and a long awaited comeback

Ivery Bell in his own words

Little is known about the band Moment of Truth, their only album from 1977 enjoys great popularity among soul and disco connoisseurs on both sides of the Atlantic. The group, which unfortunately was to record only one album, consisted of Norris Harris, Ivery “Caprice” Bell, Michael Garrison and Billy Jones. The producer Reid Whitelaw writes in the liner notes “Moment of Truth is an album about the desire for love”. From the introductory song “Chained to Your Love” to the last song of the B-side “So Much for Love”this statement proofs to be true.The label Salsoul Records is better known for their “disco-heavy” releases, but Moment of Truth is more of an “uptempo soul concept” album. Since there is so little information about this group, we located and interviewed one of the lead singers of the group Ivery “Caprice” Bell in New York.

Ivery is not surprised that Moment of Truth are in Europe and even in Japan floor fillers in underground Discos. “I know that the releases of ‘Lovin’ You Is Killin’ Me’,’You got me hummin ‘and a few others have often been played, and what we have always regretted is the fact that we never had a chance to perform in Europe.”   Ivery started singing at the age of 8, his first appearance was at no other location than the Apollo Theater in Harlem. The famous talent competitions that have produced the Jackson 5, among others, are legendary. Among a large number of first-class singers, he won the first place. “That was the wake up call for my family that I had great talent.

“At some point I put together my own group, so to speak my own Jackson 5 version. We then performed at parties and talent competitions.” Devoted to his music career, Ivery quit his job and set off each day for New York City to search for jobs that required singers.”I knew I had talent, but I was not sure if I should do it professionally, but I definitely wanted to try it.”The Village Voice newspaper has always been there to help him find vocal jobs. He discovered a display of the Studio Sound System 6, which was looking for singers. Ivery went to the audition with a friend and was selected for the group that was to be named ACE SPECTRUM. The group later had a hit with “Do not Let Me Be Lonely”. Reid Whitelaw, the auditor in charge, however, alerted Ivery to another group, Moment of Truth. “Moment of Truth was the baby of Reid Whitelaw, he had musicians recording in the studio, but no real group performing. Therefore, he was very interested in finding singers. At this time, Ivery and Norris, who were already working on the Moment of Truth tracks, met.”

“We held auditions ourselves at that time to find more members for the group, we chose Michael Garrison. We invited Billy Jones to get an impression of the group in the hope that he will also become part of the group. He was the ideal cast because we were looking for a singer with a “heavy and rough voice”. Billy, I knew from other groups where we sang together. In this formation, we then sang in front of Reid who took us immediately under contract “. Reid took the group to Ken Cayre, one of the founders of Salsoul Records, and we sang the track “Helplessly” in his apartment. That was the official birth of Moment of Truth, as Ken immediately signed us up for Salsoul Records. This time was terribly exciting for the then 19-year-old Ivery, everything seemed to be possible. “I’ll never forget the moment when I first heard myself sing on tape in the studio. Of course you are still nervous at the beginning, but after the second take, i felt comfortable. The duet between Billy and me “You’re All I Want To Be” will always be remembered as another highlight. To this day I just love this song “.      

 

 

 

He is still in contact with Billy and is thinking about re-recording the song as many people still request this song to him. Ivery does not know why the cover pictures where changed in the European versions of the album as opposed to the US version. He thinks it’s very funny. There are many versions of their songs on the internet, and every time Ivery is surprised how creatively people deal with their music and what new remixes emerge.

When asked if there are still unreleased songs from that time, Ivery says, yes. He remembers the song “Spreading Myself Too Thin”, which he wrote himself. It was a ballad not an uptempo song and was written in 1983. “We’re thinking about finally releasing this song, it would be a good idea to do it as we’re back as part of a very successful disco reunion show. 

Therefore, one can say Moment of Truth are back. I reunited the group for a reunion show, which took place last October at Resorts Casino NY. In addition to Tavaris (which also regularly occur in Holland), France Jolie (Come to me) and many other Well-known artists from the disco area.” We are already talking to some agents in order to continue to make a comeback.

Incidentally, we also learns that Moment of Truth also played in a then-popular Blaxploitation movie, on the soundtrack you will find greats like Gloria Gaynor and Vicki Sue Robinson. NOCTURNA is the name of the vampire movie from 1979. They also contributed two songs to the soundtrack, “Love At First Sight” and “I’m Hopelessly In Love With You”. The in-disco STARSHIP DISCOVERY 1 in Manhattan served as a location for many scenes from the film. (https://sites.google.com/site/cultoddities/home/nocturna/filming-locations) But shortly after the shooting differences within the group and the management stared. “We just wanted to have more influence on our music, also in terms of writing songs. We simply could not agree with the management, so we retreated and everyone moved in a different direction. ” When asked why there was no way for a follow-up album of the first album, Ivery laughs and says “politics” As far as Ivery is aware, producers Joe Cayre, Ken Cayre and Stan Cayre wanted to be involved in the group through a “personal ownership interest”. The inventor of Moment of Truth, Reid Whitelaw was of course not enthusiastic about this proposal. This led to a break from which the group should not recover. We were already in the preparations for a second album, as the label did not want to invest in the group due to these clashes. The debut album also sold very well in Europe and Ivery regrets that they never had the opportunity to perform in Europe.

“One of the big problems we had was that we were approached at concerts by many managers and producers who would have loved to work with us, but unfortunately, because of our contract, our hands were tied”. And it was not just concerts in discos, at the height of their short career, Moment of Truth played at Madison Square Garden.   At the premiere party of the film Saturday Night Fever, whose influence is still present today and characterizes the image of the Disco Area, they performed that evening in the Disco Odyssey 2001 in Brooklyn, which were also the filming location of the film. There they were, next to Sister Sledge one of the “Main Acts”.            

