THE ICEMEN

Intro
No information whatsoever seems to be available of The Icemen themselves, who were Gino Armstrong and James Stokes. The identity of the Icemen was confirmed by Jimmy Norman in an at present unpublished interview by Steve Roby and it's also confirmed by the Icemen track "Only Time Will Tell" where the lyrics include the line "I wonder will she say "I love you Gino" everyday". This line is sung by the singer with the bit higher vocals which would suggest that it's Gino Armstrong and that James Stokes was the one with a deeper voice (if anybody can tell me the real musical terms for their vocal ranges I'd be happy to use those...).

The group seems to mainly have been a vehicle for songwriters / producers Robert and Richard Poindexter. The Poindexters did release records themselves as "the Poindexter Brothers", but it seems that the "solo" recording career of Richard and Robert Poindexter didn't really take off, so they moved into working behind the scenes, writing songs and putting together groups to perform them.

Richard & Robert Poindexter are nowadays probably best known for co-writing the song "Thin Line Between Love & Hate" first released by The Persuaders on the single ATCO 6822, composed by Richard Poindexter / Robert Poindexter / Jackie Members and produced by "The Poindexter Bros", arranged by Richard Poindexter and strings arranged by Arif Mardin. The 45 was released in August 1971 and made number 1 in the "R&B" and number 15 in the "Hot 100" Billboard charts. Subsequently it has been covered by several other artists.

The Persuaders also released another hit single composed by the Poindexter's, "Love Gonna Pack up (And Walk Out)" (Win or Lose 220) (Richard Poindexter / Robert Poindexter / Jackie Members / Ray Lewis), number 8 on the "R&B" chart and 64 on the "Hot 100".

Both tracks were also included on the Persuaders lp Thin Line Between Love & Hate (Win Or Lose Records SD 33-387) released in 1972. The catalog number is an Atco one, "Win Or Lose" was a label owned by the Poindexter brothers but distributed by Atlantic.

The complete The Poindexter Brothers & The Icemen discography as currently know, including releases that don't feature Hendrix:

The Poindexter Brothers
"Booga Man / Ride, Ride, Ride" (TUFF 404) 1965

Tuff was a New York City based label, both sides of this 45 are available on the compilation cd "The Soulful Side of Tuff Records" (TUFF#101).

"(Git Your) Backfield In Motion / Give That Girl Some Slack"  (VERVE 10447) 1966

The A side of this single is available on the compilation cd Big City Soul Volume 2 - Verve Records (Goldmine GSCD 44).

The Icemen
"(My Girl) She's A Fox / (I Wonder) What It Takes" (Samar S-111) USA May 1966 1
Produced by Johnny Brantley

"Sugar Baby / Only Time Will Tell" (Samar S-117) USA October 1966 2
Produced by Johnny Brantley

"How Can I Get Over A Fox Like You / Loogaboo (The Choice Is Yours)" (ABC Records 45-11038) USA 1968?
Produced By George Kerr

The tracks on this release were arranged by Richard Tee. He was a much in-demand session player & arranger in New York City in the sixties, later working together with a impressive list of musicians including Cornell Dupree (who, like Jimi, also played with King Curtis). Another Hendrix connection could be the label "BRAN-T" that released the Billy LaMont 45 "So called friend". This recording was produced by Johnny Brantley, the label name could be a combination of the two last names, "Brantley-Tee" > "BRAN-T" - but so far this is only speculation on my part.

A page about Richard Tee:
http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/Richard%20Tee.html

"It's Gonna Take A Lot To Bring Me Back Baby / It's Time You Knew" (OLE-9 1007/8) USA 19??

 


SOURCES
1 The "R&B Beat" section in the Record World 4 June 1966 -issue reported:
"Johnny Brantley keeps on pushing on "She's A Fox," by The Icemen, and Georgie Woods is on it on WHAT, Phila. and WWIN, Baltimore". The single is also listed on the WJMO (Cleveland, Ohio) "Might Mo's Soul - Survey" -list "FOR THE WEEK OF May 16, 1966" so May 1966 looks like a probable release date.

2 the single is listed on two WJMO (Cleveland, Ohio) "Might Mo's Soul - Survey" -lists in October - November the earliest available being "FOR THE WEEK OF October 24, 1966"