Roger St. Pierre
Music business veteran Roger St. Pierre worked on the last ever Bill Haley tour and the Jackson 5’s first visit to the UK. As PR and promotion man for James Brown, BB King, Marvin Gaye, Gladys Knight, Wilson Pickett, the Drifters, Jerry Lee Lewis, Frankie Valli & The Four Seasons, Slade, Glen Campbell, George and Gwen McCrae, KC & The Sunshine Band, Junior Walker, and many others, he had the inside track on the record industry through the '60s and '70s.
His Funk Funktion operation worked on six number-ones, including M’s ‘Pop Music’, Althea & Donna’s ‘Uptown Top Ranking’ and JJ Barry’s ‘No Charge’ – which he happily admits was one of the worse records ever made. The company also held the UK promotion contracts for such seminal labels as Ember, TK, reggae’s Studio One outfit and disco hit factory Solar.
Roger additionally ran his own Now! And Energy labels, with releases by such artists as the O’Jays, David Soul and The Valentine Brothers (with the original of ‘Money’s Too Tight To Mention’). And, in 1969, he was co-promoter of the historic ‘Peace For Christmas’ concert, which headlined John Lennon’s Plastic Ono Band – and outfit which included that night Eric Clapton, Keith Moon, George Harrison, Billy Preston, Alan White of Yes, Delaney & Bonnie, the Manfred Mann Band’s Klaus Voorman and, of course, Yoko.
But above all else, Roger has been a prolific editor and writer. His first of many articles for Blues & Soul appeared in issue six, back in 1967. For many years, he was a prolific contributor to the pages of New Musical Express and, under his Peter Kent pen-name, Record Mirror and Sounds. He was launch editor of both Disco Mirror and Disco International & Club News and over his 40 year music industry career he has written well over 1,000 sleevenotes – ranging from T Bone Walker, Brook Benton and Stan Getz to Sibelius, Tchaikovsky and Delius, from Freddie & The Dreamers to Dinah Washington.
Roger was the main writer of the NME Book of Rock and the subsequent Rock Handbook – the biggest selling rock music encyclopaedia of all time. He also co-wrote the best-selling The Encyclopaedia of Black Music and penned books on such artists as Jimi Hendrix, Bon Jovi, Ike & Tina Turner, Ah-Ha, Bob Marley and Madonna.
As a broadcaster, Roger worked on pirate radio and subsequently Solar Radio, currently hosting a weekly two-hour ‘Rhythm & Blues Revival Show’ that is broadcast across Europe on Sky Digital and around the world via the internet. He wrote the narration for Horace Ove’s award-winning TV and cinema documentary Reggae and in recent times has completed several series of six half-hour documentaries for BBC Radio Two – on Atlantic Records’ soul heritage, the life stories of Count Basie and Chuck Berry and the saga of blues giant Robert Johnson – for which projects he carried out all the field research, conducted the interviews and co-wrote the scripts.
Roger passed away in October 2021.
146 articles
List of articles in the library
The Foundations: Foundations Want To Progress
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Top Pops, 9 August 1969
And Colin wants to develop into a ballad singer. Smoother, more sophisticated styling for their new single, 'Born To Live'. ...
Clyde McPhatter: Clyde Mixes Country, Gospel And Blues
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Top Pops, 13 September 1969
EUROPE IN GENERAL, and Britain especially, seems to be exerting an increasingly strong magnetic attraction to coloured American artists. Not only do they like to ...
Desmond Dekker, The Pioneers: Ska's Mysterious Lyrics Explained
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Record Mirror, 5 November 1969
Desmond Dekker talks to Roger St. Pierre ...
The Pioneers: 'Longshot' Never Let Them Down. Will 'Ramases' Do The Same?
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Record Mirror, 3 January 1970
'Long Shot, Kick The Bucket' brought pop fame and a trip to Britain for the Pioneers; 'Poor Ramases' is their latest disc and to give ...
The Showstoppers: The Show Stoppers
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 27 February 1970
'AIN'T NOTHING But A Houseparty' reads the title but there's a lot more to the Show Stoppers first hit than just that! ...
