Now Taking Pre-Orders for Mamie Galore “No Right To Cry”

Orders Ship September 20

Mamie P. Galore’s 1967 Sack Records single, “Do it Right Now” / “No Right To Cry” is a beloved Chicago soul classic and one of the most sought-after records of its kind. Original pressings regularly command over $1,000. The record’s enduring popularity is largely due to “No Right To Cry’s” status as a Northern Soul staple, where it has been an unattainable gem for collectors and DJs for decades. In fact, in 2020 Soul-Source magazine named “No Right To Cry” one of the “Most Sought After Rare Northern Soul” records. Secret Stash Records is thrilled to offer the first-ever 7” reissue of this timeless classic, finally making it accessible to a wider audience. However, with only 250 hand-numbered copies available worldwide, eager collectors will want to get one while they can.

ATTENTION UK CUSTOMERS: We’ve partnered with Sonic Wax in the UK to dramatically bring down your shipping costs! You can order this title directly from them HERE.

McKiney Mitchell

Excerpted from the liner notes of The One-Derful! Collection: One-Derful! Records (Secret Stash Records SSR-35.1), by Bill Dahl.

Taking a more circuitous route to Chicago than most of his labelmates, McKinley Mitchell was the first star on the One-derful! roster. 

The powerful singer was born on Christmas Day of 1934 in Jackson, Miss. His early musical experience was in gospel; at 16 he fronted the Hearts of Harmony, who migrated to Springfield, Massachusetts. There, Mitchell got his first taste of secular action, singing with guitarist Tiny Button’s quintet. When the Hearts broke up in ‘56, McKinley went to Philadelphia and formed another spiritual outfit, the Mitchellairs.

Next stop: Chicago. Mitchell arrived in 1958, waxing his debut the next year for El Dorados manager Johnny Moore’s tiny Boxer label. “Lazy Dizzy Daisy” and its flip side “Rock Everybody Rock” were an intriguing blend of raw Chicago blues and rock and roll, with longtime Howlin’ Wolf lead guitarist Willie Johnson burning up his strings.

McKinley didn’t locate another recording opportunity until he brought a demo of the haunting self-penned ballad “The Town I Live In” to George Leaner in late 1961. On New Year’s Day of ‘62, Leaner brought the young singer into the studio with veteran trumpeter King Kolax leading the band, including guitarist Thomas “Curley” Palmer, a former Sonny Thompson sideman, and drummer Steve Boswell (he was on Willie Mabon’s ‘53 Chess smash “I’m Mad”). The maiden names of George and Ernie Leaner’s wives, Verlie Rice and Jeanne Dodd, were added to the writers’ credits for the first of many times (Rice worked in the label’s front office).

Released early that year with the sleek, organ-cushioned minor-key “No One (Like My Love)” occupying the other side, “The Town I Live In,” with Mitchell’s tenor floating over the ice cream chord changes until he fired up the grit halfway through, soared to #8 on Billboard’s R&B charts that spring (it bubbled under the pop Hot 100).

Trying to match its commercial success would prove vexing. Mitchell’s encore, “All Of A Sudden,” released early that summer, captured some of the smoky charm of “The Town I Live In” in a minor-key blues mode, Kolax’s trumpet shining on the intro and the organ once again prominent. A Latin tinge distinguished the feisty backing on the other side, “I Found An Angel,” with McKinley’s fiery vocal incorporating a few of Sam Cooke’s trademark trills. Later in the summer, “All Of A Sudden” reappeared as half of Mitchell’s next single, coupled with his intense self-penned “I’m So Glad,” a stirring ballad in the tradition of “The Town I Live In.”

A female chorus harmonized behind McKinley on “Darling That’s What You Said,” an appealing mid-tempo late ‘62 effort that came attached to the fierce rocker “You’re Not Gonna Break My Heart.” Mitchell blamed his lack of follow-up hits on the loss of Kolax, but modernizing his sound with guitarists Cash McCall and Freddy Robinson was a wise move.