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Soon after, Billy and Michael left the group, and then a new member arrived. Michael later came back to the group, but the moment of the group was just gone. After “Moment of Truth”, Ivery has been very focused on Gospel and released a lot of Gospel material along with O’Jays producer Dennis Williams. He also produced “Spreading myself to thin” in the early ’80s.

One day, Darryl Payne called him to alert him to the group Blue Magic. The group was looking for a new lead singer and they felt that his voice fit best with their material. He accepted the job and was for several years the lead singer of the group Blue Magic. “You must know there are several groups of Blue Magic. In between, I joined the Delfonics to sing again in another Blue Magic group. I did that for about 10 years. ” Since October of this year he is again very successful with his gospel material on tour and he has at least 40 appearances with a Motown revival group a year. Incidentally, he still finds the time to bring Moment of Truth back together. Ivery is a friend of Reid Whitelaw, who helps him to rebuild his plan of Moment of Truth. Unfortunately, it is no longer possible to rebuild the original line up. Michael Garrison died a few years ago. Norris Harries is also no longer available, as he has a hotel in the Caribbean. They do not earn money on the album, and Moment of Truth also meets the fate of so many artists who signed contracts that were not in the main interest of the artist. Especially in view of the fact that the album was released in many countries and several times on CD, this fact hurts a lot. “First and foremost, we made money from the concerts. For the Movie we were paid for the shooting days, but we were not involved in either the soundtrack revenue or the box office earnings. Today it would not happen to me anymore, but at the age of 19 you were just very young and very naive.”  For Ivery it is very important that the fans know that Moment of Truth is back and only looking for a promoter, so that they can finally appear in Europe. He thanks the fans for their support over the years.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

SoulDisco can exclusively present some snippets of the never released songs from 1983.  

 

Bonus:

The Gwen Owens Story

Before and after HOT 

After some attempts to get in contact with Gwen, we finally got in touch and she was more than surprised that Hot and some songs are still very popular in the soul / disco scene. Especially in the UK, Hot is a perennial favorite. Asked when the fans can expect a release of HOT’s three albums on CD, Gwen says, “The material is at Atlantic and it’s up to them whether the albums are released on CD or not.” Unfortunately, all outtakes and tapes from this session are no longer available. Producer Terry Woodfort eventually decided to destroy them, as the storage of the tapes in the respective rooms was simply too costly. That means, the only remaining master tapes are in the archives of Atlantic, so at least one hopes. Gwen started singing in high school. “There was a sponsorship program in which I sang. Someone who sponsored this program was also recording in a recording studio and asked me what I did after school. I told him nothing and he just said, very well, then you can come to the studio after school. “The first recording was” Mystery of Love “followed by” Mystery Man “(1964). After that there was “Just Say You Wanted (And Needed)” and “I lost a good thing”. All songs are still very popular in the Nothern Soul scene. At the beginning of her career she only sang songs by male singers, like Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, because she did not want to be compared to other female singers. “Just to avoid anyone telling you, oh your sound is like that of singer X or Y. As female role models, I had Aretha Franklin, Tina Turner, Etta James, and Gladys Knight. I covered a lot of James Brown, my favorite song was cold sweat.   My cousin and sister were my backup dancers in my performances. We had this one gig in a club and I wore high heels and danced like crazy. Suddenly I slipped and during the next beat I was back up again. Of course, people thought it was part of my performance, why would a woman dance like this with high heels in a very long dress on a slippery floor? It was unbelievably fun for those who knew it was not part of my show. ” The single “Rain” / “Lies”, which is in many lists stated as a single led by Gwen Owens, was not sung by her. “Weldon Mcdougall who has released the song must have made a mistake,” says Gwen. “It’s definitely not my voice, unfortunately now the whole world thinks the single is mine, which it definitely is not. There are so many songs I have recorded over the years and many songs that I can not remember … But I can clearly say that it’s not my voice. I do not know who the woman is and if she is still alive, but I certainly do not want any credit for songs I did not record. ” In 1968 she recorded the singles “Make him mine” and “One more day”. Followed by more singles she recorded until she moved to California in 1971. “That’s where I recorded at Muscle Shoals Studios, where I  also met producers Clayton Ivery and Terry Woodford, who also produced my song” you better watch out “. Clayton tried to sign me with a label when he suddenly got a call from Motown. He asked to build Motown South together with Terry. And when he signed up with Motown, he suggested me as an artist and I was in it. I insisted, however, that my contract only lasted over 6 months. Motown had a habit of contracting artists for 7 years and then doing nothing with them. And you can not record for anyone else, since you have a long-term contract with Motown.  

We did not search for material, but had recorded other songs besides “you better watch out”. The were completely finished and would only have to be published. The problem with Motown, however, was that they had so many artists with so much material that they did not even manage to release my stuff. So, after 6 months I asked to be released from my contract. At that time, Ivery and Terry were still under contract with Motown South. The Motown South Project did not really do anything. When their contracts extradited to Motown, they called me and asked if I did not want to come back and I said to myself, why not. At that time, they brought my songs to Casablanca and Casablanca signed me. Finally Casablanca released “You better watch out”.  When asked what happened to the rest of the songs, Gwen laughs. “I have no idea, you know, I’ve recorded so many songs over the course of my career, eventually you lose track.” Producer Terry Woodford still remembers a title “Cross My Heart” which was also recorded by Gwen but never released.. After the release of “you better watch out” it got quiet, concerned Gwen`s solo recordings. “I worked as a background singer for Ann-Margret, Jose Feliciano, the O’Jays, Lou Rawls, Nancy Sinatra and Raquel Welch, among others. Ivery came back to me in the mid 70’s, so I did the backing vocals on the Wolfman Jack tour with Cathy Carson and Irene Cathaway.

Shortly thereafter, Terry and Ivery called me for a new recording session and I told them right away that there would not be any solo recordings, but that I would bring along two singers. They only said you will never be part of a group. I wanted to prove the opposite, and I did. Therefore they wanted us three in the studio. Just then, Irene decided to go on tour with another singer. That meant Cathy and I were alone in the studio. That proved no challenge for either Ivery or Terry, as they initially only wanted to record with me. So we recorded 4 songs and with these 4 songs we got a contract with Big Tree, which was a sub label of Atlantic. ” As the first single, the label decides not for an up-tempo song, but for “Angle in Arms”. Unfortunately, the demo for “Angel in your Arms” does not exist anymore. As Terry Woodford has a special memory of this demo. “The 16-track Tape of the Country Demo had a crack right in the middle of it. All we had from the demo was the title and a line of lyrics. So what we did was to add a new piano track, guitars and bass section to the song, including rewritten lyrics. Only the drums remained from the original. Gwen asked her producers if they were really sure that “Angel” should be the first single, followed by a unanimous “yes”. Gwen says today that she never expected the song to be such a big hit. “After the song was released, the label wanted to have a finished album as soon as possible. At the same time, we were hoping to find a third member for the group. We had no idea what cultural background the singer should have. Irene was Mexican, but we did not necessarily look for a Mexican again. We were sitting at our manager’s office when we all accidentally looked out the window and watched a woman walking across the street. I also do not remember what she was wearing, but her look was just amazing. Ed our manager just said if she is coming for the audition and sing can sing,  she gets the job, she just looked amazing. You know how the story ends, after we were complete as a trio, we went back to Muscle Shoals to finish the album. Juanita Curiel, who joined as the third member, can not be heard on the original version of “Angel in your Arms” but on the Spanish version of the song. As she was not yet a member of the group when the first version was recorded. I do not remember who had the idea, we learned that Juanita does not speak Spanish because we were hoping she could translate the song. That’s why there were suddenly about 9 translators in the studio who translated the song for us. ” When asked how Terry came to all the translators in Alabama in the 1970s, he said, “We have announced what we are looking for and many people came to the studio. It was exciting for them to be in a recording studio. At the time, HOT had a big hit and was HOT in the truest sense of the word. I still remember that the line “While you’re out of paintin ‘the town” made the most translation problems. Because this is a proverb. We paid everyone who helped $ 50. People did not do it for the money, but because they had a blast. After all the recordings for the first album were completed, we then made the Spanish version. After the release of the album, we went on tour and did some TV shows. We had to record the albums so fast, we did not really have time to enjoy it. Before we knew it, we were back in the studio to record the second album. ” When asked how we can imagine the time in the studio, says Gwen, “You know, there were a lot of songwriters there and everyone was trying to get their songs on our album. We listened to the demos and I talked to Terry and Clayton. It did not matter which songs I chose, because they were all good. I’ve played them and tried to figure out which songs I can feel good with. Then the musicians recorded the backing tracks, we had no influence on the arrangements. The things we could control were the lead and background vocals. We have all made background vocal arrangements for all our albums. At first I just went to the studio and recorded the background without consulting the producers. I thought I would go beyond the limits if I just do it without talking to them first. So there was a difference of opinion and the next day I waited until I should sing. The result was that I just heard, what are you waiting for? Sing the background! From then on, everyone understood that we knew what we were doing. ” As a woman in the 70s it was not easy in the music business. Not only that everyone thought the group would be like many groups and compiled solely for commercial reasons. “No, it was a coincidence how we came together and we were one of the first multicultural groups. And yes, we had to fight for our rights, especially Juanita had a hard time getting her songs on the albums. A few of her songs made it on our albums, but trust me, it was a tough fight to even consider our songs. ” Gwen also has two songs on the first album, including “Why don`t you believe in your man” and “If you don’t love her” (The story behind this song, can be found in Part 1) That’s how we got respect, we showed them that we’re not stupid women who had no idea in which key we had to sing, etc. We were very good educated musically and we knew how to write songs. ” Why was there no follow up after three strong albums? Gwen says, “I do not know if I should tell you this story, but it was so long ago, why not. A singer at Columbia recorded the same song as a singer at our mother label Atlantic. And something happened back then that there was a legal dispute between Columbia and Atlantic and their respective singers. The singer who recorded at Atlantic, it was her first record, we were very sorry, because it would have been a hit. The song was also a hit for the male singer at Columbia. During this dispute, however, everything that stood at promotion etc was stopped by Atlantic. This in turn led to a dispute with our producer and the Executive of Atlantic. The end of the story was that we were released from our contract. Therefore, there was no follow up after the three albums. So, whenever you hear that an artist has quit a contract for some unknown reason, the artist is mostly innocent of that fact, it’s the managers, the record bosses, etc., who decide on your career, not the artist himself. This lawsuit also buried the singer’s career at the same time.” Why did she record solo material in 1979? “Our manager told our producers to record these songs. They did not tell the others girls and I should come to the studio and record my vocals to the songs. I suspect that they wanted to alienate me from the group to make me a solo artist. There was no reason for that. There was never a bad word in the group, or any other problems. Anyway, I recorded the songs, but I did not even know they were released until the day I saw them as a single some years ago. ” When asked what she remembers from the 1980 movie, Gwen says, “I know that the script for the movie was done before we even talked about it. At first, the movie was only about two singers, then they expanded the script to 3 singers when we came into movie. ” Why is there so less video recordings of HOT, Gwen wonders. She remembers being in many TV shows. The next thing you hear from HOT dates back to 1982 and for a long time it was not clear if this was really a HOT single, or if only, as shown on the label, Juanita alone was involved in the recording. This is the single “Tonight” / “The Nights Are Not Enough”. Gwen confirms that this is a Hot single as both she, Cathy and Juanita have recorded this song including the B-side. (There are more demo songs from these sessions, which we have already covered extensively in Part 1 of the Hot Story) Unfortunately, they were also unlucky with the new label Boardwalk. Shortly after signing the new contract, Hot and Neil Bogart’s wife ( Neil Bogart was the owner of Broadwalk ) sat in the briefing room to learn that Neil Bogart had died, but his wife was thrilled with the group. Plans were made, but the New York office stopped everything here, too. They had to figure out, how it should go on without the deceased boss. Because all the contracts with the bank and the lenders were with Neil and not his wife’s. “The next thing we knew was that Broadwalk was closing and we were back without a label, where we could hardly wait to record a new album. Cathy left the group and Juanita and I continued to record songs like “Home Again” by Phyllis Brown and “Woman to Woman”. (The song Woman to Woman is available on the album Hot Uncovered via cdbaby). With these and other songs, we then tried to get a new record deal. We replaced Cathy with Cathy Ornelas.

