1966
COME BY HERE * INEZ & CHARLIE FOXX * STATESIDE 556 * UK
Inez (Johnston) and Charlie Foxx (Chuck Johnson) first came to British ears with the catchy sounding Mockingbird recorded for Symbol in 1963. Inez Johnston had cut two singles for Brunswick prior to Mockingbird, before which she had been a member of The Gospel Tide Chorus. Backed by The Sweet Inspirations, and released on Musicor in the US Come By Here was the only record the duo released on the label.
Although British music fans had some access to the music on record of Inez & Charlie Foxx, like countless other American Soul singers and musicians, they rarely, if ever had access to their live acts. What was most seen (and is true today with U-Tube) was a hit song by this or that artist, mimed to, or sometimes sung live, cold, in front of an often unresponsive TV audience - often seen clapping out of beat - with no real emotion or dynamism that would be exhibited when performing live in front of an exited, responsive and appreciative audience. As can be gleaned from the picture below of Inez singing while being held aloft during their headlining act at Harlem's famed Apollo Theater. This is but a single snapshot of one of the countless dynamic acts that appeared at The Apollo Theater from The Harlem Renaissance in the 1930s with the likes of Benny Carter and his 16 Gorgeous Hot Steppers, through the famous 'amateur nights' when Ella Fitzgerald made her debut in 1934, as did Clyde McPhatter in 1951 and James Brown in 1956. Although possibly the most famous venue The Apollo is but one of countless music venues both large and small in America where fans of the music could have witnessed sublime and historic performances by the thousands of Blues, Soul, Jazz, R&B, music artists performing in the US throughout the 20th century that the British fans of these genres could only dream about.
INEZ & CHARLIE FOXX * APOLLO THEATER * JUNE 1968