|
Dunn Pearson & 9th Street Exit
Even though it is over 30 years since he first got into the music industry, Dunn Pearson is still making good music today, a fact recently displayed with the release of his new album.
During his time in the business he has relocated from Cleveland to New Jersey, making numerous musical stops along the way. Throughout the period however he has utilised the full range of his musical skills and has
thus maintained a varied and high quality input to the projects he has contributed to.
Dunn was born in Cleveland, Ohio and at the age of six his grandmother, Alvera Mayfield, encouraged him to start taking piano lessons. His first piano teacher, Mrs. McManning, became his earliest
mentor and provided the necessary encouragement for him to stick with his musical tasks when times got rough. His main focus in elementary school soon became music and this continued while he was at Alexander
Hamilton Junior High School. He moved onto John F. Kennedy Senior High School and here he linked up with a number of other musically inclined students, Bobby English being one of these. By the time Dunn graduated
from John F. Kennedy Senior High School he was both an accomplished piano and trombone player however it was to be keyboards that he would utilise to forge a career. On leaving high school he was to go straight out
on the road but he still found the time, over the next three years, to further continue his formal musical education at Kent State University.
Bobby English, who was also born in Cleveland, was in the same homeroom in Junior High school as Benny Slocum. The pair were talking one day and decided to become involved in music. Bobby had already
considered learning to play the drums, however when Benny made the drums his choice of instrument, Bobby quickly transferred his interest to the saxophone. He was inspired to this choice by his love for the music of
Cannonball Adderley. Ironically, Benny and Bobby initially started off playing in competing bands. Benny was with The Shades of Soul and Bobby was with a group called The Citations. However when Benny heard
Bobby play a solo from a Rare Earth track, Bobby was asked to join the Shades of Soul.
The group started out in school in 1969 as a self-contained outfit. It's members were Dunn Pearson: piano, Bobby English: sax + vocals, Benny Slocum: drums, Kenny Redon: guitar + vocals, Ernie Cary:
bass, Booker Hollins: percussion, plus two brothers David (the older) & Bobby Johnson. The Johnson brothers both played bass and were only to be transitional members of the group, as were many others along the
way. In the early Shades of Soul days they would play tunes by Booker T and the MG's and other tunes that made a feature of Dunn's playing ( he was the most proficient member of the group on his chosen instrument at
that time ). One of their favourite groups was Sly and The Family Stone and when they performed at rock concerts in high school, Dunn would dress like Sly. He also played a Farfisa organ like Sly Stewart and had it
painted red, white and blue. Bobby, Benny and Kenny did the lead singing and we were always competing with one another for the spotlight. Kenny Red sang songs by the Isley Brothers and some pop songs. Benny had a
very nice semi-baritone voice and sang songs by Isaac Hayes and Barry White. Another song he would always sing was "Rainy Night In Georgia", the Brook Benton track. Bobby sang the Bill Withers song
"Ain't No Sunshine" and was also responsible for bringing in a lot of jazz flavoured tunes. The group would perform songs by the likes of Roy Ayers, John Klemmer, and The Jazz Crusaders. 9th Street Exit
was considered a class act and would perform all styles of music including soul, jazz, funk, r & b, rock and pop. They would add their own slant to many of the songs they performed, one example of this being the
Average White Band track "Cloudy" to which they added a section where Bobby would scat sing.
Whilst it's members were still in school, the group secured bookings at local clubs and also played talent shows. At one of these they caught the attention of the manager of the Ponderosa Twins and
were engaged as the group's backup band. The Ponderosa Twins + One has burst onto the recording scene in the late summer of 1971 with their first record "You Send Me" ( Horoscope 102 ) which shot up to No.12 in the
Billboard
R & B singles chart and also made the Top 100 pop chart. The group enjoyed two further national R & B chart entries in 1972 and a final one in 1973. In their capacity as the Ponderosa's backup
band, Shades of Soul opened shows for groups such as Gladys Knight & The Pips, Kool & The Gang, Al Green, James Brown, etc. The ensemble toured the east coast but when the Twins' voices started to change
their singing careers were brought to a premature end. So the Ponderosa Twins disbanded, Shades of Soul moving on to back the Imperial Wonders.