Shortly thereafter, Juanita moved back to Las Vegas and we put Hot on ice. In 1984, I was back at Muscle Shoals Studio to record new solo songs with Terry. I remember that we recorded 4 songs, I still remember three song titles. It was Hungry for Attention, Be my Baby and Straight for the Heart. Terry tried to get a contract for me with this material. But I never heard of the songs again, I would love to hear them again. But at the time, I did so much backing vocals for so many people that I was not really “pushy” in my solo career. ” Is there hope for a reunion? Gwen says, “I talked to Juanita about it, I’ve been to Europe several times and have performed there with my son and daughter. They are also both singers. They would like to perform together again and gladly in front of a German audience. ” What is her favorite song of all the songs she recorded? “I sang so many songs, I can not tell you. You just gave me two tracks (“Tonight” / “The Nights Are Not Enough”) that I totally forgot about. I can tell you which song I did not like at all and that was Mama’s girl. But meanwhile I have to say, I like the song as well.     Finally, I would like to say how grateful we are for our fans. They transport the music of many groups from the 60s and 70s into a new age. And if there is a chance to get to Europe, we would be very happy. ”   As a highlight we can play snippets of the songs “Hungry for Attention”, “Be My Baby” and “Straight for the Heart”. These tracks been lost for more than 30 years and can only be heard here for the first time. Many thanks to Terry Woodford, who was always on hand for questions and information. I would recommend everyone to visit his site: http://www.heartbeatlullabies.com About the recording studio:

Wishbone Recording Studio

Revealed after 35 Years

The Hot Story begins

  HOT is an American vocal trio that gained success through their mega hit “Angel in your Arms” in 1977. Producer Terry blames the success of the song for the fact that in the late ’70s there were few songs that women could identify with.

At that time, the trio was something out of the ordinary, the group was multicultural. On the one hand there was the African-American lead singer Gwen Owens, the Spaniard Juanita Curiel (later a very successful songwriter) and Kansas native Cathy Carson. All three albums the group released between 1977 and 1980 are still characterized by a very good production and great arrangements. Especially the first album from the year 1977 does not have to hide behind the hit single “Angel in your Arms”.

                        But back to the beginning. The surviving members of the group, Gwen and Juanita, were happy to be available for interviews. Furthermore, we were able to locate their producer Terry Woodford. What surprises we were about to see were quit shacking. Because as the title promises, we were able to bring undiscovered treasures to light.  

