By david for babbit (213.1.179.232 - 213.1.179.232) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:07 am:

i am re-posting this for babbit. it did not receive any response originally:-

bob i take it you've been using the 'search forum' function/'look in names of authors'...this will help you find your threads.

HEY MO-FU�S........BEEN OUT OF POCKET FOR AWHILE..........SO HAS FORUM FROM WHAT I HAVE HEARD............BOB D�ORLEANS........I FIRST MET HIM AT GOLDEN WORLD WHEN I DID MY FIRST SESSION FOR ED WINGATE......... THAT WAS THE EDWIN STARR RECORD...�AGENT OO SOUL�.......HE ALSO WAS THE ENGINEER ON THE CAPITOLS �COOL JERK� ALSO RECORDED AT GOLDEN WORLD.........I DO REMEMBER HIM BEING THE MAIN ENGINEER ON A LOT OF PROJECTS THERE, I ALSO REMEMBER DON DAVIS AND RUSS TERRANA ENGINEERING QUITE A FEW RECORDS.........I THINK BOB ALSO DID THE SAN REMO STRING�S ALBUMS, THE MUSICIANS WERE THE SAME FUNK BROTHERS ALONG WITH THE SAME HORN AND STRING PLAYERS THAT WERE ON ALL OF THE RECORDS, AT TIMES THERE WOULD BE ONE OR TWO DIFFERENT PLAYERS, BUT MOST OF THE TIME YOU WOULD SEE THE SAME PLAYERS .........I REMEMBER PERSONALLY PLAYING ON SOME OF THE SAN REMO RECORDINGS, AND I AM NOT EXACTLY SURE, BUT I THINK JAMERSON WAS ALSO ON SOME OF THE RECORDINGS............BOB D�ORLEANS MOVED TO NEW YORK WHERE I THINK HE WAS ORIGINALLY FROM, AND GOT INVOLVED WITH THE MOUNTAIN GROUP AND OTHER GROUPS HE ALSO PRODUCED AS WELL AS ENGINEERED....WHEN I MOVED TO THE EAST COAST I CONTACTED BOB, BUT OUR SCHEDULES TOOK US IN DIFFERENT DIRECTIONS AND WE NEVER DID HOOK UP AND EVENTUALLY LOST CONTACT..... ..
MORE LATER MO- FU�S.........
BOB BABBITT

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.1.179.232 - 213.1.179.232) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:12 am:

babbit, unbelievably don davis is rarely mentioned on the forum.

surely he was one of the most important people in the detroit music industry outside of berry gordy?

what do you remember of him?

i also recall that the capitols were also known as the three caps...is that true?

also do you recall rob reeco?

By soulboy (213.105.238.127 - 213.105.238.127) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 09:40 am:

Bob
I'd just like to say that your bass playing is excellent on the standing in the shadows of motown trailer.
What was the first track you ever recorded for Motown, and what in particular do you remember about it??

By Carl Dixon London (62.31.40.173 - 62.31.40.173) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 10:21 am:

Bob Babbit/Dennis Coffey

Does that mean you possibly played on 'Ooh! Pretty Lady' by Al Kent? Sorry if you have answered this already, but I agree sometimes there is that much happening, I miss things and in addition I enjoy just reading the posts (plus my spelling is crap). I love this record - I tried to mimic it on a sequencer I bought in 1989. It is saved on a floppy, but yes, it is an old Yamaha sequencer and the disc drive is broken. I remember trying to do the backbeats. The guitar sounds on the module were not so good, but the 'patch' wire, no 88 did it fine, as long as the keys were hit swiftly. And that guitar pluck that disappears into the background, high up, I just love - if all that makes any sense at all! I did struggle with the keyboards and trying to work out what was being played - an organ or piano or something else maybe! I wish I could extract the file and let you hear how I ruined a great Ric Tic track!!!

By phillysoulman (152.163.206.214 - 152.163.206.214) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 11:12 am:

Hey Babbitt,

I don't know what could have happened.For starters try it again today in the usual manner under the new thread that David has entered entitled Babbitt, and take it from there. thought that you may have been ensconsed in a marathon session at Tera shirma and could not get out!
We miss you mo-fu!!!!

By Uab W (213.123.47.180 - 213.123.47.180) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 10:49 pm:

Carl

I've a MIDI keyboard hooked up to the PC and I've ruined many a Detroit track! They all end up as MOR smoochie stuff!

Ian

By Ritchie (62.254.0.6 - 62.254.0.6) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 11:14 pm:

I think the day that computer software can create music as well as a real live human will be a very sad day for real music lovers everywhere, and I can foresee many a muso hanging up his axe in despair.

On the other hand - the record companies will love it.

