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Brunswick Records today announced that on July 11, soul music fans will be able to purchase the long-awaited “Brunswick Top 40 R&B Singles 1966-1975” collection. Brunswick, along with sister label Dakar, was home to some of the greatest R&B artists from the mid 60’s to the mid 70’s, including Tyrone Davis, the Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin The Young-Holt Unlimited, and The Step By Step Band just to name a few.
From Jackie Wilson’s “Higher & Higher” to Willie Henderson’s “Funky Chicken,” the “Brunswick Top 40 R&B Singles 1966-1975” collection is a treasure trove of very popular and hard to find genuine soul classics. Younger consumers will instantly recognize many of the tracks from recent recordings by Joss Stone, Paul Wall and Beyonce, who sampled the Chi-Lites’ 1970 hit “Are You My Woman (Tell Me So)” to create her Grammy-nominated “Crazy in Love.”
Under the leadership of Nat Tarnopol and Carl Davis, Brunswick rose to become one of the most important R&B labels of the classic soul era. This collection of 40 hit songs is a great representation of the hundreds of gems produced by Brunswick from 1966 to 1975. With over 20 top 10 recordings, six number one smashes and very rare photographs, this double CD set is an automatic staple in every soul music fan’s collection.
Retail giants Wal-Mart and Circuit City will be featuring “Brunswick Top 40 R&B Singles 1966-1975” on sale the day of its release.
As a producer, song writer, music agent and professional entertainer, Johnnie Gee has kept his chops up for 37 years, and the new EP release is another bar to put on the shoulders of ‘The General of Soul’.
Johnnie Gee is a talented songwriter with the ability to write songs that’s provided, in a secular format, the depth of the most heartfelt Soul music; and he was a remarkable song stylist who defined (or redefined) nearly every song he touched in his career.
At their peak, Johnnie Gee & The Step By Step Band were perhaps the most consistent song writers in Soul Music out of the Midwest. They had the best producer in the business Eddie Parnell, some of the most infectious material of the early 70s and perhaps the smoothest falsetto lead vocalist in Johnnie Gee.
Step By Step LP (Recorded in 1975 Released 1976
Song List:
Step By Step
Cash Money
Cool Days Are Out Of Style
Don't Leave Me
I Ain't Never Gonna Let You Go
I Always Wanted To Be In The Band
I Am A Lonely Man
I'm Glad
People
So Very Near You
We Won This Time
“Cash Money,” “So very near you,” “Roses” and “People” all rocketed up the Pop and Soul charts, and immediately made the Step By Step Band the most sought after Northern Soul & Pop artists around the country in the Mid 70’s.
The group’s seamless harmonies and Johnnie Gee falsetto blended magically with Step By Step's lush production and their smooth style..
By any measurement, Step By Step Band must be considered one of the most important Soul Music groups of the past 30 years. Originally a regionally popular group in the Midwest the group was together for a three years before getting a contract with Brunswick Records.
Their first album on Brunswick Records was titled, 'I Always Wanted To Be In The Band', the LP was a masterpiece highlighted by Eddie Parnell & Benny Clark’s master composition, “Cash Money.”
Coming soon September 29th The EP Thinline
Formed in the late 60s in Milwaukee , the Step By Step Band first achieved some regional attention in 1971 with the popular song “She's Gone,” most notable for its contrast to the luscious work that they would record a year later with Brunswick Records. Their Brunswick Records eponymous debut was a playful fun song performed by the whole band and vocals by Jerome Gee, Greg Emmerson, Greg McDonald and Johnnie Gee titled: "I Always Wanted To Be In The Band", containing a basket of marvelous compositions by Johnnie Gee, Step By Step and co-writer Benny Clark, that would become soul standards covered by other ar
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