Juanita lives in Las Vegas, where she practices as hypnosis therapist. Her beginnings as a singer started long before HOT. In the interview, Juanita tells me that the timing for the interview could not have been better. HOT and Cathy’s former band member Ray Stein are recording a new version of “Angel in your Arms” and Gwen and her will be recording the backing vocals. Juanita still writes songs, in August or September she goes to the studio to record them. “I always had two loves in my life, one was music, the other was mental health. During my time with HOT, I trained as a hypnosis therapist. I practice this profession with greatenthusiasm. ” She is always surprised that many young people are interested in the music of the 70s. “I sang in high school in a choir when I graduated, my then best friend had an uncle who lived in Las Vegas and asked me if I would like to go there with her over the summer. We would look for jobs and have a good time. My mom said that’s okay, since I’m old enough so we drove to Vegas. The Vegas of the 60s is not comparable to today’s Vegas. Downtown was very popular and auditions were held for dancers. In the 60s you could drive through downtown, today you can only walk. At that time everything was designed for the “Young Generation”. The twist was THE song. I participated in an audition for dancers and got the job. We had four appearances every night. A short time later I heard from an audition for Wayne Newton, he had two backing vocalists, one got out and now he was looking for a replacement. I got the job. At that time he was a big star in Las Vegas.     At the same time, I also started writing songs in collaboration with the band’s guitarist. The bands in Las Vegas at that time were almost huge orchestras. We always had two shows a day, a dinner show and a midnight show. Wayne was friends with Elvis and a member of my background group was Melanie Westmoreland, her sister is Kathy Westmoreland, who sang backing vocals for Elvis. This allowed us to see his shows and go to his parties, that must have been in the mid-70s. It was a great experience to work with Wayne, the time itself was great with all the stars performing in Vegas. One song I recorded with Gene the guitarist was Christmas in the USA, which Wayne recorded for one of his Christmas albums. That spurred me on and I wanted to do more, but I also knew that this was limited in Vegas. So I left Wayne and went to LA to get a foothold there as a songwriter. In LA, I participated in two auditions, one for Steve Wonder and the other for my group HOT, which was then called Sugar and Spice. People told me you need at least 5 years to make a name for you in LA. It took me two weeks. I did not get the job as background singer for Stevie Wonder. But the second audition took place in a law firm on Ventura Blvd California.  So I came to this office and the lawyer was also the manager of the Sugar and Spice group and the existing members were Gwen Owens, Cathy Carson and a girl named Irene (Cathaway). I told them what I’ve done so far, then I sang and left.  A few days later, I got the call from Ed Sherman, who was her manager, and he told me I had the job. ”  Gwen says what Juanita did not know. “We could see out of the building onto the street, and Ed told us when he saw Juanita crossing the street, if she can sing she has the job.”  Juanita continues: “They liked the fact that I fit in with their concept of putting together a multicultural band. At that time, the races were clearly separated, there was the easy listing, which was very white. If you had a black singer, you were mostly sorted in the direction of soul. Producer Terry Woodford said, let’s try playing on more radio stations, we want to target a bigger audience. In the beginning, before this concept stood, Terry Woodford produced Gwen Owens. They wanted to open borders. So, they had Cathy and Latina Irene (Cathaway), whom I never met. There had already been recordings in Muscle Shoals Alabama. Irene has never made it to this first session, there were problems, she did not want to go on tour. Therefore, they sought replacement, which they found in me. After the “ok”, I had to decide quickly whether I wanted to be with a group, or continue to visit auditions for my songwriting. And before I knew it, I stood at Muscle Shoes recording our first album. The song “Angel in your Arms” was already recorded only with the vocals of Gwen and Cathy. Gwen always sang the lead vocals, that was never my intention, I wanted to sing the backing vocals and maybe put a few of my own songs on the album. When asked if it was hard for women in the 1970s in the music business, Juanita said: “The record companies were led by men, the producers were men. The singers should look good and sing well, but we surprised our producers. Gwen is a well-trained singer, and my great experience as a singer-songwriter meant that I was more than just a pretty woman who could be sold well on a cover. And yes, there were also fights about putting our self-written songs on the albums. I think the concept was initially meant to place Gwen in the different audiences with Cathy and me in the background. But the better we got to know the producers and they saw that we could do more than just sing songs from a sheet, they started to write songs with us and they made it on the albums too. One of the songs we wrote and which was on the first album was “If you don’t love her”.  Juanita still remembers the moment the song was written.  “While we recorded at Muscle Shoes, we stayed in a hotel. Terry and Clayton were in the studio and edited / prepared the songs. So, we talked about someone and Gwen just said “Gee, if he don’t love her why the hell he doesn’t just leave this woman” and I looked at her and said Gwen we have a song. We immediately started writing. Our producers had many talented songwriters around Nashville, like Tommy, who wrote “Angel in your Arms” among others. When he saw what we had, he got his guitar and said, let’s make a song out of it. In my opinion that’s one of the reasons why the song ended up on the album because he was one of the producers. They did not see us as a singer / songwriter group because they had their own songwriters. ”      

The song “If you don’t love her” was also released in 1978 by Lorraine Johnson on her album “The more you want”. One of Juanita’s favorite songs from all three albums is “Taking my love for granted”. When asked how the name HOT came about, Juanita says, “The producers were no longer satisfied with the name Sugar and Spice and so we sat together and thought about what name could fit to us. It should have three letters and we wanted something hip at the time. There were already groups like Hot Chocolate and at the end of the meeting we said, why do not we call each other HOT and one of the guys said, great, you’re also three hot chicks. “😊

How was it in the studio at the time, how can we imagine a recording session, Juanita says, “We came together in the studio, the producers picked songs for us, and we discussed the material. Our influence in terms of selection and arrangements was very limited. If a selection pleased we got the demos on cassette along with the lyrics. We then took this to the hotel and learned the text. Gwen learned the lyrics and the melody, while Cathy and I took care of the backing vocal arrangements. The next day we got in the studio and Gwen recorded the lead vocal. That was a so-called Rough Vocal, Gwen who is a great singer and could “nail a song” on the first take, wanted to change something in the phrasing or arrangements because she was a perfectionist, Terry our producer did not want it. There were one or two healthy and professional discussions about the way the songs should sound. But all groups go through these phases. After the lead vocal was recorded, Cathy and I went into the booth and recorded our backing vocals. If they were not satisfied with our armaments, we went out and talked about it, as I said, there were constructive discussions and over time, our influence on the recording process grew.  They trusted us that we knew what we were doing.  When the master was finished, we went over to the next song. There was a lot of creative energy. And Gwen, I talked to her yesterday, said to me, you know, I’ve been in many projects after Hot, and even though we did not last long, we had a lot and very good output. And I never had that feeling and energy with another group again.  After recording the album, we all had a meeting to decide which songs were suitable for a single release.  And what can I say, “Angle in your arms” was not exactly our favorite. When we heard the song for the first time as a demo it was very country. But Gwen saw something in this song.  Our producers were also the co-authors of the song and they put their own money into the promotion of the song. There was a radio station in Florida, they were playing our song and slowly something was developing.  Big Tree, our label back then was a sub label of Atlantic, they had so many artists and projects that they eventually decided to close Big Tree. Which meant for us that we were without a label in the early 80s.  They did not put much into the promotion of our second and third albums and I think we were just a victim of the record industry back then.  Even the movie “Running Hot” aka “Smokie and the Judge(1980)” did not change this fact.  

