60s NORTHERN SOUL/R&B RUBY WINTERS ACTION/BETTER ORIG

	£		53
	$		70

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One 7" single: £1.80; 30p per 7" afterwards.

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HAVE NO FEAR - DURING THE MONTH OF JANUARY 2010, I WILL BE QUITE HAPPY TO HOLD ANY ITEMS THAT HAVE BEEN WON FOR A PERIOD OF THREE OR MORE WEEKS, UNTIL THE WINNING BIDDER WISHES TO SETTLE UP. THE END OF JANUARY OR EARLY FEBRUARY WILL DO FINE, AND EXCELLENT FEEDBACK WILL STILL BE LEFT. YOU WILL PROBABLY RECEIVE A REMINDER AFTER THREE DAYS. TAKE NO NOTICE, IT IS SYSTEM-GENERATED, AND COMES FROM EBAY. THIS GENEROUS OFFER DOES NOT APPLY TO MILLIONAIRES.

I've made the decision to sell some of my very large collection of 7", 12" and LPs.

ALL THE ITEMS I AM SELLING COME FROM NEARLY FORTY YEARS OF COLLECTING.

I AM NOT A DEALER.

There will be some real gems, so make sure you keep your eyes open.

SOME OF MY LISTINGS CARRY 'BORROWED' SOUND CLIPS BENEATH THE TITLE.

I AREN'T QUITE ADVANCED ENOUGH YET TO PROVIDE MY OWN!

From now on, most of my items will start at just 99p, unless they are valued at £30 or more.

60s NORTHERN SOUL/R&B/MOD

GLORIOUS TWO-SIDER

ORIGINAL 1967 RELEASE

RUBY WINTERS

"I WANT ACTION"

HEAR HERE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=C7dRkM9wG5A

b/w

"BETTER"

HEAR HERE! http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r3Wwh-45m6g

(US: Diamond D-230, 1967)

Styrene

Record conditon: Excellent + (plays Excellent ++++)

Labels condition: Sticker (A); Spotless (B)

Normally I'd put the year a particular singer was born, just beneath the photograph. In the case of Ruby Winters, her birth date would seem to be a closely guarded secret. Let's just assume that it was some time in the mid 1940s; the photograph itself comes from her period with Polydor, in 1974-75, so was taken some years after her Diamond sides. It still gives a good picture of what a stunner she was. Her Diamond debut was in 1966, and was soon followed by the first of two duets with Johnny Thunder - another black artist signed to Diamond. The song was "Make Love To Me", and it gave them a #13 hit on the Billboard R&B chart, in April 1967. Ruby's career had firmly taken off, and she went on to place four solo singles on the Billboard soul Top Forty. They were "I Don't Want To Cry", "Just A Dream", "Always David", and "Guess Who", and all appeared one after the other in 1969.

At this point, Ruby left Diamond, and her career appeared to be over. Her US discography ended in 1977, and although she recorded singles for Certron, Polydor, Playboy, and Millenium, it was as if nobody wanted to know. Luckily, her records were given a new lease of life when the British label Creole took an interest, and released one of her 1974 Polydor titles. The country soul of "I Will" had a similar appeal to that of  Dorothy Moore's "Misty Blue", and it shot up the UK charts late in 1977, eventually peaking at #4. Three further Creole 45s were also hits, and extended Ruby's career to 1979. She then left the recording scene for good.

The single on offer here dates back almost to the beginning of Ruby's career. It's now the priciest of her nine Diamond singles, and the only one to see a British release. "I Want Action" was actually her first solo hit, which only reached a lowly #47 on the Billboard R&B hit, in November 1967. That was enough to prick the ears of EMI, who put it out on their beloved Stateside label, in February 1968. Not surprisingly, SS 2090 is now the favoured number to own a copy on. The reason that the single has soared in price over the years, is the rise in the esteem afforded the B-side. Whereas "I Want Action" is a traditional uptempo stomper, and a favourite on the scene from the early days, "Better" is more mid-tempo, far cooler, and perfect all-nighter material for the Nineties, Noughties, and whatever they call this new decade. To be honest, I only ever played "I Want Action", and couldn't even remember what the B-side sounded like, until I was made aware of what I was missing out on.

This record came from the collection of Andy Myatt in the late 70s, and still has his 'AM' sticker on the A-side label. I bought all of his collection for a pittance - and I mean peanuts. For example, the copy of Sam Nesbitt's "Black Mother Goose", which I sold for over £250 recently, was just £1 from Mr. Myatt. The single on offer here was a mere 50p, and it's in near-mint condition - and I still have many more similar gems to get through.

Both titles have sound links to whet your appetite.

The styrene has just the lightest of previous play signs, and the sound quality is as good as new.

The A-side label has the 'AM' sticker seen in the scan. The B-side label is immaculate.

The edges are completely chip-free.