Wednesday 4 May 2022

Hoagy Lands born 4 May 1936


Victor I. Hoagland Sr. (May 4, 1936 – January 12, 2002), known professionally as Hoagy Lands, was an American soul singer whose recording career spanned from the late 1950s on into the mid-1970s, Best remembered for the Northern soul classic "The Next in Line," Hoagy Lands was reportedly the favourite singer of the renowned producer Bert Berns, who helmed many of his recordings. Berns' admiration failed to translate to commercial success, however. 

Lands was born in New Brunswick, New Jersey, United States, to an Afro-Cuban father and an African American mother of American Indian descent was in middle school when he formed his first vocal group, the Dynaflows. A stint in the New Brunswick Heart Throbs followed. Lands mounted his solo career in 1959 with his debut single "Oo-Be-Do" for the Ivory label. He first teamed with Berns for 1960's "(I'm Gonna) Cry Some Tears," and “Lighted Windows” initially issued on the independent label Judi. 

This was completely eclipsed by the next 45. The lovely Latin-tinged doo-wop ballad “My Tears Are Dry”, which he cut for MGM in 1961, is one of the greatest examples of a blend of doo wop and soul. The following “It Ain't As Easy As That” finds Lands again in wonderful voice on a rhythm track that could have been a refugee from a Drifters session with typical Berns hook lines and some careful and beautifully judged phrasing from Lands.  Neither was a hit, however, and Lands did not resurface until 1963, recording "Tender Years" for ABC-Paramount. His masterpiece, the Berns-produced ballad "Baby Come on Home," appeared on Atlantic the following year and was his sole release for the venerable soul imprint. 


                             

Lands spent much of the late 1960s at Laurie, cutting five singles for the label from 1966 to 1968. None were commercial hits upon their original release, but "The Next in Line" (featuring girl group extraordinaire the Chiffons on backing vocals) later proved a major fan favourite on Britain's Northern soul circuit. But as is so often the case, the little known ballads, where Lands has the room to really stretch out, are the ones that have stood the test of time the better. Among the ones to watch out for are "Two years and a thousand tears" and the luscious "Forever in my heart" - with Cissy Houston singing the stratospheric background phrases. 

Berns' tragic death on December 30, 1967 effectively spelled the end of Lands' creative heyday and in 1969, he moved to Laurie's Spectrum subsidiary, a tenure inaugurated with "Beautiful Music," the first of two duets with Lily Fields. "Sweet Soul (Brother)" followed a year later. One oddity from this period of Hoagy's career is the issue in the UK in 1971 on Jonathan King's UK label of a side - "True Love At Last" - which doesn't seem to have ever appeared in the US. While this is a pleasant ballad, despite the date both sides were Laurie tracks rather than later Spectrum ones. 

At this time Lands teamed with producer John Bennings and arranger Robert Banks and adopted a funk-inspired approach for efforts including 1972's excellent "A Man Ain't No Stronger Than His Heart," recorded with session aces Richard Tee on guitar, Gordon Edwards on bass and Bernard Purdie on drums. After one final Spectrum effort, "The Bell Ringer," Lands exited the label, effectively bringing his recording career to a close. 

After close to 25 years out of the limelight, he appeared at several Northern soul clubs at century's end, although 1998 open heart surgery slowed his pace considerably. After suffering a severe fall at his Orange, New Jersey home, Lands died January 12, 2002 at the age of 65 years. His grandson Jaheim carried on the family business, however, recording a pair of hip-hop LPs for Warner Bros. 

One day the story of New York soul will be properly set down and Hoagy Lands' position as one of the greatest of all the city's soul singers will be assured. 

(Edited from AllMusic & Sir Shambling)

17 comments:

boppinbob said...

I couldn’t believe that there is no commercial compilation of Hoagy Lands’ recordings but I did find a homemade one on the blog Soul Quinquin from 2019. Unfortunately I don’t think the blogger does downloads and the mp3s are all via flash players. Still not to be outdone I had a few tracks from various compilations and managed to build a substantial track list from YouTube. So quality will vary although most are of reasonable sound.

