The Ramong Sound | |
---|---|
Origin | London, England |
Genres | |
Years active | 1965–1966 |
Spinoffs | The Foundations |
Past members | Raymond Morrison Clem Curtis Arthur Brown Alan Warner Peter Macbeth Lyndsay Arnold Con (Surname unknown) Mike Falana |
The Ramong Sound was a British R&B, soul and ska band, active from 1965 to 1966.
The Ramong Sound was a London based outfit, that featured two black lead singers doing Sam & Dave styled duets, one of them being Raymond Morrison (aka Ramong Morrison [1] ), and the other being a former professional boxer, Clem Curtis [2] who had also done some wrestling. [3]
Morrison had left Jamaica and arrived in London in 1954. [4] During his time, Morrison (also known as Ray Morrison) had worked with Trev Thoms. [5] He had also fronted or sung with The Graham Bond Organisation for a brief period.[ citation needed ]
Nigerian born Mike Falana was a member for a period of time and had been a star in his own right. [6] [7] He had been a member of the African Messengers, [8] The Johnny Burch Octet, [9] the Graham Bond Organisation, having replaced Jack Bruce. [10]
Prior to joining the Ramong Sound, 25 yo Clem Curtis was a professional boxer and had worked as a painter and interior decorator. [11]
Guitar player Alan Warner was an experienced musician, and joined the Ramong Sound after having worked in various bands. He would stay with the group through all of their name change evolutions from Ramongs to Foundations, until he left the Foundations in 1970 to join progressive rock band Pluto.
At some stage, the group was called The Ramongs, [2] or The Ramong. [12] It may be that the last title in the succession of name changes was The Ramong Sound as the name was being used in early 1967. [13]
Clem Curtis joined the group after hearing from his uncle that the lead singer of the group Ramong, was looking for backing singers and he should give it a try. At this time Curtis' singing experience was more or less limited to singing with his uncle when he came around the house with the guitar. [14] So he joined The Ramong Sound as a backing singer. He later was sharing the lead with Raymond Morrison. [15] The group had a steadily growing reputation and following around the London club scene due to their energetic performances. [ citation needed ] Morrison and Curtis performed duets. [16] Even though Curtis lacked the experience, he was able to work on his style then. [17]
After the original lead singer, Ramong Morrison, whom the group was named after, was imprisoned for six months, [12] the group attempted to recruit Rod Stewart, but Stewart had other plans. [18] Later, a friend of the band called Joan suggested Arthur Brown as a replacement. [19] When Brown walked in for his rehearsal at the Westbourne Grove bar, he saw the drummer was bent backwards over the bar with Clem leaning over him with a spear at his throat. [20] Contrary to his wild image he had with The Crazy World of Arthur Brown, he was very straight when he joined the band and he didn't drink, smoke or take drugs. [21] While with the group, Brown and Curtis would do songs separately as well as together in Duets. They were covering mainly soul music material. Years later in an interview Brown stated that he was "chuffed" to be singing with Curtis. Incidentally Brown already had his Crazy World band up and running at the same time. [22] Around this time they had gone through a succession of name changes that included The Foundation Sound, [12] The Foundation Squad, [23] and would eventually evolve into The Foundations. [24] Arthur Brown would leave the band after a couple of months. [21]
The group emerged in early 1967 with a new horn section consisting of Dominican trombonist Eric Allandale and Jamaican saxophonists Pat Burke and Mike Elliott filling roles once held by Mike Falana and the other horn player(s). Drummer Tim Harris filled the position once held by Lyndsay Arnold, and Clem Curtis was now the lead singer.[ citation needed ]
The group had been living in a former gambling den called The Butterfly Club which they ended up running. They were eventually forced out by a protection racket gang and had to move next door into what was described as a squalid disused mini-cab office. [1]
