The term ‘creative’ in human definition
means to bring
visions of dreams into existence. Here’s
a story about
young woman who not only transformed her
talents
from a stoke of a pen but would become
one of the most
influential artist to create her own
music publishing company
and launched the careers of some of the
greatest underrated
talent
in the history of R&B.
Ms. Joshie Jo Armstead…
Born October 8, 1944 in Yazoo City,
Mississippi, Joshie
developed her musical talents in the
church, ministered
by her mother. At 18, she joined the Ike
& Tina Turner
Revue. As a member of the Ikettes (with
Delores Johnson
lead and Eloise Hester) they recorded a
few sides with
Atco Records including the classic hit
‘I'm Blue (The Gong-
Gong Song) b/w ‘Find My Baby’ (No. 3 R&B
Jan 1962).
Joshie left the Revue and moved to New York
where began
a solo career under the name Deena Johnson
and released
two singles, ‘The Breaking Point’ b/w
‘Mama’s Boy’ on the
Wild Deuce label in 1965 and ‘I'm A Sad
Girl’ b/w ‘I'll Never
Let You Down on Simpson in 1967. She also
found work
singing jingles in radio and television
advertisements.
Around this time she met two New York
songwriters,
Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson. The two
were known
in the music industry as Nick & Val and
recorded their
first release on Glover entitled, ‘I'll
Find You’ and worked
as staff writers on Florence Greenberg’s
Scepter/ Wand
label located on 254 W 54th St.
The pair invited Joshie
to join as a writer. Together the dynamic
trio penned such
great classics as ‘The Real Thing’ by Tina
Britt (No.20 R&B
June 19, 1965) on Eastern. ‘The Shoe Won't
Fit’ and
‘Too Hot Too Hold for Betty Everett on Vee
Jay. They also
wrote material for Chuck Jackson, Maxine
Brown, the
Shirelles, Doris Troy, Mitty Collier etc;
The trio’s songwriting success would emerge
in the summer
of 1966, where they scored their first
number one hit on the
genius of soul, Ray Charles. One day while
sitting in their
office, they were experiencing songwriters’
blockage.
So, Nick Ashford says to the young ladies,
‘Hey, let’s go
get a drink, let’s go get stoned!’ They
laughed at his
statement, while walking out the door. When
they returned
back, publisher Ed Silvers asked if they had
written anything.
They quoted, ‘Yeah, we got this great song’
and started to
hum and ad-lib the humorous title. Valerie
would confess
that they just made the song up. Ed Silvers
said ‘Y’ all are
joking but if you finish the song, I'll give
to Ray Charles to
record’. Not taking him serious, the trio
finished the song
and as Ed Silvers promised, he delivered it
to Brother Ray.
Ray Charles recorded ‘Let’s Go Get Stoned’
b/w ‘The Train’
at his R. P.M. International Studios in Los
Angeles in late
1965, featuring the late Billy Preston on
organ. Released
as a single in May 1966, this masterpiece
recording charted
(No. 1 on Billboard’s R&B Singles on July
23, 1966 and No.31
Pop). Ray would record another composition
of theirs,
‘I Don't Need No Doctor’ b/w ‘Please Say
You're Fooling’
(No.49 R&B Dec 31, 1966).
The dynamic trio composed yet another
classic entitled
‘Never Had It So Good’ recorded by legendary
blind
country singer/pianist, Ronnie Milsap. As
the song began to
receive huge airplay on R&B stations,
trouble brewed
when Scepter Records began sending radio
stations
publicity photos of Ronnie. When the station
managers
saw he was white, they immediately yank the
song.
Scepter’s promotion guys went to the radio
stations and
asked why they stopped playing the song.
They said
they though he was black. So the promotional
guy said to
them that all Ronnie’s life, people told him
he was black
and that he doesn't know any better. The
stations resume
airing the song again and it became a hit,
charting (No.20
R&B Nov 27, 1965). Nick, Val and Joshie
arranged and
sang background on the track. Valerie
Simpson along with
Paul Griffith is on keyboards.
