Alton Ellis/Junior Walker question
mannybolone
Los Angeles, CA 15,025 Posts
I deleted this by accident so here we go again:
How is it that Alton Ellis covered Junior Walker's "What Does It Take" in 1967 for Mr. Soul of Jamaica when Walker himself didn't release the song until 1969? I'm looking through all of Walker's discographical information and so far, I see no indication that it came out earlier than that.
How is it that Alton Ellis covered Junior Walker's "What Does It Take" in 1967 for Mr. Soul of Jamaica when Walker himself didn't release the song until 1969? I'm looking through all of Walker's discographical information and so far, I see no indication that it came out earlier than that.
Comments
We already did this one...no?
http://webcache.googleusercontent.com/search?q=cache:j_YtuyOQ-9oJ:www.soulstrut.com/ubbthreads/grabnext.php?Cat=0&Board=crates&mode=showflat&sticky=0&dir=old&posted=1210811888&page=0+DR+2501+"Alton+Ellis+-+What+Does+It+Take"&cd=3&hl=en&ct=clnk&gl=uk&client=safari
There's a Duke Reid 7 - http://www.45cat.com/record/dr2501
Okem: Thanks. You have a better memory than I do! And according to one of the posts there, the song (and presumably the album too) is from 1970.
It's extraordinary - hundreds of different sources online all put the album as having come out in 1967. Sounds like one piece of misinformation that's been replicated endlessly.
Pity though; I was giving Ellis/Reid props for being so ahead the curve by recording a cover of Brenda Holloways "You Make Me So Very Happy," before Blood, Sweat and Tears had. That said, I still think he's the first Jamaican singer to record a cover of "Ain't That Loving You".
His 1967 lp 'Mr Soul Of Jamaica', on Treasure Isle, features the song 'What Does It Take', (Producer : Duke Reid)
Then his 1970 release 'Sunday Coming' also features 'What Does It Take To Win Your Love', (Producer : C.S. Dodd)
Yet the single released in 1970 is the earlier Duke Reid produced version.
The Downbeats also released a version in 69, and I just read on wiki that Motown originally rejected the Junior Walker version for single release. So maybe the writers had been touting the song for a while.
The question is whether or not "Mr. Soul of Jamaica" actually came out in 1967. I spoke to a British journalist who wrote Alton Ellis' obit for Trojan Records' website and he says 1) "Mr. Soul" came out in *1973* and was not his first album but his *fourth*.
This would clear up the timeline issue but it opens up the other question of why every site on the interweb thinks "Mr. Soul" came out in 1967. I mean, a SIX YEAR gaffe is pretty major (but not unheard of).
I just find it highly unlikely that Ellis debuted this particular song if it hadn't even been recorded yet in the U.S. In 1967, "What Does It Take" existed as a demo and that's it.
This guy seems to think it came out in 1970, which would make more sense in relation to the o.g.
That's the internet for you.
There are dozens of sites that list me as being Ozzy Osbourne's bass player (many with a photo of me). As awesome as that might have been, it didn't happen. I'm sure it all started with a single erroneous post.