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In 2021, I was working on the T.A.X.I.E project with my good friend, the very talented Steve Fuji from Riverside CA, who later became Epsilon Record Co’s favourite sound engineer.  

 

Back in the 70’s, Steve Fuji worked as sounds engineer for several major studios in the Los Angeles area. 

He also made some appearances as an actor in a few movies and pursued his career as a solo artist, singing and playing guitar.  

 

He worked on hundred of recording sessions with many bands. 

Steve has always had a good ear for soul music artists.

He made mastertape copies of his favourite recordings for himself which he kept securely for five decades. 

 

Four years ago I asked Steve if he had any interesting unissued material for Epsilon. 

He sent me these two tracks from Prime Cut. 

I was blown away by the quality of these recordings, both songs were originally about 6 minutes long.

But I knew Steve could easily edit them for me. 

 

I started researching about Prime Cut Band and quickly realised that most of the members of the band were sadly no longer with us and put those projects aside hoping that one day I could find one of the remaining members.

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The original members were:

James DavidCobbin

Steve Richards

Ronald Murray

Jerome Wilson

Fleming Williams

 

James, Jerome & Fleming were from Flint Michigan and were the original members of the 21st Generation.

They recorded ”I Need Love" / "Hey James" released in 1970 on the Tri-City label.

 

They moved in the mid-70s to Los Angeles and formed a new band called Prime Cut. They hired Steve Richards who later on became a permanent member of the band and was also a songwriter. 

 

A few months ago, I saw a post from Si Murray mentioning a Prime Cut song in the Modern Soul forum on facebook. James Cobbin & Prime Cut – Caught In The Middle [Tuckwood Record] from1984.

 

This reminds me these two unissued songs that Steve Fuji gave me as a gift and I decided to upload on Facebook a short clip of I DON”T WANT TO BE WITHOUT YOU which is a much more early recording from 1978 by Prime Cut.

The response to my thread was amazing and many people suggested I should release it on Epsilon. 

 

I had to think about it again, and in less than a week I managed to track down Steve Richards, one of the original members and actually co-writer of both sides of this new single. 

Deal done and authorisation agreed, Steve kindly remastered both songs for the release of EPS031.

 

 

I hope you will  enjoy these two amazing previously unissued tunes as much as I do!

 

I dedicate this project to all the members of Modern Soul forum. You wanted the songs to be released, now I need your support.

 

Best

 

Yann

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PRIME CUT

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Steve Fuji

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During the years I worked as a recording engineer, it was a constant source of frustration that most of the work I did was for demo sessions that never got heard by the public.

That was especially true of these 2 songs by Prime Cut, because I felt that they were extremely good songs and also represented some of my best work as a recording engineer. 

It's very gratifying that now, after 45 years, they are finally being released and can be heard by music lovers. I hope you like these songs as much as I did when I recorded them in 1978. 

Steve Fuji

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Steve Richards​

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I WAS AT THE OF AGE OF 12 YEARS OLD WHEN MY GRANDMOTHER ASK ME IF WANTED TO TAKE PIANO LESSONS I SAID YES SO I  STARTED TAKING LESSONS FROM A LADY WHO LIVED ON MY STREET UNTIL SHE GOT MARRIED SHE WAS 21 AT THAT TIME. 

 

MY PASTOR'S SON WAS ALREADY PLAYING THE PIANO HE STARTED AT THE AGE OF 5  SO WHEN I STARTED PLAYING HE WAS 14 YEARS OLD  AND YOUR BIRTHDAY IS THE SAME DAY MAY 8. 

 

SO THE PASTOR'S SON STARTED GIVING ME LESSONS SO STARTED PLAYING IN THE CHURCH FIRST.  

 

I WAS A MEMBER OF A BAND WHO PLAYED BACKUP MUSIC FOR THE GROUP PRIMECUT.

 

WE ALL MEET IN THE STUDIO  LAYING THE TRACKS FOR THE SONGS THEY WERE WORKING ON. 

IT WAS  DECIDED THAT THE BAND I WAS WORKING WITH WOULD BE THE BAND FOR PRIME CUT. 

SO WE PRACTICED AND PRACTICED  AS BEGIN TO GET DATES TO PLAY WE PLAYED IN NIGHT CLUBS, AND FOR BOB HOPE'S N C O CLUBS MILITARILY CLUBS.

AND YES WE WENT TO JAPAN,  

 

IT WAS THE SECOND TIME FOR  PRIMECUT AND THE FIRST TIME FOR THE BAND. 

