Johnnie Mae showed a young Aretha Franklin what to do too, and explained how she met the future soul diva, “Reverend Franklin came down to the studio when I was recording and asked me to help Aretha to get started into R’n’B. I took Jackie and the girls (The Andantes) over to his house, because she was singing spirituals. I groomed her, because didn’t know anything about R n’ B.”

 But pursuing a singing career as well as wheeling and dealing with her numerous artists proved too difficult to juggle, and by ‘63 she’d recruited the talented Ollie McLaughlin as her personal manager. He’d started as a radio DJ in Ann Arbor, but had formed a Detroit recording business called Karen and was managing and producing Barbara “Hello Stranger” Lewis amongst various others.

"Here Comes My Baby by Johnnie Mae Matthews

 Ollie produced a couple of Johnnie Mae’s 45s that were recorded in Chicago for Mercury’s newly formed subsidiary, Blue Rock, as well as her fantastic Spokane label disc. He was also responsible for some of her Detroit sessions that were released on the Big Hit label; the pick of the bunch being the tremendous “I Have No Choice.”

 But they inevitably experienced ups and downs in the cut and thrust of the recording business and when interviewed by The Michigan Chronicle in April of ’64, she had this to say. “We managed to put Timmy on the map, and I went broke - but there are better things in sight than when we first started, so I feel pretty good about the future.”  The newspaper added that she planned to open a supper club in New York and had high hopes for a recently recorded artist, (C.P.) Spencer Sterling, whose “Poor Fool”  appeared on the JAM label.

 Johnnie Mae’s other record labels were Reel, Bon, Jam, Art (named after her husband), Audrey (named after her daughter), Big Hit and Tank.

 The early 60’s Bon label saw The Ambassadors’ powerful sides “I Wonder Why” b/w “Power of Love” unleashed. Lead singer Ida Bennett’s raw vocal energy offers scant compromise to the cross-over market and both songs are great examples of unadulterated soul singing. These Bon sides were re-released on the Reel label.

 The Audrey label also released a handful of 45s, including ones by Spencer Sterling and Lawrence Brown, both of whom later joined Motown. Her own song, “Luck Walked Through My Door,” credits MYTO Publishing which was Ed Wingate’s company.

 In the mid-sixties she hooked up with “Diamond Jim” Riley and her rousing number titled “Don’t Talk About My Man” was released on his Big D label.

 Around the same time she joined forces with Clifford “Sonny” Marshall to form a company they named Northern Del-La. The label’s few 45s included a Calvin Williams’ version of “Lonely You’ll Be” and a debut disc from Thelma Laverne, better known as Telma Hopkins, who later became famous with Tony Orlando and Dawn.

"That's What I Am" by Cynthia & The Imaginations

 The Big Hit label had around 20 releases, including great songs from the likes of Cynthia & The Imaginary Three, and also Barbara Jean & The Lyrics.

Image notes: Vocalist Audrey and drummer Artwell Matthews Jr. are in the bottom-right of this ADC Band promotional photo, used on the front of their 1978 “Long Stroke” album.  

 Unsurprisingly Johnnie Mae’s son and daughter followed in her footsteps. They were part of Black Nasty, a group that kicked off the Tank label in ’73 with a greatly contrasting version of The Supremes’ hit, “You Keep My Hanging On.” Other original members included Anthony Mark Patterson, Jackie Ray Casper, Lee Terrance Ellis and organist Laurence Thomas. Johnnie Mae managed the group and had a hand in writing and producing many of their songs, which are a mixture of funk, rock and soul.

 They released a handful of 45s on Big Hit, including the popular “Cut Your Motor Off,” and also backed Herbie Thompson and Lynn Day, a singer who molded himself on Johnnie Taylor.

 "Cut Your Motor Off" by Black Nazty

 Johnnie Mae’s friend Mack Rice opened a door at Stax Records and later in ’73 they cut an album titled “Talking To The People,” but it failed to do enough to keep them with the Memphis based company. 

 By the mid-seventies they’d become The Nazty and recorded an album for the Nashville based Mankind label which also released a couple of 45s. Following this the group evolved into a more successful outfit - The ADC Band; which at first was an abbreviation for Aid to Dependent Children, but was later amended to A Direct Current.

 The group’s “Long Stroke” 45 was originally released on the local Fee record label before Cotillion guided it into Billboard’s top ten in 1978. They subsequently recorded five albums for Cotillion, the last being in 1982, during which time they made Billboard’s single’s chart five more times.

 One twelve-inch single titled “It’s Friday Night” was released on the Fat Boy label in 1985, after which Audrey recorded as a solo artist, using the name Kaiya. She cut a song titled “Kago” in ‘87 that Rick Pack of Soul Survivor magazine chose as his Record of the Year. She’s also attributed as the singer on a version of “I Have No Choice” which was featured on one of Ace-Kent’s CDs, but this is incorrect and nobody seems to know who this singer is.

 Image notes: The majestic Graystone Ballroom opened in 1922 and could accommodate 3,000 people. This 1962 gig featured Johnnie Mae singing her hit, while Jimmy Reed’s “Bright Lights Big City” had climbed Billboard ‘61. John Lee’s great 1962 Vee-Jay disc - “Boom Boom”- was recorded at United Sound in Detroit.  

Continued 

© David Meikle : All Rights Reserved