“A Bit Of Soul,” out in the summer of ‘63, seems irresistible in retrospect. Mitchell, who co-wrote it with co-producer Milt Bland and David Wilkerson, detailed all the requirements to score a hit: tight words, “tender and bold,” a piano man and a “great big band,” and a whole lot of soul. Perhaps Brook Benton’s similar “Hit Record” sufficiently covered the concept a couple of years earlier; Mitchell’s formula didn’t pay off on the charts. McKinley teamed with producers Bland and Otha Hayes to brainstorm the incendiary B-side ballad, “Hand Full Of Sorrows.”

No longer answering to Milt Bland, Monk Higgins penned the mid-tempo grinder “Tell It, Like It Is,” eliciting an entrancing effort from Mitchell. On the other side of the 45, out in late ‘63, sat “Uncle Willie,” one of several numbers commemorating the Chicago-generated dance. 

 Williams and Hayes gave McKinley a joyous “It’s Spring,” timed to cash in on the 1964 changing of the seasons; “You Know I’ve Tried,” a torrid, brass-powered rocker, was its plattermate. Monk came up with both derivative sides of Mitchell’s One-derful! swan song in the spring of ‘65. “I’m Ready” cloned Sam Cooke’s “Shake,” while the guitar riff at the heart of the Miracles’ “You’ve Really Got A Hold On Me” winds through Mitchell’s “Watch Over Me.”

“McKinley was a nice guy. He was very popular in the local South Side clubs at that time,” said Otis Clay. “Kind of a pretty boy too. All the little things that worked.”

One of many studio track sheets from Michell’s time at One-Derful!

Eight singles were by no means the extent of Mitchell’s One-derful! discography. Over in Great Britain, the President label put out a 1967 album by the singer that introduced “I’ve Been Wrong,” “Reckless Lover,” “I Wonder Do You,” and “There He Goes,” and a 1979 collection on Japanese  P-Vine unearthed “Stop Crying Over You,” “Don’t You Know That’s Love,” and the pummeling “I Think You’re The Girl.” 

This collection debuts two previously unheard Mitchell titles, a soul-pumping “Now That You’re Gone” and the upbeat blues “What Love Will Make You Do.” That doesn’t exhaust the mother lode of unissued Mitchell gems: In 1969 McKinley recorded a session for the Leaners’ Empire Productions, including a beautiful rendition of his self-penned “The End Of The Rainbow” (which will be included on the forthcoming Midas Records compilation), long before he utilized the yearning ballad as his 1977 comeback hit for Chimneyville.

Mitchell’s post-One-derful! recording career was at times baffling. He masqueraded as Billy Bland (ostensibly the East Coast singer that hit big in 1960 with “Let the Little Girl Dance”) for “She’s Married Already” under Higgins’ direction at St. Lawrence in 1966. Mitchell followed Monk over to Chess for a ‘67 one-off, “Playboy,” issued under his own name and officially produced by Willie Dixon. 

45s for Sandman, Black Beauty, and Spoonful preceded Mitchell’s return to Jackson, Miss., where his career was reborn with “Trouble Blues” in 1976. The song started out on the Big 3 label and was reissued on Malaco’s Chimneyville logo. The success of “The End Of The Rainbow” led to Mitchell’s eponymous Chimneyville LP. A stream of product on Malaco, Southern Biscuit, Retta’s, and Big Boy brought him into the ‘80s. Mitchell died January 18, 1986 of heart failure in Chicago Heights, a southern suburb of the Windy City.

Bull & The Matadors “The Funky Judge” B/W “Where Did The Judge Go” (Unreleased)

  • PRE-ORDERS OPEN THIS FRIDAY, JUNE 21
  • ORDERS SHIP JULY 12
  • LIMITED EDITION 250 UNIT PRESSING
  • HAND NUMBERED
  • INCLUDES UNRELEASED TRACK
  • SAVE 20% WHEN YOU PRE-ORDER
Side A: The Funky Judge
Side B: Where Did The Judge Go

Hailing from East St. Louis, Illinois, Bull & the Matadors consisted of James Lafayette “Bull” Parks (born June 7, 1945), Milton Hardy, James Otis Love, and Robert Holmes.  In 1968 they made the trek 4 hours Northeast to work with the legendary Leaner family and their Toddlin’ Town label.  

