Billy Stewart’s fab, 1965 ‘Sitting In The Park’ is a 24 carat soul classic – a perfect summation of what was good about the music coming out of Chicago in the mid-60s. Do you know any soul fan who doesn’t love it?
Last year real soul collectors were reunited with it via a new song, ‘Sitting By The Phone’ from BILL ALBRIGHT (real name Anthony Billis). Yes, it was a new song but it was built on the chassis of the Fat Boy’s ‘Sitting In The Park’ and the better for that – a wonderful recreation of a classic sound and greater tribute to Billy who was taken far too soon.
Soul sleuths who espoused the Albright song discovered that he was born in 1961 and raised in Baltimore. He won himself a degree in electric engineering but after moving to NYC he became a professional fashion model while in his downtime he wrote songs and performed whenever he could.
Bill eventually pitched up in Atlanta which he now calls home from where he runs his own cleaning business , the imaginatively named ‘All Bright Cleaning Services Inc’! In 1993 he formed ‘Bill Albright Productions Inc’ as a vehicle to pursue his musical ideas. His partner in the business, by the way, was the late Keith “Keecho” Rawls, the former Keyboardist and Musical Director for Peabo Bryson.
The production company’s first release was the aforementioned ‘Sitting By The Phone’ which showed what Bill was all about – marrying contemporary grooves with classic soul sensitivities and a respect for the past. Little wonder that ‘Sitting By The Phone’ was espoused by the UK and European soul cognoscenti.
Till now the track’s only been available digitally. So, the ever resourceful team at SOUL JUNCTION RECORDS have stepped up to the plate to get it out there on 7” vinyl. The song’s lost none of its charm and character while the 45’s B side ‘In The Middle Of The Night’ channels a similar vibe – contemporary meets classic and quite lovely. As far as we know these two tracks are the only Bill Albright songs out there and they come recommended.
Soul Junction will be releasing this 7” on July 7th and demand is sure to outweigh supply. You know what to do… go to https://www.souljunctionrecords.co.uk/
