SIXTIES

When I asked Joanne about the significance of the name Golden World, she replied, "It was just a name Ed liked, he thought that it had a nice ring to it".

For their first recording, Ed and Joanne employed George "Teacho" Wiltshire, a pianist, arranger and conductor who was highly respected in New York circles. It was clear that they had their mind set on quality from the start, all they needed now was to find the right product and the right artist.

Using advertising to find talent, singer/songwriter Sue Perrin became first to record for the company. Sue was a white artist and had a total of three releases over a period of three years.

It was clear that the fledgling Golden World saw pop music as the way forward.

For their second release, Ed and JoAnne created a new label and publishing division in Ric-Tic.

This may have been borne out of tragedy however.

JoAnne had a son to Johnny Brattton, circa 1950. He was christened Derek Truman Bratton.

Tragically Derek died, age 12, in an accident in January 1962, which was around the time of their first release on Golden World.

When I initially asked JoAnne to recall people and dates from the era, she replied "it's so difficult to recall anything really, because for me, time stopped when Derek died."

To JoAnne, Derek was known affectionately as Ric, and frequently as Ric-Tic.

It is possible therefore, that for Golden World's second release they created a new label as a memorial to JoAnne's son.

On that first Ric-Tic release, another lady would join the roster. This time it was Joyce Webb, who hailed from Texas.

Ed and JoAnne would now employ the production skills of tap-dance legend Leonard Reed, who had a wealth of experience in the entertainment industry by the time he met up with Golden World.

Leonard Reed

Born in 1906, Leonard was not only a dancer; he was also a writer and composer; an emcee at the Apollo and a producer for the Cotton Club in Harlem.

In particular, he wrote and arranged music for Ella Fitzgerald, Louis Armstrong and Lionel Hampton.

It is interesting to note that Leonard was married to Barbara DeCosta who had a 45 issued on Ric-Tic in 1964.

Also working on the Joyce Webb release was famed Arranger, Sammy Lowe.

Sammy was born in Birmingham, Alabama in 1918 and had already gained a world wide reputation for his Big Band arrangements.

He had also worked with The Platters on "My Prayer" and with Sam Cooke and Nina Simone.

Within a year of the Ric-Tic release he was working with James Brown on "Prisoner Of Love", but his greatest Soul Music achievement would come in 1966 with James Brown's "It's A Man's Man's Man's World".

Coupled with Leonard 's skills, I think Golden World were showing that they had ambitions and the fact that Joyce Webb would release something in the region of ten 45's shows that she must have been talented enough.

Another artist employed in the early days was Rocky Hart, who hailed from New England. He is credited with at least four releases for various labels from 1959-1962.

A total of eight 45's would emerge in this first wave of Golden World and Ric-Tic recordings.

However, Barbara DeCosta, Terry Warren and Leroy Smalley's careers appear to have been brief.

Continued