|
Johnnie
Mae showed a young Aretha Franklin what to do too, and
explained how she met the future soul diva, "Reverend
Franklin came down to the studio when I was recording and
asked me to help Aretha to get started into R'n'B. I
took Jackie and the girls (The Andantes) over to his house,
because she was singing spirituals. I groomed her, because
she didn't know anything about R n' B."
|
LISTEN
TO
Johnnie Mae Matthews
sing
"Here Comes My Baby"
 |
But
pursuing a singing career as well as wheeling and dealing
with her numerous artists proved too difficult to juggle,
and by '63 she'd recruited the talented Ollie McLaughlin
as her manager. He'd started as a radio DJ in Ann Arbor,
but had formed a Detroit recording business called Karen
and managed and produced Barbara "Hello
Stranger" Lewis, amongst various other artists.
Ollie
produced a couple of Johnnie Mae's 45s that were recorded
in Chicago for Mercury's newly formed subsidiary, Blue
Rock, as well as her fantastic Spokane disc. He
was also responsible for some of her Detroit sessions that
were released on the Big Hit label; the pick of the
bunch being the tremendous "I
Have No Choice."
But
their quest for success inevitably experienced ups and downs
in the cut and thrust of the recording business, and when
interviewed by The Chronicle in April of '64 she
had this to say. "We managed to put Timmy on the
map, and I went broke - but there are better things in sight
than when we first started, so I feel pretty good about the
future." The newspaper added that she planned to
open a supper club in New York and had high hopes for a
recently recorded artist, (C.P.) Spencer Sterling, whose Poor
Fool was released on her Jam label.
Notes thanks to Graham
Finch
image must not be
reproduced, used or copied photograph
credits at end of webisode
|
DESIGN AND
GRAPHICS BY
LOWELL BOILEAU
 |
|
