Black Ivory

Black Ivory

Collection of Black Ivory

Leroy Burgess, Stuart Bascombe, and Russell Patterson were Black Ivory, an exceptional and occasionally brilliant soul group from Harlem that recorded throughout the 70s and returned sporadically during the decades following. The trio developed out of the late 60s as a group called the Mellow Souls and were eventually taken under the wing of Patrick Adams. Adams had been in a group called the Sparks, but he developed his skills as a songwriter, arranger, and producer with Black Ivory.

Adams scraped together all the money he possibly could in order to have the group record their first single, "Dont Turn Around." Adams took the demo to several unimpressed labels before hitting Today Records. That label had a very different opinion and signed the group on the strength of the recording. "Dont Turn Around," written by Adams, became a Top 40 hit on the R&B chart, hitting number 38 in 1971. Black Ivory had their first taste of success. Not only that, but Today offered Adams -- still a teenager at the time -- an A&R position.

Another batch of singles that charted in the Top 40 supported the trios first LP, 1972s Dont Turn Around. The album remained on the charts for nearly five months and peaked at number 13, an impressive feat for an album released on a small independent. The groups hot streak was capped off that year with a second album, Baby, Wont You Change Your Mind. That album spawned another series of singles and topped out at number 26. Today went through financial troubles and the group, unhappy about unpaid royalties, ended up riding out the last year of their contract.

Once the contract with Today ran out, Black Ivory joined the Kwanza label for a brief spate. "What Goes Around (Comes Around)," written and produced by the Akines-Bellman-Drayton-Turner team, hit the lower rung of the R&B chart. The groups popularity was on a steady wane when they signed to Buddah, a label with a bigger budget, but further attempts at gaining back that degree of popularity from early on failed. Furthermore, Adams was no longer producing the group and was apparently out of the picture entirely.

Burgess left the group on good terms in 1977 to focus on a number of projects. However, he temporarily returned a year later to give the group its most spectacular song, the disco classic "Mainline." Leonard Adams, the groups manager at the time, called the departed Burgess and asked if he had any songs to give to the group, who were preparing to make another album. It just so happened that Burgess had two songs written that were originally intended for a project that didnt reach fruition. So he provided those two songs, "Mainline" and "Hustlin (You Gotta Be Dancin)," and wound up returning to the group briefly to provide arrangements and backup vocals for those songs. "Mainline" became the groups best-known song and an extremely beloved one on dancefloors.

By the dawn of the 80s, Black Ivory was no more. The name was resurrected by Patterson in the mid-80s, who partnered with David Hart and Lenny Adams. As one can guess, the fact that two-thirds of the original group wasnt involved left the new Black Ivory hamstrung. This incarnation did not last long. However, Bascombe, Patterson, and Burgess hooked up again in the early 2000s to play sporadic dates. Burgess had long since become a cult legend as one of the primary instigators of house music. Under a gaggle of pseudonyms, Burgess was behind an even greater number of disco and boogie cuts that fans of melodic dance music continue to enjoy. He continued to collaborate on and off with Patrick Adams, another pioneer -- and a primary influence -- who arranged, produced, wrote, and played instruments on several seminal recordings. Patterson also worked a little with Burgess in the intervening years, contributing vocals to the spectacular Salsoul singles released in 1981 under the name Logg. Allmusic by Andy Kellman

Album: Dont Turn Around (1972)

01. Dont Turn Around
02. Surrender
03. Ill Find A Way
04. I Keep Asking You Questions
05. She Said That Shes Leaving
06. If I Could Be A Mirror
07. You And I
08. Our Future
09. Find The One Who Loves You
10. Got To Be There

http://www23.zippyshare.com/v/11966258/file.html

Album: Baby, Wont You Change Your Mind (1972)

01. Baby, Wont You Change Your Mind
02. Just Leave Me Some
03. Push Come To Shove
04. This Is Love
05. Spinning Around
06. Time To Say Goodbye
07. One Way Ticket To Loveland
08. No Ifs And Or No Buts
09. Wishful Thinking

http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/15540455/file.html

Album: Feel It (1975)

01. Will We Ever Come Together
02. Your Eyes Say Goodbye
03. Youre Whats Been Missing From My Life
04. Daily News (Vocal)
05. All In A Days Love
06. Feel It
07. Warm Inside
08. Love, Wont You Stay
09. Daily News (Instrumental)

http://www29.zippyshare.com/v/74640588/file.html

Album: Black Ivory (1976)

01. Dance
02. White Wind
03. Making Love In My Mind
04. Mandy
05. Walking Downtown (Saturday Night)
06. Longer Ride
07. You Mean Everything To Me
08. Cant You See

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Album: Hangin Heavy (1979)

01. Big Apple Rock
02. Get Down (Comin Down)
03. Peace & Harmony
04. Mainline
05. Rest Inside My Love
06. Hustlin (You Gotta Be Dancin)
07. You Turned My Whole World Around

http://www42.zippyshare.com/v/93091469/file.html

Album: Then and Now (1984)

01. You Are My Lover
02. Words
03. All The Right Moves
04. Hold On Tight
05. You And I
06. Dont Turn Around
07. Find The One Who Loves You
08. Mainline

http://www12.zippyshare.com/v/22147818/file.html

Album: Spinning Around - The Today Sessions (2001)

01. Dont Turn Around
02. Surrender
03. Ill Find a Way
04. I Keep Asking You Questions
05. She Said That Shes Leaving
06. If I Could Be a Mirror
07. You and I
08. Our Future
09. Find the One Who Loves You
10. Got to Be There
11. Baby, Wont You Change Your Mind
12. Just Leave Me Some
13. Push Come to Shove
14. Time Is Love
15. Spinning Around
16. (Its) Time to Say Goodbye
17. One-Way Ticket to Loveland
18. No Ifs, Ands or Buts
19. Wishful Thinking
20. We Made It

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