I'm No Stranger
Have you heard of the 60s LA band, The Seven Souls? Probably not. But they have quite a story. Formed by at least 1964, the band had a strong horn section and were known for originals and strong soul and funk covers, though these were only released in France! When the original guitarist left, the replacement was Bob Welch. Welch, of course, would go on to Fleetwood Mac and a solo career. With singer and sax player Henry Moore they would write I'm No Stranger, the A side on the first 45 they cut--they would do only one more in the US while in France there was an ep and another 45 that was not issued here. This first 45 was released in the summer of 1967 and apparently it received no national notice. But it was noticed in the NYC latin soul scene, as Joe Bataan covered it on his masterpiece album, Singin' Some Soul in 1969. In 1970 Sunny and the Sunliners (singer Sunny Ozuna's band) from San Antonio covered it. This was not the first time that a Mexican American band in Texas recorded latin soul from New York! By 1969 Seven Souls disbanded. Welch went to Paris and then the Mac, while latter day members Bobby Watson (bass) and Henry Maiden (guitar, who seems to have replaced Welch) eventually joined Rufus. Though the band briefly was popular in France and Northern Soul clubs have popularized the B side of I'm No Stranger (I Still Love You) there still isn't much notice here, nor am I aware of any of their music having been re-issued. Sad. By the way, in the pic below, Welch is on the left with the guitar and glasses.
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