This post is in reference to a request made by BEN. R&B MAVERICK is a 31 track album that includes a wide variety of selections from the great Donnie Elbert in adition to three other tracks written for other artists. As an added gift to this great album I've included 6 bonus tracks not included on the album. Music that was made available to complete this post was provided by JR,
ROSSYBOY & SOLOE.
Born in
New Orleans,
Louisiana, Donnie and his family relocated to
Buffalo,
New York three years later, and there he learned to play
guitar and
piano — influenced by
The Drifters'
Clyde McPhatter. Elbert co-founded a
doo-wop group called the Vibraharps with friend Danny Cannon in 1955, serving as its
guitarist,
songwriter and
arranger while largely relegating himself to
background vocals. After making his
recorded debut on their
single "Walk Beside Me," Elbert left the Vibraharps in 1957 amidst creative differences and turned to a
solo career. He recorded a
demo that earned him a
recording contract with the
King label's Deluxe imprint. His Deluxe debut "What Can I Do?" got into the
Top 20 of the
U.S. R&B chart, but his follow-up "Believe It or Not" went nowhere. His third Deluxe effort, 1957's "Have I Sinned?" was a
showcase for his powerful falsetto, and the
record was a regional hit, especially in
Pittsburgh, where
DJ Porky Chedwick played it relentlessly.
Despite playing
New York's
Apollo Theater and
touring the
chitlin' circuit of
African-American owned
nightclubs, Elbert's career faltered. He released five singles on Deluxe in 1958 ("Let's Do the Stroll," "My Confession of Love," "I Want to Be Loved But Only by You," "I Want to Be Near You" and "Just a Little Bit of Lovin'"), none of which made any commercial impact. Relations with Deluxe grew even more strained as Elbert consistently battled with
producers over the direction of his career, and after completing his first
album, The Sensational Donnie Elbert Sings, he left the label in 1959, joining the fledgling Red Top Records long enough to record 1960's "Someday (You'll Want Me to Want You)." Also in 1960 he recorded his version of "
(I Love You) For Sentimental Reasons". From there he signed with
Vee-Jay Records, notching another regional hit with "Will You Ever Be Mine?," which sold 250,000 copies in the Philadelphia area but failed to take off nationwide. After two more Vee-Jay efforts - "Half as Old" and 1961's "I've Loved You, Baby" — Elbert moved from label to label including Jalynne ("Mommie's Gone"), P&L (1962's "Nobody Knows"),
Parkway ("Baby Cakes"),
Cub (1963's "Love Stew") and
Checker ("Just a Cotton-Pickin' Minute"), rarely staying for more than one record before moving along yet again.
The emergence of the
Motown Sound impressed Elbert and he began modeling his music in its image. While backing vocalists and
session musicians (
The Funk Brothers) were required to create authentic Motown records, Elbert played all the
instruments on his recordings himself. 1965's Gateway label release "A Little Piece of Leather" failed to chart in the
U.S., the record was a hit in the
UK and remains a
Northern soul favorite. After one last Gateway single, "Your Red Wagon (You Can Push It or Pull It)," Elbert returned to the road. He chose not to record his own composition, "Baby Walk Right In," but instead he gave it to fellow Buffalo singer
Darrell Banks, who sped up the tempo, retitled it "Open the Door to Your Heart" and recorded it in
Detroit. Not only was the end result a Top 40
pop hit, but Elbert was not credited as its composer, a legal mess that took years to sort out and still ended with Banks receiving 50% of all
royalties.
Elbert relocated to the UK in 1966; two years later he resumed his recording career with "In Between Heartaches," a one-off for
Atco, followed in 1969 by the
Deram release "Without You". The latter hit the vogue for
rocksteady rhythms so that the single went on to top the Jamaican charts. Elbert returned
Stateside in 1970, generating his first U.S. chart hit in over a decade with the Rare Bullet label release "I Can't Get Over Losing You," which reached the number 26 spot on the R&B chart.
During his time in the UK, Elbert
recorded his
version of
The Supremes'
hit "
Where Did Our Love Go?". It was released on the
All Platinum label. He returned to the
U.S. in 1969, before the
single reached Number 8 in the
UK Singles Chart in 1972.
Its follow-up "Sweet Baby" climbed to number 30 on the R&B chart in early 1972. For the All Platinum Elbert also re-recorded a number of his vintage compositions, among them "A Little Piece of Leather," before signing with
Avco-Embassy, where he entered the
recording studio with the hitmaking production team of
Hugo & Luigi. However, while at Avco Elbert balked at the label's insistence that he record material associated with Motown. Despite the success of his cover of
The Four Tops' "
I Can't Help Myself," which hit number 14 on the R&B chart, the label eventually shelved the troubled project, selling the completed tracks to the Trip label, which cobbled together the 1972 album, Stop in the Name of Love.
