In this special episode of Sitting in the Park, Bob Abrahamian curates a set of soul tracks that embody the ethereal, “spacey” sound emerging from Detroit around 1966–67. Featuring underappreciated artists like Juanita Williams, The Gambrells, and Terry Bryant, the show spotlights a psychedelic-infused variation of Detroit soul distinguished by lush arrangements, dreamy reverb, and innovative production techniques — many linked to producer Dale Warren. The hour-long set captures a moment when Motor City soul artists pushed the genre’s emotional and sonic boundaries, merging sweetness with subtle surrealism.
Juanita Williams - Baby boy - Golden World
September Jones - I'm coming home - Kapp
Sea Shells - Quiet home - Villige
Miki Farrow - Could it be - Karate
Sophisticates - I need you - Mutt
Teri Bryant - Geni - Verve
Barbara Mercer - Doing things together with you - Golden World
Debonairs - How's your new love treating you - Golden World
Gambrells - Find a love - Pioneer
Monique - Never let me go - Maurci
Embraceables - Here I go - Sidra
Rose St. John and the Wonderettes - Fool don't laugh - Veep
Romey Rand - Say you're mine - D-Town
Debutantes - Strong Foundation - Standout
Three Degrees - No no not again - WB
Ultimates - Just because you've gone and left me - Capito
Brenda Tee - My belief - Rileys
Tiares - I'll never let you go - Leona
Dee Edwards - Happiness is where you find it - D-Town
Mary Wells - Keep me in suspense - Atco
Theresa Lindsay - Wonderful one - Correctone
Apollas - All sold out - WB
By the mid-1960s, Detroit had already solidified itself as a soul powerhouse, thanks to the meteoric rise of Motown Records. But beyond the polished sheen of Berry Gordy’s empire, a different kind of soul was being shaped in studios and rehearsal halls around the Motor City. It was a sound that dared to be hazy and ethereal, drawing on psychedelia, girl group harmonies, and experimental studio techniques — all of which took center stage in this special Sitting in the Park broadcast curated by Bob Abrahamian.
Aired on WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago, this episode is a deep crate-dig into a singular sonic moment: Detroit soul circa 1966–67, with a “spacey,” dreamy production aesthetic that glimmers with subtle innovation. The artists may be lesser known — Juanita Williams, The Sophisticates, The Gambrells — but their contributions are no less vital. What Bob does so expertly here is frame these songs not as oddities or footnotes but as central artifacts of a moment when soul music was stretching its form and emotional palette.
Setting the Tone: Dreamy but Grounded
The opening track, Baby Boy by Juanita Williams, sets the tone. It's a song that had regional traction in Chicago, but its inclusion here is more about atmosphere than hits. This is music that floats. Abrahamian’s selection of Quiet Home by The Seashells and I Need You by The Sophisticates emphasizes this airy, almost spectral quality — bolstered by production tricks like reverb tails and swirling backing vocals. These touches, while minor to the average listener, are precisely what soul collectors like Bob tune their ears to. They signal a divergence from formulaic pop soul and a pivot toward mood and feeling.
Detroit’s Psychedelic Pulse
This set reveals a subtle psychedelic strain in Detroit soul that rarely gets mainstream recognition. While Sly Stone and The Temptations (in their Psychedelic Shack era) are often credited with soul’s mind-expanding direction, this earlier, quieter current is equally significant. Tracks like Terry Bryant’s Imagine and Romy Rand’s Say You’re Mine hint at emotional surrealism — not in their lyrics, which often remained grounded in love and heartbreak, but in the production and arrangements. It’s soul as moodscape.
One figure looms in the background of this sonic shift: Dale Warren. Best known for his work with The Mad Lads and later for orchestrating the sweeping concept album Ghetto: Misfortune’s Wealth for 24-Carat Black, Warren’s fingerprints are subtly present in this show. Abrahamian points out that while not every track was Warren-produced, several of the lushest, most experimental ones were. His touch — strings, layered harmonies, sonic drama — elevated the genre beyond dancefloor fare into cinematic territory.
Girl Groups and Under-Sung Voices
Another thread Bob follows is the prominence of girl group recordings in this subgenre. Brenda T’s My Belief may lack a group harmony but carries enough reverb-drenched ache to earn its place. Tracks by The Tiaras, Rose St. John & the Wonderettes, and The Embraceables contribute not just vocal beauty but textural depth. These weren’t slick Motown acts with big promotional machines — these were small-label or one-off sessions where creativity often came out of necessity.
Perhaps the most striking inclusion is The Debutantes' Strong Foundation, described as a white girl rock group’s lone foray into soul. Their ability to tap into the city’s zeitgeist — even momentarily — speaks to the permeability of genre borders and the cross-cultural exchange happening in Detroit’s music scene during this period.
A Broader Geography, A Shared Aesthetic
Though the focus is Detroit, Bob makes room for tracks from elsewhere that fit the vibe — like The Three Degrees’ No, No, Not Again and The Apollos’ All Sold Out, a beloved “dusty” from Los Angeles that found a second life on Chicago’s airwaves. This decision underscores the idea that the “spacey” soul aesthetic wasn’t bound strictly to geography but to a particular emotional and sonic sensibility.
Community as Curator
Abrahamian humbly credits members of the Soul Source message board for helping him assemble this playlist — a quiet nod to the deeply collaborative nature of soul scholarship. Collectors, fans, and historians all play a role in unearthing and preserving this music. In this case, the forum community helped expand the reach and richness of the show, showing how digital spaces continue to sustain analog legacies.
Bob Abrahamian 00:00
Okay, you are tuned to WHPK, 88.5 FM in Chicago. You're now listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and I'll be playing soul music till 9 p.m. today. I actually have a special themed show. I was thinking about how much I like certain Detroit records from around 1966 — they have a kind of poppy, spacey sound. So I decided to get together as many of those records as I could and do a show of them. I don’t know if I have more than an hour, but at least the first hour will be those records.
So if you want to call me up, the number here is 773-702-8424. There might be a little bit of time at the end of the show to play other records.
This first record is — you might remember it because it got some play in Chicago — it’s by a singer from Detroit named Juanita Williams. This track is called Baby Boy.
Bob Abrahamian 11:02
Okay, you're tuned to WHPK, 88.5 FM in Chicago. You're listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and this show happens every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9 p.m.
Today, for most of the show, I'm doing a special themed set where I’m playing kind of spacey Detroit tracks from around 1966. The first record was Juanita Williams with Baby Boy. After that I played:
