[INTRO]
- [DATES & PERSONNEL ] - [SOLO RECORDINGS] -
[BACKING TRACKS] - [FAKES]
Backing tracks
In addition to the solo recordings released under Lonnie Youngbloods name on Fairmount Jimi & Lonnie also recorded a number of tracks that I'll (for a lack of a better term) call here "backing tracks".
Herman Hitson said in an interview that when he recorded for Brantley the backing tracks (by Ohio Players) were already done when he arrived at the studio. It also seems to have been a quite common practice in 60s soul record producing to recycle an instrumental track (like the re-use of the "Help Me" -backing track for 3 different artists by King Curtis, see the Ray Sharpe -entry).
All of the 45s released from these "backing track" sessions credit Lonnie Youngblood either as an arranger or a co-producer so it's quite likely he was acting as a sort of musical director for Brantley, very similar to what King Curtis was doing for Atlantic. He and Hendrix cut backing tracks with or without the featured artists in the studio, and Youngblood possibly then also helped arrange & record the vocals during the session or at a later date.
This section deals with the following tracks:
(My Girl) She's A Fox [2 takes]
(I Wonder)
What It Takes [3 takes]
Under The Table [2 takes]
Wipe The Sweat a.k.a Sweet Thang a.k.a Keep The Faith, Baby [3 takes]
That
Little Old Groovemaker [2 takes]
You're
Only Hurting Yourself
From these recordings the following records (45s & one LP)
were released circa 1966-68:
(My Girl) She's A Fox - The Icemen
(I Wonder)
What It Takes - The Icemen
Sweet Thang - Billy Lamont
Sweet Thang - George Scott (on the lp "Find Someone To Love")
Keep The Faith, Baby - Lenny Howard (
"Sweet Thang" with alt title & lyrics)
That
Little Old Groovemaker - Jimmy Norman
You're
Only Hurting Yourself - Jimmy Norman
The following could be roughly how these sessions took place:
Session 1
The tracks with the Icemen & Jimmy Norman were all released as two 45s on Samar, also it sounds like one of the Jimmy Norman tracks would have the Icemen on backing vocals. All four released tracks have the respective vocalists credited as composers. Thus it seems possible that the Icemen & Jimmy Norman could all have been at the studio together with the band when the backing tracks were cut. Since they had composed the music that was being recorded instead of simply singing over backing tracks composed & recorded by someone else it seems likely that the vocalists were in the studio with the band. Additionally none of these tracks have ever surfaced as re-makes by other artists (unlike "Sweet Thang") which would indicate that these tracks were cut solely as The Icemen & Jimmy Norman -tracks. "Under The Table" is very similar in mix and instrumentation to the Icemen tracks so could very well be unused material from these sessions. Apparently only an instrumental backing track was cut at the time since the lack of vocals was later compensated for with additional sax & (non-Hendrix) guitar overdubs.
Session 2
"Sweet Thang" / "Wipe The Sweat" / "Keep The Faith, Baby" was cut at a different session. There are two different vocal takes with Youngblood singing and a third take with Jimi & Lonnie both on vocals, additionally the backing track was used for the following releases:
by Billy Lamont as "Sweet Thang"
by Lenny Howard as "Keep The Faith, Baby"
by George Scott as "Sweet Thang"
That's a total of 6 different vocals versions discovered (so far). This track also credits Youngblood as the composer.
My theory is that this track was meant to be used as a backing track for someone else right from the start. It's the only occasion pre-Hey Joe that Jimi sings during a studio session and can hardly be called a great debut, very likely the vocals were done by Lonnie & Jimi just as a bit of fun or to act as a guide for other artists and never meant for release.
Another point of interest is the publishing credits on the various 45 labels. They are as follows:
The Icemen on Samar: BOZART & ZIRA MUSIC INC. - BMI
Jimmy Norman on Samar: BOZART MUSIC, INC. BMI
Billy LaMont on 20th Century Fox: Cudda Pane Music, Inc. - BMI
Lenny Howard on Real George: Bozart Music, Inc.
A search in the BMI database for "Bozart" gives two results:
BOZART CUDDA-PANE
BOZART MUSIC INC
Both have the same registration number thus they are one and the same company.
For all the Lonnie Youngblood 45s on Fairmount the publishing company was Cameo-Parkway Pub. - Nujot Music Pub. Co. - BMI
The difference in publishing credits would also seem to point to different circumstances under which the tracks were recorded with Youngbloods solo material published by Nujot Music and all the "backing track" -material published by Bozart Cudda-Pane.
Unfortunately there isn't any concrete information available about these sessions so whether there were one or more sessions and who was present at which session all remains pure guesswork.
Takes & mixes
Because of the multiple versions of the same track by different artists there is some repetition on the site, a large part of the information on this page is duplicated under the entries for each of the featured vocalists but only for the tracks relevant to each artist:
see The
Icemen discography & artists -entries
see
the Billy LaMont discography & artist -entries
see
the Jimmy Norman discography & artists -entries
see the Lenny Howard discography & artists -entries
see the George Scott discography & artists -entries
What follows here is a listing of all know different takes and mixes on a track-by-track basis regardless of the vocalists (or lack of vocals):
(My
Girl) She's A Fox
Composers: Richard Poindexter
& Robert Poindexter
Arranged by: Lonnie Youngblood
Recorded at: Unknown studio,
New York City, New York, USA ?
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 1966
Vocals: Gino Armstrong, James
Stokes (The Icemen)
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: Richard Poindexter?
Organ: ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Take
1
Mono version only
Available on: 7" The Icemen: (My Girl) She's A Fox / (I Wonder) What It Takes
(Samar S-111)
Also available on: Cd
"Before the experience" (Classic Popular CDCD 1172).
Take
2
Different backing track. Stereo version only.
Available on: Lp "Free Spirit" (Thunderbird Records TDR-300)
(I Wonder)
What It Takes
Composers: Gino Armstrong, James Stokes,Robert Poindexter
Arranged by: Lonnie Youngblood
Recorded at: Unknown studio,
New York City,
New York, USA ?
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 1966
Vocals: Gino Armstrong, James
Stokes (The Icemen)
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: Richard Poindexter?
Guitar on take 3: ? (overdubbed
later)
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood (some
overdubbed later)
Take
1 (0.35)
Stereo version only. Short aborted take.
Take
2 (0.05)
Stereo version only. False start.
Take
3 - Mix 1 (2.34)
Mono and stereo versions. Instrumental backing track with a later guitar & sax
overdubs in stereo, commonly titled as "Psycho".
Available on:
Mono version - Lp "For real!" (DJLMD 8011)
Stereo version - Cd "The Magic Collection" (ARC Records MEC 949009)
Take
3 - Mix 2 (2.34)
Mono version only. Vocal version
Available on: 7" The Icemen: (My Girl) She's A Fox / (I Wonder) What It Takes
(Samar S-111)
Also available on: Cd
"Experiences" (Pulsar PULS 004)
Under
The Table
Composer: ?
Recorded at: New York City, New York, USA
?
Producer: Johnny Brantley ?
Date: 1966
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: Richard Poindexter?
Organ: ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood
Tambourine: ?
It is possible that this track had or was going to have vocals, after the instrumental part in the beginning until c. 1.30 the band settles to playing rhythm, which has been filled up later with guitar & sax overdubs when these tracks were prepared for release. The mix of the original instrumentation is the same as on the stereo mixes of "(I Wonder) What It Takes", chorus sax on the right and the rest of the band in the middle, take 2 has a similar (added later) guitar overdub as take 3 of "(I wonder) What it takes" and the sound & song structure are quite similar too, so most likely these are out-takes from the Icemen single sessions.
take
1 - mix 1
mono mix. chorus sax comes in at 0.35. This is a 0.39 min part of the original
basic track.
take
1 - mix 2
stereo mix. Longer 1.33 part of the song, a tambourine overdub on left, an additional
chorus sax overdub beginning at 0.10 on right, possibly done at the time. This
mix either fades or cuts out depending on the release. Engineer says "this is
two" followed by some bits of guitar. The talking is edited out on some releases.
take
1 - mix 3
stereo and mono mixes of the complete take. Beginning c. 1.22 with a solo sax
overdub that pans between the channels, this was most likely done when putting
together the "Two Great Experiences Together" Lp.
take
2
Mono and stereo mixes.
Wipe
The Sweat
Composers: Lonnie Youngblood, Johnny Brantley,
Billy LaMont?
Arranged by: T.Staff and Lonnie Youngblood?
Recorded at: Abtone recording studios, New
York City, New York, USA ?
Engineer: Abe Steinberg ?
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 10? June? 1966 ?
Vocals: Lonnie Youngblood
2nd vocal on take 3: Jimi Hendrix
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: ?
Lead guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Rhythm guitar on take 2: ? (later overdub)
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood
Three takes of "Wipe The Sweat" exist. The third one was used as the backing track for "Sweet Thang" and "Keep The Faith , Baby", of course with alternate lyrics.
Take
1 (2.47)
This take has a later rhythm guitar overdub, background horns have been mixed
low. Extra sax. Mono and stereo versions.
Available on:
Stereo version - Cd "The Early Years" (Classic Rock CDCD 1189)
Mono version - Lp "For real!" (DJLMD 8011)
Take
2 (3.29)
Background horns have been wiped. Extra sax. Stereo version only.
Available on: Cd "The Early Years" (Classic Rock CDCD 1189)
Take
3 (2.44)
This is the same basic track used for "Keep The Faith , Baby". The mix is
very different to the 45 versions, drums are more up, and together with lead guitar have heavy echo. Background
horns are up in the mix. Jimi sings second lead. Mono version only.
Available on: Cd "Jimi Hendrix & The Lonnie Youngblood Band - Rare Hendrix" (Play
Collection 10027-2)
Sweet
Thang
Composers: Lonnie Youngblood, Johnny Brantley,
Billy LaMont
Arranged by: T.Staff and Lonnie Youngblood
Recorded at: Abtone recording studios, New
York City, New York, USA ?
Engineer: Abe Steinberg ?
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 10? June? 1966?
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood
This track uses Take 3 of "Wipe The Sweat" as the backing track over which Billy laMont's & George C. Scott's vocals were overdubbed.
Mix 1
(2.22)
Vocals: Billy LaMont
In mono. Horns come in at c. 0.48. Fades 1-2 seconds earlier than mix 2, the big
difference in time is probably down to the mastering speed.
Available on: 7" Billy LaMont: Sweet Thang (20th Century-Fox Records 45-6707).
Mix 2
(2.32)
Vocals: Billy LaMont
In mono and stereo. Horns come in at c. 0.08 and instrument balance is different.
Available on:
Stereo version - Cd "Before the experience" (Classic Popular CDCD 1172)
Mono version - Lp "For real!" (DJLMD 8011)
Mix 3
(2.32)
Vocals: George Scott
Backing vocals: unknown 1
Backing vocals: unknown 2
In stereo. Horns come in at c. 0.08.The backing track is basically the same as Take 3 of "Wipe The Sweat". The mix is very different but contains all the same instruments, the horns come in right at the start (unlike the Billy LaMont version where they come in much later) and both versions fade out at the same point. This version has the best quality of all the currently available versions, it's a very clear real stereo mix of the complete track. In addition to George C. Scott there are also two backing vocalists on this track.
Available on:
Stereo version - Lp "Find Someone To Love"(Maple 6008)
Keep The Faith, Baby (aka Sweet Thang)
Composers: Lonnie Youngblood, O.Jones
Arranged by: T.Staff and Lonnie Youngblood ?
Recorded at: Abtone recording studios, New
York City, New York, USA ?
Engineer: Abe Steinberg ?
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 10? June? 1966?
Vocals: Lenny Howard
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood
This track uses Take 3 of "Wipe The Sweat" as the backing track over which Lenny Howards' vocals were overdubbed.
Mix 1
(2.44)
Vocals: Lenny Howard
In mono. Horns come in at c. 0.08.The backing track is basically the same as Take 3 of "Wipe The Sweat". The mix is very different but contains all the same instruments, the horns come in right at the start (unlike the Billy LaMont version where they come in much later) and both versions fade out at the same point.
Available on: 7" Lenny Howard: Keep The Faith, Baby / Darlin' (Real George 501)
That
Little Old Groovemaker
Composer: Jimmy Norman
Recorded at: New York City,
New York, USA
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 1966
Vocals
on Take 1 & Take 2 - Mix 1: Jimmy Norman
Drums: ?
Bass: ?
Piano: ?
Organ on Take 2 - Mix 2: ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Horns: Lonnie Youngblood
Take
1 [aka Groovemaker]
Mono and stereo versions. This is the most commonly
available vocal version.
Available on:
Stereo version - Cd "Before the
experience" (Classic Popular CDCD 1172)
Mono version - Lp "For real!" (DJLMD
8011)
Take
2 - Mix 1
Mono version only. Different backing track & vocals compared to Take 1, this
version has
only been released on the Samar 7".
Available on: 7" You're Only
Hurting Yourself / That Little Old Groovemaker (Samar 112)
Take
2 - Mix 2 [aka Groove]
Mono version only. Instrumental mix of
Take 2 with the vocals removed and an organ added. This mix has
an extra 3 seconds at start that was cut from the vocal Mix 1,
but
fades
out
about
13
seconds earlier than Mix 1. This version has been mastered at a
different speed than Mix 1 so timings are approximate...
Available on: Lp "20 Golden Pieces of Jimi Hendrix - Volume Two"
(Bulldog Records BDL 2027)
The song was also released by Daniel E. Skidmore III (Brother Soul) on the 7" "Little Old Groovemaker / Listen To The Wind" (Cameo Parkway P-131). Recording director Neil Bogart. Bogart was working for Cameo-Parkway at the time, he later founded Casablanca records and signed Kiss as the first act on the label.
You're
Only Hurting Yourself
Composer: Jimmy Norman
Recorded at: New York City,
New York, USA
Producer: Johnny Brantley
Date: 1966
Vocals
on mix 2: Jimmy Norman
Backing vocals on
mix 2: The Icemen (Gino Armstrong & James Stokes) ?
Guitar: Jimi Hendrix
Mix
1 [aka Two In One Goes]
Mono
and stereo mixes. Instrumental mix of the track with two sax overdubs added, probably
the inspiration behind the re-naming of the track.
Available on: Lp "Two
great experiences together" (Maple LPM-6004)
Mix
2
Mono mix only, vocal version.
Available on: 7" You're
Only Hurting Yourself / That Little Old Groovemaker (Samar 112)
