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Funky 45's
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PennSOULvania |
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The Mayor of Downtown Soulville! |
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The very first time I heard Chuck Edwards ‘Downtown
Soulville’, I was blown away. From the opening guitar riff and Edwards
shout of ‘Awwww Baby, Come
on baby, Downtown Soulville’, you know you’re in for something
special. I first heard Chuck Edwards when I picked up the
bootleg ‘Downtown Soulville’ comp (no relation to Mr. Finewine’s
WFMU radio show, other than the same theme song). I had never heard of him
before, and assumed that the record was - like many of the best funk and
soul 45s - a brilliant
one-off recording. However, the more I listened to the tune, the more it
became one of my all time favorites. I started digging for a copy of the
45, and passed on it a number of times because of the high price. Then, in
the space of a few months I scored a copy of the UK issue of the 45 on
Soul City for about $5, and then grabbed a copy of the US issue on Punch
for a single dollar! Finding the UK issue first piqued my curiosity.
Certainly any US soul record that merited an overseas issue must have more
of story behind it. Charles Edward Edwins was born in 1927 in Pittsburgh,
PA. He started playing guitar professionally in the late 40’s,
eventually joining up with the Sonny Thompson Band (with whom he made his
first record ‘Harlem Rug Cutter’). He made his first recordings in 1953 for Duke as
Charles Edwins and his Orchestra (‘I Got Loose’ b/w ‘Bong Gone’).
He eventually took the stage name Chuck Edwards, and continued to record
for Duke. Tunes like ‘If You Love Me (Like You Say You Do)’,
and ‘You Move Me’ show a mellower Edwards sound, moving between
smooth blues and slightly harder edged R&B. He moved to the Apollo label in 1956 with ‘Just For
A Day’. In 1959 he made the best of his early records, this
time backed by the Five Crowns, ‘Lucy
and Jimmy Got Married’ b/w ‘If I Were King’ for the Alanna label.
‘Lucy and Jimmy Got Married’ is an outstanding slice of rollicking
R&B with a wild vocal by Edwards. I haven’t been able to confirm if
these were the same Five Crowns that eventually featured a young Ben E.
King. By 1960 he was back in the Pittsburgh suburb of
Canonsburg, playing, recording and working in a steel mill to help pay the
bills. He founded his own label, Rene (named for his wife
Irene), and for the next six
years recorded and released records under his own name, and backing
others. The earliest Rene release I’ve been able to track
down is ‘Please Come Back’ b/w ‘Later for You Darling’ by Phil
Lipari and the Chuck Edwards band. The 1963 recording is a slow rocker
reminiscent of early 60’s artists like Del Shannon. Edwards distinctive
guitar can be heard in the background. There is an Edwards 45 from this
period, ‘Shake Baby Shake’ b/w ‘Come On Babe’ (45-1152), but I
have yet to track down a copy. As far as I can tell, Edwards didn’t record again
until he released ‘I Don’t Want No Company’ b/w
‘Do Right Baby’ (Rene 5050) in 1965*. Beginning with ‘I
Don’t Want No Company’, a specific Edwards ‘sound’ began to come
to light. Edwards’s raw, soulful vocals, along with his wild guitar and
rocking band combined for a unique soul/rock sound. My first impression of
‘Downtown Soulville’ was that it sounded like a black singer fronting
a white garage band. His next record was ‘Bullfight’ b/w ‘Chuck
Roast’ (Rene 7001) in late 1965/early 1966. The a-side, a pounding soul
rocker was a huge regional hit around Pittsburgh and was picked up for
national release by Roulette in 1966. It was also released locally on the
original ‘Pittsburgh’s Greatest Hits’ on Itzy records that same year.
It remains a favorite with Pittsburgh oldies fans to this day.
‘Bullfight’ features rumbling guitar and bass, and crashing drums. It
has a raw, primitive sound that makes it easy to understand why it was
such a hit with dancers. |
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‘Downtown
Soulville’. Released on his own Punch records (listed on the label as a
‘subsidiary of Rene Records’), with the ballad ‘I Need You’ on the
flip, the tune is a monster. It’s Edwards’ best vocal and both the
music and lyrics make a lasting impression. Though the record failed to
chart nationally, it obviously made an impression on UK soul mover Dave
Godin, who reissued it on his own Soul City label the following year. The
tune also appeared on a Soul City compilation LP, ‘Soul From The City’
in 1969. In 1972 he packed up his family and moving to the San Francisco Bay area, living in a motel for the first several months. It was there that the Edwards family became the band The Edwards Generation. By the mid-70’s they released at least one 45 (‘School Is In’ b/w ‘Someone Like You’ on Ghetto), and a full length LP, ‘The Street Thang’ on Tight records. The group also appeared on television a few times, including the Mike Douglas Show. Edwards would continue to play locally through the
years, eventually releasing the CD ‘Back Again’ (Tight) in 1994, which
featured both new, and classic material. His sons, who had played in the
Edwards Generation, formed their own band, Movin’ who play frequently in
the Bay Area. Edwards and his wife retired (ironically) to the San
Jose suburb of Pittsburg, California. Sadly, the great Chuck Edwards passed away sometime
after 2000 (I have not been able to find the obituary to pinpoint the
date). Unfortunately few of Edwards’ classic tunes are
currently available on reissues. ‘Downtown Soulville’ was a bootleg
and is out of print. ‘Bullfight’ appears on Itzy Records
‘Pittsburgh’s Greatest Hits Vol 1’ and Crypt Records ‘Pass The
Soul’ LP. There is also the
compilation CD ‘Billy Lamont meets Chuck Edwards’ which featured 13 of
Edwards best early sides, including recordings from the Duke, Apollo and
Alanna labels. The time is long since past for a legitimate reissue
compilation of Chuck Edwards best material from the 50’s to the 70’s.
Here’s hoping one of the better reissue labels like Sundazed or Goldmine
will get it together. |
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