The February 4, 1967 issue of Melody Maker shows a booking for The Ramong Sound (misspelt as The Ramog Sound) at the All-Star Club at 9a Artillery Passage, London E1 on Sunday, February 5, 1967. [25]
The Foundations would go on to have several hits, [26] including "Baby Now That I've Found You" with Clem Curtis on lead vocals [27] and later with Colin Young on "Build Me Up Buttercup". [28]
Having completed his six month prison sentence, Morrison took legal action against The Foundations. As reported in the July 27, 1968 issue of Melody Maker, Morrison took it to court in a bid to put a freeze on a proportion of the group's earnings. Morrison claimed that he had discovered the talent of the group. But with his association to the group having been severed by his imprisonment etc., the Judge who heard the case, Judge Stamp said that he couldn't understand how he could have any share or interest in a song ("Baby Now That I've Found You") that came into existence after he had severed his connection with the group. [29]
Raymond Morrison would record a single "Girl I Want to Hold You" backed with "Money Can't Buy Life", released on the Sugar label in January, 1970. It had a short review by Chris Welch of Melody Maker . Noting Morrison's distinctive vocals and the bright backing beat, he referred to it as A sort of bluebeat come reggae come throat pastille boogaloo. [30]
Later in the late 1970s, Morrison founded his record label, Hawk Records located at 243 Finchley Road, London NW3. He ran it with his wife Tamara. A co-director was Carl Lewis. [31] [4] In a duo with Tam (Tamara) called Ram & Tam, he recorded a succession of singles in the late 1970s for the Hawk and Hyfan labels. [32] [33] One of their singles, "Will You Love Me Tomorrow", released on Hawk HSP in 1979, [34] got onto the reggae chart for a few weeks, and by December 15 that year, it was at no. 25. [35] [36] When their record was charting, the Duo had been appearing every Friday and Saturday at the Black-owned Ramaras Club & Restaurant, a venue known for featuring reggae music. [37] [36] By 1981, the duo had expanded into a trio called Ram Tam & jo. They had a 12" single "Cherries" released on Hawk HSP 9. [38] Ram & Tam also released an album Love & Life in 1986. [39]
The Ramong name would be used for "Reggae's Back In Town", an Owen Grey release on the Hyfan label. The record was produced by Ramong and Totoman. [40]
Clem Curtis quit The Foundations around September, 1968 to embark on a solo career. [41] In 1969, Curtis was in the US and was involved with Cowsills Productions, which was connected to the group The Cowsills. He had signed to Liberty Records with a single "Marie Take A Chance" in the pipeline. [42] He recorded a succession of singles for various labels throughout the 70s, [43] [44] and along the way having a disco hit in 1975 with "Unchained Melody" [45] and On Broadway". [46] [47] He carried on with releases into the 2000s with the last being Lord Large Feat. Clem Curtis, "Stuck in a Wind Up" / "Move Over Daddy". [43] [44] He had also been at the helm of vavrious lineups of The Foundations over the years. [48]
According to jazz musician and historian Anote Ajeluorou, Mike Falana had health issues and died abroad, [49] and according to an article on the Otherweis... website, he died in 1995. [50]
Raymond Morrison died at age 81 in Jamaica in February 2013. [51]
Clem Curtis died aged 76 in March 2017. [52]
The Foundations were a British soul band who were primarily active between 1967 and 1970. The group's background was: West Indian, White British and Sri Lankan. Their 1967 debut single "Baby Now That I've Found You" reached number one in the UK and Canada, and number eleven in the US. Their 1968 single "Build Me Up Buttercup" reached number two in the UK and number three on the US Billboard Hot 100. The group was the first multi-racial group to have a number one hit in the UK in the 1960s.
Acid Jazz Records is a record label based in East London formed by Gilles Peterson and Eddie Piller in 1987. The label is the namesake of the acid-jazz subgenre of jazz music for which it is most famously known for producing.
