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From Chicago Basements to the Bay Area

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Show:
Sitting in the Park
Station:
WHPK 88.5 FM, Chicago
Date:
2009-01-11
Guests:
None
Genre:

From Chicago Basements to the Bay Area

2009-01-11
Host: Bob Abrahamian

On this special all-music edition of Sitting in the Park, Bob Abrahamian steps away from his usual interview format to present a wide-ranging journey through soul’s lesser-known corners. From the deep harmonies of Denny Davis and the Glades in Chicago to the unexpected Bay Area soul of Chinatown’s City Lights, Bob curates a show that’s as much about musical discovery as it is about preservation. With selections from Detroit, New York, Ohio, and even Ann Arbor, the episode underscores the expansive geography and diverse cultural roots of soul music’s enduring power.

Setlist

Commentary

Transcript

Denny Davis and the Glades - I love you - Age Duke Hunter - Nose Trouble - Crackerjack Crowns - Better luck next time - Vee Jay Arabians - My one possession - Carrie Sidney Barnes - Wait - Gemini Mike Hanks and the Del-Phis - When true loves comes to be - Mah's Dee Clark - She's my baby - Constellation Universals - Sparkling - Cooking JJ Barnes - I'll keep coming back - Buddah Patti Drew - She's the one - Capitol La'Fez - No matter - MJW Clyde Brooks - Soul set - Carrie Archie Bell and the Drells - Green Power - Atlantic Stone Creations - Hands on a golden key - Fly-by-nite Greg Roberson - One sunny day - Vanessa City Lights - Hold my hand - Surrend Strive - Come inside - no label Alvin Green and Green Fire - Turning on and tuning out - Green Fire Destiny - Lost lonely man - AMG Jimmy Dockett - Count your blessings and move on - Flo-feel Timmy Thomas - Dizzy dizzy world - Climax Singing Principal - Thank you baby - Flick High Keyes - Let's take a chance - Verve Startones - One rose - Billie Fran
Bob Abrahamian’s January 11, 2009 episode of Sitting in the Park is a shining example of what makes his legacy so vital: an unrelenting pursuit of soul’s hidden stories. Forgoing the usual artist interviews that characterize his Sunday night sessions, Bob devoted this episode entirely to music—a curated journey through lesser-known but deeply resonant corners of the American soul tradition. It’s the kind of set that reaffirms the genre’s reach and depth, from its urban roots in Chicago and Detroit to its unlikely echoes in San Francisco’s Chinatown. Opening with Denny Davis and the Glades—a virtually undocumented Chicago group—Bob set the tone for a show built on the thrill of the obscure. That was followed by a stream of deep cuts that wove together a kind of audio geography of soul. We heard Duke Hunter’s Knows Trouble, The Crowns’ Better Luck Next Time, and The Arabians’ My One Possession, each piece revealing a slice of a local scene, often long forgotten outside the circles of dedicated collectors. Of particular note in this episode is Bob’s inclusion of a track by City Lights—a soul group from San Francisco’s Chinatown featuring two Black vocalists and an otherwise Chinese ensemble. Their track, Hold My Hand, stands out not only for its cross-cultural makeup but also for its musical quality: a warm, melodic groove that blends seamlessly with the more familiar soul sounds of Chicago or Detroit. Bob's brief but informative commentary on the group adds another layer to the segment, hinting at soul’s ability to transcend ethnic boundaries and speak to a universal emotional truth. This kind of cross-cultural resonance isn’t accidental. In fact, it speaks to soul’s deep roots in community identity—how music functions as a form of expression, resilience, and connection in communities both large and small. City Lights' music, created by a group from an ethnic enclave not commonly associated with soul, proves how the genre's emotional clarity and rhythmic pull can find new life in unexpected places. Throughout the show, Bob continues to connect the dots between obscure and more familiar figures. A highlight is his spin of Mike Hanks and the Delphis’ When True Love Comes to Be, a track that predates their transformation into Martha Reeves and the Vandellas. It’s a moment that captures Bob’s scholar-DJ sensibility—he isn’t just playing records; he’s tracing genealogies. Each song is part of a larger, living archive. Another fascinating moment arrives when he plays Timmy Thomas’s Dizzy Dizzy World, an early cut from the Miami-based singer best known for Why Can’t We Live Together. Even this deeper track carries Thomas’s hallmark social consciousness—a theme echoed in Bob’s own civic-minded announcements about cancer screenings and community coalitions. The music and the message go hand in hand. Bob also name-checks artists like Patty Drew, J.J. Barnes, and Archie Bell and the Drells—each with their own unique contributions to regional soul. From Detroit’s high-octane grooves to Chicago’s smoother, harmony-driven sound, the setlist paints a sonic map of soul’s many dialects. Even more compelling is the inclusion of groups like Azu and El Fez or Greg Roberson from Ann Arbor—names that almost certainly would not appear on a mainstream soul compilation, but that here, receive the recognition and reverence they deserve. What’s ultimately powerful about this episode isn’t just the music, though the tracks are stellar. It’s the context Bob gives them—the way he introduces each record with a blend of curiosity, reverence, and a collector’s insider knowledge. There’s always a desire to know more, to track down that one record, that one session musician, that one forgotten B-side. In doing so, Bob builds not just playlists, but living histories. This show serves as a microcosm of the mission that defined Bob Abrahamian’s work: to illuminate the overlooked, to amplify the unheralded, and to tell soul music’s story as a complex, multiracial, multi-regional mosaic. It’s this attention to nuance, this care in presentation, that made Sitting in the Park such a vital platform—and why the preservation of these recordings through the Bob Abrahamian Collection is such an important act of cultural memory.