The Showstoppers: Second Time Around For The Showstoppers
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 19 March 1971
ONE-HIT WONDERS are far from being an unusual phenomena on the pop scene. Surprisingly, considering the generally higher level of artistic merit required, they are ...
Comment by Roger St. Pierre, West Indian World, 23 July 1971
"REGGAE" – JAMAICA'S own form of pop music – has made a dynamic impact on the pop scene around the world and yet an amazing ...
Al Green, The Bill Black Combo: Al Green: Now Green Smashes The Big Memphis Monopoly
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 16 October 1971
MEMPHIS HAS long been accepted as capital city of rock 'n' soul, but to the casual fan this means just Elvis on the rock side ...
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 November 1971
DESCRIBING Larry Williams as a "great unknown" might raise a few eyebrows for he had a hit with 'Bony Moronie', a rock 'n' roll classic, ...
Ann Peebles: Will Princess Ann Be Queen
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 13 November 1971
ON THE distaff side, soul music has produced a long run of superb girl singers and these soul sisters have found it far easier to ...
Isaac Hayes: Good Hayes music, but a flat film!
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 27 November 1971
"JUST ONE moment please. Mr Hayes will be right with you," said the voice at the other end of the transatlantic phone. Fifty minutes later ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Beat Instrumental, December 1971
WITH AL Green's 'Tired Of Being Alone' Decca's subsidiary London label has notched its first chart entry in more than 18 months. It's quite a ...
Al Green: You're Never Alone With Al
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 December 1971
THERE WAS no chance of Al Green getting tired of being alone when Decca Records welcomed him to Britain with a turkey and Christmas pud ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 December 1971
IF ANY one man personifies the solid beat of Memphis soul then surely it's Willie Mitchell. Not only has he turned out 14 hit albums ...
Doris Troy: This Little Lady Is Miss Troy
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, West Indian World, 17 December 1971
Doris Troy is one helluva woman. Almost, she's the ultimate soul sister, big, bouncing, warm-hearted, sincere and certainly talented. ...
Al Green: Upstairs at Ronnie Scott's, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 18 December 1971
DESPITE the counter-attraction of the Buddy Rich big-band downstairs there was a packed house for Al Green "Upstairs" at London's Ronnie Scott's including many big ...
Little Richard: King Of Rock 'n' Roll/Various Artists: This Is How It All Began
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 25 December 1971
PERHAPS IT'S just that I'm a bit too fussy, but basically I don't like going to see live gigs of the artists I admire. Too ...
Isaac Hayes and The Platinum Pirates
Report by Roger St. Pierre, Record Mirror, January 1972
BOOTLEG RECORDS have become a familiar part of the music scene in the past few years but a far more serious problem for record companies ...
Big Mama Thornton: The Hound Dog Howler Who Inspired Janis
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 1 January 1972
IN THE DEEPEST depths of Transatlantic's Marylebone High Street (London) headquarters there's a wire cage which looks like Death Row in your favourite neighbourhood prison. ...
Rufus Thomas: Rufus and The Funky Penguin
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 1 January 1972
RUFUS THOMAS was half-way through a busy tour the last time we met. This time round I caught up with him just two days before ...
Bloodstone: The Bloodstone Sound Spectrum
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 January 1972
THERE'S BEEN a growing flood of black American artists to these shores over the past few years, and more and more of them have decided ...
Stevie Wonder: Audiences Will Accept New Things From Me, Says Stevie Wonder
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 22 January 1972
MUSICAL BARRIERS are tumbling down – that's the reckoning of Stevie Wonder, currently on another 20-date European tour. "Audiences used to have a pre-conception of ...
Jefferson Airplane, Papa John Creach: Papa John Creach: Papa John Makes It With Rock
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 22 January 1972
THE ONE-TIME phenomenon of young white rock musicians playing on records by old black blues musicians has become a commonplace thing. ...
Bloodstone, Curtis Mayfield: Curtis Mayfield, Bloodstone: Rainbow Theatre, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 29 January 1972
WITH THE Curtis Mayfield/Bloodstone show, the Rainbow Theatre proved conclusively that the Albert Hall has lost its place as the capital city of bad acoustics. ...
