New book uncovers the history of Cleveland's underground soul scene
In writing, Wolff says he realized he had left out a crucial part of Cleveland’s musical history.
Wolff conducted more than 60 interviews in putting the book together, and many of the musicians and behind-the-scenes players said that they didn’t believe there was anything that could be identified as a “Cleveland sound.”“If something comes on the radio, I can’t say whether it is from Cleveland,” he says. “There is some outstanding Cleveland music, and Hot Chocolate’s ‘Good for the Gander’ is great and as good as funk gets — by anybody.
“Motown is a great story; we didn’t tell that kind of story,” says Wolff. “Ours was much more Balkanized. There were pockets of entrepreneurship but for whatever reason, they couldn’t grow.”The book mentions several of Cleveland’s most happening soul and R&B clubs – places such as Leo’s Casino and the Corner Tavern. So which performances does Wolff wished he had seen?
“Jim [O’Hare] and I worked together on ‘Designing Victory,’ [the first Black Cleveland architect] Robert P. Madison biography I wrote in 2019,” says Wolff. “I couldn’t have done this without Jim. Jim said he wanted to publish thebook, and we entered into a really good arrangement. He shaped it and helped structure it and navigated it into a book that was totally collaborative. Jaime Lombardo came up with the terrific cover.
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