After his dismissal from Avco, Elbert reluctantly returned to All Platinum. In 1973 he released "This Feeling of Losing You"; the follow-up was another cover, 1974's "
Love is Strange" He left All Platinum in the wake of another songwriting controversy, claiming authorship of labelmates
Shirley & Company's R&B
chart-topper "
Shame Shame Shame," which was instead credited to label owner
Sylvia Robinson. Unlike his claim against Banks, the squabble was not resolved in Elbert's favor, and Robinson remains the sole writer credited. For 1975's "You Keep Me Crying (With Your Lying)," Elbert finally formed his own label, and "I Got to Get Myself Together," appeared on an imprint bearing his surname, but it was among his final recordings.
By the mid 1980s Elbert had retired from performing, and became director of
A&R for
Polygram's
Canadian division. His reign was not long-lived. Elbert suffered a massive
stroke and died in 1989, at the age of 52.
Track Listing
Disc 1 of 2
1.
Get Ready2.
Time Hangs On My Mind3.
Along Came Pride4.
Baby Please Come Home5.
Without You6.
Can't Get Over Losing You7.
If I Can't Have You8.
Will You Ever Be Mine9.
A Little Piece Of Leather10.
One Thousand, Nine Hundred And Seventy Years11.
Where Did Our Love Go?12.
What Can I Do?13.
Get Myself Together (I Got To)14.
Sweet Baby15.
That's If You Love MeDisc 2 of 2
1.
This Feeling Of Losing You2.
Love Is Strange3.
You're Gonna Cry When I'm Gone4. In Between Heartaches (
Another Tear Will Take Its Place)5.
Come See Me6.
Free7.
A Love Of Your Own8.
You Don't Have To Be A Star9.
You Should Be Dancing10.
What A Difference A Day Made11.
Back In My Arms Again12.
Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow: (1997 Remix)13.
What Do You Do?: (1997 Remix)14.
Reaching For A Dream ...Lonnie Youngblood (Written by Donnie Elbert)
15.
Cry Cry Cry...
Shirley And Company (Written by Donnie Elbert)
16.
Mr. Peanut Goes To Washington...
Little Joe Cook (Written by Donnie Elbert)
[BONUS TRACKS]
*
1.) WHAT CAN I DO
*
2.) HAVE I SINNED
3.) BABY LET ME LOVE YOU TONIGHT
4.) MOMMY'S GONE
5.) EVERYTHING TO ME
*
6.) PLEASE TELL ME SO
*
POSTED BY G MAN
Forget the hats and the flares, this is one of Detroit's finest and unheralded vocal groups. Just the right mixture of uptown cool and Southern soul to please most everybody. This album features the hit "Do Me Right". "Wear This Ring (With Love" is nice too. But the cream of the crop is "Long Live The King" which I just can't get out of my head at the moment. Be careful, it could get to you too !
Jimmy Braswell was a Georgia soul singer who put a few high quality 45s out in the 60s and 70s. "One More Chance" was a single issued in the mid 60s that meshed perfectly Jimmy's light baritone voice with some well mixed horns. This slow tempo burning ember was issued on Gene Records. 
This fabulous, slightly uptempo soul diamond was issued in 1967 by the Chicago based Mar-V-Lus Record Label. "Lonely Girl" was recorded by the talented Madeline Strickland aka Miss Madeline. The flip side of this record is another killer cut titled "Behave Yourself." Previous to this solo effort Madeline performed with The Young Folk and prior to that The Baby Miracles.
Here's something out of the ordinary for the listeners of TOMORROW'S VELVET DREAMZ. This is one of last radio broadcasts from the legendary Dick Hugg. This appearance was with Steve Propes on WPMD.org's "45 Show" which aired "live" on 2-23-03. Hugg, known to his listeners as "Huggy Boy", was instrumental in the promotion of rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also instrumental in the promotion of bands like the Jaguars, the Village Callers, Thee Midniters and The Champs - later known as the Chicano rock movement.
Five brothers from New Bedford, Massachusetts - Ralph, Tiny, Chubby, Butch and Pooch Tavares - arguably created the most consistently high quality soul music of the 70's.Originally called "Chubby and the Turnpikes," the Tavares brothers spent the late '60s and early '70s in their native New England covering tunes of R&B greats at various clubs, while trying to land a record deal. As Chubby & The Turnpikes they released "The Inside Story" in 1967 and "Nothing But Promises" in 1968. They finally scored a contract with Capitol Records and released their first single, "Check It Out," under the Tavares name in 1973. It soared to the top 10 on the R&B charts and became the group's first top 40 pop hit. It also became the centerpiece for the group's Johnny Bristol-produced debut album, an excellent example of early '70s Soul that also featured the hit "The Sound That Lonely Makes." The featured Check It Out LP gave the first glimpse of tight brotherly harmonies and alternating lead vocals that would become the Tavares trademark sound. Capitol teamed the group next with Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, hot producers/writers who were coming off the hugely successful Keeper of the Castle album for the Four Tops. They led Tavares through two successful LPs, one of which Hard Core Poetry is also featured here, and the group's first #1 R&B hit (a stunning cover of Hall & Oates' "She's Gone"). While a number of other groups were covering similar stylistic territory at the time, the wonderfully tight group harmonies and consistently solid song selection set Tavares apart. Enjoy!
