love - that's the way it is
/ the only way
rrg records 44002, 196?, style: soul/motown
listen to mp3: b-side
This 45 was found in a musty box at a flea market in South Carolina. The name of the band, or artist, was intriguing from the very start - LOVE ? Could it be an undiscovered single from the Arthur Lee band, circa-Forever Changes? A closer examination of the label lead away from that possibility-- who was this George Semper guy?
It turns out that George Semper was a record producer based in Oakland, California in the late 1960's and early 1970's, putting out records on his own Inner City label by a variety of groups. The style was generally early funk, and owed a debt to Sly Stone as well as white contemporaries - and locals of Oakland - Tower of Power. Many of these records were grittier or smoother versions of the more famous funk and heavy soul tracks of the day, including selections by the Family Stone. Semper's beats are a goldmine today for drum'n'bass turntablists and samplers.
But this record is not on Inner City and is definitely not a funk record. The A-Side of this single features male lead vocals and would be best described as 1964-era Motown (Temptations, Marvin Gaye, etc). The male lead sings alone and is punctuated at the end of lines with the backing of a group, like the Temptations. The vocals are very smooth and almost Curtis Mayfield-like, with strings, piano and vibes filling out the backing and the lyrics include lines like "the only way I can love you is to love you". It's well executed, if not quite as inventive as the Motown hits of the day.
The B-Side is very different from the A-Side. Sort of... Despite having
a different title, the lyrics are pretty much the same as the those on the
A-Side, but now the song gets a uptempo '66/67 dance treatment with horns
and electric piano. While it seems to feature the same vocalist as the A-Side,
he now sounds like a cross between David Ruffin, Curtis Mayfield, and Marvin
Gaye. Towards the end, there's a short but great breakdown with a tambourine
and an adventurous bassline. Then, on the fade-out, the singer starts into
a Wilson Pickett-like vocal raveup, although we don't get to hear much of
it. This track compares pretty well to the second tier of Motown's tremendous
late 60's hits and is a shoe-in for a Northern Soul dancefloor hit.
There's not much more to say except for a few details. While the two sides of this record are different stylistically and indicate two different periods of Motown-worship, by the production quality we can assume they were recorded at the same time. We can also assume that this record was put out before 1969 when Inner City took off as an entity of its own. It would seem that RRG records was created for this one release despite the record number as there is no information on any other releases. Finally, we have the baffling piece of information that this record was published through "Wally Roker Music". Wally Roker was a member of a number of seminal doo-wop groups of the late 1950's, including the Limelites. Whether he ever relocated from the East Coast scene to the Oakland area is unclear and so is Mr. Semper's connection to doo-wop.
We've tried to contact Mr. Semper via email but haven't received a response. If you have any information on this release, please contact us by email.
RRG Records 44002
A-Side: THAT'S THE WAY IT IS | length: 3:24 | written:
George Semper | published: Wally Roker Music-Old World Music BMI
| produced: George Semper | matrix(?): D71011 | run-out
groove: same as matrix / s in a circle
B-Side: THE ONLY WAY | length: 2:30 | written: same as A | published: same as A | produced: same as A | matrix(?): D71012 | run-out groove: same as matrix
notes: both sides list George Semper as arranger.