THE IMPERIALS, "I'M STILL DANCING" C/W "BERMUDA WONDERFUL," CAPITOL 4924 (REL. 2/1963)

Today’s single was an interim record. Little Anthony and The Imperials first recorded in 1958 and had a series of hits for George Goldner’s End Records—the label of The Chantels, and a home base for songwriter-producer-vocalist Richard Barrett. At first produced by label owner George Goldner, the group began to work with Barrett in 1961 and penned many of their songs. The group also recorded for Roulette and Newtime before they went on hiatus. Lead singer Anthony Gourdine left the group, and The Imperials soldiered on for a handful of releases, with Barrett at the helm as producer and composer.

Barrett got the group signed to Ludix, the short-lived imprint owned by Luther Dixon. Ludix had a distribution deal with Capitol, the big West Coast label; when Dixon’s venture tanked, Capitol was obliged to release any remaining Ludix masters on their own label. That said, today’s single appeared as Ludix was still in business, which suggests the bigger label might have offered them more. The machinations are lost to time, and as Capitol just issued the one 45, it feels like an interim agreement.

Barrett went wild as a producer on these two sides. An uncredited guest-star is legendary session guitarist Vinnie Bell, whose ‘water guitar’ effect—one of many created and used by him and no one else—is prominent on both songs. No arranger is credited, but that might have been Bert Keyes.

This is a strange and majestic record that doesn’t sound like anything else going on in Black music in the volatile year of 1963. Barrett’s confident piano chords and Bell’s aqueous guitar offer a dramatic open to this epic of a man lost in the bliss of a wonderful evening as he heads home from a pleasant dance date with his sweetheart. It’s a Drifters record on LSD: massive reverb, distant strings, heavy percussion, and enough muzz to make the song kinda glide by; you have to concentrate to make out what the lead singer’s going on about.

The state of afterglow is created with wild beauty on this compelling side. It took me six or seven listens until I could concentrate on what was being sung, rather than how it’s presented. It’s a positive and moving expression of joy—a commodity scarce in the bleak panorama of 2025 and much-needed on all fronts. This ode to feeling great has a poignancy now that reminds us there is still good in the world, despite mankind’s worst efforts to ruin it.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

“Bermuda Wonderful” is credited to ‘Bea Junior,’ a pen-name Barrett used—again, for reasons unknown, but as a possible hedge to getting more money as a composer. (It is worth noting that ‘Bea Junior’ songs tend to be peculiar, whimsical items; perhaps it was a dedicated persona for the composer.)

It’s another serving of happiness, and, as Cash Box noted, its message was a boon to travel agents. Bongos, excitable percussion, strings, Bell’s ‘water guitar’ and a whole lotta reverb continue the exotic sound from the A-side.

It’s rare to hear a single so devoted to the joys of life and delivered with such a welcome lack of sentimentality. This account of one man’s visit to paradise is sincere, colorful and full of celebration.

>>> Hear it HERE! <<<

The Imperials reunited by Anthony Gourdine and got a new label (DCP International) and songwriter-producer (Teddy Randazzo). They became a first-rate soul group and delivered classics like “Goin’ Out of My Head,” “I’m on the Outside Looking In” and “It’s Not the Same” and “Better Use Your Head,” two spendy Northern Soul favorites. As The Mango Menace and his evil cronies have erased civil rights, Randazzo’s regime did away will all traces of the group’s early sound. In this case, it led to something that appealed to people and didn’t hurt them. Something was lost in Richard Barrett’s more evocative approach, but he’d moved on to other projects.

Tomorrow: a Canadian rocker who made two solid sides in Nashville—one co-written by Sun Records alumni Robert S. Riley. Slightly OTT goodies—also from 1963.