Charles Brimmer - New Orleans Soulman

This guy is all Cliff's discovery; at about the same time I was putting together the Eldridge Holmes post, Cliff came up with this guy but we held him back pending more material. I've turned up some tracks from the first album in 45's but the main body of the downloads contains the entire second album plus one track and that all comes from Cliff.

Charles Brimmer was born October 10,1948 in New Orleans and grew up in the lower ninth ward. He sang some gospel music as a youngster, but soon changed his focus. Impressed by the sharp dressing R&B performers he saw at the Municipal Auditorium shows, Charles decided that he wanted to pursue a career as a singer. 



He joined his first group, The Ravens, while going to St Augustine high school. At 19 he would record for Camille Indacon's ABS (Always Better Sound) label, which was distributed by Cosimo Matassa. His two ABS records, 'Now She's Gone, Gone' and 'The Glide,' (Produced by Wardell Quezergue) sold three thousand each in New Orleans; he wanted to record 'Barefootin,' but Robert Parker cut it. 


After high school, Charles sang with David Battiste and The Gladiators to pay his way through college and earn an accounting degree from Southern University. 


His next records came out on Dave Bartholomew's Broadmoor label. "The Feeling Is In My Heart" got a lot of airplay and led to more gigs. Broadmoor and ABS had a joint production deal on Charles, which was not fulfilled. Brimmer became disenchanted with Broadmoor and ABS due to what he considered to be broken promises from Bartholomew. He was upset because he wasn't allowed to record a full-length record. Somewhere during this time he made the mistake of passing on "Groove Me" when King Floyd offered it to him. 


After meeting Senator Jones on a gig, he cut a cover of O.V. Wright's "Afflicted" for Senator Jones Hep'Me label. The B side of the record "Your So Called Friends" was a big local hit and it attracted the attention of Hi Records Willie Mitchell. With the contract to ABS-Broadmoor not yet expired, Hi Records was not allowed to record Charles on their terms and passed.


When Hi Records refused to issue the single "God Bless Our Love" off the 'Al Green Explores Your Mind' album, Senator Jones had Charles cut a version at Deep South Studios in Baton Rouge. After a dub version was played on WXEL in Slidell, all south distributors had orders for 10,000 copies. Senator Jones then leased the record to Chelsea records. It went on to sell 300,000 records. A long-playing record, 'Expression of Soul,' with the song on it sold 100,000 copies. Cutting a few more singles and another album for Chelsea, 'Soulman', Charles never repeated his initial success with the label even though the second album was likely the stronger of the two. Differences with the label and producer led Charles to move to California. While he worked as an accountant by day, he and his brother Ivory self produced a few titles but had no success in landing a new recording contract. Brimmer eventually moved back to New Orleans to raise his family. He quit singing to focus on his business career; although he was coaxed into an appearance at Ponderosa Stomp in recent years.
 
Cliff has recently met Brimmer's sister so a followup to this post with an interview and additional tracks is a possibility.