The Soul Of The Falcons

Side A:
01) Since You've Been Gone
02) Something Hit Me
03) I Found A Love
04) We Met In A Dream
05) Short & Nappy
06) I Got A Feeling
07) Love The Way You Walk
08) Searching For You Baby

Side B:
01) I Ain't No Cryin' Man
02) Round & Round
03) You've Got A Friend
04) Skinny Girl
05) Love At First Sight
06) Never Find Another Girl Like You
07) Stick By You
08) Swim

The Soul Of The Falcons (Mega)

The Soul Of The Falcons (Zippy)

Thanks to Charlie B for donating this LP to the blog. This Relic collection is the third LP they issued of Falcons material (according to the sleevenotes) and by this stage they were digging deep into hitherto unissued material ...
 

So what you get here is raw (very raw!) vocal group rhythm 'n' blues from the streets of Detroit. Betcha thought that Fortune Records discs were the roughest R&B you could hear from the Motor City ... well hold that thought as you listen to this collection of demos, rehearsals, alternate takes and completely canned tracks recorded by The Falcons for labels such as Lu Pine and Kudo which were owned by their manager Robert West.

It is of course noteworthy that Mr. West was the uncle of THE Eddie Floyd, lead tenor on 5 of these tracks. Joe Stubbs, brother of the Four Top's Levi Stubbs leads on 3 of the tracks, the group backs Little Bee, Earl Martin and Joltin' Joe Howard (a Detroit DJ) on 5 more tracks, and finally there are three tracks on which the Falcons are led by Carlis "Sonny" Monroe, but that is a completely different lineup of the group.

The classic (but not the original) lineup of The Falcons was - Joe Stubbs, Eddie Floyd, Mack Rice, Willie Schofield and Lance Finnie. This was the group which had the R&B and pop hit with "You're So Fine" in the summer of 1959. The disc was originally released on the Robert West owned Flick label but as it started to take off West cut a deal with the United Artists owned Unart label, resulting in  a ten week stay in the Pop Top 40 chart, peaking at number 17.

Wilson Pickett was another alumnus of The Falcons, but he ain't here, as far as I can tell. The demo of "The Swim" on this LP has Joe Stubbs on lead vocal and not The Wicked Pickett as on the 1962 released version, which was the B-Side of The Falcon's big R&B hit "I Found A Love" on which Pickett also sang lead. The version of "I Found A Love" on this LP has Carlis "Sonny" Monroe on lead which brings us to the final version of The Falcons.

The classic Falcons broke up in the spring of 1963 and West, anxious to keep the name of his hit group alive, simply transferred the name to another of his groups, The Fabulous Playboys who were already an established if not particularly successful recording act. Their lead singer was Carlis "Sonny" Monroe and he can be heard on 3 tracks on this collection - "I Found A Love," "Love The Way You Walk," and "Stick By You." These tracks which all feature a basic piano accompaniment, probably originate from the same rehearsal session. This version of The Falcons lasted until 1970.

For the full story of The Falcons, the comings and goings, the label hopping, and the shooting of Robert West (non fatal) in a dispute over the management of Mary Wells, get yourself over to Marv Goldberg's site here -  http://www.uncamarvy.com/Falcons/falcons.html . The sleevenotes on the back cover of this LP are also very informative.

 

 Track Details:

01) Since You've Been Gone - The Falcons (Eddie Floyd) - unreleased
02) Something Hit Me - The Falcons with Little Bee - unreleased
03) I Found A Love - The Falcons II (Carlis Monroe) - rehearsal tape
04) We Met In A Dream - The Falcons with Earl Martin - unreleased
05) Short & Nappy - The Falcons (Eddie Floyd) rec. 15th April 1962 - unreleased
06) I Got A Feeling - The Falcons (Joe Stubbs) - unreleased
07) Love The Way You Walk - The Falcons II (Carlis Monroe) - rehearsal tape
08) Searching For You Baby - The Falcons with Joltin' Joe Howard - (demo?) Kudo 666 (1958)
09) I Ain't No Cryin' Man - The Falcons (Joe Stubbs) - unreleased
10) Round & Round - The Falcons (Eddie Floyd)- unreleased
11) You've Got A Friend - The Falcons with Earl Martin - unreleased
12) Skinny Girl - The Falcons (Eddie Floyd) rec. 15th April 1962 - unreleased
13) Love At First Sight - The Falcons with Little Bee - unreleased
14) Never Find Another Girl Like You - The Falcons (Eddie Floyd) - unreleased
15) Stick By You - The Falcons II (Carlis Monroe) - rehearsal tape
16) Swim - The Falcons (Joe Stubbs) - demo of Lu-Pine 103

Thanks once again to Charlie B for the sounds and scans of this raw but righteous LP.