Donnie Elbert: The Mystery Of The Vanishing Chart Star
Report by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 29 January 1972
Wanted: DONNIE ELBERT to contact numerous, and despairing record company executives ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 March 1972
TOMMY HUNT is a name you'll be hearing a lot of if the best laid plans of the entertainment business don't go astray. More than ...
Isaac Hayes: The Aloof Mystique of Isaac Hayes
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 March 1972
...but he's part of the people in his gold-plated Rolls Royce ...
The Jackson 5, Michael Jackson: Michael Jackson: Schmaltz or Genius?
Comment by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 18 March 1972
In his day perhaps they thought Mozart was a hype ...
Carla Thomas, The Temptations: The Temptations, Carla Thomas: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 April 1972
IF ELVIS himself had stepped onstage at the Hammersmith Odeon on Friday he could hardly have created more excitement than the Temptations stirred up with ...
Stone The Crows: Les Harvey — A Rock Tragedy
Obituary by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 13 May 1972
LIFE AS a rock star isn't all glamour. It's a hard, gruelling existence which too often can end in tragedy. ...
Wilson Pickett On African Soul
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 13 May 1972
WILSON PICKETT is back — as big and brash as ever, and if his press reception this past week at WEA Records (nee Kinney) is ...
The Temptations: Behind The Slick Veneer
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 20 May 1972
TALKING TO the Temptations can at times smack of talking to a tape-recording. So many of the answers are stock phrases, learned in Tamla Motown's ...
Electric Flag, Jimi Hendrix, Wilson Pickett, Santana: Buddy Miles: Big black hunk of funk
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 June 1972
BUDDY MILES ON SANTANA, HENDRIX ...
Arthur Conley, Inez Foxx: From The Soul: Inez Foxx and Arthur Conley
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 June 1972
INEZ FOXX is currently engaged on her 18th British tour — the fifth of sixth since she split from brother Charlie. ...
Byzantium, Buddy Miles, Nazareth: Buddy Miles Express, Byzantium, Nazareth: Lyceum, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 June 1972
I MAKE NO apologies for the fact that I was fast asleep during the first number of Buddy Miles' set at the Lyceum's Midnight Court. ...
Diana Ross: Gems Amid The Schmaltz
Report by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 June 1972
IF ANY one soul artist has totally transcended the limitations of the term and become a star of ultimate "show business" status then it must ...
Dr. Ross, Muddy Waters: Muddy Waters, Dr. Isiah Ross: 100 Club, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 June 1972
IF AUTHENTIC blues music really is dying on its feet, perhaps someone should inform the thousand enthusiasts who packed the 100 Club to see Muddy ...
The Four Tops, Marvin Gaye, The Stylistics: Stylistics sock it out sweetly
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 June 1972
THOUGH THE music of Detroit, Memphis and Muscle Shoals receives more publicity over here, the East Coast city of Philadelphia, just over 100 miles south ...
Frederick Knight: Freak Hit for Knight
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 17 June 1972
PROVIDED HE isn't burdened down with a surfeit of bills and tax demands, the arrival of the postman is one of the brighter moments in ...
The Staple Singers: Soft Sounds That Burn Deep
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 17 June 1972
JAMAICAN SINGERS have yet to follow up their undoubted success in Britain with a similar impact in the States but neverthelless reggae is making a ...
Gladys Knight and the Pips: From the Soul: Gladys Knight
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 24 June 1972
EXACTLY a week after leaving the employ of Music For Pleasure Records, and on the eve of departing for a much needed holiday, I received ...
Love Unlimited: Love Unlimited (Uni)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 24 June 1972
DEEP-SOUL freaks will really flip for this one, set for UK release in two weeks. ...
Roberta Flack: First Take (Atlantic)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 24 June 1972
AFTER BEING around for three years, this suddenly shot to number one in the American charts in the wake of the single cut 'The First ...
The Chi-Lites: The Windy City Sound
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 24 June 1972
IF ANY outfit holds serious aspirations to usurping the Temptation's crown as the world's leading soul group then it must surely be Chicago's Chi-Lites who ...
Love Unlimited, Barry White: Love Unlimited Bring Deep Soul to Britain
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 July 1972
SOUL ENTHUSIASTS used to call it "deep-soul", the kind of sound which usually didn't even get released over here, and when it did, sold in ...