 

SO THIS GROUP WAS ALREADY FORMED WHEN WE PLAYED BACKUP FOR THEM. 

 

WE WERE ALWAYS IN THE STUDIO WORKING ON NEW MATERIAL.

 

 I WOULD RIGHT SONGS WITH JAMES AND OTHERS WOULD RIGHT SONGS WITH JAMES ALSO, I

 DON'T KNOW WHERE MY PICTURES ARE OF US AS A GROUP.  WE WERE TOGETHER AS A GROUP FOR A  ALONG TIME 1970'S UNTIL THE LATE 1980'S . 

Steve Ricards 

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James David Cobbin

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Mr. James David Cobbin was born September 17,1946 in Marvell Arkansas, the fifth child of Ozra and Wyomia Cobbin. The family moved to Flint, Michigan when James was 10 years old. He received his education in the Flint Public School District, graduating from Flint Northern High “Class of 1962”. James played semi-pro-football with the Flint Wildcats from 1967-1968. He was later employed at General Motors.

 

An early group he was a member of was called the 21st Generation, a group that also featured James Cobbin and Ron Murray. The group recorded a single, "I Need Love" / "Hey James" that was released in 1970 on the Tri-City label.

Fleming Williams It was arranged by alto saxophonist and arranger Willie "Face" Smith and produced by Choker Smith In the same year, he had his own composition "Poverty Child" released as the A side of a single released on the Better World record label

 

James loved singing, writing, and producing music. 

So much so that in 1972 he along with Ron Murray, Wendall Count and Fleming Williams moved to Los Angeles, CA to pursue a singing career, the group was called, Prime Cut. 

 

The group went on tour in Japan in 1976 where James met and married Tomiko Ishibashi. He later returned to Flint and begin working at K&G Department Store until his illness. James started performing with The Flint McCree Theater Group. He was in several plays with the group, namely: Rock the Boat-The Fleming Williams Story, Mr. Personality -The Lloyd Price Story, Sincerely (1,2, &3) Jack Legged Yuletide Jubilee and the last play that he performed in was Motown Stories. James and the PrimeCut appeared in two movies, Five on the Black Side and Hit Man. He had a profound sense of humor and loved spending time with family and friends and writing and producing music. 

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Age 71, James  passed away Wednesday, May 23, 2018 at his residence.

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Fleming Williams

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Fleming Williams (December 26, 1943 – 1992 or February 15, 1998) was an American singer known as a member of the group The Hues Corporation,  lead singer on their hit "Rock the Boat" & Prime Cut.

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Williams was a tenor from Flint, Michigan. An early group he was a member of was called the 21st Generation, a group that also featured James Cobbin and Ron Murray. The group recorded a single, "I Need Love" / "Hey James" that was released in 1970 on the Tri-City label. It was arranged by alto saxophonist and arranger Willie "Face" Smith and produced by Choker Smith.In the same year, he had his own composition "Poverty Child" released as the A side of a single released on the Better World record label. It was also arranged by Smith and produced by Campbell.

Williams wasn't the original lead singer of the Hues Corporation. For the first years of existence the group had Karl Russell but after their participation in the Blacula-film project he was replaced by Williams. 

Williams was actually discovered by Hues Corp member H. Ann Kelley.] The group had a no 1 hit with "Rock The Boat" which was the first disco hit to have that distinction.

According to fellow Hues Corp bandmate St. Clair Lee, Williams initially left the group after they recorded the first album, Freedom for the Stallion, which featured "Rock the Boat," and was replaced by Tommy Brown. However, after things did not work out with Tommy, Williams was brought back on board. But around 1975, Karl Russell rejoined the band taking over the role of lead singer after Fleming Williams had left for good.[

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Mr. Ronald L. Murray

 

MURRAY, Mr. Ronald L. - Age 74, passed away Monday, June 6, 2022 

Ronald Murray was born November 3, 1947 in Chicago, Illinois, the son of George and Harriet Murray. Ronald was a resident of Flint and graduated from Flint Northern High School. He was employed at the Pickle Factory and was a Clerk at the Saginaw St. Dollar Store. Ronald was a Singer in the group Prime Cut and lived in Los Angeles, CA.

He enjoyed bowling and was an avid bowler and was a member of the Flint Blind Bowlers. Ronald served in the United States Military. He enjoyed spending time with family and friends. Ronald was also known as “Dink” by his neighbors and friends. He was also a member of the Flint Jeep Club for 7 years.

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