The Sheppards, "Come Home, Come Home" c/w "Just Like You," Apex 7760 (rel. 8/1960)

The Sheppards were two discrete groups that shared members. (You know this one’s going to be a confusing saga). In Phase I, Detroit madman/Fortune Records artist Andre Williams put together a group who made four singles for two Chicago labels, Theron and United, in 1955/56. Though both records are top-notch, they failed to chart and the group went on hiatus.

Three members of this first Sheppards formed The Bel-Airs in 1958; they had one single on Decca Records with the same outcome. Success at last came to these hard-working guys in 1959 when, as The Sheppards once again, they had an underground hit with “Island of Love,” a Utopian burst of optimism that defined the flower-power concept before it was a thing. Its flip-side also reached forward to the sound of 1960s soul music. The single barely charted, but it became a strong favorite and was a steady seller. Constellation Records, whom we visited the other day, reissued “Island of Love” in 1964.

The second Sheppards had a long career, with 19 singles (some mix-and-match pairings of earlier songs) and were one of the more forward-thinking groups of their day. Being so ahead of the bell curve made them influential to newer performers but meant they never had any real smashes.

Today we’ll hear the group’s fifth release on the Chicago-based Apex label, sourced from a record I found in a dollar bin. I took a gamble that I could bring this worn, dirty, mistreated record back to life. A series of cleanings led to a playable but crackly platter; with the help of ClickRepair and some hands-on editing, I got a good, clear sound from a record that was ready to give up the ghost.

“Come On, Come On” has a Jackie Wilson feeling, via Millard Edwards’ soaring, gutsy vocal. This is more earthy than the slick, produced records of that bigger star. As such, it generates enormous excitement. A demented-sounding electric organ takes a solo; this cheezoid instrument is played with a ferocious attack that renders it soulful. The five Sheppards sing their hearts out on an ultra-commercial deck that should have gotten them an r&b hit. Instead, it’s another terrific proto-soul record that shows the way to the future via its intense, powerful performance and its rugged arrangement.

Watch for pop-blue action here.

“Just Like You” is in the “5” Royales’ style, with a gospel-based ballad decorated in bluesy harmonies but sans any conventional (and detrimental) production or arrangement. This is turn-on-the-mikes, roll-the-tape recording, which was ideal for the dynamics and intensity of this group. That may be Murrie Eskridge on lead vocal; he had a higher voice than Millard Edwards.

While the song is typical r&b/soul material, the group’s fervent performance makes it something special. 

The group has a couple of Northern Soul favorites—which make them the only records in the Sheppards’ catalog to go for triple figures. There’s much more to explore with these guys. I hope to find more of their singles (in better condition) in the future.

Tomorrow: the sound of vocal group r&b in the early ‘50s, via The Four Bars on a 1954 Josie platter.