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 July 1972
FOR MORE than a decade, the Impressions have been a legendary soul name, besides having produced two fine solo performers — Jerry Butler and Curtis ...
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 August 1972
WITHIN a year of its composer Bill Withers taking it high up the American chart, 'Ain't No Sunshine' has become firmly established as a soul ...
Jackie DeShannon: Jackie (Atlantic).
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 August 1972
ONE OF THE few white singers ever to get convincingly into soul-music and be accepted even by purist fans. ...
Sam Cooke: Who Remembers Him Now?
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 19 August 1972
"NOT 'ALF Sam Cooke's been an influence on me," Rod Stewart was saying in his NME interview last week, adding that the inclusion of 'Twistin' ...
Rev. James Cleveland, Aretha Franklin: Aretha Franklin: Amazing Grace (Atlantic)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 26 August 1972
THOUGH IT HAS received wide critical accalim Aretha Franklin's latest album, the double set Amazing Grace, is far and away the least commercially orientated she ...
Cecil Womack, Mary Wells: Mary Wells And Her Guy Still Making Hits
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 August 1972
IT WAS PAST five in the afternoon but Mary Wells was still fast asleep, recovering from the rigours of her whistle stop British tour and ...
Curtis Mayfield: Where He's Been And Where He's Going
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Let It Rock, October 1972
AFTER SUCH COMMITTED, socially conscious compositions as 'This Is My Country', 'Mighty Mighty, Spade and Whitey' and 'Choice Of Colours' Curtis Mayfield believes the time ...
Allen Toussaint, Jerry Butler: Jerry Butler and Allen Toussaint: The Spice Of Life
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 7 October 1972
IT'S NOT so long since soul albums were merely collections of singles, plus a few make-weight tracks. ...
Chairmen of the Board: Long Wait for a seat on the Board
Report by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 October 1972
AFTER WAM-bam-slamming onto the soul scene with a run of hit singles of which 'Give Me Just A Little More Time' was the real biggie ...
The Stylistics: Stylistics: Who Has The Talent?
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 November 1972
IN THIS technological age it's sometimes said producers and arrangers are more important than artists. ...
Millie Jackson: Millie's Mojo Soul
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 December 1972
AMONG THE better girl artists to emerge from America's R&B charts of late is Millie Jackson, who's been creating no small action over here in ...
Allman Brothers Band, Otis Redding: The Allman Brothers: A Rock Tragedy
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 December 1972
WHEN BERRY Oakley died two hours after crashing his motorcycle on November 11, another chapter was added to the succession of tragedy which seems to ...
The Jackson 5: The Jackson Five: Five Pranksters Puppets
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 December 1972
TAUNTS THAT the Jackson Five are nothing more than carefully manipulated puppets just aren't borne out by the facts. Five minutes in the company of ...
Merry Clayton: The Triumphant Acid Queen
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 30 December 1972
MERRY CLAYTON is the girl who stopped the show at the London Rainbow performance of Pete Townshend's rock opera Tommy earlier this month. Even the ...
Archie Bell and the Drells: Archie Bell & the Drells: Here I Go Again (Atlantic)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 20 January 1973
BELL HAS been not a little embarrassed by the rather belated success here of 'Here I Go Again'. Not that he isn't extremely pleased with ...
Nina Simone: Emergency Ward (SF 8304)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 20 January 1973
LOGGING A BIG pop hit sometimes does more harm than good to artists who previously had a rather specialist appeal. ...
Billy Paul: Nostalgic Chart Topper For Paul
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 27 January 1973
Keep a check on Billy Paul. Before long, he's going to top the British chart, repeating his two million selling number-one in America with the ...
Johnny Paycheck: Somebody Loves Me (Epic)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 27 January 1973
FOR QUITE A few years, black American singers have milked Nashville for meaningful ballad songs. Joe Simon, Esther Phillips, Joe Tex and O.C. Smith are ...
Roberta Flack: Royal Albert Hall, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 February 1973
MAJESTIC, CERTAINLY, with a voice as clear as crystal – but I'm afraid to say that Miss Roberta Flack, in concert, is something of a ...
