Sunday, March 10, 2019

Rudy Love and the Manhattan project


It's a long standing practice in the music business to falsely use the name of someone famous to promote records by lesser known artists. It's harmful to the star, but also harmful to the lesser known name, who may be unaware of the deceit and almost certainly not in receipt of any royalties for their work. And it does nothing to promote their career.
There can be few more blatant examples of this than an LP attributed to Tyrone Davis on the Manhattan label, a subsidiary of the UK President label, which came out around 1980. I bought a copy yesterday (because I'm a fan of Tyrone) but on playing it it was obvious that it wasn't the real Tyrone, and closer inspection of the label revealed that it was by 'Brother' Tyrone Davis. A little research revealed that the ten tracks on the LP were actually by Rudy Love, a Wichita soul man who has experienced quite a bit of this double dealing over the years. So much so in fact that last year a documentary film called 'This Is Love' was released at the Raindance Film Festival which featured Rudy and his mistreatment by record companies over the years. Apparently he appeared at the 100 Club in London to promote the film on September 29, 2018, as Rudy Love and the Love Family. I was away in the US at the time and wasn't aware of this but would be interested to hear from anyone who was there.
The irony is that, although the Manhattan LP is not by the real Tyrone, it's an excellent record. There's a version of 'Where Have You Been', originally by the Whispers, which has a great Northern soul feel, and the other tracks are equally good. It seems that the tracks were recorded for the Canyon/ Roker label but not released at the time.         https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nsIo5sFgVW8
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NWWV50dvzO8
Manhattan issued over 30 LPs at the time by the likes of Gladys Knight, Ray Charles, Shirley and Lee and several jazz greats and as far as I can see these were obscure, but genuine, tracks in the main
(I may be wrong and would like to know if so). But one release that definitely wasn't genuine was 'Funky Fox', which was attributed to Doris Duke 'and Friends'. Incredibly, there are at least three tracks on this LP by the real Tyrone Davis, but why they didn't turn up on the LP attributed to his 'brother' is a mystery. There are also some great soul tracks by Mamie Galore and Bobbie Jean Bland, but you wouldn't know it from the sleeve or label as neither are mentioned. In fact, like the fake Tyrone Davis LP, all the songs have 'Unknown' as the writer. That even applies to the Shirley and Lee LP.
It's to be hoped that Rudy Love is now getting his just desserts but I wouldn't count on it, and I wonder how many examples of this dishonesty have occurred over the years.

2 Comments:

At 3:23 pm , Blogger Nick said...

Dave Carroll usefully added this re the 100 Club show: RUDY LOVE & THE LOVE FAMILY
feat. Bob Love, Tony Mathews, Adam Vadel and more.Rudy Love is the centre of music documentary 'This Is Love' which premiere's at the Raindance Film Festival exposing the legend of "The greatest musician the world has never known".George Clinton, Mick Fleetwood, Sinbad and Norman Jay all appear in the documentary. From 1976-1985, Rudy Love was the lead vocalist with Sly & the Family Stone along with Love Family members Bob Love and Gerald Love. Listen to "Crossword Puzzle" below by Sly Stone featuring Rudy Love which was also sampled by De La Soul for "Say No Go". Rudy Love and the Love Family have toured with Barry White, Little Richard, Marvin Gaye, Teddy Pendergrass, Van Morrison, Santana, and Taj Mahal. Rudy's songs have been recorded by Ray Charles, Isaac Hayes, Sly Stone and The Gap Band. Rudy Love and the Love Family's first band single was "Hungry Children" in 1971 but their most popular releases were in 1976, "Does Your Mother Know" and "Ain't Nuthin' Spooky", from their debut self-titled album. The 12" version of "Disco Queen" was a big track on the London rare-groove scene of the 1980's. Tonight will see the debut London performance from Rudy Love and the Love Family who are flying in from Wichita, Kansas especially for the concert. The band features Tony Mathews who performed as part of the Ray Charles Orchestra in the 60's and 70's and also as part of the Little Richard Band. Adam Vadel is a hot shot guitarist who has performed with Carlos Santana.

 
At 12:23 pm , Anonymous Anonymous said...

Treated oh so wrong for oh so long. Now the long dark night has fully come to light
Alright! Alright! Alright!

 

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