This awesome record was in the short stack my cool neighbor gave me. It was a small batch - but the albums in it are stellar. Like this one! Of course he has great taste in music - my neighbor's name is Harley! From www.allmusic.com: First off – they declare this album a mini-masterpiece
of gritty soul. Let’s read on. “Johnny Corley on April 28, 1943, in
Greenwood, SC. R&B producer Jesse James attended
the same church as Corley and quickly spotted his talent. James made a
career out of transforming gospel singers into secular performers; he
discovered Cliff "the Horse" Nobles a short time later at the same
church. [blogger’s note – The Horse was
a staple of the ISU pep band at college basketball games!] James became
Corley's manager and wrote songs for him -- one of them, "Boogaloo Down
Broadway," convinced Corley to give pop music a serious try. "Broadway" became a big hit, hitting
number five on the R&B charts and number seven on the pop charts. His stage name came about when some
acquaintances of both James and
Corley stated almost in unison, "That's fantastic -- what are you going to
call him?" after hearing "Boogaloo Down Broadway." Hearing their
response, James first came up with the
Fantastic Johnny Corley before shortening it to just The
Fantastic Johnny C. His first gig
was at the Uptown Theater in Philadelphia, sharing a bill with Sam & Dave, the
Vibrations, and Joe Simon. (the record label) Phil La of Soul released
his only album, Boogaloo
Down Broadway, a mini-masterpiece of
gritty soul containing the deep soul cuts "Warm and Tender Love,"
"Shout Bamalama," and many dance tunes: "Cool Broadway,"
"Barefootin'," "The Bounce," and "Land of a Thousand
Dances." Corley continued to sing
in church while recording secular music. When he scored his first hit, he stated that
his goal was to be the "number one
soul brother," and, while he failed to achieve that lofty title, he
did land among the stars for brief period courtesy of his explosive recordings."
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