SIXTIES

When Topper folded Dave released occasional records on his Demoristic label or tried to lease them to other companies. This happened with J T Rhythm’s recording of ‘My Sweet Baby’, a Da Da song and production that is featured here as an alternative take to the one leased to and released on Palmer Records (the same label as Tobi Lark’s first single).

‘Going Down A One Way Street (The Wrong Way)’ by Little Ann on Ric Tic Records was intended to be another production for a label job, but ended up as a direct recording for it. Ann, Darrell and Dave had already written and recorded a song called ‘One Way Street’ which was the basis of the deal with Ric Tic. However when the label owner, Ed Wingate, got everyone into the studios, Ann was given completely new lyrics and the production and arrangement had to follow Mr Wingate’s direction or people weren’t going to get paid. Frustratingly the threesome had far superior recordings in the can at the studio, and the flip side of the single was also a wasted opportunity with an obscure instrumental backing track being used to fill up space.

Ann had written a song in her “young and dumb” period about meeting a guy, falling in love with him, him falling for her - but not as deeply. Eventually he stops calling and the song is all about her resulting dilemma; ‘What Should I Do’. Ann brought the basic song into the studio and Dave and Darrell helped polish it into the diamond we know it as today. Fortunately for us, one acetate, mentioned by Gilly in the foreword, escaped to capture the imaginations of a legion of UK soul fans in the early 1980s. It was no consolation for Dave, Darrell and Ann but at least the latter two are now looking forward to seeing its belated release on this CD and Dave had the satisfaction of being told before he died that even his unreleased work was revered across the Atlantic.

The song itself achieves mid-60s soul perfection. A committed vocalist expressing her feelings in her own lyrics; the crispest of rhythm tracks, led by the man who created the 2/4 back beat, echoing female backing vocals that heighten the drama and a sympathetic musical accompaniment that emphasises the singer’s mood swings at every stage.

Surprisingly this wasn’t the only Little Ann song to escape Detroit; in 1982 DJ Ian Clark bought an acetate of ‘Lean Lanky Daddy’ from Soul Bowl record dealer John Anderson and spun it at Stafford’s Top Of The World all nighters and at London’s famous 100 Club. The record was sold on to DJ Guy Hennigan and has been a prized collector’s item ever since, getting occasional plays along the way.

When I spoke to Ann she immediately remembered it as ‘Long Lanky Daddy’, and verified it was her singing on the unattributed disc. She wrote the song with Dave and Darrell as a tribute to Dave, who was tall and slim and acted as a father figure to the younger musicians and artists he worked with.

One of Ann’s unissued tapes was a ballad called ‘Deep Shadows’ which was also written by the talented trio. Darrell couldn’t remember the title at first, but when I told him Ann had said it was partly inspired by a TV soap opera called ‘Dark Shadows’, it all came back to him.

Continued