#765 (Week of 7/7/12 - 7/13/12)

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IN THE STYLE OF THE INK SPOTS - PART NINE

A TRIBUTE TO DEEK WATSON
(And His Brown Dots)

"Thirty-One Miles For A Nickel" by Deek Watson And His Brown Dots on Manor 1005 B released in 1945

"Well Natch" by Deek Watson And His Brown Dots on Manor 1032-B released in 1946

"I Don't Know From Nothin', Baby" by The Brown Dots on Manor 1057-A released in 1947

Above: Photos of Deek Watson. The two photos above left are when Deek was with The Ink Spots. The one at right is from 1969.

Click HERE for an article about The Brown Dots/Four Tunes by Marv Goldberg.
(Will open in a separate window)

Above: Clipping about The Ink Spots from The Afro-American newspaper dated 5/16/42. Deek was an original member of The Ink Spots. Due to a dispute, Deek left The Ink Spots in 1944 and formed his own "Ink Spots" group. In early 1945, he was forced to change the group's name, resulting in the similar "Brown Dots" title.

Above: Clipping about The Brown Dots from The Afro-American newspaper dated 2/3/45.
(Enhanced with same, but better quality picture)

CLIPPINGS FROM THE AFRO-AMERICAN NEWSPAPER, BALTIMORE, MD:

(The Afro-American 12/22/45)

(The Afro-American 1/5/46)

(The Afro-American 1/12/46)

(The Afro-American 2/15/47)

(The Afro-American 2/16/46)

(The Afro-American 6/1/46)

(The Afro-American 8/24/46)

(The Afro-American 10/19/46)

(The Afro-American 11/16/46)

NOTE: Regarding "Deek Pens New Torcher," there is no evidence that this song was ever released.

Above Left: The Brown Dots (L-R) Pat Best (with guitar), Joe King, Deek Watson and Jimmy Gordon. This is the line-up for their first two records, after which Jimmie Nabbie replaced King.

Above Right: Label image of Manor 1005 B released in May 1945. Deek sings lead tenor on this one and the flip "Let's Give Love Another Chance." It was The Brown Dots' first of many releases on Manor (1945-49).

Above: Label images of Manor 1032-B released in August 1946 and Manor 1057-A released in February 1947. Deek sings lead on "Well Natch" and shares the lead with Pat Best on "I Don't Know From Nothin', Baby."

Tobias and Jaffe, composers on these two sides, also wrote "If I Had My Life To Live Over" and "Just Whisper." Jaffe was also involved in composing "Bell Bottom Trousers," "Pray," and "I Used To Work In Chicago."

Listen to this week's selections by The Brown Dots:
[Audio restoration by Dave Saviet.]

A. Stream RealAudio (DO NOT USE...LISTEN USING DOWNLOAD REALAUDIO)...             1. Thirty-One Miles For A Nickel           2. Well Natch           3. I Don't Know From Nothin', Baby             ALL THREE played in sequence      B. Download RealAudio...             1. Thirty-One Miles For A Nickel           2. Well Natch           3. I Don't Know From Nothin', Baby      C. Stream/Download Media Player...             1. Thirty-One Miles For A Nickel           2. Well Natch           3. I Don't Know From Nothin', Baby

     [To download audio files, right-click on link and then select "Save (Link) Target As..."]

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