More UK Sue

Record producer, session musician, arranger, band leader and saxophonist Thomas Maxwell Davis Jnr. (right in image) was born in Independence, Kansas on 14 January 1916. In 1937 he moved to Los Angeles and began playing with the Fletcher Henderson Orchestra. From the mid 1940s he became influential on the West Coast Rhythm and Blues scene, becoming regarded as "the father of west coast R&B". After a number of years playing in sessions for various labels he moved to Modern in 1955 becoming a producer and music director. You can hear him playing on many classic west coast R&B recordings including those by Amos Millburn and on "KC Loving" by Little Willie Littlefield.  His final production activity was to produce the soul singer Z. Z. Hill. Maxwell Davis died from a heart attack in Los Angeles, California, on 18 September 1970. Image: WBSS Media

Composer, singer, organist and pianist David Cortez Clowney, better known as Dave Baby Cortez, was born in Detroit, Michigan, on 13 August 1938. He attended Northwestern High School in Detroit. His father was a pianist.  Mr Clowney learned piano but later switched to organ.  In the mid fifties David Clowney sang in various doo wop groups; he then became musical director for Little Anthony And The Imperials. Among his composing credits is the song "Your line was busy". His recording of The Happy Organ was almost an accident; he was supposed to sing on it, but demurred. The studio had an organ covered in dust covers, which was usually used for gospel music recordings, and he decided to play that. Happy Organ's guitar solo is by session musician Wild Jimmy Spurill. His follow up hit "Rinky Dink" became well known in the UK due to being used as the theme tune for Wrestling. He quickly became disenchanted with the music industry and became highly reclusive. In 2009 h...

  Song writer and country music singer James "Jimmie" Dallas was born on 26 July 1927 and died on 28 December 2004. He was based in Kansas City. He is mainly known for co-writing "A little piece of leather" with Donnie Elbert and Celestine Dallas. Further information welcomed. Image: BMI

  Known as "The Poet Laureate of New Orleans", blues singer, song writer and guitarist Earl Silas Johnson IV, better known as "Earl King", was born in  New Orleans, Louisiana, on 7 February 1934. His father was a piano player. Earl started playing guitar when he was 15. He had also been singing gospel in Church choirs while at school. He started playing guitar in clubs where he met his role model, Guitar Slim. When Guitar Slim was injured in an accident in 1954, King took his place on a tour.   King first recorded for Savoy Records in 1953. The following year he moved to Specialty/Ace Records. By 1960 he was recording for Imperial with Dave Bartholomew. In 1963 his recording contract ended and he concentrated on writing songs, including "Do Re Me" for Lee Dorsey. During that period he auditioned and recorded some material in Detroit for Motown. He returned to recording in the 1970s.  Earl King died from complications arising from diabetes in New Orleans on...

  Songwriter, dancer, artist, singer, manager and record producer Robert Stanley Crewe was born in Newark, New Jersey, on 12 November 1930. He met songwriting partner Frank Slay in 1953. He would sing on the demos of their songs. He will be remembered for their work with The Four Seasons, Dee Dee Sharpe, Ben E King and The Orlons, among others. He also collaborated with songwriter and singer Bob Gaudio and their first success was "Sherry". As a solo singer he recorded a number of albums in the 1960s.  He designed a number of album covers and also had shows of his art works. The musical The Jersey Boys was very successful and proceeds from that show were used to set up a foundation doing charitable work for people with HIV and AIDS, the gay community and for bringing music and art to children in deprived communities. Bob Crewe died in Scarborough, Maine, in a care home, after a fall and from declining health, on 11 September 2014. Image: BMI.

  Song writer, A&R director, record producer and record company owner Frank Conley Slay Jnr. was born in Dallas, Texas on 8 July 1930. In 1951 he moved to New York to try his luck at writing songs. He met Bob Crewe in the mid fifties and their first success was "Silhouettes" by The Rays.  From the mid 1950s to the mid 1960s his song writing partnership with Bob Crewe produced many pop hit singles. In 1961 he moved to Philadelphia as A&R manager for Swan Records, whose artistes included Freddy Cannon. In 1963 he moved back to New York, then moved to Los Angeles shortly after. As a producer, his most successful recording was "Incense and Peppermints" by the Strawberry Alarm Clock. Frank Slay died in San Diego, California on 30 September 2017. Image: Copyright control.

  Record producer, booking agent, A&R man, record plugger and song writer Bernard "Bernie" Besman was born in Kiev on 8 October 1912. His family fled to London in 1921 where he went to school and learned piano. In 1926 the family moved to Detroit, Michigan. Besman began to play piano in jazz bands. He first recorded in 1936. He set up a booking agency prior to World War II and began booking bands for the Special Services. In 1946 he and a colleague acquired Pan American Record Distributing. They set up Sensation Records.  In 1948 he discovered John Lee Hooker and supervised his first recording sessions, with sound engineer Joe Siracuse. The session yielded "Boogie Chillen" which when leased to Modern was a major hit, due in part to its innovative recording technique. The recording used an adjacent toilet as an echo chamber, amplified Hooker's acoustic guitar for a stronger sound, and placed a microphone under the floor board where Hooker tapped his feet.  Mr...

  Singer, instrumentalist  and song writer John Hendry Kendricks (Hank Ballard) was born in Detroit, Michigan on 18 November 1927. After his father died he and his brother were brought up in Bessemer, Alabama. His cousin Florence Ballard was a member of The Supremes.  He began singing in Church while at school. In his teens he returned to Detroit and got a job on the Ford assembly line. In 1953 he joined a singing group called The Royals and wrote his first successful song, "Get It" which made no. 6 on the Billboard R&B chart. After the success, the group changed their name to The Midnighters (to avoid confusion with the group called The 5 Royales). The Midnighters had a string of hits but disbanded in 1965, and Ballard launched a solo career.  He wrote many songs, including "Roll with me Henry" (with Johnny Otis and Etta James, who recorded it)  but the most successful of his compositions was "The Twist", which became an international success for Chub...

  Jamaican singer  Newton Thomas aka  "Tony Washington" was managed by Chris Blackwell and left Jamaica for London in 1961.  A 1964 article in the archive of Jamaica Gleaner notes: " Tony used to attend St Aloysius Boys’ School and was a member of the choir. He was also lead singer and pianist for a now-defunct group called The Cool-shakes, which consisted of three boys who were famous for their clown-singing and mimicry on stage.  After leaving The Cool-shakes, Tony formed his own combo which consisted of bass, drums, guitar, saxophone and piano.  He doubled as vocalist and pianist.  This combo did well, playing engagements around the island, but did not last long.  It was then that Tony decided to go abroad in order to pursue his career better. Now he can be seen in most of the big night spots around London and on TV.  Said Chris Blackwell, his manager: “I want the best for Tony because he has the making of a big star. " " "Boof Ska" first...