Isaac Hayes: The Man They Call Moses
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 February 1973
IMAGES DON'T come much heavier than that surrounding Isaac Hayes. But take away the dark shades, the heavy chains, the robes, the immense mink coats, ...
Isaac Hayes: The Day Moses Came To Town
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, West Indian World, 16 February 1973
THE LONDON Hilton's high-speed lift whisked me up 27 floors into the super-soul world of Isaac Hayes, the original "Black Moses". ...
Bobby Charles: Bobby Charles (Bearsville, EMI import)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 17 February 1973
IT'S BECOMING increasingly fashionable for session musicians to produce albums which highlight their own talents, and to employ on them the people who in turn ...
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 24 February 1973
WHEN THE O'JAYS fly in for an extensive British tour next month it'll be the fulfillment of a longstanding ambition. It will not be their ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 March 1973
IT'S EASY TO detect a strong jazz influence in Billy Paul's vocal on 'Me And Mrs. Jones'. The reason is simple enough. Paul, now 35, ...
Timmy Thomas: The Timmy Thomas One-Man Show...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 3 March 1973
'WHY CAN'T We Live Together?' asks Timmy Thomas on his sensationally different million-selling American hit. But, ironically, it turns out that the record itself is ...
Cornell Dupree: The Boss Guitar of Cornell Dupree
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
CORNELL DUPREE's name will mean nothing to the general public, but those who scan LP sleeve credits will recognise him as one of America's busiest ...
Gladys Knight and the Pips: Help Me Make It Through The Night (Tamla Motown)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
THOUGH IT'S packaged to make you think it's that way, this isn't an all-new album, the title track being the only recent cut. The rest ...
James Brown: He Ain't Slowing Down
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 March 1973
SOUL BROTHER Number One leaned back in his chair, adjusted his robe, and expounded: "Back in 1969 King Records didn't want to know. They said ...
The Temptations: Following Darling David, it's the Temptations Sensation
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 31 March 1973
ROGER ST. PIERRE ON THE BIG SOUL TOUR ...
Isaac Hayes: A Man Of The People
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Beat Instrumental, April 1973
ISAAC HAYES certainly lives up to his 'Super-star' title. During his recent British visit the Black Moses spent £38,000 on jewellery and another £30,000 on ...
Don Covay: Are You Reggae For Don Covay?
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 21 April 1973
AMERICA JUST had to catch on to reggae. After all, the roots of Jamaican music lie in the '50s out-put of Fats Domino, Smiley Lewis ...
Gil Scott-Heron: Pieces Of A Man (Philips 6369 415)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 May 1973
Heron, with the sound of the black revolution ...
Thom Bell, The Spinners: Detroit Spinners: Memories of the Brown Beatles
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 June 1973
SINCE LEAVING Motown the Detroit Spinners have changed considerably, largely because of the recording direction of Philadelphia genius Thom Bell. ...
Jimmy Helms: Helms In Need Of A Direction
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 30 June 1973
JIMMY HELMS is at a cornerstone of his career. 'I'm Gonna Make You An Offer (You Can't Refuse)' wasn't just a hit record — it ...
Cymande, making it with West Indian "Rasta" soul
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 7 July 1973
WHATEVER BRITISH fans think about homebred groups, blue-eyed or otherwise, it seems Americans are prepared to listen to them with enthusiasm. ...
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 July 1973
SOUL MAN Joe Simon has scored a long run of American hits — with country songs. And now his 'Step By Step' currently climbing the ...
Albert Hammond: Moroccan Strip Clubs To All American Boy
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 August 1973
DESPITE THAT rich, drawling brogue and songs like 'It Never Rains In Southern California', Albert Hammond is no American. As it happens, he was born ...
Smokey Robinson: Miracles And Meditation
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 August 1973
IT'S JUST on a year since Smokey Robinson split from the Miracles to spend more time as an executive of the Motown Corporation. Now, he ...
Howard Tate, Lou Courtney: Howard Tate and Lou Courtney: The Blues and Dance Men
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 8 September 1973
TWO ARTISTS of widely different appeal, Howard Tate and Lou Courtney both deserve inclusion in this series because although only modestly successful even in the ...
Toots & The Maytals: The Maytals: From The Roots (Trojan)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 8 September 1973
IF EVER a group deserved recognition beyond the realms of its chosen music form, then it's the Maytals. ...
