11
Do Me Right
made a #7 R&B/#43 pop impression in ‘71, placing The Detroit
Emeralds in the big leagues. They scored more major sellers with
Wear This
Ring (With Love)
later in the year as well as
You Want It, You Got It; Baby Let
Me Take You (In My Arms),
and the grooving
Feel The Need In Me
in 1972 and
You’re Gettin’ A Little Too Smart
the next year. As late as ’77, their retooled
Feel The Need
made chart noise. But dissension ended their run in 1978. Abrim
Tilmon, Jr. died of a heart attack in Southfield, Michigan on July 6, 1982. He
was only 37.
4. Bill Coday
Get Your Lie Straight
(O. Denise Jones)
Crajon C-48204/Galaxy 777
More than a few promising young soul singers
benefitted from recording with trumpeter/
producer Willie Mitchell’s sizzling house band at
Royal Recording Studios in Memphis. Bill Coday
was one of those lucky gents, and he ended
up with a hit as a direct result.
Born William Chew, Jr. on May 10, 1942 in
Coldwater, Mississippi, he was in his early teens when he began
performing in nightclubs, spending some time singing in Arkansas with guitarist
Son Seals’ band. He moved to Chicago in 1961, working as Chicago Willie but
making little headway until his 1969 discovery by singer Denise LaSalle. She
and then-husband Bill Jones operated their own Crajon label.
“We produced
quite a few artists, and had a little success with it,”
says Denise, who renamed
