By MEL&THEN SOME (81.174.192.225) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 04:12 am:

Can anyone please shed any light on the
La Beat Production team for me.

I once had an instrumental
which the title unfortunatley at the moment fails me,
but it was on the La Beat record Label
and on the label below the title was the artists name as
L.P.T.(La Beat production Team).

Appreciate any info.

regards
mel(andthensome).

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 05:37 am:

I think this is one for Graham, but the name La Beat refers to Lou Beatty. And, a fine set of tunes it was on the various labels he controlled. Now if anyone wants to talk about the wonderful Edward Hamilton and the Arabians, count me in!!!

PS - just got back online last night after my PC threw a wobbly on Friday morning. Talk about being cut off from civilisation....

By MEL&THEN SOME (81.174.193.83) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 07:11 am:

Ritchie
Edward Hamilton&the Arabians
I am all ears mate
this is what I have by them.

'Baby dont you weep/tell me'
on Mary Jane records(no.1005)

'I'm gonna love you/call me'
on Carrie records(no.9)

'My darling baby/willing mind'
on Mary Jane records(no.1010)

and without searching through my boxes upstairs am sure that I have another cut by them on Mary Jane called
'Thank you mother?'
but not certain with that.

Just got to say that I personally think that Edward Hamilton has got one of the finest voices that I have heard.
regards
mel.

By acooolcat (61.58.180.97) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 07:11 am:

Mel, A song called "Be Happy For Me" (Labeat # 6701) is credited solely to the LPTs. I've seen this "LPT" credit on a few other 45s though.
The James Shorter and Don Hart 45 has it on (La Beat 6609), and "Tell Me" by the Arabians - released on the Mary Jane label - has "Orchestra the LPT'S" on. I'm sure there are others.
Fred Bridges was one of the main men at Lou Beatty's place, and Lou is credited as the producer on some of the 45s.
Graham

By MEL&THEN SOME (81.174.193.83) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 07:14 am:

Great stuff Graham
many thanks for your time.
regards
mel.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 07:37 am:

Mel

That LPT instro is Thank Your Mother, and I also have a vocal too. I can't access all my files at the moment, but here are some of the Hamilton-led tracks that I have:

I'M GONNA LOVE YOU
TELL ME
MY ONE POSSESSION
WILLING MIND
MY DARLING BABY
BABY DON'T YOU WEEP
JUST LET ME KNOW

Edward Hamilton is one of the great "lost" Soul voices. With all the best elements of Smokey Robinson and Sam Cooke, but sounding totally original, I'd go as far as to say he's one of the finest Detroit vocalists of all time. (Yes, I realise what I'm saying, and I stand by it.)

By MEL&THENSOME (217.14.178.80) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:15 am:

Thanks Ritchie
2 more tracks that I know off are
'for me only'
on Mary Jane Records.
and also
'now you have to cry alone/Ilove you so'
that came out on a red coloured
Lanrod record Label(no.1605)
and on a yellow colured Lanrod Label was also
'now you have to cry alone' but with a different flip called'temptation of love'
also number 1605.

Were the Arabians that backed Edward the same as the Arabians that recorded
'(please)take a chance on me/you upset me baby'
on the Le Mans record Label(no.2)
and also
'Let me try/today I kissed my new love'
on the Staff record Label(no.1808)

and can you tell me who the Arabians are/were?

many thanks
mel.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:20 am:

You are right Ritchie.

I have never heard a poor 45 by him either. I am also priveleged to have met the man via Graham.

He is now a Muslim and continues to live in the city.

Another really nice guy.

I will uncover the LPT info in the course of my Fred Bridges webisode.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:28 am:

Hi Mel

I'm not sure about the first, but the Staff coupling is definitely the same 'Arabians' group. Who the guys behind Mr Hamilton were, I have no idea at all (paging Graham!) Also, I understand there was another vocal group of the same name, possibly earlier and possibly more doo wop oriented. That's about all I know.

