SOUL SURVIVOR - SIR LATTIMORE BROWN
We are very proud that the incredible “Soul Survivor”, Sir Lattimore Brown now has a new release on our record label. It is the first release and new recording of "new Lattimore Brown product" after more than 30 years.
A veteran of the Southern Soul “chitlin-circuit”, Lattimore toured with Jackie Wilson, Otis Redding, Etta James, Muddy Waters, Gene Allison, Jimmy Reed and many others of the great R&B singers of the time. No one put on a more exciting show than Lattimore, backed by Jimmy Stewart’s band and The Twirlers, his twin go-go dancers.
He consistently brought the house down and actually had to hold back when opening for the big name acts, so he wouldn’t leave them “hurtin” trying to follow his show. His personal friendship with Otis Redding was interrupted by Otis’ untimely death in 1967. Through his career, he recorded for several record labels including, ZIL (Excello), Sound Stage 7, Duchess, ACE and Renegade. Although Lattimore never hit the top of the national charts, he had several records that hit in various regional markets, such as Dallas, Atlanta, New Orleans, Chicago, etc.
After years of working the road, he settled down into retirement in Biloxi, Mississippi, only to become a victim of the vicious “Hurricane Katrina” storm in 2005. In this storm Lattimore’s wife was killed, he was severely injured and his home was destroyed, with him losing all his belongings. Lattimore ended up in a FEMA trailer park wondering what his ultimate fate would be after all these terrible losses.
After surviving Hurricane Katrina, he was the victim of a mugging that almost took his life. This beating resulted in his being hospitalized in Biloxi, Mississippi. It was in this hospital, as he barely clung to life, that one of the nurses, who Lattimore calls his Angel, searched for his name on the internet after he told her, that once, he had been a famous soul singer. On the net, she found a write-up about him saying that “he had died some 10 years back”.
This nurse, with her deep loving compasion, emailed the great Soul Detective, “Red Kelly” who had included a write-up about Lattimore in his blog site, “The B Side” asking if Red thought their patient could be the same person. Red Kelly contacted his pal, veteran R&B record producer, Bob Wilson who had worked with Lattimore at John Richbourg’s "Sound Stage 7 Records" in the 60's and asked if he would call the Mississippi hospital and try to verify if it “really was” Lattimore Brown. Bob did call and the rest is history, with Lattimore once again being returned to his musical life as a fantastic entertainer, to the benefit of the thousands of lovers of Northern Soul and Southern Soul music and the of thousands of fans that he has in the U.S.A., Europe and Asia.
In 2008, Bob Wilson took Lattimore back into the recording studio, for the first time in over 30 years, setting recording sessions for Lattimore at Willie Mitchell’s “Royal Recording Studio” in Memphis. Using the finest studio musicians and background singers, what you have in this single release is the product of the synergistic enterprise of all these veterans supporting the great Sir Lattimore Brown with his powerful and haunting vocal performance of “Pain in My Heart” and “The Itch”. These cuts show after all the extreme adversity that the “Soul Survivor” has experienced, “the fire still burns”.
The Producer and Arranger, Bob Wilson, has worked on many Northern Soul and Southern Soul record productions, with many R&B artists, including Joe Simon, Z.Z. Hill, Earl Gaines and Slim Harpo and the supporting musicians and background singers that he chose to back Lattimore are all veterans of many great hit records. They have recorded with and toured with the likes of The Isley Brothers, Edwin Starr, Joe Simon, Isaac Hayes, The Four Tops, Gene Chandler, The Temptations, Little Milton, David Ruffin, Freddie King, Al Green, Prince and many others. They poured their heart and soul into these recordings as Bob Wilson brought out the best in Lattimore and the team recording these cuts first in Memphis then overdubbing additional rhythm instruments, horns and background vocals in metro-Detroit at Wilson’s Star-Gate Recording Studio.
Our new release of of the REAL THING RECORDS single: Soul Survivor - Sir Lattimore Brown, with "Pain In My Heart" and 'The Itch", will be part of the upcoming album release by the same name. While we are in the process of completing this album, we felt it imprudent to wait any longer to release this exciting product on Sir Lattimore. It is receiving "rave reviews" from all over the world.
We hope that you enjoy it and appreciate the love that has went into the artistic creation of this product.
SOUL SURVIVOR CREDITS:
Bob Wilson: Producer and Arranger
Electric Piano, Organ, Congas, Tambourine
Skip Pitts: Guitar, Guitar Solos, Memphis
Charles (Charlie Hawk) Hawkins: Guitar, Detroit
Steve Potts: Drums, Memphis
Dave Smith: Bass, Memphis
Kelvin Green: Trumpet, Detroit
James Chaney: Tenor Sax, Detroit
Pat Lewis: Background Vocals, Detroit
Diane Lewis Davis: Background Vocals, Detroit
Analog Track Recording: Royal Recording Studio, Memphis
Recording Engineer: Boo Mitchell
Overdubs and Mix: Star-Gate Recording Studio, Metro-Detroit
Mix Engineer: Bob Wilson
Mastering: Studio A, Detroit
Mastering Engineer: Eric Morgeson
Video Post Production: Michael P. Tanner, World Class Tapes, Ann Arbor
Special thanks go out to Red Kelly, without his help, this record would not have been possible, and to Chase Thompson, who film production of the recording of Lattimore's new release is so valuable.
For a deeper "drill-down" into the recording, performance, personal and cultural history of Sir Lattimore Brown, we reccomend that you go to Red Kelly's excellent blog site: the B side, where Red has done an extensive amount of writing regarding Sir Lattimore, and a fantastic job in his detail in "The Legend of Lattimore Brown":
http://redkelly.blogspot.com/2008/06/lattimore-brown-i-wish-i-felt-this-way.html
The Stepfather of Soul also has Lattimore Brown info in his great blog site as well:
http://stepfatherofsoul.blogspot.com/2009/04/sir-lattimore-brown-live-in-nola-coming.html
Please see the YouTube video of Sir Lattimore Brown "The Itch"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ph8mqT1q_IM
And, now, Sir Lattimore has his own website. Please check him out at:
http://sirlattimorebrown.com
Please note, that copying any of this musical or visual product (including photos) is strictly prohibited without our express, written permission and additionally, is unlawful; but, perhaps more importantly, it steals royalties from Mr. Brown.
Please let us thank you in advance for your understanding of this copying issue. We at Real Thing Records, will be more than happy to sell you additional copies.
Go To the Home tab (above) to view the Sir Lattimore Brown video: THE ITCH
Go To the Photos tab (above) to view our Photos of Sir Lattimore Brown and the band in the recording studios.
