sonny charles & the checkmates............

[rendur]

have they..won't they..will they ever re-release (sonny charles) the checkmates ltd" in audio cd???

 

[Captaindave]

I haven't heard much about these guys for a long time.I remember that the Checkmates LTD were the opening act for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass when they played the Blossom Music Center here in Northeast Ohio back in 1968.Don't recall how they sounded - were they recording on A&M at the time?

 

[Captain Bacardi]

have they..won't they..will they ever re-release (sonny charles) the checkmates ltd" in audio cd???

I don't believe any of the Checkmates stuff was ever reissued on CD, and probably won't be released - at least not here in the US.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captain Bacardi]

I haven't heard much about these guys for a long time.I remember that the Checkmates LTD were the opening act for Herb Alpert and the Tijuana Brass when they played the Blossom Music Center here in Northeast Ohio back in 1968.Don't recall how they sounded - were they recording on A&M at the time?

The Checkmates did one album for A&M - Love Is All We Have To Give (SP 4183) - but I think Sonny Charles did have some 45s of his own. LP Jim can probably clarify that.

One note on the Alpert/Checkmates tour: Herb refused to play at BYU (Brigham Young University) in 1968 because BYU refused to let the Checkmates perform, supposedly because they were a black group, and the whole racial thing was going on at the time. I remember seeing an ad in Billboard where the Checkmates thanked Herb for not playing that concert.


Capt. Bacardi

 

[Captaindave]

Very interesting on the Herb/BYU matter - I suppose that would have been the same tour that brought them through Northeast Ohio in August,1968.That year was the opening season for Blossom Music Center, which had just been completed and was to be the "summer home" of the Cleveland Orchestra.Herb played two nights there to nearly sell-out crowds.I went the first night and was so impressed I managed to get tickets and go back the second night.I remember when This Guy's In Love With You came up,after a verse,Herb looked down into the front row and said "Would you like to dance?"Really cool
Blossom is still in full operation today,and is considered to be one of the finest venues of its kind in the world.Tremendous acoustics.It has a "under roof" pavilion which can seat about 5,400 and there is an adjacent lawn area on the side of a hill facing down into the pavilion where another 13,500 can sit "under the stars." Beautiful facility.
Louis Armstrong was there that first season also.
My only regret is that it just doesn't seem that there are the kind of acts like Herb or Louis out there anymore to go see and enjoy the beauty of the facility and the music. Where did they all go? - it seems like nothing has come along to take their place. There are concerts still there, but nothing I want to see or hear.

 

[Harry]

All I have of Sonny Charles & The Checkmates, Ltd. is their hit "Black Pearl" as it appears on the A&M FORGET ME NOTS promo album. The liner notes of that say that the "Black Pearl" record was release Aoril 2, 1969 and reached #13 on the Billboard charts. The song was credited to P.Spector-T.Wine-I.Levine) and the track was produced by Phil Spector.

Harry
...who apparently saw Sonny Charles open for the TJB but doesn't remember a thing, online...

 

[W.B.]

All I have of Sonny Charles & The Checkmates, Ltd. is their hit "Black Pearl" as it appears on the A&M FORGET ME NOTS promo album. The liner notes of that say that the "Black Pearl" record was release Aoril 2, 1969 and reached #13 on the Billboard charts. The song was credited to P.Spector-T.Wine-I.Levine) and the track was produced by Phil Spector.

And I have "Black Pearl," too, but in its original single form as issued on A&M/Phil Spector Productions #1053. My copy, however, listed only Sonny Charles as the artist (some copies list just him on the label, others co-credit him with The Checkmates, Ltd.). Additionally, Perry Botkin Jr. (later one-half of the "Nadia's Theme" duo) was arranger, and Larry Levine was the engineer.

Also, it appears, based upon the way the label copy artwork on my copy was set, that its release you mentioned was around the same time as that of Sergio Mendes & Brasil '66's "Pretty World" c/w "Festa" (A&M #1049).

 

[LPJim]

The "b"side of their single "Love is all I Have to Give" (# 1039) is a non-album track, "Never Should Have Lied." The "b" side of "Black Pearl" (#1053) is an instrumental, "Lazy Susan."
Sonny Charles' A&M singles include (#1177) "It Takes A Little Longer"/ "Welfare Man" and (#1214) "Half As Much"/ "Will You be Easy".
JB

NP: EARLY TAPES OF THE BEATLES (Polydor P-2 23701) "Ain't She Sweet"

 

[Captaindave]

Still thinking about that BYU thing - I suppose Herb turned down quite a bit of money to take that stand as he did - unless he was able to collect from BYU anyway I think Herb was making some pretty good money on those concerts back in the sixties(in terms of the value of money at the time,of course....).Interesting....

 

[Captain Bacardi]

Still thinking about that BYU thing - I suppose Herb turned down quite a bit of money to take that stand as he did - unless he was able to collect from BYU anyway I think Herb was making some pretty good money on those concerts back in the sixties (in terms of the value of money at the time, of course....).Interesting....

If I remember right the TJB was doing a tour of college campuses at the time. Given the climate of campuses at the time - with all of the anti-war protests and civil rights marches - it was the right thing to do (although I think Herb would've done the same thing regardless of the times).


Capt. Bacardi
NP: Stevie Ray Vaughn - Couldn't Stand The Weather

 

[Tim Neely]

I wanted to note their version of "Proud Mary," which was also released on 45 and appears on their only A&M album -- this arrangement, by Phil Spector, was later co-opted by Ike and Tina Turner for their hit version. The "nice and rough" opening was unique to the I&TT version, but the rest of the arrangement is straight from the SC&TCL version.