By Ian W (213.123.47.180 - 213.123.47.180) on Wednesday, March 13, 2002 - 11:33 pm:

I suppose my feeble attempts at mimicking the music make me appreciate all the more how good the real stuff is!

Ian (or apparently Uab! I wonder what the late Dr. Alan Turing would make of that?)

By Dennis Coffey (64.12.105.188 - 64.12.105.188) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 12:34 am:

Hey folks. I don't remember if I played on that Al Kent record or not. I know I did tons of sessions at Golden World and Babbit was probably on most of them. When Don Davis was playing guitar with George MacGregor on drums and Lyman Woodard on B3 organ, he invited me to sit in. After I sat in, Don told me he was leaving the gig to do other things and Lyman offered me his spot. I joined the band and we had a great time! After awhile George left and Melvin Davis joined us on drums and vocals. We played at the Frolic Showbar and then we went to Morey Bakers. It was a funky organ trio and a great gig! Don Davis did well in the music business (Dramatics, Johnny Taylor to name a few). I did a session for him in the eighties and he told me he was now a banker. Don took his royalties and bought into a bank. Don also used to own United Sound Studios. Don was a good guitarist and good producer and he probably is a good banker. (He is the only musician and record producer I know who became a banker.)

Dennis Coffey

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.122.85.71 - 213.122.85.71) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 08:32 am:

dennis i'm interested in these show places that peppered the west side.

what can you tell us about the building exterior and interior of the frolic, who else do remember playing there and who was the owner?

By Carl Dixon London (62.31.40.173 - 62.31.40.173) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 09:18 am:

Ian W/Ritchie

Live music anytime for me. Midi and hard disk stuff has made me appreciate more, the song construction elements of the music I like. I cannot interact, at present, with other musicians. That will change as I progress with my ambitions.

What we must remember is that a 'Pianola', the automatic piano playing machine from the turn of the last century, used sheets of card with holes in them - the earliest form of 'digital' on/off you could get!! What I do know for sure, is that Fats Waller used this technique to learn to play the piano from another pianist, who's name I forget, by simply looking at the holes and seeing the keys depressed. Later, when Waller had met his hero pianist, he would be needed to 'cut' tracks in their equivalent recording area and sometimes could not make the session. He always used his pianist friend to do it for him because that was whom he copied his style from. If you ever see a Fats Waller 'roll' there is a good chance it is not him on it! However, what we must never forget is that human interaction is at its best when music is played. Fortunately, many feel the same way. Given the chance I would use live musicians on anything I was lucky enough to be involved with on a professional level. Carl Dixon, News at Ten, reporting for SoulfulDetroit!

By BOB BABBITT (152.163.197.182 - 152.163.197.182) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 09:18 am:

HEY MO-FU'S;............. DON DAVIS.............ONE OF THE FIRST BLACK PRODUCERS I WORKED FOR.... HE ALSO PLAYED GUITAR ON A LOT OF SESSIONS UNTIL HE GOT INTO ENGINEERING AND PRODUCING FULL TIME..
I THOUGHT HE WAS ONE OF THE BEST R&B PRODUCERS THAT I HAD THE PLEASURE OF WORKING FOR!!!!!!
HE ALSO INTRODUCED ME TO THE FENDER PRECISION BASS AS I WAS PLAYING THE FENDER JAZZ BASS AT THAT TIME.........THE PRECISION WAS BETTER FOR THE R&B SOUND.......DON NOT ONLY HAD SUCCESS AS A PRODUCER, ENGINEER, AND STUDIO OWNER, HE WAS THE FIRST BLACK OWNER OF A BANK IN THE STATE OF MICHIGAN............. CAPITOLS...I NEVER HEARD THE NAME 3 CAPS MENTIONED.... DO NOT NOT KNOW WHO ROB REECOS IS????
AL KENT......I RECORDED QUITE A FEW SESSIONS WITH AL AT GOLDEN WORLD AND ALSO SOME AT UNITED SOUND, BUT I DO NOT REMEMBER ANY SONG TITLES....... FIRST TRACK RECORDED AT MOTOWN.....
"WE CAN WORK IT OUT" STEVIE WONDER
THE ONE THING THAT STANDS OUT THAT I CAN REMEMBER ABOUT THAT SESSION IS THE FIRST TIME I HEARD A PLAYBACK.....WOW!!!!!! IT BLEW ME AWAY.....THE BASS SOUND WAS INCREDIBLE....I THOUGHT "GOD, NO WONDER JAMERSON�S BASS SOUNDED SO GOOD!!!! NOTICE I SAID THE SOUND WAS INCREDIBLE......IT SOUNDED SO GOOD....
NOT TO MENTION THE ACTUAL NOTES BEING PLAYED BUT JUST AS IMPORTANT..... THE SOUND!!!!!!!!!!
WHATEVER THE TECHNICAL ASPECTS ALONG WITH THE TRICK BAG THE ENGINEERING DEPARTMENT USED, RECORDING THE BASS THERE WAS MILES AHEAD OF THE BIGGEST PERCENTAGE OF THE STUDIOS IN THE WORLD..
I ALSO THINK THAT THE FACT THAT JAMES AND I BOTH STARTED ON UPRITE BASS, THE TOUCH WE CARRIED OVER TO THE ELECTRIC BASS DEFINITELY CONTRIBUTED TO THE SUCCESS OF THE MOTOWN BASS SOUND....

