Soul Strut 100: #88 - Leroy Hutson - Hutson (1975)
- Thread starter RAJ
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I'm pleased to see Hutson in here though kind of surprised that it's not Love Oh Love (unless that's going to be making an appearance higher up the list?).
Regardless, I ride for his entire catalogue (though it's obviously a bit more hit and miss by the time of Paradise). I only found out about him in the late nineties after a friend gave me a copy of Hutson II. Before that he was unknown to me:
batmon said:
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
Regardless, I ride for his entire catalogue (though it's obviously a bit more hit and miss by the time of Paradise). I only found out about him in the late nineties after a friend gave me a copy of Hutson II. Before that he was unknown to me:
batmon said:
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
batmon said:Big_Stacks said: It boggles my mind as to why he never blew up like crazy.
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
What do u think his problem was?
Was Curtom not able to promote him? Payola? Who was Curtoms distributer?
Disco emergence killing off a carried over Soul generation?
All the music heads i know praise this dude.
Truth fully i never heard about him until the 90s.
None of his joints got played on the Local Blax Exp radio in the 80s.
They put out most of his joints in the early 00s on CD and he still didnt get a "revival".
Hey Batmon,
I think it was a case of (a) disco overtaking soul music in the late 70s, and (b) lack of effective promotion by Curtom. I can't believe how many people I know have never heard Leroy Hutson's music. Here's another one of my joints off of Hutson II:
Sooooooo, silky!!! Now, all I need is a snifter of Grand Marnier.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
What do u think his problem was?
Was Curtom not able to promote him? Payola? Who was Curtoms distributer?
Disco emergence killing off a carried over Soul generation?
All the music heads i know praise this dude.
Truth fully i never heard about him until the 90s.
None of his joints got played on the Local Blax Exp radio in the 80s.
They put out most of his joints in the early 00s on CD and he still didnt get a "revival".
Hey Batmon,
I think it was a case of (a) disco overtaking soul music in the late 70s, and (b) lack of effective promotion by Curtom. I can't believe how many people I know have never heard Leroy Hutson's music. Here's another one of my joints off of Hutson II:
Sooooooo, silky!!! Now, all I need is a snifter of Grand Marnier.
Peace,
Big Stacks from Kakalak
leroy hutson is a champ!!
I & II hold equal weight in my opinion. love oh love a touch less. feel the spirit, closer to the source also have plenty strong moments. besides the occasional break and obviously infectious groove, his records seem to me to more built toward extended listening and appreciation of overall orchestration.
i get confused about Curtom production. there was rich tufo and hutson. did curtis produce? what else was hutson on? who produced "super people" and the notations album?
I & II hold equal weight in my opinion. love oh love a touch less. feel the spirit, closer to the source also have plenty strong moments. besides the occasional break and obviously infectious groove, his records seem to me to more built toward extended listening and appreciation of overall orchestration.
i get confused about Curtom production. there was rich tufo and hutson. did curtis produce? what else was hutson on? who produced "super people" and the notations album?
RAJ said:Where can I get ahold of Paycheck's Hutson mix?
Not mixed per se, but here is the personal "best of" that I threw together a number of years ago.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/liznid
Not mixed per se, but here is the personal "best of" that I threw together a number of years ago.
http://www.sendspace.com/file/liznid
Whatever happened to Hutson, anyway?
Considering the revival of interest in 70s soul, this is a strange time for him to be a recluse.
Considering the revival of interest in 70s soul, this is a strange time for him to be a recluse.
Always wondered about this. Never heard Frankie Crocker, etc. playing any of Hutsons stuff. Only ever heard him on Rythm Review...Kinda Weird.
batmon said:Big_Stacks said: It boggles my mind as to why he never blew up like crazy.
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
What do u think his problem was?
Was Curtom not able to promote him? Payola? Who was Curtoms distributer?
Disco emergence killing off a carried over Soul generation?
.
I've been a huge Hutson fan for years and managed to track him down about seven years ago. He's extremely shy, somewhat of a recluse .. he even changed his first name from Leroy to Lee because he didn't want to be subjected to the many "Leroy jokes."