The Imperial Wonders were friends of the O'Jays and when members of the O'Jays were back in Cleveland they would occupy themselves by cutting tracks on local acts. Included amongst the groups they
took into the studio were the Imperial Wonders and Shades of Soul. On a session at Agency Studios, the Imperial Wonders were backed by Shades of Soul together with members of the O'Jays own road band. The resulting
tracks were of a high quality and led to the Imperial Wonders being signed to a recording contract with the Solid Foundation label in 1972. A single " You Live Only Once / Turned Around Over You" was issued and this
did well enough to land the Imperial Wonders a deal with Musicor Records. Back in Cleveland it was decided that Shades of Soul deserved a release in their own right, however they needed a more distinctive name. Lou
Ragland and Walter Williams came up with the name 9th Street Exit ( this being the freeway exit in Cleveland that leads to the downtown area ) and under this identity the group enjoyed it's first release. Bobby
English doesn't remember playing on the recording sessions that produced the group's issued material and thinks he was away at college at the time. In 1973 their first single, "Lets Make Sweet Harmony" ( Solid
Foundation SF 103 ) was issued and in 1974 a 2nd single "9th Street" ( SF 107 ) followed. Dunn Pearson co-produced and arranged their tracks and he also wrote "9th Street", a track that has subsequently become a
favourite with British funk fans. Ex O'Jay Bobby Massey was the group's manager and he was successful in securing their records some local radio airplay. The group also featured the songs when undertaking local live
performances but the exposure failed to produce significant sales. Even though the singles hadn't been big sellers, the group still worked on enough tracks to enable an album to be released.
In addition to his work with the group, Dunn Pearson was soon working on recording projects for other local artists. He acted as arranger on sessions for the likes of Sonny Lovall ( "Ghetto Boy"
on Miystic Insight --1974), True Movement ( "Depression" on Miystic Insight – 1974 ), Bobby & Cindy ( "If This Aint Really Love / I'll Keep Coming Back" on Shaker – 1975 ). He also co-wrote and co-produced
both sides of Jessie Fisher's "Mr. Super Nobody / Don't Cheat On Me" ( Way Out – 1973 ). He undertook similar duties on Jessie's later single "Honey / I Can't Stop Lovin You" ( So-Jamm – 1974 ). Around this
time Dunn was invited to join the O'Jays backing band and as this meant more secure work, he quit 9th Street Exit.
After Dunn's departure, 9th Street Exit went through a number of personnel changes. At one point they had two guitar players and at another added a piano player and two additional sax players. Bobby
English left the group himself in 1977 but returned in 1978 when he graduated from college. The group soldiered on for a little while longer but then disbanded. In the early 80's Bobby started playing with a jazz
quartet. He was also co-leader of a jazz duo called Umoja that performed around the region. In 1985 he moved to Chicago, here he enrolled in graduate school at Columbia College and successfully completed a masters
course in entertainment management. However he continued to play live and in the studio in such places as Chicago, Indiana, and Wisconsin. Around 1982, back in Cleveland, Benny Slocum was shot and killed when
someone attempted to rob him.
Although busy touring with the O'Jay's entourage, Dunn didn't abandon his producing, arranging and writing efforts and with the passage of time he started to undertake certain of these duties on
O'Jays recordings. He worked on tracks included on the groups " So Full Of Love" album in 1978 and their "Identify Yourself" L.P. in 1979. He also co-produced their "You're The Girl Of My Dreams" which was released
on a TSOP label single in 1980 and was also included on their "The Year 2000" album. Back in Cleveland he worked with Odyssey & Company ( "Let Me Be / She's Perfect" on CAM Records ) and cut 3 tracks on Akron
trio M' Lady. This outfits efforts were licensed by 20th Century Records who released two 12" singles, one coupling the tracks "Sweet Honey / Baby You Lied" ( TCD 104 -- 1980 ).
