolina will have its turn back at the top again one day, but until then