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.80) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:35 am:

Thanks Ritchie
I thought there was another Arabians.
cheers
mel.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:41 am:

Sorry, Mel - I misased something. The Lanrod sides are the Hamilton Arabians, yes. I have I Love You So and Temptation of Love (on CDR), so I can confirm they are the group we're talking about. You know, these guys never made a duff record :o)

And, of course, there's the story about Edward being recommended by Cornelius Grant as a possible replacement for David Ruffin. Now, wouldn't have that been something?!

By MEL&THEN SOME (81.174.193.245) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:46 am:

Thanks Ritch,
I havent heard a bad cut by them.
Yeah,
just imagine Edward with the Tempts
then just imagine David Ruffin with the Arabians doing 'baby dont you weep'
mel.

By acooolcat (61.58.180.97) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 08:59 am:

Hi Ritchie
The "Thank Yor Mother" instrumental simple credits "Instumental" on the label - not LPT.
I have some names jotted down for The Arabians - but I wrote too Edward a month or so ago just to clarify who was in the group on the various recordings. I think the line-up changed from their first 45 on the Northern label (also released on Twin Star) to those on Carrie, Staff, Lanrod, Le Mans, and Mary Jane.
Graham

By Heikki (62.71.79.239) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 02:20 pm:

Hi Mel&Then Some!

Here's a little something the Masqueraders remembered about La Beat:

Robert Wrightsil: "...When we left Motown, we walked from the West side to the East side, because that's where Twenty Grand was. It was a long way, man. On the way there was a big two-storey house with a sign "La Beat". In the middle of the floor we saw a microphone. Somebody said 'that looks like a studio. Let's go and see, if there's anybody in there'. We went, knocked on the door and told that we were a singing group from Texas and we would like to audition for them. We started singing and the guy asked, if we could wait till the owner of the studio, Lou Beatty, got back. He owned a construction company, the studio and some motels. Next Monday we went back to La Beat and met with Mr. Lou Beatty. He told us that he would give us an apartment in the basement of one of his motels and that he would give us enough money, so we went for it. That sounded real sweet to us at the time."

Their first single was called A Family. Robert: "A Family was a song that Lou Beatty wrote. He was a religious man and he was a family man. He thought that the world needed something that made sense, and family made sense to him. It's almost a spiritual song."

David Sanders: "...they wanted to call us a gospel group, because we had that song out, A Family. They didn't know, which way to play it at the time - gospel or r&b - so we didn't get a lot of promotion over there."

Most of their other product on La Beat was written by Lou Beatty and the three Brothers Of Soul (I Guess That Don't Make Me A Loser) members: Fred Bridges, Robert Eaton and Richard Knight.

The Masqueraders also did background for other La Beat artists, such as Lester Tipton, Al Williams and most notably for James Shorter, who in '66 recorded for La Beat the original version of Modern Day Woman, which the Masqueraders covered eleven years later.

Their La Beat discography:
6605) A Family/pt.2 ('66)
6606) I'm Gonna Make It/How (Can I Go On)
6701) Be Happy For Me/Together, That's The Only Way (in '67) - this b-side alternatively also Be Happy For Me by the L.P.T's
6702) (Work) Together, That's The Only Way/One More Chance
6704) I Got The Power/(Work) Together, That's The Only Way
6705) One More Chance/Together That's The Only Way
(Soul Express; #2/2001)

Best regards
Heikki

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.16) on Sunday, August 10, 2003 - 02:27 pm:

Heikki
priceless stuff man
really appreciate this and everyone else who has posted.
Regards The Masqueraders Heikki
a friend of mine has the record on Soultown(no.201)called
'its the same thing/talk about a woman'
but instead of the name being the Maqueraders it is a mis-spelling and is on the disc as
The Masquaders.
Its a great record
have you heard it.
It is The Masqueraders.
regards
mel.

By Ian W (194.75.129.2) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 07:59 am:

This topic is back to the REAL music! What a fantastic bunch of records! I collected most of the La Beat singles mentioned above but, sadly, will never own the Al Williams and Lestor Tipton tracks - two of my favourites. Anybody heard or even own the Snake, Bee and (place your 3rd animal here - perhaps aardvark) track?

