Chuck Jackson & Maxine Brown - Hold on, We're Coming (1966) ... plus / Billy Vera & Judy Clay - Storybook Children (1968)

Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown are two of the most cherished artists in '60s soul music, synonymous with quality and distinction throughout all phases of their lengthy careers. Their recordings for Scepter's Wand subsidiary are the ones that collectors of real soul treasure most. Both recorded as solo artists, but in the mid-'60s they teamed up for a couple of duet albums, Saying Something (1965) and Hold on, We're Coming (1966), as well as occasionally performing as a pair. Their cover of Chris Kenner's 'Something You Got' was a Top Ten R&B hit in 1965, and a cover of Sam & Dave's 'Hold On, I'm Coming' made the R&B Top 20 in 1967; they also had a couple of other low-charting singles. Their records were pleasant New York pop/soul, dominated by covers and early material from the pens of Jo Armstead, Valerie Simpson, and Nick Ashford; they even recorded a version of 'Let's Go Get Stoned' before Ray Charles had a hit with it. I included here basically their second album, but one song, plus 4 bonus tracks.
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Billy Vera & Judy Clay were as notable for their music as for their historical importance: certainly the first interracial recording duo in soul music, this late-'60s team may have been the first interracial recording duo of any sort. Vera was a New York songwriter with some minor successes when he brought his composition 'Storybook Children' to Atlantic executive Jerry Wexler. Vera initially tried to record it with Nona Hendryx (then with Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles), but when that idea didn't pan out, he teamed up with Judy Clay, who had recorded soul singles throughout the '60s without notable success. 'Storybook Children,' interpreted by some listeners as a fable of interracial romance (although Vera insists it is about adultery), became a modest R&B and pop hit in early 1968, as did the follow-up single, 'Country Girl-City Man (Just Across the Line).' Clay was by far the stronger vocal partner on their material (much of it written by Vera and and noted producer/songwriter Chip Taylor), which was solid easygoing soul with heavy pop overtones. Failing to land another hit single, the duo recorded this LP, Storybook Children, in 1968 before going their own ways.

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40 years later, these two albums by these four great artists still come on strong and it still sounds like a great deal of fun was had in the making of both. I hope you enjoy them too! http://www.answers.com/, http://www.acerecords.co.uk/