©Kyle Artist

An interview with Edwin

PW: So, how’s it to be back in Liverpool?

ES: Great! We don’t play here that often but every time we do play here it’s really good. Someone just reminded me that we played this theatre on the ‘Dancing in the Street’ show. Which was very good.

PW: Yeah!? I was just reading about that.

ES: Yeah.

PW: How do you find Britain?

ES: Well, for the last 20 years it’s been my life stay. I do more work in Britain than I do anywhere else in the world.

PW: I’m from a mod site and they voted you their all time favourite star.

ES: Yeah?!

PW: How’s that feel?

ES: GREAT! It’s an honour, especially when you look at the list of people they had to choose from.

PW: You beat everyone! You beat Otis, you beat Marvin…

ES: I think it might be that it has to do with the fact that consistently being here, to be seen, to be heard. Most artists come in and out of the country, they stay may be 2 weeks – or a month max and then they leave. Where as we’re here all the time, we’re here month in month out, year in year out – although we do other things, like in the continent – but in our main concentration is in England and ‘Northern Soul’ the ‘Scooterists’.

PW: When did you first start to sing?

ES: In 1955. There was an amateur show, I had a group called the ‘Future tones’ and well…. Well… well originally the group was called ‘The Imperials’ but we found out rapidly that there was another group called ‘The Imperials’ so we had to change that and we changed it to ‘The Future Tones’. So from 1955-1960 we were ‘The Future Tones’ and we were the number 1 group in Ohio, around Ohio where we lived then and it was during the group era, and it was in the town – there was loads and loads of groups ; ‘The Cadillac’s’ ‘The Flamingoes’ ‘The Drifters’. I mean there were just groups, there were just all groups and out of each of those groups there became 3 lead singers. You know, I mean, 3 Lead singers.

PW: Next Step?

ES: Next step…I was in the army for 2 and a half years, which round up being 3 years because I was there during time when president Kennedy at the time made an involuntary extension on everyone because of the crisis in the canal…… What canal was that?

PW: Um??

ES: You wouldn’t know 'cause you’re too young.

PW: I did read about that bit, bout you making records and getting somewhere and then they put you in the army!

ES: (Laughs.)

PW: They did that top Elvis! They did that to all the good ones.

EG: You didn’t have a choice did you?

ES: Well, I did actually. My father’s a career soldier so I knew enough about the whole in's and out’s of the army. How to get in and get out quickly. Which I would’ve done 'cause I volunteered for the draft which meant that I only had to do two years. But when the Cubans had missiles in the Canal and Kennedy made the extension, I was one of the ones who had enough time to be extended. Which was…okay. I was only like another eight months that they extended. Then I got out in 1962. And went immediately back to singing with my group. By 1963 I was spotted by a guy named Bill Doggett, who was an organist. And I traveled with his show until early or mid 1965. Then I met another guy who was a Dee-jay nick named ‘The Baron Taylor’ and he took me to the record company. And we did a deal. And the very first record I recorded was a song called ‘Agent OO Soul’. And that particular record went to number one.

PW: Who were you favourites from that time?

ES: Oh, everybody. There were some great singers during that time. In fact, unfortunately, one of those singers that I really liked, Hank Ballard, from the Midnighters, just recently died about two weeks ago. There were a lot of really good singers. Unfortunately, the times have taken their toll; Joe Tex, Otis Redding, you name them…

PW: who were the ones for you that set the standard when you started off? Or who made you think “that’s what I want to do with my life.”

ES: Well, first of all you couldn’t really say that’s what I want to do next. The record industry is a world within itself. You can only be lucky if you have a place to record. It’s not like it used to be where everybody has a record company to belong to. Many companies today don’t have to spend a lot of money on development. Or they have to spend money on trying to build an artist. They’ve got all these new television interventions. The artists come to them with built in audiences just from television. So they know they have enough smarts about them to know, regardless if the artist is the lowest man on the totem pole, he’s still going to sell X amount of records. So they know whatever investment they make is guaranteed. They’re gonna get a certain amount of that money back.

PW: Not like the good old days.

ES: No, not like the good old days.

EG: Today – the music is no matter how much talent you have… I believe some people make music for the money to be commercialized.

ES: that is the sad thing about it. That truly is the sad thing about it. How they disillusion the young talent that comes up. They make them believe that it’s all peaches and cream. They’ll all have big cars and big mansions and the whole bit. Okay, and maybe some of them will be lucky enough to do that. But because they don’t have any experience, they won’t know how to handle it. They won’t know how to contain it or to keep it. You know, half of them don’t even do interviews because they don’t know how to do an interview. And what would they talk about? Say, “What did you do before you started singing?” “I worked at McDonald’s”. You know, there’s no history. And me, myself personally, in order for there to be any kind of longevity there’s gotta be some history.

PW:Do you see anyone coming up now to match your standard?

EG:Do you see anyone now who’s as good?

ES: I wish I could say I could…

PW:I thought it was just me! It’s your era, I wasn’t born then, but that’s the music I’m into.

ES: Believe me when I tell you if you’re still doing this in ten years from now it won’t be one of those acts you’ll be doing this with. It just won’t! The music industry is trying to correct itself, one of the things that there doing – Tony Blackburn is going back on the radio, after all these years back to capital gold. Which it sounds like a step backwards but it’s a step forwards because they need someone on the radio who has knowledge of what it is to play. You know, and I think probably the next person that they’ll be reaching out to get – err, I mean he’s still around – Dave Lee Travis. You know, I mean, they need those kind of guy’s. Those kinda guys are the pillars of the music industry.

PW:I’m all outta questions, so which bits of your career have you enjoyed?

EG:Not that there aren’t more to come!

ES: Oh yeah, it’s still going, yeah. I’ve had quiet a few – I’ve performed in Chicago, Illinois at the Reco Theatre with Otis Redding and Aretha Franklin and myself and that was a memorable occasion. I played Wembley, here, with Bruce Springsteen. I did... err... what’s the other place in London..??? I was here with Elton John; it was all the comedians in England in one show. So I’ve had some really memorable shows. Unfortunately, I’m not one of those people who take pictures, you know, carry a camera. Because if I did I’d have stack’s and stack’s and stack’s of different act’s. I got a lot here – I know what I done.

PW: El’s a musician. We’re not asking for a deal but we were hoping with your musical knowledge – ‘cause we’re young and have no experience – is it important to get the records and then the family life is just as good?

ES: If you can make the family life and the music work together that’s wonderful. If you can make it work. If there is enough love and enough understanding between each other not to allow the green eyed monster ‘jealousy’ to come into the midst of it – then yes, you can work well, work together and survive. Well, nine times out of ten when you have 2 or 3 stars in a household you have an unfortunate amount of competition that’s not necessarily a healthy competition. It’s the media, they push the competition, you know. Like, if you wake up in the morning and you’ve got an interview – okay. But half an hour later after that she’s got an interview, then how do you deal with that? You know what I’m saying? Whether two hours later you’ve both got an interview. Unless you’re a musical team. If you’re a musical team then that structurally works. But if you’re two individuals it can be tricky.

PW: Thank you very much.

ES: You’re welcome.