No, That particular record was distributed by Atlantic. Calla was either a mobster or had mobster ties. That could be how his label wound up with Roulette. Roulette was a mob-controlled label. In fact, Tommy James said he didn't even feel comfortable enough to talk about it until the last member of the family had died.
I have a Calla 45 from before "But It's Alright," its first distributor was Cameo-Parkway. The label fonts on East Coast pressings of the Jackson single (and that of a later single from the label, "Love Power" by The Sandpebbles) originated from a New Jersey printer which later did label copy type for Springboard International labels and, from 1967-72, Joe and Sylvia Robinson's All Platinum stable of labels. If Atlantic did distribute this single, it must've been very third-party. Nate McCalla (Calla's founder) was a frequent associate of Roulette honcho Morris Levy's, ergo very much mobbed-up. Not until about c.1969-70 did Roulette distribute Calla. His music publishing company was called JAMF - the same initials as a certain Canadian mastering house. Only what it stood for differed wildly . . . Spoiler: N.S.F.W. 'Jive-A$$ MotherFμckεr'
Interesting that some songs were big in some areas and did squat in others. Nothing But a Heartache got plenty of airplay up here. And deserved it, a pretty decent song.
Petula Clark had some pretty good session musicians including Jimmy Page, Vic Flick, and Ronnie Verrell; just saying.
Let's play six degrees of separation, Gospel edition. Dorothy Morrison>Oh Happy Day>Edwin Hawkins Singers>Lay Down (Candles in The Rain)>Buddah Records>Spirit In The Sky. Or something like this. .
Wonder if you're confusing Calla with Carla (which was indeed distributed by Atlantic at the time another Jackson - Deon - hit big with "Love Makes The World Go Round"). I think at the time of "But It's Alright," Calla was indie.
This is probably the record @Grant was thinking of, in terms of being Atlantic (or, in this case, Atco)-distributed: The difference: One letter. And another Jackson.
No, i'm not. What I am trying to remember is what I read in one of those books about the music industry.
No, but, now that you've posted the Deon Jackson label, the one we had was a dark maroon color, not bright red.
Published by Jobete, but most definitely NOT recorded at Hitsville AKA Studio "A" in Detroit. The last major recording session logged in the Snakepit is from 1972-1973...
Some pressings had the dark maroon color with silver print, others had bright red with black print as on that pic. Depended on the pressing plant. The printer for the labels on the Bestway pressings had what was shown. It's possible whoever wrote that book got their facts confused or muddled. It's been known to happen. Wikipedia, in one of their entries on some Manhattan (NYC) bus routes, got parts of their history dead wrong. I once saw a book on the NYC subways where they had a photo of an R38 car (made between 1966 and 1967 by St. Louis Car Co.) - and the caption misdated the car as being made in the late '50's - and on early copies, they incorrectly referred to the manufacturer as the Budd Company (which actually made the first production-model stainless steel subway cars for the NYC system, the R32's, some of which, in a 'GOH' state, are still riding the rails today).
Mowest, sure. All I'm pointing out is that saying that it was recorded at "Hitsville" strongly implies that the recording session took place at 2648 West Grand Boulevard in Detroit.
I've never heard the West Coast studios referred to as Hitsville. I suppose the moniker travelled with Gordy and Ales out to LA... It's a shame, Motown's downhill slide started with the move from West Grand Blvd. to the Donovan building on Woodward in Detroit. The move out to California was the final nail in the coffin. Ya learn something new every day!
I think the unofficial moniker to Motown's West Coast studios was "Hitsville West," I saw that reference in some places.
Dee Dee Warwick's version managed to crack the Hot 100 in 1970, reaching #80.... #24 on the R&B chart in early 1971.
Fond memories of hearing this that summer. I love the fade-out, fade back in that seemed to be a fad. Marvin Gaye did it too on his single "What's Going On".
