Russell Patterson (born April 1, 1954) – Daily News (1975)
Co-written by all three members of Black Ivory, co-arranged by Patrick Adams & Charlie Calello, and considered by vocalist Stuart Bascombe to be one of their best.
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Black Ivory were an incredibly talented vocal trio who recorded several excellent albums in the 70s but never enjoyed the national success they deserved. “They should have been as big as the Jackson 5,” according to radio veteran David Dickerson.
In the summer of 1969 in Harlem, Stuart Bascombe was 15 years old. He asked his friend Larry Newkirk if he could go along with him to a rehearsal with his vocal group The Mellow Souls. There, Bascombe sang along with them on a few songs and he was invited to join the group, which also included 16 year-old Leroy Burgess. Bascombe and Burgess became friends and would share musical ideas with each other between two cassette recorders in the hallway and stairwell of Bascombe’s apartment building.
When another member left the group that fall, Russell Patterson was invited to jojn. He was 15 at the time and one of Bascombe’s classmates at Louis D. Brandeis High School. The three of them met an 18 year-old musical genius named Patrick Adams, who became their producer, arranger and manager. Adams changed their name to Black Ivory, shaped their sound, and scraped together enough money to record their debut single.
Patrick Adams, early 80s
They drove to Philadelphia to record two songs produced by Adams at Joe Tarsia’s Sigma Sound Studio. The trio co-wrote the uptempo soul/funk masterpiece “I Keep Asking You Questions” with Adams, and the beautiful ballad “Don’t Turn Around” was written and arranged solely by Adams. “We skipped school that day,” Patterson remembered years later.
The backing band on both tracks included Adams on piano and guitar, plus several Philly soul legends who were soon to become key members of MFSB. Norman Harris played guitar, Vince Montana was on vibes, and Larry Washington played congas.
Several record companies were not impressed enough to sign them but eventually a brand new label offered them a contract, the New York-based Today Records. They also hired Adams as an arranger after he overheard that they were looking for one while the group was in Today’s offices shopping their songs. By the time Adams left the label several years later, he had become its executive vice president.
“Don’t Turn Around” became their first single’s A-side, with “I Keep Asking You Questions” on the flip. “When the record came out they actually played it over the school’s sound system before class,” said Patterson, who was sitting in class with Bascombe at the time. It was released in April, 1971 and peaked at #38 R&B the following January, 1972. The group performed both songs on Ellis Hazlip’s groundbreaking public television show Soul!.
Their debut album Don't Turn Around came out later in 1972, and reached #13 on the Billboard R&B albums chart. It stayed on the charts for 19 weeks. Black Ivory were on their way.
When Patrick Adams sadly passed in 2022, former radio and record label executive David Dickerson reflected on what made their early albums so special. “(There was) great R&B co-writing and production on the early 70s Black Ivory records,” said Dickerson. “Classic soul with strings and horns, those records hold up now, fifty years later.” However, they never broke through with a big hit, and Dickerson explained why:
“Today Records never really had nation-wide distribution and was only strong on the East Coast. No marketing $$ meant Black Ivory was only a huge act in New York and the Mid-Atlantic. They should have been as big as the Jackson 5.”
Black Ivory with The Sylvers, mid-70s
In 1975, for their third LP Feel It, Patterson, Bascombe and Burgess co-wrote and co-produced the superb disco funk soul jam “Daily News.” The album was released on the group’s new label Buddah Records, and the track also appeared as the B-side on two singles.
Although by this time Black Ivory were no longer being produced and managed by Adams, he still co-arranged the strings and horns on “Daily News” along with Charlie Calello. In 2015 Bascombe called what they came up with “one of the most beautiful arrangements ever done for a Black Ivory recording.”
“Daily News” is unsung to begin with, but even those who know about it may not be aware that there were two parts to the track. The more widely known vocal version was released as “Daily News (Vocal)” on the LP and included as the B-side to the Feel It title track, a single which did not chart.
Also on the Feel It LP was the separate track “Daily News (Instrumental)” which was not just an instrumental mix but actually the track's second part. It was itself released as the B-side to another track from Feel It, “Love, Won't You Stay,” and also issued on a DJ-only promo 45 with the instrumental version on both sides.
The two parts to “Daily News” were expertly remixed together in 2020 by veteran DJ Juan Negron to create a dancefloor masterpiece, his J*ski extended version.
#disco #funk #soul #PatrickAdams #RussellPatterson #BlackIvory