At the same time ( mid 70's ) that Dunn was working with the O'Jays and they were making regular visits to Sigma Sound Recording studio in Philadelphia, Bruce Gray was writing with guys who were also
using the same studio. He had a hand in writing both Anthony White's "Hey Baby", ( a 1975 Philly International release ) and First Choice's "Let No Man Put Asunder" ( 1977 on Salsoul Records ). Two of his
compositions, "Get On Down" & "Could It Be", were also used by the Harris Machine ( Norman Harris / Ron Kersey, etc.) and cut on the Dells for their 1977 Mercury LP 'They Said It Couldn't Be Done'. Whilst in the
Philly studio, Dunn must have met up with Bruce Gray as the pair struck up a working relationship. They formed Dunn & Bruce Street, the name being derived from that of the well-known financial company Dunn &
Bradstreet.
Dunn still continued to work with some Cleveland acts though, a couple of these being the groups Sly, Slick & Wicked and Truth. In 1979 Sly, Slick & Wicked recorded Dunn's composition " All I
Want Is You" and this was released on the Epic distributed Sweet City label. Truth had two singles issued on Bobby Massey's Devaki label in 1980, one of these being "Understanding / See You Later", Dunn
arranging both sides and also co-writing "Understanding". In 1980 he relocated to New York where he worked for a while for Jim Tyrell's T-Electric label. Here he was the arranger of and wrote a track included on the
Love Committee album the label released. Then together with Bruce Gray he produced, arranged, wrote songs and played on Patrice 'Choclet' Banks LP "She's Back And Ready".
After the success of the Truth records, Bobby Massey also signed Dunn & Bruce Street to his label and late in 1981 the single "If You Come With Me / The Moment Of Truth"
( Devaki DK 4005 ) was released. The A side of this was written, produced and arranged by Dunn and Bruce whilst the B side, a classy dance item, had Bobby handling these duties himself. In
January 1982 this 45 entered the national Billboard
R & B chart where it stayed for 10 weeks making the Top 50. Later in 1982 a second single, "Shout For Joy / Yearnin & Burnin" ( DK1009 ) and an album 'Official Business'
( DKI 30003 ) were both released by Devaki. Both sides of the single were also included on the album, which contained 8 tracks, all written, produced & arranged by the pair. The tracks were
recorded at Blank Tape Studio's, New York and the personnel involved on the sessions were of the highest order. Lead vocal duties were handled by Bruce, with the likes of Tawatha Agee, Fonzie Thornton and Dunn
himself providing the backing voices. Dunn and Bruce shared keyboard and synthesiser duties on different tracks with Phillip Woo also contributing his talents on others. The duo's second single also sold well and
made the R & B Top 40 and this success resulted in it gaining a UK release in both 7" & 12" formats ( Satril SAT 500 ). The interest in this single in Britain was sufficient to prompt the UK label to
put out the duo's earlier effort "If You Come With Me" on a single in 1983 ( Satril SAT 503 -- this time coupling it with a different B side ). Before this, their third US single "I Owe It To Me" ( Devaki 1014 ) had
been issued and once again had made it onto the Billboard R & B chart. The quality of some of Dunn and Bruce's compositions was also recognised by other artists and producers, Rene Woods cutting "If You
Come With Me" for inclusion on her 1982 Electra LP 'Azz Izz'. Dunn also continued to go into the studio's with other acts, producing the Amuzement Park track " Groove Your Blues Away" which was released on Our Gang
Records in 1982 ( and also in the UK, again on Satril ).
Before the duo really had the chance to build on the national commercial success they had begun to enjoy, Bruce passed away but Dunn decided to soldier on in a solo capacity. Later in the 1980's he
had a single released on the New York based J & G label, "Even A Fool", a track he once again produced and arranged. By 1989 he was signed to the Compose label who released the 12" single " Go For The
Gusto"
( Compose 9904-12 ) on which Jocelyn Brown provided most of the lead vocals. A ten track album 'Colour Tapestry' ( 9904 – 1 ) recorded at Hip Pocket Studio in New York followed, all but one of the
tracks included on it being self written. The only exception was the Gary Glenn written "Caught Up In The Rapture" which Dunn performed as a piano instrumental. Amongst the musicians and vocalists employed on the
project were Grover Washington ( sax ), Noel Pointer ( violin ) , Bernard Watt ( sax ), Doc Powell
( guitar ), Willie Ross ( guitar - ex O'Jays band member), Jocelyn Brown and Benny Diggs ( vocals ). Dunn took charge of lead vocal duties on some of the tracks with Sinoa ( at that time signed to
Atomic Records ) being featured on the uptempo "Desperate For Love". Other good tracks on the album included "Programmed For Love", " Lovely Lady" and "Most Def'netly".