My favorite version of ‘Never Had It So
Good’ was a remake
by Chuck Jackson and Maxine Brown, released
in 1967
as a B side, on their hit single ‘Hold On,
I'm Comin’.
The writing trio would depart in 1967, as
Nick and Val signed
with Motown Records while Joshie moved to
Chicago. She
met and married producer Mel Collins and
together form
Giant Productions.
Their company featured a roster of great
artists, Little Jimmy
Scott, Ruby Andrews, Smokey Smothers, Fenton
Robinson
and Garland Green. Sometimes Joshie and Mel
would clash,
where each one had different musical tastes.
Mel supported
the blues and went with artists such as
Fenton Robinson,
whereas Joshie Jo tastes was more towards
r&b. To search for
that particular flavor, she traveled to
Detroit and met Andrew
‘Mike’ Terry, baritone sax session player
for Motown Records
and Ed Wingate’s Golden World/ Ric Tic
labels. Mike was not
only a great musician, but a fantastic
writer, producer and
arranger, this was the right ingredient for
Joshie’s cookbook
of soul.
Giant’s first production was a soul classic
recorded by Ruby
Andrews on Ric Williams’ Zodiac label
entitled, ‘Casanova
(Your Playing Days Are Over) b/w ‘I Just
Don't Believe It’.
The song hit (No. 9 R&B Sept 23, 1967).
Armstead and Collins
would work with other artists on other
labels, Bobby Hutton on
Mercury, Blue Rock and Phillips and Shirley
Wahls on Smash.
The latter three were subsidiaries of
Mercury Records.
Returning to her singing roots, Joshie hit
the R&B charts with
the spine-tingling ‘A Stone Good Lover’
(No.28 R&B on
June 22, 1968 on Giant) and ‘I've Been
Turned On’ (No.50
R&B Oct 12, 1968 on Giant). While Armstead
spent most of her
busy time in the studio writing and
producing for other artists,
she didn't go out on the road to promote her
recordings.
Her studio time paid off with a million
seller by Garland
Green, ‘Jealous Kind Of Fella’ b/w ‘I Can't
Believe You
Quit Me’ (No. 5 R&B Singles Oct 11, 1969 on
Uni)
Giant Records would cease production in
1970, due to
never ending debts. This unfortunately would
dissolve
the marriage of Armstead and Collins. Joshie
returned
back to New York City where she resumed her
career
writing and singing in commercials.
In 1972, she appeared in Melvin Van Peebles’
Broadway
production of ‘Don't Play Us Cheap’.
Released as
two record set soundtracks on Stax Records,
one could
hear Joshie unforgettable performance on
vinyl.
Armstead starred in another Broadway musical
produced
by Michael Bennett called ‘Seesaw’ with
Michele Lee,
Ken Howard and Tommy Tune in 1973.
She inked a deal with Gospel Truth (Stax's
division label) in 1974
and released 'Stumblin' Block, Steppin
Stones' (No.91 R&B
May 1974) Sadly after Stax shut down its
doors in 1975,
Joshie returned back to New York continued
her work in
background session for recording artists
during the 80's.
She also managed Alonzo Ratliff, a Chicago
welterweight
boxer and developed a company called Ideals
And Hunches.
While in the midst of trying to retrieve
her unpaid royalties,
Armstead would design women's clothing.
Joshie Jo Armstead might have received
recognition for her
outstanding achievements in the music
industry, but would
become the most influential underrated
artist to unlock the
hinges and break down the doors that was
unfairly sealed
to women trying to break in the music
business.
A stone good music never had it so good
until they been
turned on to the many compositions
contributed by
Ms. Joshie Jo Armstead…a legend in her own
right.
Soulfully Yours,
Mike Boone
(Chancellor of Soul)
(April 2008)
