California Soul
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California Soul
"California Soul" is a funk-soul tune written by Ashford & Simpson, issued originally as the B-side of the Messengers' single "Window Shopping" in 1967 under the Motown group of labels. Other recordings *Nick Ashford then released his own version in June 1968 on Verve 10599. *The song was then issued as a single by American pop quintet the 5th Dimension in late 1968. *The song was also covered by Motown vocal duo Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell. It was Gaye's and Terrell's last single together when released in early 1970. *A version appears on the 1970 studio album War & Peace by Edwin Starr (Gordy Records). ''Cash Box'' said that this version "glimmers with the special touch of a motor city arrangement and the vocal fuel ignited by this splendid team." Chart performance Both the 5th Dimension's version and the Gaye-Terrell version were modest charted hits. The 5th Dimension's performed better, reaching number twenty-five on the pop singles chart. Marvin and Tammi's cover was ...
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Michael And The Messengers
Michael and the Messengers were an attempt to take advantage of the popularity of the group "The Messengers". Originally formed in Minnesota as a high school band, they were re-formed in Milwaukee at Marquette University by the original bass player, Greg Jeresek. The Messengers had regional hits on USA Records, and mild national success on Motown's Rare Earth label. The Messengers started out in Winona, Minnesota in 1962 as a high school band consisting of: Greg Jeresek (aka Greg Jennings) bass, guitarists Greg Bambenek and Roy Berger, keyboardist Chip Andrews, and drummer Jim Murray. In Milwaukee, 1965, The band consisted of Peter Barnes-lead guitar, Greg Jeresek-bass guitar, Jesse Roe- organ, Jeff Taylor- lead vocals, and Augie Jurishica- drums. This group released a cover of "In the Midnight Hour", and, shortly after, signed with Motown Records. They then moved to Detroit. They had a few releases with Motown that broke into the 'hot 100' nationally and toured with the Supre ...
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Cash Box
''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online magazine with weekly charts and occasional special print issues. In addition to the music industry, the magazine covered the amusement arcade industry, including jukebox machines and arcade games. History Print edition charts (1952–1996) ''Cashbox'' was one of several magazines that published record charts in the United States. Its most prominent competitors were '' Billboard'' and '' Record World'' (known as ''Music Vendor'' prior to April 1964). Unlike ''Billboard'', ''Cashbox'' combined all currently available recordings of a song into one chart position with artist and label information shown for each version, alphabetized by label. Originally, no indication of which version was the biggest seller was given, but from October 25, 19 ...
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1970 Singles
Year 197 ( CXCVII) was a common year starting on Saturday (link will display the full calendar) of the Julian calendar. At the time, it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Magius and Rufinus (or, less frequently, year 950 ''Ab urbe condita''). The denomination 197 for this year has been used since the early medieval period, when the Anno Domini calendar era became the prevalent method in Europe for naming years. Events By place Roman Empire * February 19 – Battle of Lugdunum: Emperor Septimius Severus defeats the self-proclaimed emperor Clodius Albinus at Lugdunum (modern Lyon). Albinus commits suicide; legionaries sack the town. * Septimius Severus returns to Rome and has about 30 of Albinus's supporters in the Senate executed. After his victory he declares himself the adopted son of the late Marcus Aurelius. * Septimius Severus forms new naval units, manning all the triremes in Italy with heavily armed troops for war in the East. His soldiers embark on an ...
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1969 Singles
This year is notable for Apollo 11's first landing on the moon. Events January * January 4 – The Government of Spain hands over Ifni to Morocco. * January 5 **Ariana Afghan Airlines Flight 701 crashes into a house on its approach to London's Gatwick Airport, killing 50 of the 62 people on board and two of the home's occupants. * January 14 – An explosion aboard the aircraft carrier USS Enterprise (CVN-65), USS ''Enterprise'' near Hawaii kills 27 and injures 314. * January 19 – End of the siege of the University of Tokyo, marking the beginning of the end for the 1968–69 Japanese university protests. * January 20 – Richard Nixon is First inauguration of Richard Nixon, sworn in as the 37th President of the United States. * January 22 – Attempted assassination of Leonid Brezhnev, An assassination attempt is carried out on Soviet leader Leonid Brezhnev by deserter Viktor Ilyin. One person is killed, several are injured. Leonid Brezhnev, Brezhnev es ...
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1967 Songs
Events January * January 1 – Canada begins a year-long celebration of the 100th anniversary of Confederation, featuring the Expo 67 World's Fair. * January 5 ** Spain and Romania sign an agreement in Paris, establishing full consular and commercial relations (not diplomatic ones). ** Charlie Chaplin launches his last film, ''A Countess from Hong Kong'', in the UK. * January 6 – Vietnam War: USMC and ARVN troops launch ''Operation Deckhouse Five'' in the Mekong Delta. * January 8 – Vietnam War: Operation Cedar Falls starts. * January 13 – A military coup occurs in Togo under the leadership of Étienne Eyadema. * January 14 – The Human Be-In takes place in Golden Gate Park, San Francisco; the event sets the stage for the Summer of Love. * January 15 ** Louis Leakey announces the discovery of pre-human fossils in Kenya; he names the species '' Kenyapithecus africanus''. ** American football: The Green Bay Packers defeat the Kansas City Chiefs 35–10 in the ...
