By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.99) on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 04:12 pm:

Another artist with that
Detroit/Chicago connection was
Alvin Cash.


Born Alvin Welch
in St.Louis,1939,
Alvin was 1 of 8 children.With 3 of his brothers(Arthur,George,Robert)they formed a song and dance act and called themselves
The Step Brothers.
They were all to become excellent dancers in all the various forms of dances.

His schooldays were spent at St.Louis Summers high school which also had other's that were to become known in the music world such as

Luther Ingram.
Billy Davis.
Anna Mae Bullock(Tina Turner).

Around 1961,
Alvin and 3 brothers(not sure if these were the same 3 as mentioned,probably)
moved to Chicago,Illinois.
Looking to get themselves a Record deal and a contract.
But for there first couple of years or so they had to put there dancing skills to good use and were getting tips through dancing.

Now at a club in Chicago,
called
The Budland Dance Club
was no other than the former recording artist for Fortune Records and also a singer/writer and producer for Motown Records
Andre Williams.

Andre was working for Chicago's
One-Derful/Mar-V-Lus/M-Pac Record Company and saw Alvin perform with his act now newly named
The Crawlers.

Andre was impressed and thought how
similar the act was to his own act at the time.

He invited them to the studios
where he got the guys to chant over a new dance track that Andre had wrote along with Verlie Rice.
(It was Williams/Rice that wrote "shake a tail feather"for the Five Du-Tones).

The new song was titled
"Twine Time".

Anyway,
the record was released as Alvin Cash and the Crawlers on the record label,
but it is not clear if the brothers actually took any part in the recording.
But Alvins band
The Nightlighters did.

So
The Nighlighters
then changed there name to become the
Crawlers and toured with Alvin.

After a while they changed names again
this time to become known as the
Registers.

After a while
Alvin decided to go solo,and his best was a track called "philly Freeze".
But he never had any luck,
never reaching the heights like "Twine Time"
had,which hit no.14 in the billboard pop charts of 1965.

He later recorded various tributes to the boxer Muhammed Ali
and also starred in a few movies.
He played the part of a member of the Five Satins in the Buddy Holly Story.
And in another was featured alongside
legendary artists
Peetie Wheatstraw and Black Jack.

Alvin was a flambouyant
and well known entertainer in the Chicago clubs as he was always brightly dressed in various coloured suits.(i.e.yellow,pinks,lavender etc).

Alvin is yet another artist that is very well known on the uk rare/northern soul scene through mostly "Twine Time"
as well as others.

Sadly,
due to Stomach and ulcer problems,at the age of 60.Alvin died in his home on November 21,1999.
He left a wife,6 daughters,2 sons,2 step-sons and a sister and 6 brothers.

Thanks for your music Alvin.

uk released records were
Twine Time on the Stateside Label.
also The Philly Freeze.

and on the uk President Label
no deposits,no returns/philly freeze.
Alvins Boogaloo.
Doin'the aLI Shuffle.
The Charge.
Twine Time/Twine A While.

apologies for any errors
and errors rectified appreciated.

Mel(andthensome)

By R&B (138.238.41.118) on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 04:16 pm:

I DIDN'T KNOW THAT ALVIN HAD PASSED,MORE GREAT INFORMATION,THANKS MEL!

By Soul Sister (65.43.150.250) on Saturday, May 24, 2003 - 06:47 pm:

MEL; Great info. on Alvin Cash & The Crawlers !
Thanks! Sorry to hear another soul man passed tho'S.S.

By LG Nilsson (213.89.29.129) on Sunday, May 25, 2003 - 04:50 pm:

Mel,

Thanks for the great story� I have found another Detroit connection record by Mr. Cash:



Lars

By MEL&THEN SOME9 (217.14.178.118) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 12:29 am:

Nice one Lars

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.33) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 07:57 am:

What does the record sound like Lars?
mel.

By Marc Forrest (145.243.194.67) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 10:14 am:

Quite funky.

By LG Nilsson (213.89.29.129) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 12:56 pm:

Mel,

It's in the JB's genre. Instrumental with a few shouts and screams... and as Marc says... quite funky! Maybe he listened to Funkadelic on the same label?

Lars

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.72) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 01:30 pm:

Say no more.
thanks fella's
mel.

By Sly fan (67.119.52.244) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 05:57 pm:

WOW!! I am in AWE!!
picture of the month!!

By Sly fan (67.119.52.244) on Monday, May 26, 2003 - 05:58 pm:

One thing for certain...he claimed publishing aka "Cash and Dollars". I aint mad at cha Al!!

By Randy Russi (169.139.180.100) on Tuesday, May 27, 2003 - 09:56 am:

Sorry to learn Alvin Cash is no longer with us.
I remember he had a hit (at least here in the
Orlando, FL area) in 1969 on Toddlin' Town label
called, I think, "Keep On Dancing".
I also remember a story around 1968 where he was
arrested (?) for boarding a plane and ringing
up expenses claiming to be either James Brown
or Smokey Robinson. Anyone remember the story?
Oh, well, not that important, but I do recall
either Smokey or James was NOT happy with it.

By Don (68.75.57.104) on Thursday, July 03, 2003 - 09:13 pm:

This is a Great Tribute to Mr. Cash. I grew up around the Chicago-Detroit music scene. And he was a musical family friend like all the rest, known or unknown stars out of Chi-Town/the Windy city. He died at his home here in Chicago. It kinda brings tears to my eyes as i write this.