Candi Staton: Foxy Lady Of Soul
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 September 1973
RIGHT FROM the days when Bessie Smith, Ma Rainey, Ida Cox and later the ladies Holliday, Vaughan, Fitzgerald and Washington ruled the blues/jazz roost there ...
Billy Preston: God Planned It Good
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 22 September 1973
AFTER YEARS spent as a session man for an astonishing roster of star names the Beatles, the Stones, Barbra Steisand, Ray Charles, Little Richard, Sam ...
Jimmy Hughes: The Great Unknowns: Jimmy Hughes
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 22 September 1973
"I NEVER FELT more like singing the blues," sang Guy Mitchell and Tommy Steele a long while ago, and both did a lot of business ...
The Righteous Brothers: Two By Two (MGM)
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 29 September 1973
INCREDIBLE, They may not have been black, they may not even have been soul music (though to my mind they were), but nobody could deny ...
O.V. Wright: Wright Man In The Wrong Place
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 6 October 1973
MANY SUPPOSEDLY great soul singers are, in truth, only as good as their current producer and/or writer. O.V. Wright's reputation however is solidly based on ...
James Carr: The Great Unknowns No. 9: James Carr, the Memphis Master
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 13 October 1973
JAMES CARR has never had a hit record in this country and has now disappeared from the scene. Yet at one time he was seriously ...
Garnet Mimms: The Mysterious Fade-Out Of Garnet Mimms
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 20 October 1973
JIMMY HELMS has a fair rendering of 'I'll Take Good Care Of You' competing in the chart stakes right now, but soul freaks who can ...
Bettye Swann: Still Waitin' for a Swann Song
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 November 1973
IT WAS indirectly through Joe South that I first got turned on to the delectable Miss Bettye Swann. I'd done an interview with the white ...
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Hank Ballard: The Man Who Twisted Himself
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 19 January 1974
COVER VERSIONS have long been the bane of the rhythm and blues field of music. During the 'Fifties, the major record companies kept their ears ...
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 26 January 1974
SOUL MUSIC and the blues have boundaries which are largely indefinable — a factor which has allowed many artists to straddle the two. ...
Kool and the Gang: Kool The Brand Leader In Funky Stuff
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 March 1974
KOOL AND the Gang are just about the biggest thing on the Southern (of England that is) soul scene at the monent, and they're even ...
MFSB: set for a smash despite the slagging?
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 4 May 1974
A NUMBER one album and single in the American pop charts, with strong chances of rivalling the success of 'Love's Theme' in the UK, make ...
Mickey Baker: l00 Club, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 August 1974
THE EPITHET "Living blues legend" has been much overworked. but in Mickey Baker's case it doesn't even begin to be adequate. He's that, and so ...
The Drifters: Drifting With An Endless Identity Crisis
Report by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 31 August 1974
"BELL RECORDS and Henry Sellers Ltd., on behalf of Faye Treadwell, manager of the Drifters, wish to make known that Charlie Thomas and the Drifters ...
Billy Preston: The Busiest Soul In Showbusiness
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 14 September 1974
THANKS TO his prodigious session-work, as well as his own tours, Billy Preston is one of the most frequent American soul visitors to our isle; ...
Johnny Bristol: Hangin' Out with the Other JB
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 September 1974
PRODUCER/SONGWRITERS turned artists are an increasingly common feature of the soul scene. ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 October 1974
THOUGH HE had a massive hit here some years back with 'Who's Making Love' and has consistently been one of the top-selling Stax artists, Johnnie ...
The Meters: Funk From The Crescent City
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 26 October 1974
THERE'S ALWAYS been something unique about New Orleans music, whether it's the jazz of Louis Armstong, the boogie-woogie blues of Champion Jack Dupree, the lopping ...
Eddie Holman: Holman's Recurring Revived 45
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 9 November 1974
REVIVED 45s are a familiar part of the British pop scene, but Eddie Holman's '(Hey There) Lonely Girl' is somewhat special in that it's now ...
Otis Redding: A Legend During His Lifetime, Or Only After His Death
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 21 December 1974
The former, argues ROGER ST. PIERRE, in this appreciation of OTIS REDDING, who died seven years ago this month – the Boss Man soul music ...