Bob Abrahamian 00:00
Okay, you're tuned to WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago. You are listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and this show happens every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.
I’ve been doing a lot of interviews on the show the past few months, but today I wanted to take a week off and do an all-music show, since that's what this show is about—it's about the music.
If you want to call me up, the number here is 773-702-8424.
Also, going to give a shout-out to Richard McGee out there—call me up if you're still listening.
I'm going to start off this show with an obscure group from Chicago. This is Denny Davis and the Glades. The track is called I Love You.

Bob 05:45
Okay, you're tuned to WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago. You are listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and this show happens every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.
That last set was mostly Chicago and Detroit records. Started off with an obscure group called Denny Davis and the Glades with I Love You. After that, a singer named Duke Hunter with Knows Trouble, then a group called The Crowns with Better Luck Next Time. I don’t know anything about that group—they might have been from Chicago, but I’m not sure.
From Detroit, The Arabians with My One Possession, then Sidney Barnes with his very first solo record—I think that track was called Wait. I’m going to send that one out to Richard McGee, who worked with Sidney Barnes.
And the last track I just played was from Detroit—Mike Hanks and the Delphis with When True Love Comes to Be. And you might know the Delphis were later better known as Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, so that was an early record of theirs.
Okay, the show is just getting started. I brought a lot of really good records tonight.
If you want to call me up, the number again is 773-702-8424.
Going to send a shout-out to Dre in Chatham, and also to long-distance caller Corey—called all the way from Chattanooga, Tennessee. What’s up?
If anyone else wants to call, the number is 773-702-8424.
This next record is nice. This is Dee Clark with She's My Baby.

Bob Abrahamian 10:50
Okay, you're tuned to WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago. You are listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and this show happens every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.
That last set was a long one. We started off in Chicago with Dee Clark’s She's My Baby. After that, from New York, The Universals with Sparkling. From Detroit, J.J. Barnes with I'll Keep Coming Back.
Then, an awesome Chicago record—Patty Drew with He's the One.
From Ohio, a group called Azu and El Fez with No Matter. A singer named Clyde Brooks with Soul Set. Archie Bell and the Drells with Green Power—that was the last record they cut for Atlantic Records.
Also from Ohio, The Stone Creations with Hands on a Golden Key. And the last cut was a really nice record from, believe it or not, Ann Arbor. That was a singer named Greg Roberson, and the track was called One Sunny Day.
Okay, I have to give you some information.
The state of Illinois offers free cancer screenings and low-cost treatment for uninsured women over 35. Find out more at cancerscreening.illinois.gov.
Also, community groups do a lot—especially when it comes to helping keep kids away from drugs. But did you know there’s a way to make community groups even stronger? It’s called the Community Coalition. Community coalitions help local groups get together and get more done. Find out how your group can get involved and help at yourcommunity.org. Because you get more when you get together.
Another show you might want to check out is called The Dustys Party. That show happens every Thursday night from 9:00 to midnight. On that show, the DJs play soul, funk, and even blues and jazz from the ’60s, ’70s, and ’80s—so check that out. The Dustys Party, Thursday nights, 9 to midnight.
Also, another great show is From the Subway to the Street Corner. That’s every Sunday night from 6:00 to 7:30 PM, right before my show. On that show, the DJ plays doo-wop music from the ’50s and ’60s.
If you're a regular listener, you know I do a lot of interviews. Next week, I’ll hopefully be doing an interview with a Chicago group called North, South, East, West, and I’ll be playing some music afterward—so you should definitely check that out.
If you want to hear any of my old interviews, you can go to my website: www.sittinginthepark.com. You can also email me from there, and I can send you MP3s of my music shows too. So go ahead and check that out.
Okay, we’ve got about 40 minutes left in the show. If you want to call me up, again the number is 773-702-8424.
This next record is unique—it’s kind of a one-of-a-kind thing for my show, because it's from the San Francisco Bay Area, and believe it or not, it’s a Chinese group. It’s got a really nice sound. I looked them up on the internet, and I think there are two Black guys singing in the group, but everyone else is Chinese. They’re from Chinatown in San Francisco. It’s a really interesting record—and it’s really good.
This is a group called City Lights, and the track is called Hold My Hand.

Bob Abrahamian 33:15
Okay, you're tuned to WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago. You are listening to the Sitting in the Park show. My name is Bob, and this show happens every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00 PM.
That last track was Dizzy Dizzy World by Timmy Thomas—an early one from him. A really powerful song, and I just love the message in it.
Alright, we’ve only got a little bit of time left in the show—just about 10 minutes or so. If you want to get a call in, now’s your chance. The number here is 773-702-8424.
I hope you’ve been enjoying the music tonight. Like I said earlier, I’ve been doing a lot of interviews lately, so I wanted to take a week off to just focus on records—and I brought a lot of good ones tonight from all over: Chicago, Detroit, New York, San Francisco, Ohio. A little bit of everything.
Don’t forget, if you want to hear past interviews or music sets, you can visit my website at www.sittinginthepark.com. You can email me through there too if you’d like MP3s of previous shows.
And again, if you're just tuning in—this is Sitting in the Park, airing every Sunday night from 7:30 to 9:00 PM here on WHPK 88.5 FM in Chicago.
I want to thank everyone who called in tonight—shout-outs to Dre in Chatham, Corey from Chattanooga, and Richard McGee. Appreciate you all listening and supporting the show.
Alright, going to squeeze in one more track to close out the evening. Until next time, take care of yourselves, enjoy the music, and I’ll catch you next Sunday right here on Sitting in the Park.

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