by Tom De Jong

Joyce Dunn was born 28 April 1950 in San Francisco. She sadly passed away after heart failure on 30 May 2022. She married Clarence Tarver and was a loving mother of 4 children and a loving grandmother of many grandchildren. In 1965 she performed for a couple of weeks as lead singer with the first band of Carlos Santana. She also worked as a back up singer. For instance, with Irma Routen and Shalimar Samuelson they were the Earthettes who sang behind the rock band Mother Earth on their 1969 lp “Make a joyful noise”. Mother Earth branched into blues, R&B, folk, gospel and country. Santana and Mother Earth were among the groups that played in the San Francisco Fillmore West theater along the likes of Grateful Dead, Big Brother and the Holding Company (Janis Joplin) and Jimi Hendrix. Tracy Nelson was already in Mother Earth in 1969 and later emerged as their most prominent lead singer.

Carlos Santana was very impressed with Joyce, noting that she was a singer’s singer with a real blues energy to her voice. High praise also comes from Harold Battiste jr. who described her as “indescribably soulful”. Joyce must have been a frequent visitor to the Mercury studios in 1969, but this only resulted in two 45’s being released.

The first 45 A New Change Of Address was produced and written by Frank Marin and arranged my Martin Fierro. Both were members of the Sir Douglas Quintet, a US band with Mexican roots in San Antonio. In 1969 they had a hit with Mendocino. A New Change Of Address is funky and was included, along with other great, but not so well-known, tracks on the compilation lp/cd Sister funk from the British BBE label (from 2000). The strange thing about this 45 is that it usually comes as a white promo with this song on both sides. The issue is extremely rare and only a few copies have surfaced over the years. The elusive B-side No Time To Cry is again connected to Marin and Fiero, but with an unknown writer (H. Crist). It is a strong midtempo ballad about a lover that left after which life is tough with no time to think about the past.

The second 45 came out on the Mercury sublabel Blue Rock, also in 1969. This 45 is not as rare as the one on Mercury but still the ones on sale on the internet are usually promo copies, showing that very few issues were pressed to be sold. Mercury never made any money from the sales. The A-side (You’re Giving Me) The Push I Need was written by New Orleans musicians Alvin Robinson, Jessie Hill and Mac Rebennack (aka Dr. John). This uptempo song has nice horn arrangements and excellent vocals by Joyce, but is rather indistinctive without a New Orleans feel to it.

The B-side ballad Turn Away From Darkness is the cream of the crop. It was included on the Blue Rock double CD “Lost and found” that the German Bear Family released in 1998. Joyce vocals and delivery are out of this world. Her voice is both soulful and crystal clear. The lyrics are simple and effective: “So turn away from the darkness, baby, before the pain begins” and later “Turn away from the darkness and love will never ever die”. The darkness remains abstract. It may refer to the shooting of Martin Luther King in 1968 and changes in society that were accelerated by this event. But in the present time it could easily apply to other trials and tribulations. Black Lives Matter. Or Ukraine, or Israel. The song is an exceptional cooperation of three creative people. Of course Joyce put down the exceptional vocal.

Jane McNealy wrote TAFD. Jane is an attractive, blonde lady from California who chose a career of songwriting over a future in business. She has written in many genres, from movie soundtracks and musicals to pop and jazz. After suffering health problems she recently decided to make part of the vast material she wrote during her 40 year career available through the internet. Her music can be streamed through different platforms on the website loflorecords.com. Several recordings are also available on YouTube. The lo-flo catalog covers almost any genre, from the hymns and chorales of Bach, to jazz, movie soundtracks, pop and soul. For the sirshambling website it is worth mentioning that the clips contain some unreleased recordings by New Orleans singers Tammi Lynn and Lydia Marcelle. Turn Away From Darkness tops McNealy’s list. From her website: “As we face tomorrow, we face ourselves, but the foundation of hope is a flame that burns eternally, guiding us through darkness to peace.”

Harold Battiste jr. (1931-2015) was the arranger of TAFD. He is a New Orleans legend and the city proclaimed his birthday (28 October) Harold Battiste Day. He played many instruments, including the saxophone and piano. He arranged and produced many records on Speciality (among others Sam Cooke’s hit You Send Me in 1957), on SAR (The Valentinos It Won’t Be The Last Time) and on numerous other labels, of which Pulsar deserves a mention. In the early sixties he founded the All For One, AFO, label with its subsidiary At Last records. Except for Barbara George who had a big hit with I Know, the labels did not generate much money. The quality of the recordings was, however, superb as one can hear on the three Gumbo stew, More gumbo stew and Still spicy gumbo stew CD’s released by the British Ace records in 1993 and 1994. The recordings involve top New Orleans artists like Willie Tee and Eddie Bo. Harold’s heart was in New Orleans jazz, but that did not generate much income. In order to buy a house and support his family in New Orleans, he began making regular trips to Los Angeles where he became musical director for Sonny and Cher’s tv-show. He also produced, to great acclaim, the early Dr John albums. By working with Jane McNealy he came into contact with movie soundtracks and musicals. Harold’s biography is easy to read, honest and gives a nice look into the music scene of the day. In 1969 Harold was in a midlife crisis, finding it difficult to combine his family with being away so often. And he had to admit he had more than just professional feelings for Jane.

Harold continued to work on different projects on the West Coast until 1998. In that year he returned home, accepting a teaching position at the University of New Orleans, where he continued his work on the documentation the musical heritage of the city.

The coming together in 1969 of these three people with completely different backgrounds, Joyce Dunn, Jane McNealy and Harold Battiste, resulted in TAFD. For me this song is in the same league as other songs of hope and inspiration like Sam Cooke’s A Change Is Gonna Come or Donny Hathaway’s Some Day We’ll All Be Free. But TAFD remains unknown. Why? The most obvious answer is that it was a B-side and Mercury pressed few copies to sell. Also competition within the label was immense. The Blue Rock CD has tracks by, among others, Johnny Mae Matthews, Cynthia & The Imaginations and Dee Dee Warwick. All fantastic artists. And the timing may have been off. 1969 was not a year for love and peace of mind for black people in America. But, as Harold Battiste already pointed out in his biography, songs like this are evergreens. They live on and inspire people, certainly me, even 55 years after their recording.

Sources: various websites, including loflorecords.com. Biography Unfinished blues (2010) by Harold Battiste jr. and Karen Celestan

         Joyce Dunn from loflorecords.com