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The Funk Brothers
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972. Its members are considered among the most successful groups of studio musicians in music history. Among their hits are " My Girl", "I Heard It Through the Grapevine", "Baby Love", " I Was Made to Love Her", "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone", "The Tears of a Clown", "Ain't No Mountain High Enough", and "Heat Wave". Some combination of the members played on each of Motown's 100-plus U.S. R&B number one singles and 50-plus U.S. Pop number ones released from 1961 to 1972. There is no undisputed list of the members of the group. Some writers have claimed that virtually every musician who ever played on a Motown track was a "Funk Brother". There are 13 Funk Brothers identified in Paul Justman's 2002 documentary film ''Standing in the Shadows of Motown'', based on Allan Slutsky's book of the same name. These 13 memb ...
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Valerie Simpson
Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting-production team and recording duo of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carolina, and Simpson in the Bronx, New York City. Afterwards, his family relocated to Ypsilanti, Michigan, where he became a member of Christ Temple Baptist Church. While there, he sang with a group called the Hammond Singers (named after the founding minister, James Hammond). Later, Nickolas attended and graduated from Willow Run High School in Ypsilanti, Michigan, before pursuing his professional career, where he would ultimately meet his wife, Valerie. They met at Harlem's White Rock Baptist Church in 1964. After having recorded unsuccessfully as a duo, they joined an aspiring solo artist and former member of the Ikettes, Joshie Jo Armstead, at the Scepter/Wand label, where their compositions were recorded by Ronnie Milsap ("Never Had It So Go ...
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Bones Howe
Dayton Burr "Bones" Howe (born March 18, 1933) is an American record producer and recording engineer who scored a string of hits in the 1960s and 1970s, often of the sunshine pop genre, starting in 1965 with The Turtles cover of Bob Dylan's "It Ain't Me Babe," and continuing with most of the hits of the 5th Dimension and the Association. With the exception of '' Closing Time'', he produced and engineered all of Tom Waits' releases with Asylum Records, some of which are considered among the artist's best recordings. Their almost decade-long collaboration has been described as "one of the great artist-producer partnerships". Howe performed music supervision on several feature films, and was one of the first industry members to serve as both producer and engineer of the hit records on which he worked. In addition, he was occasionally credited as a musician on recordings as "Dayton Howe". Biography Early life and education Howe was born in Minneapolis, Minnesota and moved to Sarasot ...
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Ron Townson
Ronald Townson (January 29, 1933 – August 2, 2001) was an American vocalist. He was an original member of The 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late 1960s and early 1970s; he is the only original member of the group who is no longer living. Family background Townson was married to Bobette and had two sons, Kim and Kyle. A Methodist, he began taking an interest in his wife's Jehovah's Witnesses faith in the early 1980s. Prior to that, it had caused friction within their marriage. Biography Born in St. Louis, Townson started singing at age six and was a featured soloist on various choirs throughout his school years. His grandmother inspired him to sing and his parents arranged for him to have private singing and acting lessons. During high school, he appeared for three seasons in productions of ''Bloomer Girl'', '' Annie Get Your Gun'' and ''Show Boat''; he also won third place in the Missouri State trials for the Metropolitan Opera. Townson toured with Wings Over Jor ...
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Lamonte McLemore
Lamonte McLemore (born September 17, 1939) is an American vocalist, composer, and photographer. He was a founding member of The 5th Dimension, a popular vocal group of the late 1960s and early 1970s. McLemore married Lisa Harvey and had a daughter named Ciara. In 2014, he wrote and published his autobiography with Robert-Allan Arno, ''From the Hobo Flats to The 5th Dimension - A Life Fulfilled in Baseball, Photography, and Music''. Biography McLemore was born in St. Louis, Missouri. He is a professional photographer for ''Playboy'', ''Ebony'', '' Jet'', ''People'', and ''Harper's Bazaar'' magazines. Baseball McLemore was the first African American athlete to try out for the St. Louis Cardinals. After he moved to Los Angeles, he was a minor league strong-arm pitcher with the Los Angeles Dodgers for a short time. Photography After he graduated from high school, McLemore enlisted in the United States Navy, and worked as an aerial photographer. He co-founded Halmont Graphics with ...
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Florence LaRue
Florence LaRue (born February 4, 1942) is an American singer and actress, best known as an original member of the 5th Dimension. Early life LaRue was born in Plainfield, New Jersey, but moved to Glenside, Pennsylvania, when she was young. She began her musical education studying dance and violin. Her family moved to Los Angeles, California, where she earned an Associate's Degree in Music from Los Angeles City College. She later received a Bachelor of Arts in Elementary Education from California State University. Work with the 5th Dimension In 1966, LaRue was approached by Lamonte McLemore and Marilyn McCoo to join their recently formed group the 5th Dimension. LaRue nearly always sang female lead on one song per album, with McCoo taking the lead on one song as well; otherwise she sang the alto voice parts along with McCoo's soprano, being featured prominently on '' Stoned Soul Picnic'', or shared the lead with McCoo on songs including "Blowing Away", "Puppet Man", "Save the ...
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Marilyn McCoo
Marilyn McCoo (born September 30, 1943) is an American singer, actress, and television presenter, who is best known for being the lead female vocalist in the group the 5th Dimension, as well as hosting the 1980s music countdown series ''Solid Gold (TV series), Solid Gold''. Since 1969, McCoo has been married to singer Billy Davis Jr., the founder and co-member of the 5th Dimension. She has a three-octave vocal range. Life and career Early years Marilyn McCoo was born in Jersey City, New Jersey, United States, to Waymon and Mary McCoo, who were both physicians. Her grandfather was doctor Thomas Vivian McCoo of Eufaula, Alabama. She is African Americans, African American. She spent her first seven years in Columbus, Georgia. At the age of seven, she moved with her parents, two sisters, and brother to Los Angeles, where she began singing, piano and dance lessons. At the age of 15, she made her television debut on Art Linkletter's ''Talent Show'' and began modelling. After graduating ...
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