They have also been popular with jazz greats such as Stanley Clarke, and are also featured on his 1979 release of “I Wanna Play For You.” When asked why there was no further release after  “Tonight / The nights are not enough (1982)” on the follow-up label “The Boardwalk Entertainment Co,” Juanita says, “You know, for me it became too political at some point, I wanted to focus more on songwriting. In addition, “The Boardwalk Entertainment Co” also belonged to another record label. These then eventually closed “The Boardwalk Entertainment Co”, so it was the same as at Big Tree. ” And then it was very difficult to keep the group together. There are songs that did not make it onto the album at that time, unfortunately HOT never had the opportunity to record them in a studio. There are also demos made for an album which should be released on “The Boardwalk Entertainment Co.” and Juanita now makes them available to fans after 35 years. So, you’re the first to hear these songs except the people who were there at the time. Who wants to get in touch with Juanita can do that via Facebook or her CDbaby page.    

A song from these demos was very much liked by us. “Could you love me” was written by Juanita and her roommate Karen and sung in Juanita’s living room.

Link to Hot Uncovered with all songs and some more from the preview:    

 

Barry White ist nicht nur in der Soul und Disco Szene ein bekannter Name.  Es handelt sich bei Barry White um einen der bekanntesten und erfolgreichsten Musiker des letzten Jahrhunderts, mit 100 Millionen verkauften Tonträgern weltweit. Weniger bekannt ist, dass Barry White nicht nur als Sänger, sondern auch als A&R (Artist & Repertoire, Entdecker von Künstlern) tätig war. In dieser Funktion nahm er Anfang der 70er Jahre einige Künstler unter Vertrag. Einer dieser Künstler ist die Soul Sängerin Gloria Scott.

Ihre einzige Platte „What Am I gonna do“ erschien 1974 und ist heute ein begehrtes Sammlerobjekt. Das Album gilt unter Kritikern  als eines der besten Soul Alben seiner Zeit, ein „Masterpiece“.

Im April diesen Jahres hatte ich die Gelegenheit Gloria anlässlich des 10. Baltic Soul Weekenders zu interviewen.

Gloria erscheint in ihrem „Stage-Outfit“, sie wird in einer knappen  halben Stunde ihren Auftritt haben.  Es werden nicht weniger als 4.000 Fans sein, die jeden ihrer Songs mitsingen können.

Zu Beginn ist Gloria sehr nervös, sie es ist nicht gewohnt, dass man sie auf der Straße erkennt, oder gar Bilder mit ihr machen will. Am Tag zuvor hatte sie sich während der Eröffnungsfeier unter die Besucher gemischt und kaum stand sie 5 Minuten unter den Zuschauern, blieb sie nicht lange unentdeckt und die ersten Selfies und Autogramme wurden gegeben. Spaßeshalber fügt sie hinzu, dass sie vielleicht in Europa leben sollte, hier kennt man sie.

Es sammeln sich tränen in ihren Augen, sie sagt, dass das für sie sehr emotional ist. Ihr war seiner Zeit nicht bewusst wie besonders ihr Album klingt, dass es heute von Kritikern als Zeitlos bezeichnet wird.

 

Gloria Scott wurde am 16. Feb. 1940 in Port Arthur Texas als zweites von 9 Kindern geboren. Ein wichtiger musikalischer Einfluss in ihrer Kindheit war ihre Mutter, Gloria sagt über sie:“ Sie sang Gospel mit Sam Cooke und den Soul Stirreres. Entschied sich aber dann eine Familie zu gründen und beendete daher ihre Professionelle Gesangskarriere“. Gloria arbeitete in ihren Teenager Jahren mit  Sly and the Family Stone und war ebenfalls ein Mitglied der Ikettes. Zu dieser Zeit sagt Gloria „Es war immer ein Traum von mir,  Sängerin zu werden. Als Sly Stone DJ in der Bay Area in San Francisco war, war er der erste, der mich in ein Aufnahmestudio nahm. Wir nahmen dort unter anderem auch den Song „I taught Him“ auf“. Als Gloria Scott & The Tonettes, I Taught Him (Part I & II) veröffentlicht wurde, war Gloria gerade 17 Jahre alt.  Ihr Lebensweg, eine Karriere im Musikbusiness schien ihr vorbestimmt zu sein.  Gloria bezeichnet Tina Turner als einen weiteren großen Einfluss “Sie war so gut zu mir“. Und überließ ihr auch öfter die Lead-Stimme in den Songs. Aber auch Gloria sagt, dass es nicht einfach war mit Ike zu arbeiten “Ike war sehr streng“. Daher führte eins zum anderen und nach einem verpassten Bus zu einem Auftritt in Housten, kündigte Gloria. Ihr damaliger Manager Blanchard Montgomery vermittelte ihr daraufhin einen Kontakt zu Sunny Chaney (Songwriter und Mitglied der Coasters). Dieser Kontakt sollte zu einer schicksalhaften Begegnung führen. Sunny stellte ihr Barry White vor,  dessen Büro  damals direkt am Sunset Boulevard lag.  Barry wollte gerne einige ihrer Songs, die sie geschrieben hatte hören. Er war so begeistert, dass er sie direkt unter Vertrag nahm.  Von da an hätte es eigentlich nur Berg auf gehen sollen.  Sie hatte einen Vertrag bei einem der angesagtesten Produzenten/Sänger der 70er Jahre.  Und genau diese Tatsache sollte auch später zu ihrem größten Problem werden.  Barry White nahm ihr erstes Album komplett auf Cassette auf und wollte, dass Gloria es genauso interpretierte wie er.  Und was soll man sagen, dass Ergebnis „What Am I gonna do“ spricht für sich und wird meiner Meinung nach zu Recht als ein zeitloser Klassiker angesehen. Ein zweites Album wurde aufgenommen,  es sollte unter anderem die Songs, There is No Cure For Me,  Is It Really True Boy (wurde später von Love Unlimited und Danny Pearson aufgenommen), I’ve Got To Have All Of You,  Just as long as we together beinhalten.