Edwin Starr: The Thespian Anglophile And The Motown Machine
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 December 1974
EDWIN STARR has a rather special place in the British soul scene, since none of America's top soul acts can match his record of some ...
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 11 January 1975
POSTING HER way to a real left-field hit is Gloria Gaynor with 'Never Can Say Goodbye' which sounds like a revived 45 but isn't. ...
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 25 January 1975
STUDENTS OF the currently emergent Miami Sound will have noticed the proliferation of album credits, both as writer and musician, for one Willie Hale. ...
John Holt: Reggae In The Moonlight
Review by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 1 February 1975
ETHNIC REGGAE'S TRADITIONAL image has been of rough raw-edged sounds, but Jamaica has always had just as strong a strain of ultra-smooth ballad-styled sounds. ...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975
WHILE RADIO and club exposure sells a whole lot of records, it's easy to overlook the importance of word-of-mouth recommendation, which is the medium likely ...
Leiber and Stoller: Jerry Leiber And Mike Stoller: By Royal Appointment
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 February 1975
THE SCENE IS the Dorchester Hotel, one of the last vestiges of Britain's Imperial splendour and we've just been refused admission to the restaurant for ...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 1 March 1975
BETTY WRIGHT IS, as they say, a lot more than just a pretty face. She's also got a voice that's stacked with burning southern soul, ...
The Moments, Shirley & Company: Shirley & Company and The Moments: The Carpenters Are My Real Faves
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 15 March 1975
Al Goodman, A & R man for All Platinum label. So what are you doing on the Soul page with Shirley & Co., Al? ...
Gloria Gaynor: I just love your British discos
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975
ROGER ST. PIERRE talks to GLORIA GAYNOR, the girl who sums up what the disco boom is all about ...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 5 April 1975
"WHERE ELSE BUT in America could a person own a Rolls-Royce, an Eldorado Mark IV, a Mercedes limousine, an estate in Long Island, an apartment ...
Lee Dorsey, Labelle, Allen Toussaint: Marshall Sehorn: The Night They Drove Lee Dorsey Down...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 April 1975
MARSHALL SEHORN had to get him out of jail. ROGER ST. PIERRE raps to one of the mainmen of New Orleans soul. ...
Report and Interview by Bob Fisher, Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 19 April 1975
From the great lost soul label of Atlantic it came, writhing with synchronized funk, its many black heads chanting and wailing. Nothing like it had ...
Geno Washington: Ram Jam Thankyou Ma'am
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 17 May 1975
In other words GENO WASHINGTON is back. And proud. And Bald. ROGER ST. PIERRE talks to the veteran soulster on his return from the Amazon ...
The Exciters - Dark Clouds Over the Black Country
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 7 June 1975
INTERNAL DISSENSION IS the bane of any cult, and though the Northern Sounds soul movement might seem healthy from the outside, in reality it's torn ...
Candi Staton, Bettye Swann: Candi Staton and Bettye Swann: Broken Hearts, Do Right Women
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 14 June 1975
EVERY TIME I hear Bettye Swann's pained 'Don't You Ever Get Tired Of Hurting Me' I'm so moved I want to go and punch that ...
Hamilton Bohannon: The Great Disco Mystery
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 28 June 1975
H. BOHANNON DISCOVERS WHERE IT'S AT ...
Dionne Warwick: Worries of the Warwick sisters
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 12 July 1975
WE'RE A LONG way on from 1964 and 'Walk On By' but, despite the profusion of instantly forgetable records Dionne Warwick has turned out since ...
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 2 August 1975
THERE'S NOTHING NEW about black anger. It's run through the whole of black music from the blues onwards, finding perhaps its most forthright expression (in ...
The Brecker Brothers: Everythin's All White
Profile by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 23 August 1975
...
James Brown, Silver Convention: Disco: "Who's that on the jukebox?" "Who cares?"
Overview by Roger St. Pierre, New Musical Express, 10 January 1976
ROGER ST. PIERRE considers what the disco boom has done for soul, and reviews forthcoming action on the soul scene. ...