Bobby English moved back from Chicago to Cleveland in 1990 and started playing in a wedding band with Kenny Red and Ernie Cary. During his time in this band, they started featuring some of the old
songs they had played in 9th Street Exit. Amazingly, Kenny still remembered all the songs and could re-produce almost every lick note perfect. When Bobby auditioned for the wedding band, the leader of the outfit
asked if he could sing. Without needing to be prompted, Kenny and Ernie started playing "Sara Smile" and Bobby broke straight into song. Ernie and Kenny were still playing together in the late 90's when
Ernie died of a heart attack. Bobby had however left the band before this unhappy event, today he lives in Los Angeles.
Dunn continued to secure recording work ( playing, producing & arranging duties ) and in addition to his work listed above, he undertook further duties in the 80's with the likes of Mtume,
Teddy Prendergrass, Stephanie Mills, Lou Rawls, the Trammps, Roy Ayers, the Spinners and Stevie Wonder. In 1992 he collaborated with Milira on a track that was included on her Motown album 'Back Again'. More
recently he has worked with D'Angelo, LSG ( Levert, Sweat, Gill ), K-Ci & JoJo and Mary J Blige amongst others. He has also scored the Broadway musical "Amen Corner" and films such as "Native Son ", "Head
Office", " The Professional", "Ride", etc. He has written TV show themes ( 'New York Undercover' ) and the music to dozens of commercials. He has also featured on other recordings, such as "Love Always" on Ghetto
Gothic.
In 1996 Compose, a part of Newark based PPI Inc., issued a new CD titled 'Sensuous Sax – Night Out' and a number of the tracks from Dunn's 'Colour Tapestry' LP were included on this. In 1997 the label
issued a CD single on Dunn, "Up All Night "- vocal & instrumental versions (Compose 9215-2). On this he was joined by guests Najee ( sax ) and April Harris ( lead vocals ). Copies of this single found their way
to the UK where a number of DJ's picked up on it to good reaction. In May 1999, PPI started a new label, Bounce Records and their first release was Dunn's 'Satin Sax – Undercover Lover' project ( Bounce 9213-2 ).
The CD featured 16 tracks, many featuring guest artists
( Najee, Grover Washington Jnr, Marion Meadows, Danny Pickering, Fred Watt, etc ). The single "Up All Night" was included on the album as were some old cuts from the 'Colour Tapestry' LP. Dunn
undertook a number of concerts to promote the CD and tracks from it were featured by radio stations in New York, Cleveland, Philadelphia, Washington, Chicago and Miami. Once again tracks on the CD were well received
in the UK with " I Don't Know" finding particular favour. A promo single of "I Don't Know", which again featured Najee on sax with Dunn handling vocal duties himself this time, was circulated and this contained an
additional instrumental remix version of the track. Buoyed by the interest that the album had generated, Dunn went back into studio in 1999 to work on a totally vocal track project.
This time a real 'all-star' line-up of guest artists were recruited to assist Dunn on the project. Amongst the vocalists fetched on board were Freddie Jackson ( lead on " Why Does It Hurt So Bad" ),
Portia Martin ( a former lead singer of Atlantic Starr ), Dean Miller ( lead singer for the Sounds of Emotion ), Natalie Jackson, Janice Dempsey, Natasha Young and the group Voice of Harmony. Musicians who
contributed included, amongst others, Patrice Rushen and Gerald Albright. An 11 track CD resulted, 'Undercover Lover -- Voices of Love' being issued early in 2000 ( Bounce 9325-2 ). As Dunn's recent releases
had received such favourable reaction in the UK, copies of the new album were shipped straight across to Britain to gauge reaction. Two of Dunn's own songs, " Tell Me " and "Together" ( written jointly with his
executive producer, Donald Kasen ) were immediately play-listed by top UK soul radio DJ's. With his enormous experience, musical talent and huge number of gifted performer friends, I'm sure Dunn will continue to
bless a receptive audience with quality product well into the new century.
JOHN SMITH
Oxford -- May 2000
|
|
