What year were you born?
"12-17-49"

Where were you born and raised?
"Memphis, Tenn."

Growing up, what kind of music were you listening to?
"James brown, motown, stax, pop and jazz as well as country."

When did you start to pursue a career in music?
"13 yrs."

how did you go about it, did you start off in local bands and then grow to become your own band leader?
"yes, Van Earl and the Vantations, Jackie Twine and the Majestic Sounds then I formed Curricane Records."

What year did you record plea to the people?
"1971"

Where did you record it, was this Memphis?
"No, Bananas Recording Studio - Milwaukee, Wisconsin."

Who were the musicians on this recording, were they your regular backing band?
"Black Earth Plus, yes they were my back up band. I wrote and produced a song in 1974 for them titled “Milwaukee”, on the Calgar label."

What kind of artists were influencing you?
"Smokey, Stevie, Eugene records of the Chilites, song writing artists."

That’s a heavy sound you created there, and with that falsetto voice, wow that tracks really cooking! Was this sound typical of your live shows?
"Thank you, yes! Like James Brown said: everything had to be funky."

Do you have an memories of performing, what songs you’d play, did you have residencies or tour with other acts?
"We played on the bill with the big acts that came to town: Ike and Tina Turner, Joe Tex, The New Yorkers, Deon Jackson, Harvey Scales and the Seven Sounds, Alvin Cash and many many more! We played the hits of the time, as well as our single, we didn’t have an album. It was great!! Performing and rubbing elbows with the big boys and girls, stars of the period."

Do you recall how many 45’s you pressed up?
"500 copies, on some records 1000."

What kind of distribution did the 45 have - was it local or national?
"Regional."

Do you remember how it was received?
"Limited air play, but very well at shows!"

When did you set up the curricane label?
"1971"

Did you record or release any other records of your own?
"Yes, Curry, The Personations, Deadly Poison, Bay Area Secret Sound and soon Curricane The Band."

Were these mainly local artists?
"Yes, I recorded artist in Milwaukee and since I’ve relocated to the San Francisco-Bay Area, where I currently reside."

How long did curricane last?
"Still functioning!!"

It’s been mentioned that Plea may have been recorded in the Islands, is this correct?
"No that’s not true, Milwaukee, Wisc. Usa."

Ok, so who were the Personations and Organisation that recorded the ultra heavy 'Future II'?
"A local Milwaukee vocal group & band."

Where did you find them?
"We went to school together, jr. and high school."

You wrote and arranged this song for them?
"Yes, I always wanted to write and produce first!!!"

Was it a track you had in your own live act?
"No, I wrote it for them."

Do you remember what year you released it?
"1971, it was the second single on the curricane label."

So, that 45 is real hard funk, what kind of reception did this record get?
"Strong radio play!!!"

What memories do you have from your career from this era?
"We had that, “do it yourself" attitude, we didn’t wait to be discovered we took our music to the public selling records at our shows."

What did you think when you realised that there is a whole new generation of music fans hunting for your records?
"It great!! A new generation interested in the funk, not cookie cutter music!! I hope the new funk bands will do cover versions of our tracks."

What on earth is cookie cutter music?
The mold they use to shape or cut the dough, before they bake it and it becomes a batch of cookies. Musically: the exact same song, or sound / production, with different lyrics and a different artist performing it, with radio promoting it as a new artist and "new song". In other words, most commercial music sound is alike!!

Right on! So just like today's poluted mainstream! So after these two releases what did you do?
"I recorded other acts and continued to write and produce music. I have recently compiled an ep of dance funk songs, from the 80’s to now! 5 titles, extended and radio versions included. The ep is titled: “The different phases of dance funk” by Curricane, the band."

So you continue to write music?
"Yes!"

A very big thank you to Curry Johnson for doing this interview and for the photo and scans, and special man-cuddles to 'Jazzman' Gerald Short from Jazzman Records for the Personations and Organisation 'Future ll' label scan, this track appears on Jazzman Records awesome MidWest Funk compilation.