Welcome, Bill Lasley’s Celtex music group!

It is with great pride that we announce Secret Stash Records has purchased the master recordings and compositions to legendary Chicago record man, Bill Lasley’s, Celtex music group.  This includes the Celtex label and publishing entities as well as the Kack, Webcor, O-Pex, Expo, Hermes, Memo, Lasco, Lucky Dove, Amp3 , Avin, and Success imprints as well as Plywood Music publishing.  Many thanks to Mr Lasley’s widow and son for entrusting us with the responsibility of caring for this timeless collection of midwest R&B.  Secret Stash will be the perfect home for it!

 

Terry/Gregory/Airtown/Juke Records

We are super excited to welcome to Secret Stash Records the Terry/Gregory/Airtown/Juke Records catalog, which also includes The Wills Music and Club Miami Publishing entities. This small but mighty label group active in the 60s and 70s was started in Ohio but eventually moved with its owner/operator, Tommy Wills, to Indiana. Wills himself, a superbly talented saxophonist, is the label group’s primary artist, but certainly not its only. Their output included jazz, soul, doo-wop, funk, and even a couple rock records. We are honored to be the stewards of this incredible body of work. We are currently hard at work cataloging and remastering all of the recordings included and look forward to furthering the legacy of Mr Wills and the artists he worked with.  If you have any information, questions, or interest in this collection of music, don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

Renee/Sta-Set/Conduc/Brainstorm/Twin Stacks Labels

It’s always exciting when we are able to expand the Secret Stash family.  Today is especially exciting as we are welcoming Renee/Sta-Set/Conduc and related labels and publishing companies!  It goes without saying that our work with the One-Derful! label group has inspired in us a very special interest in Chicago soul music.  This label group, owned and operated by Leo Austell in the 1960s and 1970s, includes killer Chicago R&B cuts of all stripes from the likes of Betty Everett, Cicero Blake, Roy Hytower, Wales Wallace, and many many more.  As the new owners of this stunning collection of recordings and compositions, we look forward to giving it the love and care it deserves for many years to come!If you have any information, questions, or interest in this collection of music, don’t hesitate to contact us.

 

 

BELOVED SOUL SINGER, SONNY KNIGHT, PASSES AT 69 YEARS OF AGE

Sonny Knight and the Lakers

(Minneapolis, MN: Secret Stash Records; June 17, 2017) – It is with profound sadness that we announce the passing of our dear friend, Sonny Knight, at age 69. In March 2017, it was announced that Sonny Knight and The Lakers would suspend their tour schedule for Sonny to focus all of his energy on cancer treatment and recovery. At that time Sonny stated, “I’m canceling my shows because I want to give them the best that I’ve got.” Since the band’s 2013 introduction to the Minnesota scene, and soon after the world at large, Sonny gave just that: his best to his band members and to the music-loving crowds who attended their shows across the globe.

 

Second and third chances often aren’t happenstance but instead made. After a short stint in the mid-‘60s recording singles as Little Sonny Knight and then as a member of funk group Haze in the ‘70s, Sonny traded in his microphone for a stick shift and a breeze as a full-time truck driver who traveled the United States. Much of this was after an honorable few years in the US Army serving the country he loved.

 

With those experiences in tow, he entered back into the music business in 2014 as a solo artist with a renewed vigor in the studio and on stage. From heartfelt ballads to upbeat dance numbers, Knight captivated audiences the world over with his backing band, The Lakers.

 

Sonny leaves a legacy of entertainment and a joy for life that won’t soon be forgotten by his family, friends, band, and fans. Upon the release of I’m Still Here, his debut album with the Lakers, Sonny opined, “Sometimes I wonder, why me? Why are all these great things happening now? All I can say is thanks. These are dreams that I had forgotten. Only now that they are starting to come true do I remember that I had them at all.”

 

Many thanks to all of Sonny’s fans for their support throughout the years. You meant more to him than you’ll ever know.