Voice Masters

1960s soul group from St. Louis, Missouri. They had been signed to the Copa label and had cut some tracks with Oliver Sain (“My Love Was All In Vain” & “Dance Crazy”) which escaped on a single. Their initial recordings were then picked up by the New Orleans based [l=Frisco records (3)] label but despite gaining a national distribution deal, this second incarnation of the single again failed to make a commercial breakthrough. The group soldiered on though with Don Bodie replacing Godfrey Lewis as their 2nd tenor. Mamie (the owner of
[l=Bamboo Records (4)]) signed them before handing over the creative positions at the St Louis based label to a team from Chicago. The Voice Masters initial Bamboo release (in 1967) coupled “If A Woman Catches A Fool” with “You’ve Hurt Me Baby”. Gene Chandler led the team from the Windy City that took over the reigns at Bamboo Records and in no time at all he had transferred the labels creative base to Chicago. In 1969, a second Voice Masters Bamboo 45 escaped, this again featuring “If A Woman Catches A Fool” which on this occasion was coupled with “Never Gonna Leave You”. Gene soon recognized James Thompson’s skills as a song writer and so started using his songs on both his own sessions and those of other Bamboo artists. The Voice Masters final single was their most successful as “Dance Right Into My Heart” (again utilising “If A Woman Catches A Fool” on the flip) made the national soul charts in June 1970. The 45 peaked in the Top 50 of the chart but with James now being so highly regarded for his song writing, the group wasn’t encouraged to continue on. The Hypnotics of course had big cuts out on Reprise in 1973 and later on Emkay.
Members: James Thompson (lead singer, guitarist and songwriter), Arthur Jeffries (1st tenor), Godfrey Lewis (2nd Tenor) and Morris Henderson (Baritone)