One-derful Records was a company set up by people who had helped Carter and Bracken launch Vee-Jay. The two brothers Ernie and George Leaner, who owned United Record Distributors, set up their own record company in 1962. It ran until 1968, concentrating on Gospel-influenced R&B. The catalogue has been licensed to Secret Stash Records by Ernie Leaner’s son.
The best-known artists who signed to One-derful were Otis Clay, McKinley Mitchell, Betty Everett, and The Five Du-Tones.
The Five Du-Tones were formed in 1957 by five high school students at Patrick Henry High School in St. Louis, Missouri. Three of the boys later moved to Chicago, where the group was signed to One-derful in 1963. The three original members were Willie Guest, LeRoy Joyce,and James West, now joined by new members Andrew Butler and Frank McCurrey.
The label released nine singles by the group, most of which were aimed at the latest dance craze. Only one of their songs entered the charts, “Shake a Tail Feather”, which reached number twenty-eight on the R&B chart and number fifty-one on the Billboard Hot 100. The group disbanded in 1967.
Otis Clay was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, in 1942. As a young man he sung with several Gospel groups, including the Golden Jubilaires, before turning to secular music in 1962. He cut some tracks with Carl Davis in the hope of getting a contract with Columbia. That was not to be, but three years later he signed for One-derful Records. It took five singles until the first chart entry was achieved, a song entitled “That’s How It Is (When You’re In Love)”, which reached number thirty-four on the R&B chart, arranged and produced by Eddie Silvers. The follow-up single “A Lasting Love” peaked at number forty-eight on the R&B chart, suggesting that Clay might be able to go on to better things. Indeed, that is what happened, but not at One-derful, which went out of business in 1968. Clay moved to Atlantic, who chose his single “She’s About A Mover” to launch their new subsidiary label Cotillion Records.
Clay later moved to Memphis to work with Willie Mitchell at Hi Records, continuing to build a successful career.
McKinley Mitchell was born in 1934. Like many of his fellow artists, he started out in the music business after growing up singing Gospel. He came to One-derful in 1962, releasing nine singles before leaving in 1965 to work for several Chicago labels including Chess Records. “The Town I Live In”, one of the early self-penned songs he recorded for the One-derful label, broke into the R&B chart, peaking at number eight.
Mitchell’s voice is strong and has a raw edge that he used to bridge the divide between Soul and Blues.
After working at Cobra Records and then at CJ Records, Betty Everett moved to Renee Records in 1962, where she cut four new tracks with producer Monk Higgins. George Leaner picked up the songs for release on his new One-derful label. They sold well in Chicago, which led Calvin Carter to offer Everett a contract at Vee-Jay.
In July 1967, The Jackson 5 came to One-derful! The boys had set up the group in 1964 and had started performing in talent shows and in local clubs. In 1967, they came to One-derful Records to make their first ever professional recording. They cut just one song, “I’m A Big Boy Now”, and left. They soon signed a contract with Steeltown Records that same year, before moving to Motown in 1968.
The One-derful session was forgotten for many years, but in 2009 it came to light and was later released in 2014.