At that time the zany NBC-TV comedy program Rowan & Martin’s Laugh-In was at its ratings zenith. One of its most popular sketches was a hilarious courtroom vignette that revolved around the punchline “Here comes the judge.” The judge was portrayed by Pigmeat Markham, a chitlin’ circuit comic who had made the routine famous at the Apollo Theatre. Pigmeat cashed in on the craze by cutting a full-fledged soul dance number logically titled “Here Comes The Judge” for Chess. Not to be outdone, Motown’s Shorty Long donned his own white wig and belted a different song by the same title for the label’s Soul subsidiary. Both entered the R&B charts that June, and both peaked at #4.

Meanwhile, Toddlin’ Town writer/producer Andre Williams along with Leo Hutton cooked up their own Rowan & Martin tie-in, “The Funky Judge,” and got new Toddlin’ Town recruits, Bull & the Matadors to give it their own spin. 

Nationally distributed by Florence Greenberg’s Scepter Records in New York, “The Funky Judge” crashed the R&B hit parade at the end of August in 1968 and sailed all the way up to #9 R&B and #39 pop over the next three months, proving there was plenty of life in the judge routine yet.  Despite the song’s excellent showing for the scrappy little label, the Leaner family chose not to issue the sequel “Where Did The Judge Go,” recorded that December… until now that is! 

Both of these tracks, including the unissued side, were supposed to be on our Toddlin’ Town compilation.  Sadly that project was permanently shelved over a songwriter/publisher dispute.  Thankfully, however,  these tracks were not part of that dispute and we are still able to get this unreleased tune pressed up for those who want it.


Bull And The Matadors’ “Funky Judge” B/W “Where Did The Judge Go” will be available exclusively at secretstashrecords.com.  The hand numbered limited edition (only 250 units) 7” records will ship July 12, but preorders open June 21.

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The Valdons Instrumentals Now Streaming

The Lakers between takes on the Valdons sessions

In 1971, Minneapolis-based soul group The Valdons released what almost became their only 7” record. However, as fate would have it, our work on 2012’s Twin Cities Funk And Soul compilation connected us with the group as the record included several of their tracks. To celebrate the compilations release we reunited the group for a string of live performances, which quickly lead to producing new recordings.

The lineup included original members Clifton Curtis, Maurice Young, and Monroe Wright III, along with Secret Stash label-mate Sonny Knight. The Lakers, best known for backing Knight both in-studio and on-stage, served as the backing band. The sessions, produced by Secret Stash founder and Lakers drummer Eric Foss and engineered by John Miller, featured three compositions that resurfaced when Wright brought a collection of 1970s demos and rehearsal tapes to the Secret Stash offices. Label staff spent countless hours repairing and digitizing the tapes, revealing sketches of the songs. With the help of The Lakers, The Valdons completed full arrangements, rescuing the songs from obscurity.

Since then, all 3 recordings, especially Whatcha Gonna Do, have gone to become staples of the scene. At one point used copies of Whatcha Gonna Do were trading hands for hundreds of dollars, and as of writing this it has hit 11 million streams on Spotify. Not exactly a platinum record, but also not nothing for a song no one had ever heard of by band only known by a hardcore record collectors.

Today we’re excited to make available for the first time ever instrumental mixes of all three recordings. While there is no denying that the singers are what make these tracks so special, instrumentals can provide a fun look behind the sonic curtain. We hope you enjoy it!

Welcome Mieruba Records!!!

Photos clockwise from top left: Tatrite Sahara, Karamoko Diabate, Marshall Ag Faki, Tambaoura Jazz

We’ve spent almost 15 years working with artists around the world and their families to help share their lost or overlooked vintage music with new audiences. Today, we are thrilled to take this same ethos to a partnership with a thriving label making new records all the time. Ségou, Mali’s Mieruba Records is on a mission to repatriate Mali’s music. For years Mailian music has grown in popularity around the world but most of their musicians wind up signed to foreign labels. In 2008 Mieruba set out to bring Mailain music back home, and share it with the rest of the world from there. Since then they’ve built up an impressive catalog of newly recorded folk and desert blues music. Mieruba will continue to operate as they have from Ségou while Secret Stash assists in managing their rights for film, TV, and commercials around the globe. Their one-stop back catalog is all ready to go with new releases in the works!

