shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby, ooh It seems like a mighty long time

since we had a posting. Ann Adams, our friend in Hawaii inspired today's posting. She is an avid Barbara Lewis fan as you'll see below. In addition, we keep connecting the dots between Bill Haney's Atlanta Soul Brotherhood and The Heeey Baby Days.






"Working On Love" by the Mark Seven (Hawkinsville, Georgia ) as shown above is the same as "Working On A New Love" by Milton Marlin which is cut number 16 on "Bill Haney's Atlanta Soul Brotherhood." We're not sure which was was first recorded. Composer Herb Ryals is still blowing it out (Saxophone) in Albany, Georgia.



shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby)
(shoo-bop, shoo-bop)

Hello, stranger

(ooh) It seems so good to see you back again
How long has it been?
(ooh, seems like a mighty long time)
(shoo-bop, shoo-bop, my baby, ooh)
It seems like a mighty long time …



Hi Greg,

I still haven't figured out how to start an original thread on the blog
so I am emailing you. I will start listening to the 17 CD's all over
again beginning when I go on my jog this morning so I can determine
which songs I haven't ever heard before so I can let you know. I
remember that there are a lot and I don't understand why they weren't
"hits". There is not a song that I do not at least "like", and I "love"
most. I suppose they were regional hits. I of course knew about Wilbur
Walton's "Georgia Pines" because he and his band , The James Gang,
played at our high school dances. (I still haven't started reading the
book. Maybe I can this week.)

Warning: Chapter 7 is a little steamy

My husband and I just returned from our Valentine's (our 45th.
Valentine's together) weekend in Los Angeles to see Barbara Lewis in
concert. My quest to see her turned into a journey in "The Twilight
Zone". Over the last 5 years I have done extensive research on her
(which, by the way, led me to your "Heeey Baby Days" web site.) I found
an Internet contact, Marc Taylor (out of New York), editor and
publisher of "A Touch of Classic Soul", a wonderful publication on
"soul" artists. He interviewed Barbara Lewis and wrote a wonderful
article on her in one of his issues. He knew I have been trying to see
her in concert for years. I recently received an email from him
informing me that she was performing in the Art Laboe's Valentine's
Super Love Jam on the West coast. So I went online and did a search and
found a "Valentine's Super Love Jam" concert in San Jose Feb. 6,
ordered the tickets through Ticketmaster, bought the airline tickets,
and reserved a hotel room and car. We have a friend with "Hollywood"
connections and asked him to try to get us backstage passes so we could
meet her. Our friend is very good friends with Tom Moffatt, an icon in
rock and roll music, who lives here in Hawaii. He's a famous DJ and a
promoter and is responsible for bringing Elvis to Hawaii. You may have
heard about his recent book, "Showman of the Pacific". Our friend
called Tom, and Tom called Art Laboe and found out that Art was not
booked for San Jose Feb. 6 but was booked for Los Angeles Feb. 14. Tom
then called Barbara Lewis' manager and he told him that Barbara was not
booked for San Jose Feb. 6 but was booked for Los Angeles Feb. 14. Our
friend called my husband to tell him the news and my husband called me.
I just knew I had ordered tickets to the right concert so I went back
online and did a search. I found two Valentine's concerts with the same
name - "Art Laboe's Valentine's Super Love Jam" and "The Valentine's
Super Love Jam". I felt like an idiot because I had bought the wrong
tickets. We were able to pay a change fee with the airline and get our
tickets changed to Los Angeles and I was able to cancel our hotel and
car reservations without a fee, but we were stuck with the tickets. As
it turned out, Barbara Lewis' manager got us comp tickets. We flew out
Friday for the concert this past Sat. I took her beautiful orchid lei
and was able to meet her manager before the concert and have him take
it to her. She wore it during her performance and told the audience of
7,000-10,000 that there was a couple (Ann & Larry Adams), who had flown
all the way from Hawaii to see her and take her a lei. She asked the
spot light to find us, which it did. (She performed second.) Her
manager had agreed to take us backstage to meet her (per Tom Moffat)
after she went on. So we walked down and were escorted to meet her. She
was very gracious and very appreciative that we came so far to see her
perform. We had our picture made with her and she autographed the album
cover of our "Baby, I'm Yours", which my husband bought me shortly
after we began going steady. She also autographed one of her publicity
photos I had found on eBay. She told us she was nineteen when the
picture was taken. She signed the photo "Ann & Larry, thanks for loving
me for so long. Best Wishes, Barb Lewis". We stayed backstage maybe 10
minutes because we didn't want to "wear out our welcome". Before we
left I told her I wished she would record an album of classic love
songs. She said, "Well, I'm not dead yet". I told her if Etta James
could do it, she could. Barbara Lewis has the most incredible voice -
one in a million. She still sounds fantastic, and my husband and I
think she sounds even better "live".

Our friend is going to make arrangements for us to meet Tom Moffatt. He
has invited him to dinner with all of us this coming Sunday night but > I'm not sure if Tom can make it. I hope he does because I plan to ask
him if he knew what was going on in the South during the "Hey Baby Days
of Beach Music" when he was the "showman of the Pacific" bringing Elvis
and other big acts to Hawaii. I plan to ask him if he knows about your
book. If not - I plan to give him my "extra" copy. Remember, I ordered
a used copy from Amazon.com when I found out that they were all sold
out. It was OK that I got a new one when I ordered the other 15 CD's
because the band listing CD was missing from the used copy and there
was a personal note from the person who gave the book as a gift. I
wanted my own copy without a personal message. I will give Tom my
"used" copy if he doesn't have one. I'm sure he'll find it interesting
because he knows all the famous bands, and some of the bands in your
book went on to become famous. But I can't afford to purchase the 15
CD's for him, which I am sure he would love - especially the "live"
recording of James Brown and the one of Ike and Tina Turner. If you
would be interested in having Tom have the 15 CD's, hopefully, you can
take care of it. I think it could help promote your book. Of course I
don't know how many copies are still available for purchase from the
site that sells the CD's or if there are others who still have copies
to sell - like the bands mentioned in the book. You might not even be
interested, but I wanted to let you know if you are. I just have this
feeling that you’re going to do a follow up book or a revised edition
with additional bands. Am I right?

I look forward to hearing back from you soon. Maybe you can tell me how
to post an original thread on the blog instead of adding a comment
after a post.

Fond Aloha,
Ann Adams

Ann,

Great stuff as usual. Give me Tom’s address and I’ll see what I can do regarding the Heeey Baby CDs. Hopefully, he’ll plug the CDs and Ripete will get a few orders from way across the sea. I am still interested in your giving me your top ten from the Hey Baby Days 17 CD collection. That is your top ten of cuts you never heard before. Were you familiar with Wilbur Walton’s “Twenty Four Hours of Loneliness.” Everyone down South knows “Georgia Pines” but in the U.K., the former title was the big one.

Sounds like you had a grand time… glad you got to meet Barbara… did you get any photos? As it relates to an additional book, that is a possibility and the blog is one of the chief tools I am using to obtain additional band information. We are now updating the directories which we hope to replace online very soon.