SIXTIES

Around this same period, a group of four young brothers from the Barrino family came to the studios, no doubt inspired by the Jackson 5. Their sound was maturer and the lead had a more rasping voice than that of Michael Jackson, while the remaining brothers’ harmonies owe a little to the Fifth Dimension. ‘I’ll Take My Flowers Right Now’ was released on TCB by the Barrino Brothers and is another shuffly, slightly funky dance number. The flip, ‘Just A Mistake’ (aka ‘Side By Side’ on tape boxes), is a shade more two-steppy but equally good. We found an excellent version of this by mystery girl group the Ebonettes and have included it here.

Dave was very active in this period and though the Barrino Brothers later moved onto Holland-Dozier-Holland’s Invictus label, where they cut some wonderful records, he must have sorted out his finances well as TCB had more releases than any of his other many labels.

He recycled his J T Rhythm song ‘My Sweet Baby’ for the Mark-Keys and put the equally good but much slower sweet soul of ‘Heavenly Thing’ on the flip.

As he moved further into the 70s he abandoned specific labels and put out records on a variety of labels: Landy Bug, 4 Reel, New Day, MTF and many others.

One of his best 70s recordings was a song he wrote in 1972 called ‘(Marriage Is Only) A State Of Mind’. The tape box credits James Carpenter as the artist and he gave a terrific performance to this very soulful song. If it did ever come out there are going to be a lot of people who want to know about it, to spin at crossover conventions around the UK.

Though the latest recordings we feature here are from the 1970s, Dave continued playing, recording and encouraging others throughout the 80s and early 90s. His death was a terrible blow to all those who loved him. This includes virtually all the instrumentalists, producers and singers who worked with him, every one of whom I’ve spoken to have only very good words for him. He must have been as tremendous a person as he was a musician.

In the nineties Dave was eventually cited and recognised in the Motown Museum.

Continued