Mr. August Moon, A Legend Remembered

On July 12, 2023 we lost our dear friend and collaborator, August Moon. What follows is a personal account from Secret Stash founder, Eric Foss…

No need to sugar coat it one bit. When August Moon (or as he was lovingly referred to by those who knew him, just “Moon”) and I first met, we didn’t exactly get along. He was an aggressive businessman from a bygone era, and I’m a somewhat laid back midwestern millennial. I guess that’s what made our eventual close friendship and long, fruitful working relationship all the more special.

In the Summer of 2013 we reissued the “Free Angela” compilation, a collection of recordings produced by Moon in the 60s and early 70s. We also pressed some limited edition 45s from his catalog. You’d think things would end there. However Moon just kinda never went away. He kept in touch and a relationship grew. In 2017 we reached an agreement that made Secret Stash the administrator of his film, tv, and commercial licensing rights. Together we helped his catalog reach new audiences via placements in world renowned films, TV shows, and advertising campaigns.

By 2019 I was literally on the phone with Moon twice a day most days. We spent countless hours small talking; weather (MN is very different than VA), sports (long live King James), and politics (he loved to push my buttons by calling politicians I didn’t like “your boy”). When my family would come to visit he’d always tell me to let them all know he says hello. When my wife was pregnant he was constantly checking to see how she was doing. When I caught Covid-19 he kept tabs on my health. He was also someone I could come to for business advice.

In addition to having an incredible ear for music, he was as sharp a businessman one could ever encounter. At a time when black artists were being taken advantage of as a matter of regular practice in the record business, Moon set up his own labels and publishing companies to maintain ownership of his music, and the music he produced. He never lost that independent streak, and always kept a tight grip on his most treasured asset, his music copyrights. He retained 100% ownership of them right up until the end, and even had the foresight to properly pass down ownership to his wife in his last will and testament. That may not sound like a big deal, but you’d be shocked how many people don’t take the time to do this. As a new father and owner of many copyrights, I’ll just say I took note.

The only thing Moon loved more than music was his family. I’ve been blessed to get to know his wife (who now owns the catalog) and two of his daughters, whom he was immensely proud of (rightfully so).

If you’ve made it this far, I just wanna say thanks for reading. Writing this was cathartic to say the least. Anyhow, that’s enough from me. Keep an eye out for more August Moon related releases from us in the near future. In the meantime, here are some of the liner notes written by our own Will Gilbert in 2013 for the Free Angela reissue. It includes a lot more detailed information about Moon and his work.

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Alexander Randolph, Mr. Wiggles, Ray Curtis, Dickie Diamond, and August Moon were all born in Richmond, Virginia on August 7, 1937. Years of performing, booking and promoting concerts, and running record labels led Mr. Randolph to use each of those pseudonyms. In addition, work took him all over the country, with large parts of his life spent in Richmond, New York City, Baltimore, Washington D.C., Chicago, Georgia, Alabama, and California.

The aura of entertainment captivated Randolph early on. His first musical memories began at age 12, learning Louis Jordan songs from the jukebox and entering talent contests at Gregory’s Ballroom in Richmond. Later, he honed his skills as a performer in Newark, New Jersey by singing at Ben’s Cotton Club. By the end of the 1950s, he had taken on the stage name “Mr. Wiggles.” As Mr. Wiggles, Randolph made a living traveling up and down the East Coast selling novelties at concerts. He learned songs by Chuck Berry, Little Richard, and Fats Domino and became friendly with the house bands for these concerts. Once he was tight with a band, he made sure he was first on stage for the show, then ran through his routine. Afterward, he went to the lobby and set up his merchandise. As long as the crowd recognized him as a performer, they would stop by his table and possibly buy some of his wares. Often, the merchandise he sold came from framing publicity photos of musicians, or affixing photos to hats. Goals once directed toward life as an entertainer veered toward a career on the business side of music and over time his chief inspiration changed from Louis Jordan to Berry Gordy, Jr. 

During the early 1960s, Randolph began nurturing his fledgling interest in music business by getting to know musicians, managers, booking agents, and promoters. He met and learned from people like Henry Wynn (owner of Supersonic Attractions and The Royal Peacock club in Atlanta, Georgia), Teddy Powell (a promoter in the New York area), Henry Nash (road manager for Little Richard and The Upsetters), Jack “The Rapper” Gibson (promotions man for Motown and former DJ at WERD in Atlanta), and Dave Clark (promotions man for Don Robey’s Duke and Peacock labels). In addition, he spent time working with Universal Attractions out of New York. These jobs and experiences helped refine Randolph’s career interests.

