Quinton Joseph (Part 2)

 "The R&B and Soul Music Drummer with a Signature Touch"

    The Chicago Years

This was the group's
 first million seller

His signature style drumming techniques is heard on other Chicago soul classics such as “Have You Seen Her”, a one million plus selling single performed the Chi-Lites and produced and co-written by one of the key members of the vocal group, the late Eugene Record and on the following gold-certified single performed by the Chi-Lites, “Oh Girl”. 

This was the only studio album of the group's career
to have achieved the number-one position on
 Billboard Top Soul Albums Chart. Joseph conducted
arrangements and played drums on the album

Joseph conducted arrangements for the group on several singles including the two gold singles mentioned above. The track “Oh Girl” became both a Billboard number-one on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles Chart on 3^rd June 1972 (2 weeks) and on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart on 27^th May 1972 (1 week), preceded by “the First Time Ever I Saw Your Face”, performed by Roberta Flack and succeeded by “I’ll Take You There”, performed by The Staple Singers. The parent album “A Lonely Man” peaked on top of the  Billboard Top Soul Albums Chart on 10^th June 1972 (5 weeks), which was very interesting because it was preceeded by Roberta Flack’s album “First Take”. During the 1970s, Joseph played on all the number-one singles and albums released by Brunswick Records in North America.

Second gold record of the 
group's career
"Oh Girl" 

                                   



















                                    Researched and compiled by               
                                   Mr K Tomlin Music Historian                   
                                  ©RCM Music/Signaturesoundsonline2013-2014 
 

Billy Davis ( Part 2 )

  Recording and Advertising Executive Extraordinaire.

                                              

            He was one of the key architects in the development of the soul music we so love today!

Davis Jr decided to move to Chicago in 1962 in search of greener pastures where he could further develop the creative skills he had acquired while working in the Detroit Soul scene during the mid-1950s to the early 1960s.

 

In a typically brilliant move, Leonard Chess, with a growing interest in the Soul market which was dominated mainly by Motown and Stax at the time and well aware of the strength of Billy Davis’s previous success with Berry Gordy, decided to offer him a contract to develop a strong R&B division at Chess, in line with Motown and Stax.

 

With Davis present in the creative role as producer, songwriter and arranger in the Chess organisation, the opportunity arose to create a more soulful sound and to move the label away from the Blues-dominated sound of the label up to then. He persuaded Leonard Chess to hire musicians with a Jazz background and arrangers for long term session work. Maurice White once said about Billy:

“He taught me how to break down a song and build it up again”.

 

 

 

 

Maurice White

The co-founder and musical architect of Earth, Wind &  Fire    

                         

 

The knowledge White obtained from Davis during recording sessions was the foundation that helped him become a formidable band leader, record producer, record label owner and songwriter.

The production skills Davis developed whilst working with Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen Gordy’s Anna label in Detroit can be heard on such classic tracks as “All I Could Do Was Cry” by Etta James, “Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass and on many other tracks. On “Rescue Me”, which was produced live in the studio, you can hear the Motown influence, but with a Chicago soul sound put into the mix. Billy Davis spent seven years at Chess and also held the position of repertoire director.

Davis Jr greatest achievement was to produced the first and only number-one R&B and Soul hit on the Billboard Hot Soul Singles Chart for a female artist at Chess  Records The single “Rescue Me”, recorded by Fontella Bass, which arrived at the R&B summit on the 30^th October 1965. “Rescue Me” typified the new Chess: built on a bed-rock of Satterfield’s bass and White’s drums, powered by Gene Barge’s horn section, and propelled by the call-and-response of singer and background vocalists.

This record became a hit in several major Europe markets including the UK. You can hear this single on movie soundtracks and it has been used in marketing campaigns across the USA and in Europe.


Researched and compiled by
 Mr K Tomlin Music Historian  
©RCM Music/Signaturesoundsonline 2013
 

Billy Davis Jr ( Part 1)

Recording and Advertising Executive Extraordinaire.

       He was one of the key architects in the development of the soul music we so love today!

The late Billy Davis was born on July 11^th 1932 in Detroit. He started his career in the entertainment industry as a songwriter with Berry Gordy in Detroit during the mid 1950s, creating successful songs for his cousin the late Jackie Wilson, under the pseudonym of Tyran Carlo.

 

Their first major international hit was “Reet Petite” released in 1957 on Brunswick Records, which peaked at number six on the British Pop singles chart listings. Interestingly the record repeated its success in the UK Pop singles chart listings by going to number one on 27^th December 1986, for 4 weeks, almost 30 years after its original release and selling in the excess of 700,000 copies to be certified platinum by the BPI (British Phonographic Industry).

 

Billy Davis also did tremendous work with two legendary recording labels noted for their significant contributions to the popularity of Soul and R&B music amongst the record buying public, Chess Records and Motown Records. He was one of the key architects in the development of the soul music we so love today!

                                     
Davis was also involved in the development of Anna Records which started in 1958 and was jointly owned by himself and Berry’s sister Gwen Gordy, whom he dated at that time, before it was brought out by Berry Gordy and became part of the Motown organization.

Researched and compiled by
 Mr K Tomlin Music Historian  
©RCM Music/Signaturesoundsonline 2013