"Will You Love Me Tomorrow", sometimes known as "Will You Still Love Me Tomorrow", is a song with words by Gerry Goffin and music composed by Carole King. It was recorded in 1960 by the Shirelles at Bell Sound Studios in New York City, and hit number one on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The producer was Luther Dixon.The song was the first by an African-American all-girl group to reach number one in the United States. It has since been recorded by many other artists including a 1971 version by co-writer Carole King.
"Baby, Now That I've Found You" is a song written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod, and performed by the Foundations. Part of the song was written in the same bar of a Soho tavern where Karl Marx is supposed to have written Das Kapital. The lyrics are a plea that an unnamed subject not break up with the singer.
Clem Curtis was a Trinidadian British singer, who was the original lead vocalist of sixties soul group The Foundations.
Eric Allandale was a trombonist, songwriter, and bandleader. During the 1960s, he was in number of bands in various genres which included jazz pop and soul.
Alan Warner is an English musician who has been active from around the mid 1960s. He was a member of groups such as The Ramong Sound, The Foundations, Pluto, and The Polecats.
"Stuck In A Wind Up" is a song released by Lord Large on the Acid Jazz label with former The Foundations front man Clem Curtis singing the lead vocals. The B side is a Ska track called Move Over Daddy. Stuck In A Wind Up is popular with the Northern Soul scene.
Clive Chaman is a UK-based bass guitarist and session musician, born in Trinidad and Tobago.
Clarence Linberg Miller CD, better known as Count Prince Miller, was a Jamaican-born British actor and musician.
Owen Gray, also known as Owen Grey, is a Jamaican musician. His work spans the R&B, ska, rocksteady, and reggae eras of Jamaican music, and he has been credited as Jamaica's first home-grown singing star.
Colin Young is a singer known for being a member of the British soul band the Foundations.
Mike Elliott is a Jamaican-born British saxophonist. He played on ska recordings in the early 1960s and on pop and soul music hits in the late 1960s. He is best known as a co-founding member of the British band The Foundations, and played on their hit singles "Baby, Now That I've Found You" and "Build Me Up Buttercup".
"Back on My Feet Again" is the second single released by the Foundations. It was the follow-up to their hit single "Baby, Now That I've Found You". It was written by Tony Macaulay and John MacLeod and produced by Tony Macaulay. It charted at number 18 in the UK and also in Ireland. It reached No. 59 in the U.S. and number 29 in Canada.
"Any Old Time (You're Lonely and Sad)" was the third single by the Foundations. It reached number 48 on the UK Singles Chart. It was the last single they released with Clem Curtis as their lead singer. Their next single with lead singer Colin Young would give them a bigger hit with "Build Me Up Buttercup".
Majbritt Morrison is known for being the victim of an assault that sparked off the 1958 Notting Hill race riots which escalated from there, and as the author of the best-seller Jungle West 11.
President Records is a British independent record label. It is one of the oldest independent record companies in the UK, originally launched in 1957 by Edward Kassner. During the 1960s and 1970s the label, and its subsidiary Jay Boy, had hits with artists including the Equals, George McCrae and KC & the Sunshine Band, Paintbox, and later focused on releasing back-catalogue compilations as well as occasional new albums by artists such as Robots In Disguise. President Records remains part of the Kassner Music Group.
Mike Falana was a Nigerian jazz trumpeter and highlife genre musician. He has been a member of several groups in the 1960s that included well-known musicians. The groups include the African Messengers, The Johnny Burch Octet, The Graham Bond Organization and The Ramong Sound. He had achieved a level of stardom in the early 1960s.
Stoney Ground was a single for UK soul group The Foundations. It made it on to the US Billboard chart in 1972. It also represented the group's last charting first release of a single.
Carnival Records was an English-based record label run by Australian businessman Alan Crawford. It released mainly reggae and ska recordings from 1963 to 1965. Artists who have had releases on the label include The African Messengers, Errol Dixon, Mike Elliott, Oscar James, Dandy Livingstone, Sugar 'N' Dandy, Sunny and the Hi-Jumpers and The Wes Minster Five