Porgy Williams and his Monarchs recorded a handful of singles in the mid-sixties on a variety of labels, with their debut appearing in 1963 on Mala Records, before moving to Musicor where they scored two singles: 'That Girl'/'If It’s For Real Baby' and 'My Heart Cries For You'/'Think Twice Before You Walk Away'. All four sides were produced by Teddy Randazzo, all four are excellent, but incredibly didn't they see any chart action at the time. Fortunately all was not lost and, almost a decade later, 'My Heart Cries For You' became a much cherished dance floor anthem in the U.K. When it was re-issued in 1975 to cash in on this popularity, the intended b-side was accidentally replaced by an otherwise unheard track 'Hey Girl (It's A Dream I've Always Had)' which had been recorded in 1968 and left in the vault. The Musicor single 'My Heart Cries For You' is probably their best known 45, where Teddy Randazzo turned a fairly mediocre middle of the road Carl Sigmun & Percy Faith ballad, recorded by many singers such as Dinah Washington, Guy Mitchell, Dean Martin, and Connie Francis, into a stomper. The 1975 resissue gave it a new lease of life, especially with the mis-pressed b-side, and as it was withdrawn once the mistake was spotted, it's also now their rarest release, changing hands at up to £100.00. 'That Girl' is probably one of the hardest to find Porgy And The Monarchs singles, and this is because both sides are in-demand items as Northern Soul dancefloor fillers. Presumably, as 'My Heart Cries For You' wasn't a success, they were dropped by Musicor and their next release appeared on Sylves, with 'That's My Girl'/'The Girl And The Boy', followed by 'Love Chain'/'Magic Music Makers' and then a reissue on Verve of 'That's My Girl' with the slightly re-titled flip of '(That) Boy And Girl', which was a strange sounding tune that starts off as if it's going to be a psych/garage tune, but then stomps along with a double-time beat. A couple of previously unreleased tracks have since appeared, with 'Congratulations' being a Bell Sound acetate that was a popular sound at Northern Soul nights in the 80's, but certainly sounds like it was recorded in the mid 60's, possibly being an unreleased Mala recording, as Mala was a Bell subsidiary. In 1968 Porgy Williams tried his hand at a solo career, and released the 'Lonely Man's Hum' single on Sylves Records, which was one of only three releases on Sylves, which was distributed by Chess. The single was re-issued in 1975 with added strings on the vocal side and an instrumental version on the flip. This post collects together all the band's recordings, plus the solo Porgy single, for a great 40-minute collection of future Northern Soul stompers from a band who managed to stay together for five years and release half a dozen fine singles, and yet still slipped between the cracks when obscure soul groups of the 60's are mentioned.
Track listing
01 Stay (single 1963)
02 Somebody Said (I'd Cry Someday) (b-side of 'Stay')
03 That Girl (single 1965)
04 If It's For Real Baby (b-side of 'That Girl')
05 My Heart Cries For You (single 1966)
06 Think Twice Before You Walk Away (b-side of 'My Heart Cries For You')
07 That's My Girl (single 1968)
08 The Girl And The Boy (b-side of 'That's My Girl')
09 Love Chain (single 1968)
10 Magic Music Makers (b-side of 'Love Chain')
11 Hey Girl (It's A Dream I've Always Had) (b-side of 1975 re-issue of 'My Heart Cries For You')
12 Keep A Hold On Me (previously unreleased)
13 Congratulations (previously unreleased)
14 Lonely Man's Hum (single by Porgy Williams 1968)
15 Let's Form A Committee (b-side of 'Lonely Man's Hum')
Thanks to Fredrick for the suggestion, after he heard about the band on the Dogpatch podcast.