In 1964, Randolph began the transition from performer to recording artist and record label owner. He learned from promoters that radio disc jockeys were less likely to play two songs from the same artist or label, than play one song each from two different labels or artists. He also learned the importance of owning your own publishing. Early on, Randolph began relabeling artists with different names, as well as releasing material on multiple labels. He recorded under the name Mr. Wiggles for Cameo-Parkway, in addition to issuing records on seven of his own labels: Fat Back Recordings, Golden Triangle, Hemisphere, Raven, Soul International, Sound of Soul, and Sprite. The lion’s share of his releases were either written or co-written by him, and all were under his publishing company. Mr. Wiggles also had his own one-stop distribution company, Sound of Soul Distribution, and his own record store and nightclub in Richmond. 

Randolph has lived off and on for much of his life in New York City. And before it closed in 1966, he lived at the Theresa Hotel on 125th St. & 7th Ave. Located just down the street from The Apollo in the heart of Harlem, the Theresa Hotel was a center for the black community. In Harlem, Randolph drove sales of his releases by selling copies from the trunk of his car. One of his biggest sellers was his own song, “Home Boy.”

By 1967, after working on many records together, Alexander Randolph and Tyrone “Little Tommy” Thomas got into a series of disagreements and took a break from collaborating. Randolph’s labels went on hiatus for a few years, while he called upon his experiences working for others in booking and promotions to start his own company, Capitol City Attractions in Trenton, New Jersey. Going by the name Dickie Diamond, he booked acts like The Jackson 5, Sly and The Family Stone, The Dells, The Delfonics, Kool and The Gang, The Moments, and Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles. It was through promoting shows in the late 1960s that Randolph met Larry Sanders in Mobile, Alabama. By then, southern soul and the sounds of Stax, American, Fame, and Muscle Shoals Sound Studios had captured the attention of Randolph. Larry Sanders and Randolph began by doing sessions at Fame and Muscle Shoals Sound around 1970.

By the end of the 1960s, Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles consisted of Patricia Holte, aka Patti Labelle, Sarah Dash, and Nona Hendryx. Patti was born in Philadelphia, while Sarah and Nona were born in Trenton, New Jersey. Trenton and Philadelphia are so close to each other, it makes sense that for a spell during 1969 and 1970, Diamond’s Trenton based managed Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles. Another act he managed was a hard rock trio from Trenton called Sainte Anthony’s Fyre. Bob Sharples, drummer for Sainte Anthony’s Fyre, fondly recalls stopping by Randolph’s office and taking Labelle’s dogs for walks while she and Randolph discussed business. During this time, Sharples’ band opened shows for Labelle’s group and many other R&B acts. They also backed Patti Labelle & The Bluebelles in the studio in exchange for getting their own recording time. Sharples vividly remembers Randolph’s driver taking them in his old Rolls Royce from Trenton to Times Square in New York to record at CBS Studios for those sessions. Around this time, Randolph and Tyrone Thomas reunited. Tyrone was in a group called Brother Love and Randolph needed a backing band for Patti Labelle and The Bluebelles. So, Tyrone helped put together the band Nobody’s Children. 

In addition to being an entrepreneur, Alexander Randolph has been an activist for much of his life. He was part of a march organized in the aftermath of the  September 15, 1963 bombing that killed four girls at the 16th Street Baptist Church in Birmingham, Alabama. He knew of Angela Davis, who grew up in Birmingham, and when she came to national attention, first for being fired from her position at UCLA, and then for being on the FBI’s Most Wanted List, he felt compelled to help raise money for her defense. Free Angela was conceived in late 1970, and released with fifty percent of the proceeds going to the Free Angela Davis Committee. 

After a forced break in activity from approximately 1972 through 1976, August Moon released another series of records, then in the 1980s and 1990s he recorded hip hop at his own studio in Richmond. For years he has been heavily involved in charities and politics. A stroke and aneurysm on January 8, 1998 left Mr. Moon in a wheelchair and made it more difficult to speak, but has not slowed his spirit or energy. 

-Will Gilbert, 2013

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