THE CHECKMATES LTD - KISSIN' HER & CRYING FOR YOU (CAPITOL)
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- čas přidán 9. 05. 2008
- CHECKMATES LTD were an North American R&B/Soul group from Fort Wayne, Indiana. They were one of the first integrated groups in the country. There were three black musicians and vocalists, and two white members (hence the group's name)
Sonny Charles (Charles Hemphill) : vocals,
Bobby Stevens: vocals
'Sweet Louie' Smith (Marvin) : drums
Bill Van Buskirk : electric bass
Harvey Trees : guitar
They formed a doo-wop group in high school in the mid-50's that eventually turned to R&B. The group was so close, the five members joined the army together in 1959.
After they got out of the service in 1962 they were playing at the Black Hawk Club in Salt Lake City.
Sonny Charles said that The Checkmates were the first band to make R&B succeed at the 'Pussy Cat a Go-Go'. The venue was apparently one of the hottest nightclubs in Las Vegas in the 60's. It was located on the Strip, south of where the defunct Desert Inn now sits. The group were performing Ray Charles, James Brown, Brook Benton and Marvin Gaye numbers. The Pussy Cat was the launching pad for The Checkmates, who became Las Vegas icons.
This is where singer Nancy Wilson caught their act and signed the group up with her management team.
"She came in and liked what we were doing and asked if she could manage us," Charles said. "The next day she flew in her lawyers, they sat through our show and signed us up. She got us on most of the national variety shows of the time - Mike Douglas, Merv Griffin, Johnny Carson. We did three Ed Sullivan shows and 'Playboy After Dark.' There was a lot of national touring."
Wilson then got them a contract with Capitol Records -releasing four 45's;
'Glad For You'/'Do The Walk' (3/66)
'Kissin' Her And Crying For You'/'I Can Hear The Rain' (66)
'Mastered The Art Of Love'/'Please Don't Take My World Away' (67)
'Walk In The Sunshine'/' A & I' (67)
'Kissin' Her And Crying For You' was written by Ben Raleigh and Dave Linden, and guided by legendary Los Angeles producer David Axelrod -who encouraged Capitol Records to develop their black artists. All three also worked with singer Lou Rawls.
The record found favour in the UK on the Rare-Northern Soul scene. Popularity of the single resulted in Kent Records using the title for the release of a 1986 compilation of 6T's Soul from Capitol, Sue, Veep, Tower, Imperial and United Artists labels.
"...the Checkmates title track exploding into such action and hitting peaks so high on the Richter scale, it just had to win that coverted opening spot on the latest Kent compilation." Ady Croasdell
It was later included on the Goldmine CD 'Northern Souls Diamonds & Pearls'
'Live At Caesar's Palace' Capitol album.
This comprised of tracks that were in the groups Las Vegas stage act at the time, these included 'Can I Get A Witness', 'Sunny', 'A Quitter Never Wins', 'Baby I Need Your Lovin' and 'You've Lost That Lovin Feeling'. The album enjoyed a UK release on Ember, however it didn't make it into British record shops until 1972.
'Do The Walk / Glad For You' -was also picked up for British release in the late sixties by the Ember label. Ember also released a second single 'Mastered The Art Of Love / Please Don't Take My World Away ', these later sides being credited to Sonny Charles & Checkmates Ltd. Although the name was probably a marketing ploy following the success on A&M, the sides did actually feature Sonny on lead vocals. The A sides of the groups two Ember singles were also included on the Ember compilation album 'A Drop Of The Hard Stuff', which was released in 1970 and again in 1972.
In 1968 The Checkmates moved and signed for Herb Albert's A&M record label.
Their one major hit was 1969's "Black Pearl", produced by Phil Spector. The song peaked at #13 on the U.S. pop chart. More than a million records were sold. It was also the theme song for the Miss Black America Pageant for several years.
The group broke up in 1970, but reunited in 1974 for a few more years.
In April '76 The Checkmates released 'All Alone By The Telephone / Body Language' (Polydor). The track was produced by H.B. Barnum and featured Sonny on lead vocals. At the time of its release the record received some good reviews, 'All Alone By ...' being likened to Al Wilson's 'Show & Tell'. This similarity may account for the track being yet another of the group's efforts that has been much in demand with UK collectors in recent times.
Lead singer Sonny Charles later had a moderately successful career as a solo artist with 'Put It In A Magazine' (Highrise) 1983 -becoming very popular on the British soul scene.
Thanks to John Smith, Oxford for the information. - Hudba
FANTASTIC VID MAN.....LUVIN THE 60’s UPTOWN DANCIN👍👍👍👍👍
Thanks Jonny Hotrod.
This was a floor filler at wigan casino great use of vernon from bradford spinning at 1.20,he was always a pleasure to watch ,awesome vid
SIMPLY SUPERB VIDEO - Loved the record for years
Fing superb !!
great song
haven't done much commenting, got glued to your channel :) awesome stuff Thanks
Love it when you get a great tune with an uptempo video to match the song. Nice work! : )
big all-nighter tune.
This is one serious Northern Soul choon.......great montage, very professional. Wish I could dance like the silhouetted guy.
great sound ...class video :)) ktf
Great record - will be spinning this at The Riverside - FEB 4TH 2011. :)
You just do the best vids bar none rob,i might have said that before oh well.
nice nice toooon.
Excellent video - very well put together - I especially liked all the footage of different dancers - and a great tune too! Thanks for posting.
Thank you ...glad you enjoyed it.
Thanks, I'm glad you like it and experience 'the scene'.
great video, goes really well with the record.
Thanks -glad you enjoyed it!
Glad you like it.
Thanks for your interest and support
-BCS
Top dog this
Thanks for your comment
Thanks for tuning in!
Glad you like it!
Thanks for commenting.
If you like how Vernon danced you should have seen his big sister Grasita (if thats how you spell it)? She was a regular at Annabellas in Bradford and a joy to watch!
Glad it took you back to Station Road.
Thanks for your postive comment.
I'm glad you like it!
thanks -BCS
Welcome to the channel and thanks for commenting.
Yeah, I'll second all of that.
Also hat-tip to the peerless northern dynamics in the record.
covered as nick Ashford if I remember big on the main floor wigan
Pleased you like it ...thanks.
i've watched this video countless times, utterly superb. Come on ROBSBIGCITYSOUL why no new films !!?? PS : how do you play the tracks without a centre, i have never perfected this & always sounds like how i look dancing after 10 beers !
Does anybody know what happened to Vern from Bradford? Great track!
There's a copy currently on ebay if you feel like chasing it?
Thank you for kind comment.
what vocals...superb...no vocal groups anymore.....no soul
great record just payd 150 quid for it but well worth it
Sold it