Here is another singer where the usual Googling yields very little information. This 45 appears to be the only record Russ Lewis released as an artist. He hailed from St. Louis according to the usual go to sites. The short lived Sharp label was based in Chicago and was started by Bill “Bunky” Sheppard a mover and shaker on the Chicago doo-wop and soul scene in the 60s. So it is reasonable to assume this track was recorded in Chicago. Into the 70s it would appear Russ concentrated on writing and production as his name is credited on a number of obscure small label releases including the Gold Future label which was based in Sunset Hills, St. Louis County, MO and was, in fact, his own label. T Washington also appears as an arranger on more than one of these 45s and I believe this is Tom “Tom Tom 84” Washington, a respected arranger who also started out in Chicago and was a main arranger for Brunswick Records in the 60s. It’s possible they met up when Gene Chandler recorded Groovy Situation, a song that Russ wrote and Tom Tom arranged. Russ was also listed as president of a music publishing company called Best Bet Music, addressed in Kirkwood, MO and active in the 70s at least. According to Discogs he was dabbling in the music business whilst at the same time holding down a day job as a mail carrier in Kirkwood.
The accepted A side of this 45, Brand New Recipe, is a good up beat number with some cool organ fills, but again, it’s the moody, bluesy B side that I’m sold on. It features some nice horns too.
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