Harvey (Fuqua), "Any Way You Wanta" c/w "She Loves Me So," Tri-Phi TP-1017 (rel. 10/1962)

 

One of Black music's foremost figures, Harvey Fuqua revolutionized the vocal group sound with the sophisticated harmonies of his group The Moonglows. Music ran in his DNA: his uncle was a member of 1930s and '40s pop sensations The Ink Spots. Their harmonies and interplay are among the founding molecules of doo-wop and rhythm and blues. Young Fuqua was an accomplished pianist by his teens, when he formed a vocal group called The Crazy Sounds. They caught the ear of early rock influencer Alan Freed, who came up with the Moonglows moniker and took a cut in the songwriting credits (and royalties) of their all-market smash "Sincerely," which hit big via their version, a pop rendition by The Mcguire Sisters and in country by Johnnie & Jack. He recorded for Chess with The Moonglows and as just plain Harvey on a series of quirky solo discs. He also duetted with Chess' femme flues sensation Etta James, with memorable results. In 1959, he relocated to Detroit, where he married into the dynasty of Berry Gordy's family and its music business.
    His relo to Detroit was significant for the slow morph of rhythm and blues into soul music, as the 1960s wore on. Fuqua ran several labels in the Motor City including Tri-Phi and Harvey. Anything on those labels is of interest here, but his wild, wigged-out solo shebang "Any Way You Wanta" is the most desired of these pre-Motown efforts. Soul DJs have made this track into a dancehall favorite; it's an ideal opener to a set, as it sets a mood that can be sustained with the right mix of subsequent recordings.
    It's not a song, per se, but a mood. Fuqua scats, raps and chants over a Latin rhythm buoyed by solid drumming, brass and reeds. This isn't far from the wild performances of Slim Galliard, the be-bop hipster whose freeform vocal experiments are a delight, if you're able to get into their orbit.
    This in-demand disc is one I never thought I'd lay hands on. I came close a few years ago when a local record store had it among a mass of unsorted, ill-tended 45s stored in a giant wooden box akin to a coffin. I pulled several longtime wants from that forbidding box, but left this single behind. I figured it was too rich for my blood.
    The other day I was off in that far end of town; the weather was cooler than the norm and it was nice to be toodling about. I went in, found the store under new staff, and looked around for singles. I saw none. The cashier was kind enough to drag the remains of that coffin's contents out--now broken down into several boxes. Most of them were unsleeved, and I sat down any worked through them all. I saw this record, unsold after all those years and determined it would be mine at the end of my visit.
    To benefit the store, I culled out some other high-ticket items and brought them to the clerk's attention. They made me a reasonable offer on the Fuqua record; I asked to test-play it before-hand. That revealed a sound disc plagued by dust, dirt and a little mildew. All this would clean off with some effort. But I used that to ask to pay half of their offer. To my surprise, they agreed. I picked up a few other cool singles for lower prices and left the store in a daze: I'd done it. Whew!
    And, yes, it cleaned up well. Played as-is, some "sizzle" remains, but it's not overwhelming. ClickRepair removed those imperfections and I can share the results with you here. Larry at the Funky16Corners blog sums up the effect of "Any Way..." to a T:
     "There’s a reason this record is sweated bigtime (and pulls in serious coin), and that is because it is possessed of a kind of odd magic that sounds like a mixture of pure enthusiasm, Tarzan, glue-sniffing and that wolf from the old Tex Avery cartoons."

Always fun to see how Cash Box reacts to out-there records. "Might catch on" was their final summation. The reviewer might have hidden under his desk after he filed this report.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/z5mo9408mum4zrpmj0dzv/2248a.mp3?rlkey=olz2dd5g7gwcsce3mhx7thpcp&st=fav4bbwd&dl=0

On the B is a collaboration with future Motown group The Spinners. "She Loves Me So" was the flipside of Harvey's first Tri-Phi solo stand. It's an ideal example of the early '60s Detroit group sound; bluesy harmonies, a swaggering mid-tempo beat and an impassioned, mannered lead vocal by Fuqua. He continues some of the scat-singing from the topside to fine effect on a meaty ballad I imagine Frank Zappa might have liked. Some collectors prefer this side to the what-in-the-?!? that is "Any Way You Wanta." Harvey was a versatile performer, songwriter and producer and would soon become a major asset to Berry Gordy's musical empire.

https://www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/46gxthjhkdsutdvrjcovx/2248b.mp3?rlkey=6dhxcpdwt1dtade7ov57he81n&st=4c12ubkn&dl=0

Harvey Fuqua will return to the Jukebox; he's an American treasure.

Tomorrow: a bluesy outlier from the early days of Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's cult label Red Bird Records. New Orleans drummer Charlie Otis sings a new Leiber-Stoller song and a strange self-penned blues on a seldom-heard 1964 one-shot single.