Laurence Jones

The Temptations “Who You Gonna Run To?” (From the LP Gettin’ Ready, 1966)

The Temptations “Who You Gonna Run To?” (From the LP Gettin’ Ready, 1966) I guess I should be ashamed of myself that it’s been so many months I’ve been doing posts and I haven’t tempted y’all with some more Temptations yet. Also, I totally breezed by in a cold medicine stupor that it was the original…

Della Reese “Solitary Woman” (ABC 10841-B, 1966)

Della Reese “Solitary Woman” (ABC 10841-B, 1966) In between the days of Dinah Washington and Dionne Warwick, there spans the remarkable career of Delloreese Early, someone that you definitely know better as Della Reese. In age she’s the perfect generation gap between two transition periods of African American Femme Fatales of song, and today, we…

Lena Horne “Sand and the Sea” (United Artists 911, 1966)

Lena Horne “Sand and the Sea” (United Artists 911, 1966) It wouldn’t be smart of me to ignore that it’s also Lena Horne’s Birthday as well. The Goddess of Screen, Stage and Song was born 98 years ago in Bed-Stuy, and from there became a pacesetter in the world of entertainment, going places few women of…

Florence Ballard “Forever Faithful” (ABC 11144-B, 1968)

Florence Ballard “Forever Faithful” (ABC 11144-B, 1968) Had she not been like, “I’m not doing this singing thing on my own,” there’d never be the complex, rich history of The Supremes. Perhaps Diana Ross *might* have become a singer, but it’s the plucky Florence Ballard that got The Supremes off the ground as The Primettes….

Little Eva “The Trouble With Boys” (Dimension 1013-B, 1963)

Little Eva “The Trouble With Boys” (Dimension 1013-B, 1963) She got sadly pigeon-holed by a runaway freight train of a #1 hit. Despite the fact that she got pegged like Dee Dee Sharp as a dance ditty queen worthy of increasingly ridiculous dance records, Eva Narcissus Boyd tallied up a long career of singles throughout…

Brenda Holloway “A Favor For A Girl (With A Lovesick Heart)” (From the LP Every Little Bit Hurts, 1964)

Brenda Holloway “A Favor For A Girl (With A Lovesick Heart)” (From the LP Every Little Bit Hurts, 1964) It’s Summer Solstice, and on the longest day of the year we say goodbye to Gemini Roll Call for this year. We end it on the highest note with Motown’s Queen of The Basement Brenda Holloway….

The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me” (Philles 115, Pop #6, 1963)

The Crystals “Then He Kissed Me” (Philles 115, Pop #6, 1963) Gemini Roll Call is in the final stages of the year. We’ve got a few more signature soul singers to cover and we start the final hours with one that climbed the wall of sound and managed to survive the collapse of it. La…

SUGAR TOWN SOULFUL STRUT: PRIDE PARTY PLAYLIST PART 3

Here we are, and we’ve spanned from Pride week in Portland all the way to Pride week in San Francisco. Here’s the final set of delights from Sugar Town’s Pride-Pre Party. As I’ve outlined in my previous posts, I’ve gotten a better sense of self actualization and self confidence, indeed a sense of pride, with…

Sugar Town Soulful Strut: Pride Party Playlist Part 2

I remember as I sat at Po’Shines for my Birthday Dinner with DJ Action Slacks that I realized that I bought a huge quantity of records from 1965-67 for Sugar Town’s Pride Party. It’s the 50th anniversary of the Golden Summer of Motown, for some reason my tingle went to that time period and the…

Lamont Dozier “Fish Ain’t Bitin'” (ABC 11438, R&B #4 Pop #26, 1974)

Lamont Dozier “Fish Ain’t Bitin’” (ABC 11438, R&B #4 Pop #26, 1974) Gemini Roll Call starts to wind down with one of its biggest legends.Primarily a man behind the glass, Lamont Dozier did make his way in front of the microphone quite often. His pre-Holland-Dozier-Holland days found him trying out being a performer for a…