BENNY BENJAMIN (PAPPA ZITA).......HE WAS THE FIRST MOTOWN DRUMMER I WORKED WITH ON A SESSION FOR HARRY BALK,
WHAT A GROOVE!!!!!!! I REMEMBER THAT HE HAD A VERY LIGHT TOUCH AND THERE WERE TIMES YOU COULD NOT HEAR HIM IN THE STUDIO, YOU HAD TO PUT ON THE EAR PHONES, WE DID NOT USE PHONES ALL THE TIME,.....I WORKED QUITE A FEW 3 AM SESSIONS WITH HIM AT GOLDEN WORLD...... WHEN BENNY PASSED AWAY MOTOWN STARTED USING TWO DRUMMERS ON MOST OF THE SESSIONS.............
BOB BABBITT

By Carl Dixon (62.31.40.173 - 62.31.40.173) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 09:39 am:

Bob Babbit

I know this may be a silly question and you may have mentioned it before, but, did you learn the upright at school like Jamerson did and what made you choose the bass rather than any other instrument? Do you ever get asked to play the upright on gigs these days. It still has a magical sound!

Cheers

By Dennis Coffey (152.163.201.56 - 152.163.201.56) on Thursday, March 14, 2002 - 10:37 pm:

Hey David. The Frolic Showbar was on the Lodge Service Drive south of Clairmont. I played there with Lyman Woodard and Melvin Davis and Don Davis played there with Lyman and George Macgregor. The Frolic was owned by Benny. Morey Bakers (owned by Morey) was on Livernois between Six Mile and Seven Mile.

By BOB BABBITT (152.163.204.193 - 152.163.204.193) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 05:10 am:

HEY CARL..........I WAS IN JR. HIGH SCHOOL AND I WAS SINGING BASS IN THE CHOIR....THE TEACHER OF THE CHOIR WAS ALSO THE ORCHESTRA TEACHER AND ONE DAY SHE SAID " I KNOW WHOSE PLAYING BASS FIDDLE IN THE ORCHESTRA NEXT YEAR" AS SHE SAID THIS SHE LOOKED STRAIGHT AT ME!!!!!!!! NEXT YEAR THERE I WAS......IN THE ORCHESTRA PLAYING THE BASS FIDDLE......I HAVE BEEN DOING SESSIONS ON THE UPRITE IN NASHVILLE AS WELL AS SOME LIVE GIGS......I WORK WITH A FEMALE SINGER WHEN I AM IN TOWN AND S0ME OF THE JOBS ARE UPRITE BASS..YOUR RIGHT..IT IS A MAGICAL SOUND AND I LOVE PLAYING IT!!!!!!!
BOB BABBITT

By Carl Dixon London (195.153.219.170 - 195.153.219.170) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 01:42 pm:

Bob Babbit

So, in theory we have to thank the lady teacher that encouraged you to take up the bass - as simple as that. Does she know to what lengths you took up the bass? Did you ever have school reunions and tell her what you were up to? I wish I had taken my teachers advice to go in the choir! He reckoned I had a good voice. I felt embarrassed and did not.

By acooolcat (211.78.0.219 - 211.78.0.219) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 02:28 pm:

I have a photo' of Don Davis, George McGregor and - I Think - Lyman Woodard at the Frolic c. 1966. I'll dig it out and send a copy to you (David) so you can post it up here.
All the best, Graham

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.122.67.30 - 213.122.67.30) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 02:56 pm:

gulp! fantastic thanks graham

i was going to say to dennis that there was a frolic on john r just north of the flame showbar.
it had been there since the forties as a jazz club.

i'm at work right now but think the owner was a benny gustman (or something like that).

is this the same place as there is a difference geographically?

By david, glasgow, scotland (213.122.67.30 - 213.122.67.30) on Friday, March 15, 2002 - 02:59 pm:

babbit and everybody else.

i think it is an upright bass which makes the gwen owens record so special that i was raving about (on more than one occasion!)