Letzterer wurde ein Hit. Am Abend als dieser Song aus der Feder von Vance Wilson und Thomas Anderson entstand, erinnert sich Gloria, meinte Gene Page „Let`s make little Gloria a Hit“. Eine Ausstrahlung des Songs folgte bei Soul Train. Gloria über ihr zweites Album ”Die Songs waren wirklich gut, genauso gut wenn nicht sogar besser als die auf dem ersten Album. Wenn ich mich richtig erinnere, war auch ein anderer Arrangeur beteiligt. Ich glaube es war H.B. Barnum”. Alle Zeichen standen auf Go, nur um Gloria wurde es sehr ruhig. Trotz mangelnder Promotion, konnte Sie einen Hit und ein solides Album vorweisen und das innerhalb eines Jahres. Was war passiert? Barry White startete genau zu dieser Zeit voll durch (sein erstes Album als Sänger erschien 1973). Seine Alben mit dem Love Unlimited Orchester und seine eigenen Alben gingen durch die Decke. Barry White hatte schlicht keine Zeit mehr, sich um die Künstler zu kümmern, die er unter Vertrag hatte. Gloria sagt, dass es immer nur um Barry bei der Platten Firma ging, da er der Star war. Daher sieht sie es heute kritisch, wenn ein Produzent gleichzeitig auch ein Main-Act ist. Ein ähnliches Schicksal wie das von Gloria ereilte auch die Sänger Jay Dee und Danny Pearson.

Da Gloria einen Vertrag mit Barry White und nicht direkt mit dem Label Casablanca, für das  Barry unter anderem auch produzierte hatte.  Konnte sie sich auch nicht an das Label direkt wenden um etwas Neues zu machen. Rückblickend sagt Gloria, dass sie damals vielleicht auch noch nicht bereit war. Und so zogen die Jahre ins Land.  Hal Davis vermittelte ihr zwischenzeitlich Studio Sessions bei Motown, wo sie für Mary Wilson als Background Sängerin eingesetzt wurde. Eine, wie sie jetzt sagt, sehr frustrierende Zeit für sie. Gegen Anfang der 80er Jahre hielt es Gloria nicht mehr aus und konnte nach 6 Jahren ihren Vertrag mit Barry White beenden.  Danach arbeitet sie unter anderem auch mit Johnny Otis und lebte 8 Jahre in Guam. Zu diesem Zeitpunkt erinnerte sich niemand mehr an die Sängerin die Jahre zuvor einen Hit hatte. Gloria Scott sollte in der Versenkung verschwinden und schwierige Jahre vor sich haben. Für die nächsten 30 Jahre würden sich vielleicht Soul Liebhaber hin und wieder an sie erinnern, aber wirklich Fuß fassen sollte sie nicht mehr im Musikbusiness. Laut ihrer Aussage dachte sie, sie wäre vergessen. Aber inzwischen gibt es eine neue Generation Fans, die sich für die Soul Musik der 70er interessieren und denen ihr Album über das Internet, Bekannte oder den Plattenhändler empfohlen wurde. Des Weiteren wurde ihr Album bereits in der dritten Auflage auf CD Veröffentlicht. Auch Nachpressungen auf Vinyl (5. Auflage) finden reißenden Absatz. Von dem Geld aus diesen Verkäufen sieht Gloria keinen Cent, sie sagt dass sie wohl damals einen für sie sehr nachteiligen Vertrag unterschrieben hat. Und so hält sie sich mit kleinen Auftritten, der Anfertigung von Schmuck und Nebenjobs über Wasser.

So sollte ihr Schicksal aussehen, dachte zumindest Gloria, bis ein Freund einen Kontakt zu jemandem aus London vermittelte  der sehr gerne ein Interview mit ihr führen wollte. Diese Person war David Cole, der ihr Interview in seinem Magazin ‘In The Basement’ veröffentlichte. Gloria hoffte, dass dieser Artikel etwas bewirken würde und ihre Karriere vielleicht wieder ans Laufen bringen könnte.

Und in der Tat, Gloria sagt heute über das Interview mit David „So viel hat sich geändert seit wir das letzte Mal gesprochen haben. Er ist ein toller Mensch!“ Sie hat nun mehrere Auftritte übers Jahr verteilt, einer ihrer letzten  war  im Mai in Sacramento.

Unsere Zeit ist um, der Wagen wartet um Sie zum Konzert zu fahren.

Daher nutzt Gloria die letzten Minuten um sich  bei ihren Fans für die lange Treue zu bedanken und kündigt gleichzeitig ein neues Album für nächstes Jahr an. Es sollen dort die Songs in Neuaufnahmen erscheinen, die sie bereits 1974 für ein zweites Album eingespielt hatte. Leider sieht es nicht so aus, dass das 1974 fertig produzierte Nachfolge Album in naher Zukunft erscheinen wird, geschweige denn wo die Bänder verblieben sind. Wobei ein Track aus der Session für das zweite Album, auf einer Barry White Compilation (Unlimited) erschienen ist.

