Soul, Blues, Sixties Music Database
Valerie Simpson is a song writer and performer. She was the Simpson in the Motown song writing duo – Ashford and Simpson who also performed as a duo.
Let’s Go Get Stoned – 1964 for Ray Charles
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough – 1966 for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrel
Wikipedia: Ashford and Simpson
Drummer Buddy Miles made the original of this great track which was also done by Doris Duke and Big John Hamilton and it was their version of the song that made it on the UK Soul scene.
Wikipedia: Buddy Miles
Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham were the great song writing duo who wrote: I’m Your Puppet.
Their first song for FAME studios was James Barnett’s Keep On Talking.
They wrote or contributed to the writing of lots of Soulful songs:
Sweet Inspiration – The Sweet Inspirations.
Do Right Woman, Do Right Man – Aretha Franklin
It Tears Me Up – Percy Sledge
Dark End Of The Street – James Carr
You Left The Water Running – Maurice and Mac
I’m Your Puppet – James and Bobby Purify
All Soulful slow songs and much more popular at the time in the late sixties at The Blue Note club in Manchester, but did get played mid-week at The Twisted Wheel.
Wikipedia: Dan Penn
Wikipedia: Spooner Oldham
Great stuff this one from Leroy Hutson made in 1974 and re-released in 1996 due to Northern Soul demand.
Wikipedia: Leroy Hutson
FABULOUS – from the son of Johnny Otis – Shuggie Otis – the man who got Blues and Soul going single handedly!
Wikipedia: Shuggie Otis
With that Bashing, Smashing beat that the Northern Soulers loved so much. This time by Ken Williams.
BREAKAWAY (Part 1) 1968
The song features Jimmy Radcliffe.
Band leader, composer and advert jingle writer: Steve Karmen Wiki
Song writer and record producer.
Did you notice the writer’s name? And the producer’s name?: a mark of excellence Richard ‘ Popcorn’ Willie, nothing he did was ever bad, if we could find records with his name on them we would try to buy, borrow, import or steal them. Due to knowing this name we bought an obscure new release in 1968 just based on him being the songwriter at a record shop in Manchester – we knew the owner, we bought lots of records from him and he let us look at all the latest release sheets. Mr Bowker at his shop on Rochdale Road Collyhurst. That record was Going To A Happening by a bloke we had never heard of: Tommy Neal. It was on the UK Vocalion label. Had we not known the name of the writer; we might have thought it was a Hippy song as at that time all things Hippy and their Happenings were in the news. That’s how this record came to be played FIRST at the Blue Note club in Manchester, followed by the Twisted Wheel long after it had caught on big at this rival club. The rest is history, now a standard, claimed by the Northern Soul’ers but this is the real story of its history.
Going To A Happening
When you hear the term ‘Popcorn’ I guess it’s referring to his music and the style of it in the Soul genre.
He was a prolific SOUL Songwriter. The records he made or contributed to or produced are as numerous as the stars so we won’t list them here as other sources have already done a good job (see links at foot of the page). But here is one:
Rosemary What Happened: this gets into Kev Roberts Top 500 at position 470. Apparently associated or attempted to be so with the film Rosemary’s Baby.
Incidental if you look at the Golden World history there is little doubt that as well as the Funk Brothers some of the Motown staff musicians and writers , certainly Richard Wylie did work for Ed Wingate: it made Berry Gordy furious. He bought out the company. Some hints of Berry’s attitude around the early Motown times is told in a book by his second wife: BERRY, Me, And MOTOWN by Ramona Gordy singleton.
Richard Wylie’s I SPY
The Ideals with MIGHTY LOVER another great Richard Wylie song.
It goes on, on and on:
Jimmy Soul Clark – Sweet Darlin‘
A whole string of great Soul musical achievements from Richard ‘Popcorn’ Wylie – he co-wrote Agent Double-0 Soul, Back Street, Girls Are Gettin’ Prettier, My Weakness Is You, Time.
He produced Custer’s Last Stand, REAL GOOD LOVIN’, Rosemary What Happened, Lost Time. He co-wrote With This Ring for the Platters and Washed Ashore. He also recorded himself – Move Over Babe – the list just goes on, on and on. You can see him interviewed on the CD Set The Strange World Of Northern Soul.
In 1959 he joined Motown as a writer. He already knew Robert Bateman and was the bandleader for Motown’s early tours. In 1961 as Popcorn and The Mohawks he had a few early releases on Motown.
He played piano on Money, Please Mr Postman and Shop Around.
IN 1962 he moved to Correc-tone and Continental. Then on to Golden World. Golden World and Wingate Records, owned by Ed Wingate, were Motown’s biggest competitors and in the same city. ‘ith Richard Wylie moving there and with his own backing musicians (The Funk Brothers) moonlighting over there, Berry Gordy got mad. To this day lots of tracks from this period are still in the archives. Gordy bought out the entire company from Ed Wingate, and a lot of the artists there were left without distribution of their work. (See The Dark Side Of Motown). His story is covered in the Strange World of Northern Soul and he even did a song for Betty Boo.
He released a CD in his own right: Extrasensory Perception
Top Of The Stairs (1977)
Nicholas Ashford & Valerie Simpson (married) songwriters. They were Motown staff songwriters mainly for Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell.
They also recorded in their own right: Top of the Stairs is really good and another pop hit for them was: Solid As A Rock.
“Keep It Coming” was a record from Valerie after the death of her husband.
They wrote many Soul songs including Mr Creator by The Appollas. Collins & Collins who had a hit also with “Top Of The Stairs.
Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson with ex- Ikette Jo Armstead wrote Let’s Go Get Stoned for Ray Charles, Nothing I wouldn’t Do – For Betty Everett and Never Had It So Good – for Ronnie Milsap. In 1967 they began song writing for Motown and wrote classics soul tracks including:
Ain’t No Mountain High Enough You’re All I Need To Get By Onion Song
(all sung by Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell)
Remember Me sung by Diana Ross
Nick wrote I Dont Need No Doctor – for Ray Charles
Nickolas ‘Nick’ Ashford (b. 4th May 1942, Fairfield, South Carolina, U.S.A.) and Valerie Simpson (b. 26th August 1946, The Bronx, New York, U.S.A.).
Nick Simpson
Wikipedia: Ashford and Simpson
Born 19th March 1928 – Winston-Salem, North Carolina
Died 6th May 1993 – Los Angeles
Motown Producer and Song Writers and one time member of the Five Royales (Baby Don’t Do It, – Help Me Somebody). Produced hits for Stevie Wonder, The Temptations and Marvin Gaye amongst others.
Wikipedia: Clarence Paul