So For my labour of love “Hoagy Lands – Forever In My Heart (1960 – 1972 recordings)” go here:

https://www.upload.ee/files/14111333/Hoagy_Lands.rar.html

01) Hoagy Lands - Lighted Windows (1960 Judi 054)
02) Hoagy Lands - Cry Some Tears (1960 ABC 10171)
03) Hoagy Lands - It-'s Gonna Be Morning (1961 MGM 13041)
04) Hoagy Lands - My Tears Are Dry (1961 MGM 13041)
05) Hoagy Lands - It Ain-'t as Easy as That (1962 MGM 13062)
06) Hoagy Lands - The Roach (1962 Capitol LP T1697)
07) Hoagy Lands - I'm yours (1963 ABC 10392)
08) Hoagy Lands - The Tender Years (1963 ABC 10392)
09) Hoagy Lands - Cry to me (1963 Capitol LP T1730)
10) Hoagy Lands - Stand By Me (1963 Capitol LP T1730)
11) Hoagy Lands - Stranger on the shore (1963 Capitol LP T1730)
12) Hoagy Lands - Baby Come On Home (1964 Atlantic 2217)
13) Hoagy Lands - Baby Let Me Hold Your Hand (1964 Atlantic 2217)
14) Hoagy Lands - Io non volevo (1965 Derby 5106)
15) Hoagy Lands - Friends And Lovers Don't Go Together (1966 Laurie 3349)
16) Hoagy Lands - Theme From The Other Side (Instrumental) (1966 Laurie 3349)
17) Hoagy Lands - True Love At Last (cica 66 for Laurie only Issued 71 in UK)
18) Hoagy Lands - Forever In My Heart (1967 Laurie3372)
19) Hoagy Lands - The Next In Line (1967 Laurie 3381)
20) Hoagy Lands - Happy Go Lucky (Laurie unreleased)
21) Hoagy Lands - White Gardinia (1968 Laurie 3463)
22) Hoagy Lands - Do You Know What Life Is All About (1971 Spectrum 122)
23) Hoagy Lands - Why Didnt You Let Me Know (1971 Spectrum 122)
24) Hoagy Lands - Reminisce (1971 Spectrum 129)
25) Hoagy Lands - A Man Ain't No Stronger Than His Heart (1972 Spectrum 130)

shagasha said...

boppinbob

good job, my friend, and thanks for sharing.

rntcj said...

Hi!

Thanx for this one. know artist but most should be "new" hears here.

Cheers!
Ciao! For now.
rntcj

Crab Devil said...

Thank you!

Bob Mac said...

Thanks for this.

Guitarradeplastico,scraping oddities said...

Many thanks

Rob Kopp said...

Thanks. I only know his 2 originals from the 1964-single and 3 other songs, so I look forward to listen to the other ones.

Rob Kopp said...

After listening: Thank you even more. Definitely one of the best R&B/Soul singers. I doubled the number of tracks in iTunes from 5 to 10.

Anton said...

Great ! Thank You.

Hal49 said...

Thanks for making me aware of this great artist. I found a CD containing some of his singles missing in the shared collection.

Here is the link - good for seven days.

https://we.tl/t-OhytvDeSFJ

boppinbob said...

A big thank you to Hal49 who has come up trumps with the Soul Quinquin CDR I couldn’t get. I have re-posted it for all you Hoagy Lands followers. It contains the tracks below not found on my compilation.

September
Yesterday
Please Don’t Talk About me When I’m Gone
Two Years and a Thousand Tears (Since I left Augusta)
True Love At Last
Do It Twice
Pledging My Love
Beautiful Music (with Liliy Fields)
Sweet Soul (Brother) (with Lily Fields)

https://www.upload.ee/files/14118246/Hoagy_Lands_-Singles66_73.rar.html

Hal49 said...

Last night I got hold of a vinyl rip of the "Give 'Em Soul" LP from 1962. According to the sleeve Hoagy Lands delivered vocals on eight of the 12 tracks of which you already have included three.

Here is the link - good for seven days.

https://we.tl/t-AJHnCUP4un

The sound level seems to be a little too low, maybe it can fixed?

boppinbob said...

Thanks Hal, much appreciated.

Rev. bIGhIG said...

Heard "Happy Go Lucky" on a Laurie comp. and it blew me away! What a singer!
Then I recalled I saw him here awhile ago as in "who?" and skipped it. Well now I'm back.
Thanks for all the great stuff, amigo.

blessup said...

Oh man, is there any chance for a re-up of all the Hoagy Lands stuff?

boppinbob said...

Hello blessup, Here’s Hoagy….

Forever In My Heart
https://www.imagenetz.de/g2Ngn

The Singles Years 1966- 1973
https://www.imagenetz.de/dkBZy

blessup said...

@boppinbob: I am so grateful Thank You so much!