Es gibt also noch Hoffnung das Album irgendwann mal so zu hören, wie es 1974 gedacht war.

The Three Degrees on Tour in Eindhoven am 17.03.2018

Die Three Degress, die in den 70er Jahren mit Hits wie „When will I see you again“, „Dirty Old Man“, oder „I didn`t know“ ihren internationalen Durchbruch feierten sind zur Zeit in den Niederlanden auf Tour. Wir waren vor Ort und können euch von einem spektakulären Auftritt der drei Damen berichten.

Das Konzert fand im Muziekgebouw in Eindhoven statt und der 400 Sitze umfassende Saal war bis auf ein paar wenige Plätze ausverkauft. Das seit 2010 bestehenden Line up der Gruppe, Valerie Holiday (seit 1967 Mitglieder der Gruppe), Helen Scott (Gründungsmitglied 1963, setze aber zwischen 1963 bis 1976 aus), und Freddie Pool, die seit 2011 fester Bestandteil der Gruppe ist.

Gerade im Hinblick auf die aktuelle #metoo Debatte, schlagen die Damen in unserem Interview ernste Töne an. Besondern im Hinblick auf Frauen im Show Business. Sie mussten sich in einer Zeit behaupten, in der sie selbst nicht über Verträge oder Karriere entscheidende Projekte bestimmen durften. Das war nicht immer einfach. Selbst heute sind die Auswirkungen für die Gruppe noch spürbar.

Sie freuen sich, dass ihre Songs nach wie vor ein hohes Airplay haben, die Royaltiies aus diesen Airplays fallen für sie aber aufgrund der damals abgeschlossenen, Künstler benachteiligten Verträge nicht wirklich ins Gewicht. Wie sie selber sagen waren sie damals noch High-School-Kids und vertrauten darauf, dass ihr Manager nur das Beste für sie wollte.

 

Auf die Fragen wann wir mit einem Biopic oder eine Dokumentation rechnen können gab es leider keine Antwort, was uns sehr verwundert, immerhin können sie nicht nur auf eine beispiellose Karriere zurückblicken, sie werden ebenfalls im Guinnessbuch der Rekorde als „longest running female vocal trio“ aufgeführt. Aber wann solch ein Projekt von einem Produzenten oder Filmemacher aufgegriffen wird steht noch in den Sternen.
Gerne hätten wir das Interview noch vertieft aber die Band wartet auf den Soundcheck dem wir beiwohnen dürfen.

Und es hat sich gelohnt. Selbst bei mehr als 100 Shows im Jahr, wird nichts dem Zufall überlassen. Die Damen arbeiten, wenn nötig jedes Segment eines Songs durch bis es für Ihre Ohren perfekt klingt. Sie wollen nur das Beste für ihr Publikum, sagt ihr Manager.

Kurz vor Show Begin durften wir noch einmal Backstage für ein paar Fotos. Wir mussten feststellen, wir waren nicht die einzigen, neben etlichen Radiosendern gab es noch eine große Gruppe Fans, die auch ein Foto mit sich und der Gruppe machen wollten. Der Andrang war so massiv, dass der Supporting Act Ingrid Simons ihr Programm überziehen musste. Eigentlich wollte man um 20:30h anfangen aber es wurde 20:50h bis The Three Degrees zu den Klängen von Shake your Groove thing (im Original von Peaches & Herb) die Bühne unter großem Applaus betraten.

Der Sound im Saal ist sehr gut, und die Band, die zum Teil auch aus niederländischen Musikern besteht, rundet alles ab.

Diese Kombination sorgt nach den ersten Strophen schon dafür, dass die Leute zum Bühnenrand stürmen und sowohl vor- als auch in den Gängen tanzen. Dieser Zustand hielt sich auch bis zum Ende des Konzertes gegen 22:00h. Selbst die hinteren Ränge hielt nichts mehr auf den Stühlen. Das Publikum war ein bunter Mix von 20 Jährigen, die Plattencover hochhielten bis 70 Jährigen die alles gaben. Die schwarzen Paillettenkleider der Damen glitzern im Scheinwerferlicht und man hat das Gefühl das keine von Ihnen auch nur im Ansatz etwas an Power oder Dynamik verloren hat.

Es folgen Ihre Hits wie Giving up giving in aus dem Jahr 1978, The Year of Decision, I`m so excited, ein Cover der Pointer Sisters. Letzteres reißt auch den letzten Zuschauer von seinem Sitzt, gefolgt von Disco Inferno das der Original Version der Trammps in nichts nachsteht. When will I see you again durfte natürlich nicht fehlen und bildet für viele Zuschauer den Höhepunkt der Show. Mit Boogie Wonderland (Im Original von Earth, Wind and Fire ) schließen die The Three Degrees ihr Konzert unter tobendem Applaus ab.

Sie treten öfter in den Niederlanden auf und begeisterte Zuschauer berichten mir, dass es jedes Mal ein Highlight ist.

Als wir das Konzert am Künstlereingang verlassen warten ca. 20 Fans im Schnee auf die The Three Degrees um eventuell doch noch ein Autogramm auf ihrer Platte oder ein Foto zu bekommen.Die Fahrt und das Konzert haben sich gelohnt, ein tolles Event, von dem ich mir wünsche, das es mal in Deutschland stattfinden wird.

Aktuelle Tour Dates, erhaltet ihr auf der Webseite der The Three Degrees
http://thethreedegrees.com

 

Bonus 3D am 15h November 1974 (C) Jeremy Levinson