Brook Benton: Brook's No Hero Of The Past
Report and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Record Mirror, 3 April 1976
LIKE RAY CHARLES, Fats Domino and precious few others, Brook Benton's pulling power as one of the father figures of black American music continues despite ...
Jerry Butler: The Iceman Cometh, Yet Again
Profile and Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Black Echoes, 24 July 1976
IT WAS deejay George Wood who originally tagged Jerry Butler "The Iceman" because of his on-stage cool and it's still an especially appropriate nickname, not ...
Marvin Gaye: The Gaye-ity and Pain of the Love Man…
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 15 July 1980
In this B&S exclusive, Marvin Gaye tells Roger St. Pierre about his problems and his search for a soulmate, and runs through his next album, ...
Millie Jackson: Hammersmith Odeon, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 30 November 1982
GROIN-GRINDING, FOUL-MOUTHED, OUTRAGEOUSLY SENSUAL, Millie Jackson isn't exactly the kind of girl you would take home to meet Mum — but she sure is fun ...
The Valentine Brothers: Valentines Day
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 3 May 1983
IF EVER A record could be said to sum up the times we are all living through right now, then it must be the Valentine ...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 28 August 1984
Shakatak rap with B&S about their new album, their status internationally and, raw fish! ...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 12 November 1985
With one of the last year's best-selling albums under her belt and her new LP, Promise ready to blaze the charts worldwide, life is pretty ...
The Neville Brothers: Shaw Theatre, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 26 November 1985
CLOSE YOUR eyes and you could well imagine yourself in a packed Hammersmith Odeon, along with the young funkateer crowd, catching the latest hot new ...
Alexander O'Neal: Alexander The Great conquers Britain!
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 25 March 1986
In a year when a little chap with a royal handle put Minneapolis on the musical map, it was an ex-football star, originally from Mississippi, ...
Sweet Honey In The Rock: B&S talks to Bernice Reagon — a lady with a mission...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 22 April 1986
Her mission is to get black music the recognition it is due from the world at large and, equally important, to persuade America's black population ...
Sam Cooke, The Valentinos, Womack and Womack: Womack & Womack: Womack Inc. (U.K. Branch)
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 18 November 1986
Womack & Womack tell B&S about their future plans In America and Britain as residents ...
Alexander O'Neal: Off the record
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 20 January 1987
One of the music's great recent discoveries takes five with Roger St. Pierre to talk about his career and his private life. ...
Hank Ballard and the Midnighters: Hank Ballard: The Original Twister
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 20 January 1987
B&S TALKS TO ONE OF THE TRUE UNSUNG HEROES ...
Sam Moore, Lou Reed, Sam & Dave: Sam & Dave & Lou
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 3 February 1987
Golden oldies never die, but they come back in different guises. Sam Moore and Lou Reed are currently scoring with 'Soul Man' — a veritable ...
La Toya Jackson: Will the next Jackson kindly step forward...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 11 October 1988
Just as Michael completes his British dates, in flies La Toya to promote her new You're Gonna Get Rocked album. ...
James Brown, The J.B.'s, Fred Wesley: Fred Wesley: Right, Said Fred...
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 14 May 1991
Fred Wesley talks of funk, jazz and the idiosyncratic Mr. Brown ...
Etta James: The Time Of Her Life
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 17 November 1992
With her new Jerry Wexler-produced The Right Time album showcasing Etta James at the pinnacle of soul creativity, the lady talks to Roger St. Pierre ...
Maceo Parker: Have Funk — Will Travel!
Interview by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 17 November 1992
Home is where the funk is for Maceo Parker and his on-the-road partners. He lives in Carolina, is managed from California, records in New York ...
Etta James: Town And Country Club, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 1 December 1992
ETTA JAMES is a big, big lady, with a big, big voice — and she certainly made full use of her lung-power in wowing her ...
Robert Cray, B.B. King: B.B. King, Robert Cray: Hammersmith Apollo, London
Live Review by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 15 December 1992
KING BY name, King by nature — B.B. of that ilk was certainly well named. ...
Garnet Mimms: Unsung Heroes: Garnet Mimms
Retrospective by Roger St. Pierre, Blues & Soul, 12 October 1993
Roger St Pierre tracks some of the legendary names from R&B history. ...
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