We talked much over the years and became friends. In 2008, he agreed to be guest on our radio show Midnight Soulstice, giving his first radio interview in over a decade. We dedicated the entire show to him, you can download it here:
http://midnightsoulstice.podbean.com/2010/07/11/live-leroy-hutson-interview-special/
In 2010, he finally agreed to do some shows in Europe - his first in over 20 years. Considering the fact that he doesn't really like performing live (he's more of a studio artist), his shows were absolutely fantastic and well received, especially in the UK (we sold out Indigo2 in London.)
To answer your questions, Curtom Records was partially at fault for the lack of commercial success of his records. At the time, Curtom manager Marv Stuart pushed the label towards Disco releases, which ultimately killed Curtis' career as well. There was little promotion for Leroy's records, especially after Warner took over Curtom from Buddah as distributor in 1975. Ironically, many of the songs Leroy produced for other artists (notably Linda Clifford and the Natural Four) became bigger hits than his own.
It should also be noted that Leroy wrote "The Ghetto" in collaboration with his friend and dorm roomate Donny Hathaway, and he briefly joined the Impressions after Curtis left, but exited the group after just one album to puruse his solo career on Curtom.
Regarding this particular album, I can say that it is not only my personal favorite and in my opinion one of the greatest Soul albums ever recorded, but it is also Leroy's favorite. He told me that they recorded the album over a span of just three or four days and there was magic in the studio .. a magic that he had never felt before and never after that. I think it's safe to say that this is his greatest piece of work, even though I consider all of his albums extremely strong. I'm definitely glad that it made the list, though I wish it would have been higher.
I'm not sure if Leroy will perform again after the European tour. He has enjoyed it very much, and it was something that he always wanted to do. The time was right. He lives in Miami Florida nowadays, and he is pretty well off because of all his song writing. His son is also in the music business - he produced Jill Scott's two most recent albums.
I would love to see an Unsung about him.
What do u think his problem was?
Was Curtom not able to promote him? Payola? Who was Curtoms distributer?
Disco emergence killing off a carried over Soul generation?
.
I've been a huge Hutson fan for years and managed to track him down about seven years ago. He's extremely shy, somewhat of a recluse .. he even changed his first name from Leroy to Lee because he didn't want to be subjected to the many "Leroy jokes."
We talked much over the years and became friends. In 2008, he agreed to be guest on our radio show Midnight Soulstice, giving his first radio interview in over a decade. We dedicated the entire show to him, you can download it here:
http://midnightsoulstice.podbean.com/2010/07/11/live-leroy-hutson-interview-special/
In 2010, he finally agreed to do some shows in Europe - his first in over 20 years. Considering the fact that he doesn't really like performing live (he's more of a studio artist), his shows were absolutely fantastic and well received, especially in the UK (we sold out Indigo2 in London.)
To answer your questions, Curtom Records was partially at fault for the lack of commercial success of his records. At the time, Curtom manager Marv Stuart pushed the label towards Disco releases, which ultimately killed Curtis' career as well. There was little promotion for Leroy's records, especially after Warner took over Curtom from Buddah as distributor in 1975. Ironically, many of the songs Leroy produced for other artists (notably Linda Clifford and the Natural Four) became bigger hits than his own.
It should also be noted that Leroy wrote "The Ghetto" in collaboration with his friend and dorm roomate Donny Hathaway, and he briefly joined the Impressions after Curtis left, but exited the group after just one album to puruse his solo career on Curtom.
Regarding this particular album, I can say that it is not only my personal favorite and in my opinion one of the greatest Soul albums ever recorded, but it is also Leroy's favorite. He told me that they recorded the album over a span of just three or four days and there was magic in the studio .. a magic that he had never felt before and never after that. I think it's safe to say that this is his greatest piece of work, even though I consider all of his albums extremely strong. I'm definitely glad that it made the list, though I wish it would have been higher.
