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Detroit's Sepia label

luckluck 4,077 Posts
edited July 2007 in Strut Central
Sepia 1 Four Sonics - Plus One - Tell Me You're Mine / Lost Without YouSepia 2 Al Gardner - Sweet Baby / I Can't Stand ItSepia 3 Joe Buckman - Till The End Of Time / Right NowI see that Jack Ashford and Lorraine Chandler are related with this label. I've also heard that there is an pic-sleeve issue of the Al Gardner on the French imprint (boot?) Googa Mooga.More info, please.

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  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    Sepia was one of a number of labels that Jack Ashford owned/ran (others being Ashford, Awake, etc.). Joe Hunter (of Funk brothers fame), who passed away several months ago, was actively involved with the label as well. Jack was supposedly finishing up a book in '02 or'03 that was going to describe the time period during which this and his more widely distributed work on RCA (e.g. Lorraine Chandler) was recorded. I'm not sure what ever became of it though.

    As for the label's output, the three you list are the only one's I'm familiar with, the biggie on the label being the Al Gardner, obviously. Wouldn't be surprised to hear there are more out there. For some reason I've always really loved the look of the awkwardly hand-drawn Sepia label.

    On a side note, I recall reading on the Soulful Detroit forums a while back an anecdote that Jack Ashford told, or maybe it was Mike Terry, about traveling to Philly in the early 60s and giving some advice to local producers/arrangers that eventually became the basis of the 'Philly sound'.
    I remember being really incredulous of that (old dudes love to talk), until I found out that Jack was originally from Philly and spent some time working in the Virtue studios before moving to Detroit.
  • BreakSelfBreakSelf 2,925 Posts
    Jack was supposedly finishing up a book...

    suppose this must be it.

  • BelsonBelson 880 Posts
    So is the Patrinell Staten 45 on Sepia the same label, given that the font is stylized rather than hand drawn?
  • DCarfagnaDCarfagna 983 Posts
    So is the Patrinell Staten 45 on Sepia the same label, given that the font is stylized rather than hand drawn?

    No, that Sepia was from Seattle and owned by Ms. Staten.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    So is the Patrinell Staten 45 on Sepia the same label, given that the font is stylized rather than hand drawn?

    No, that Sepia was from Seattle and owned by Ms. Staten.

    Right. Careful with that one, too - there were some reissues/boots floating around two years ago.
  • luckluck 4,077 Posts
    Sepia was one of a number of labels that Jack Ashford owned/ran (others being Ashford, Awake, etc.). Joe Hunter (of Funk brothers fame), who passed away several months ago, was actively involved with the label as well. Jack was supposedly finishing up a book in '02 or'03 that was going to describe the time period during which this and his more widely distributed work on RCA (e.g. Lorraine Chandler) was recorded. I'm not sure what ever became of it though. {/quote]

    Thanks for the info. I was hoping for another Al Gardner-esque single. I wish to god that one had blown up locally or nationally and gotten subsequently easier to find.

    As for the label's output, the three you list are the only one's I'm familiar with, the biggie on the label being the Al Gardner, obviously. Wouldn't be surprised to hear there are more out there. For some reason I've always really loved the look of the awkwardly hand-drawn Sepia label.

    Me, too. That, plus the silhouette.

    I remember being really incredulous of that (old dudes love to talk), until I found out that Jack was originally from Philly and spent some time working in the Virtue studios before moving to Detroit.

    Yeah, but old dudes love to talk.
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