By RD (65.150.228.89) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 08:12 am:

Read a similar account of the Masqueraders in the late '70s in Black Music & Jazz Review, Heikki. They traveled to Detroit from a small town in Texas because they thought they had an invite to Motown. Somebody name Alvin Jones, who supposedly worked for Motown or told them they did, encouraged them to go. Once they arrived, it was who are you guys...?

Beatty owned a motel across from La Beat and gave the Masqueraders a room to crash in.

Like most recordings put out by small labels in Cleveland, to my knowledge, the Labeat tracks haven't been compiled on vinyl, cassette or CD either. I would purchase a 18 to 22 track collection of Labeat recordings.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 08:19 am:

Who owns the rights to the recordings?

By Heikki (62.71.79.239) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 08:48 am:

Hi Mel!

Yes, I got a chance to listen to that Soultown single for the article. Here's what the boys have to say about it:

Harold Thomas: "We did that like in early '65, when I got out from the Marine corps and came home. Alvin Howard had been up in Detroit over at Motown and he came back and created a label. He was all fired up about it. So we put together Talk About A Woman and That's The Same Thing and put it out on Alvin's new label called Soultown."

The line-up for that single was Lee Jones, Robert Wrightsil, Charlie Moore, Little Charlie Gibson and Harold Thomas. At that time David Sanders was doing some solo stuff elsewhere.

Hi RD!
You're right, I also haven't seen any LaBeat collection, and I'd love to have one.

It was the same Alvin Howard, who advised the boys go to Detroit to talk to Mickey Stevenson, but by the time they got there Mickey was gone, and James Dean turned them down.

Best regards
Heikki

By David Meikle (81.130.211.124) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 09:50 am:

You're right Ian this is where we want to be.

By acooolcat (61.58.180.100) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 09:57 am:

Ritchie - I guess Lou's son - Lou Beatty junior - owns the rights.
Graham

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 10:16 am:

It'd be useful to find out who does. A certain UK-based reissue label may well be interested (and no - it's not Goldmine!)

By acooolcat (61.58.180.100) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 10:59 am:

Ian
The 45 you're refering to is by Spider, Snake and Eee - the first on the La Beat label. It was previously released on the Carrie label, but credited to Mr Poet. I've no idea who this was.
Graham

By MEL&THEN SOME (81.174.193.217) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 01:37 pm:

Thanks Heikki.
regards
mel.

By David Meikle (80.5.115.44) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 03:59 pm:

Two from Graham on Lou's classily designed labels

By MEL&THEN SOME (217.14.178.74) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 04:05 pm:

Great stuff fellas.
mel.

By David Meikle (62.252.128.6) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 04:33 pm:

Mel sends in an image of the track which Ian W drools over. A great production.

By Ritchie (62.254.0.32) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 04:44 pm:

I Am Nothing - another killer cut! Ok - any suggestions who the LPT's on Long Cool Summer were..? (A prehistoric Rap record?)

By C. Bell/Eric (67.25.223.65) on Monday, August 11, 2003 - 06:43 pm:

If my memory is working correctly there was a Spider, Snake, & (?) record on the Mickay's record label.

I personally love the affordable and great Nelson Sanders record on La Beat. The Al Williams record is great, but I'll probably have to enjoy it on cd unless I find a box of La Beat records. (Graham I'm still looking for em'!)

I'll agree that Edward Hamilton and The Arabians records are all pretty much winners!

By Ian V Jealous W (194.75.129.2) on Tuesday, August 12, 2003 - 08:35 am:

Ahh! Vinyl pornography indeed. Who must I kill to get one? Any pics of the Lester Tipton or Snake, Aardvark & Ocelot tracks?

...background noise of cool shower...

By matt (208.130.56.167) on Wednesday, August 13, 2003 - 11:46 am:

there was a gentleman who posted on here a year or so ago who could probably shed some more light on all things lou beatty-related for us...are you still out there, charley bannister?