I'm not sure if Leroy will perform again after the European tour. He has enjoyed it very much, and it was something that he always wanted to do. The time was right. He lives in Miami Florida nowadays, and he is pretty well off because of all his song writing. His son is also in the music business - he produced Jill Scott's two most recent albums.
tripledouble said:
i get confused about Curtom production. there was rich tufo and hutson. did curtis produce? what else was hutson on? who produced "super people" and the notations album?
Curtis did produce neither. Leroy produced all of his solo albums himself, with the expection of "Closer to the Source," which he co-produced. Richard Tufo was an arranger for Curtom - he arranged most of Curtis' solo albums, except "Superfly," which Johnny Pate arranged.
Leroy did not produce the Notations. For Curtom, he produced his own albums, three albums for the Natural Four, several albums for Linda Clifford. He produced a few sides for Gemigo, like Arnold Blair and a group called Ground Hog ("Bumpin"), which was basically his Funk side-kick. He also produced two albums for the Voices of East Harlem on Just Sunshine Records.
Before he joined the Impressions, he was part of the Mayfield Singers for Mayfield Records. His very first songwriting session with Mayfield was "I'll never forget you" for Nolan Chance, which he co-wrote with Donny Hathaway and which Curtis produced. It was released on Thomas Records, a subsidiary for Curtom.
i get confused about Curtom production. there was rich tufo and hutson. did curtis produce? what else was hutson on? who produced "super people" and the notations album?
Curtis did produce neither. Leroy produced all of his solo albums himself, with the expection of "Closer to the Source," which he co-produced. Richard Tufo was an arranger for Curtom - he arranged most of Curtis' solo albums, except "Superfly," which Johnny Pate arranged.
Leroy did not produce the Notations. For Curtom, he produced his own albums, three albums for the Natural Four, several albums for Linda Clifford. He produced a few sides for Gemigo, like Arnold Blair and a group called Ground Hog ("Bumpin"), which was basically his Funk side-kick. He also produced two albums for the Voices of East Harlem on Just Sunshine Records.
Before he joined the Impressions, he was part of the Mayfield Singers for Mayfield Records. His very first songwriting session with Mayfield was "I'll never forget you" for Nolan Chance, which he co-wrote with Donny Hathaway and which Curtis produced. It was released on Thomas Records, a subsidiary for Curtom.
tabira said:Can someone give me the low down the non LP version of lucky fellow? It has a sharper early 80s or later production feel to it (poorer imo). "From the vaults" discovery? later remix ? contemporary 7" alternative version ?
There is no "official" non-LP version. The mix that you posted was done by someone else. Unfortunately, Curtom did not release "Lucky Fellow" on a 45. "All because of you" was the only single release from this album, and that's a different mix (obviously shorter, with an edited intro) and an instrumental version on the flipside. But several years ago, a 45 of "Lucky Fellow" popped up on Ebay. I think it was released on Buddah in Indonesia or some exotic place - Leroy didn't know about it. I'm still upset that I missed out on bidding on it. It was the only time I saw it.
There is no "official" non-LP version. The mix that you posted was done by someone else. Unfortunately, Curtom did not release "Lucky Fellow" on a 45. "All because of you" was the only single release from this album, and that's a different mix (obviously shorter, with an edited intro) and an instrumental version on the flipside. But several years ago, a 45 of "Lucky Fellow" popped up on Ebay. I think it was released on Buddah in Indonesia or some exotic place - Leroy didn't know about it. I'm still upset that I missed out on bidding on it. It was the only time I saw it.
Even though Hutson's records were released during a time when black audiences were starting to become more album-oriented (as opposed to singles), he remains one of those guys I never heard on the radio, but I saw the LPs around consistently. I'd put Black Heat, Maxayn, and Funk Inc. in the same category. You know somebody had to be buying those things, because they were so ubiquitous. But who and how?
According to Billboard, Hutson had two singles in the soul Top 40. The highest-charting (at #25) was an instrumental, "Feel The Spirit In '76," that I remember hearing once or twice before it died.
According to Billboard, Hutson had two singles in the soul Top 40. The highest-charting (at #25) was an instrumental, "Feel The Spirit In '76," that I remember hearing once or twice before it died.
Some of my favorite albums for sure. Dizzy Gillespie also did a version of Closer to the Source.
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