Playing the 20 Grand in Detroit was a much more memorable experience.

“I had a great time the 20 Grand. Marty Eisner, one of the owners, was a gentleman’s gentleman. I used to sing in the Gold Room. I can remember being on a Supremes bill when they had ‘Buttered Popcorn’ out. I also remember working with other Motown acts, including the Marvelettes. It was fun”

In 1965 Joe Hunter, who had worked with Tobi on the Palmer recording, introduced her to former Fortune recording artist Dave Hamilton who was looking for singers for his new record label. Dave had also worked as a session musician at Motown but was now ready to take the quantum leap to producing his own recordings.

Tobi’s first outing for Topper Productions brought her together with George McGregor whom she talks of very fondly. “George was a musical genius. A great drummer and a great lyricist, especially on love songs”                      

Both sides of her 45 were top notch, “Happiness Is Here”/”Talkin’ About Love”.

“I remember ‘Talkin’ About Love’ well. It became another part of the dues I was paying. I virtually took over the production of that song. From the lyrics to the arrangements to the background harmonies. I added this, changed that. I was naïve, not realising that I could improve a song dramatically and not receive a cent for my troubles!

Another excellent double sider followed in “Challenge My Love”/”Sitting Out In The Shed”. It came out in 1966 and was Topper’s final release.

There was also one other song in the can co-written Lark/Goolsby called “True, True Love”. It has recently gained release on a cd via ACE-KENT in the UK.

MIKE HANKS

Tobi’s hopes were raised and dashed again when she got an offer from Lebaron Taylor to manage her career. “Yeah I got excited about that, then Lebaron gets married and moves to New York. That was the end of that!”

Tobi continued to receive offers however, the next one coming from prolific producer Mike Hanks.

Hanks had recently moved his D Town operation from McGraw to East Grand Boulevard and was opening up several subsidiary labels including the short lived USD.

USD released a nice double-sider in “A Woman’s Job”/”Lots Of Heart”. Tobi recalls that Cody Black wrote the flip side and it remains one of her favourite recordings.

For some strange reason the 45 flopped and it now commands large sums from collectors around the globe.

label scan courtesy Dave Moore 

Tobi’s next recording was probably her most bizarre. It was called “Time Will Pass You By” and was released on the Mala label on two separate occasions.

“I cut the song at this guy Joey’s home in Connecticut”, says Tobi. “The tracks had already been laid down, so it was just a case of putting on the vocals. The song had been lined up for this other little girl but as they used to say back then, she didn’t have enough soul!

As I was under contract to King Curtis, I had to change my name to Tobi Legend. And that was that I thought. I heard nothing more of the recording until about seven years later when I heard it had gained a release in New York.

It had got played in Europe and had become some kind of collector’s item. Huh! By that time I’m an old married woman!”

EXPO 67

 By 1967 Tobi had decided there was no future in her marriage.

"I separated from my husband, went back to my roots in Scottsboro, and saw a sign” says Tobi. “You know this was God taking care of me. The sign said 'Visit Man And His World in Montreal'.

So this crazy woman from Detroit, with $250 in her purse, a cadillac, a full tank of gas and a 6 year old son, head off to Canada. 

I booked into the Queen Elizabeth Hotel in downtown Montreal and soon met up with a Willie White. My son and his son began playing, and while they were playing Willie told me he owned a jazz club, and I told him I was a singer. One thing led to another and he said I want to take you to this place called Rockhead's Paradise. 

This was a jazz club in Little Burgundy frequented by the black community and jazz musicians from across North America. He arranged to get my son watched. I went in there, did 'Respect' and 'Blowing In The Wind', and brought the house down. 

The audience were handing me money, throwing it off the balcony onto the stage; the place was going crazy."

Things were going well but Tobi made a crucial decision when she turned down an offer from Otis Redding.

“Otis came into town in late ‘67. He said he liked me and offered to take me to Leo’s Casino in Cleveland. It was an offer which was so difficult to turn down and it frightens me to this day what would have happened if I had accepted it. Like Otis and half his band I would have been history, I would have been dead.”

Another offer soon came in from Toronto which is only four hours drive from Detroit.

“This guy called Al came in from Toronto one day”, recalls Tobi. “He owned the Blue Note on Pears Avenue and offered me money to play there.”

The Blue Note had a great reputation for R&B. For 3 Canadian Dollars you could be entertained from 1am to 6am.

Legendary Rock and Roll star Ronnie Hawkins spotted Tobi there and offered her the chance to work with him in the club. This was to be the beginning of a positive time for Tobi as Ronnie worked her hard because he could see her potential.

Hawkins had been a success in his own right, working at Sun Studios, and recording for Roulette and Cotillion. But Tobi reckons Hawkins, who called her “Duchess”, was a huge influence on her. He may even have helped get her a contract with Cotillion whom he was currently with.

The move to Cotillion brought George McGregor, Mike Valvano and the legendary King Curtis together. She spoke fondly of King Curtis saying “he was the only one who allowed me to sing the way I wanted. On “Hold Your Hand” he said to me ‘you sing loud when you want and quiet when you want’.

Cotlliion44025 “Shake A hand”/”24 Hours was released in 1969 as was Cotillion44059 “Just To Hold My Hand”/”Giving Up”.

 music : "Happiness Is Here" - Tobi Lark (Topper 1011a)

 Continued

 David Meikle : All Rights Reserved