Jamo Thomas was born in the Bahamas. He came to Chicago in the early sixties and made his first recording at Conlo Records in 1965, with Jerry Butler in charge of production. Subsequently he moved to Chess and then to several other companies. Chess issued a single by Thomas, “Must I Holler”/ “I’ll Be Your Fool”, in 1966. “I’ll Be Your Fool” was re-issued as an A-side in 1969. Many years later, in 2016, Chess released “Must I Holler” in the UK.
Thomas’ style was up-tempo, funky Soul, with strong saxophones providing colour.
Percy Mayfield is well-known for his classic song “Please Send Me Someone To Love”. He also wrote “Hit The Road Jack” for Ray Charles. In the early fifties he began building a career as a performer, recording for Specialty Records, until he suffered severe injuries in a serious road accident in 1952.
Fortunately, he was able to recover and made one Chess single “Double Dealing” in 1955, with Fred Clark on tenor saxophone. The B-side is a soulful slow Blues big band number entitled “Are You Out There” with a lively saxophone and piano backing.
Tony Clarke was born in New York in 1940 but grew up in Detroit. He started recording around 1960, first for Stepp Records and then for Fascination Records, but found no success. His breakthrough came in 1963 when he wrote a couple of songs that were hits for Etta James. The most successful was “Pushover”, which he co-wrote with Billy Davis.
Clarke took advantage of this success to sign a contract at Chess Records, for whom he recorded six singles between 1964 and 1965, several of which were re-issued in later years. Two made the charts. “(The Story Of) Woman, Love And A Man” reached number eighty-eight on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1964, co-written by Clarke and Wilfred McKinley. “The Entertainer” peaked at number thirty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to number ten on the Billboard R&B Singles chart in 1965. The song was another Clarke composition, arranged by Phil Wright.
Clarke moved to the West Coast in 1966 and tried his luck in the film industry. His life ended tragically in 1971 when he broke into his estranged wife’s house in Detroit and was shot by her.
Several of Clarke’s songs became popular amongst Northern Soul fans in the UK, especially 1966’s “Landslide”.
Bobby McClure was born in Chicago in1942 but moved to St. Louis with his family as a young child. His interest in Gospel music led to him joining the Soul Stirrers in the nineteen fifties, where he sang with Sam Cooke. He moved into secular music by the mid-sixties when he signed for Checker Records, staying for two years and recording three solo singles and two duets with Fontella Bass. When Little Milton and Fontella Bass joined Chess, McClure was able to offer support and advice.
His first of four releases in 1965 was “I’m Not Ashamed”, written and produced by Oliver Sain, backed by “I’ll Be True To You”, written and produced by Sain and Billy Davis. This was followed by three of the duets. “Don’t Jump” is an up-tempo dance track, with a strong horn backing, written by the Chess top team of Billy Davis, Carl Smith and Raynard Miner. The B-side, “You’ll Miss Me (When I’m Gone)”, written by Davis and Gene Barge, is another excellent recording that shows off the two voices to good effect. The single entered the charts, reaching number twenty-seven on the R&B chart and ninety-one on the Billboard Hot 100.
“Don’t Mess Up A Good Thing”/ “Baby What You Want Me To Do” are more Bluesy, written by Oliver Sain (A-side) and Jimmy Reed (B-Side). The A-side was re-released later in the year with a new B-side, “Jerk Loose”, an Oliver Sain instrumental. The song gave McClure his highest chart entry, number five on the R&B chart and thirty-three on the Billboard Hot 100.
The 1966 single “You Got Me Baby”, another song co-written by Davis, Miner and Smith, is a well-crafted Soul song, with a bouncy sax solo and an echo of Motown. The other side, a Davis/ DeSanto number entitled “Peak Of Love”, is different again; it is a slower ballad, with rich horn backing, which sold well, reaching number sixteen on the R&B chart and ninety-seven on the Billboard Hot 100.
The final recording at Chess involving McClure was “Baby, You Don’t Love Me” in 1967, co-written by Leonard Caston Jr. and Lloyd Webber, arranged by Charles Stepney, and produced by Billy Davis and Caston. The B-side, “Don’t Get Your Signals Crossed”, was written by Maurice McAlister and Sugar Pie DeSanto. It is an up-tempo Soul dance track. Strangely, given the quality of the team and the sweetly-delivered vocals, the single failed to chart, and McClure moved on.
He left the industry in the nineteen seventies. He had a good Soul voice and some strong songs that should have led to better things, but tastes changed, and the industry moved on. McClure’s songs were, however much appreciated on the Northern Soul circuit in the UK.
All four of these singers were talented. Chess Records gave them some good songs and strong production teams. They are all worth a listen!
