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Valentino...he was born that way...so was Carl Bean

As there's very little documented about Valentino and that first Motown gay record, I'm providing you the two articles I found on him, from The Advocate from 1975 and 1976. And, I've added some info about another Motown version of the song, by Carl Bean, and you can hear them bothh.

abovoe, Valentino at the Continental Baths, Village Voice ad, 1975

Below, Bunny Jones

  

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Carl Bean

Motown tried to make this song a hit again, in 1977, with a version by Carl Bean

To hear the Valentino version (Gaiee 90001F, 3:18), Click
To hear the flip side of Valentino's 45, "Liberation," 3:15, Click
To hear Carl Bean's version (Motown 00008D1, 6:31), Click

Below are a couple articles on Carl Bean

scans 2 & 3...

 

continued...scans 4 & 5...

 

continued, scans 6 & 7...

  

And, (added Oct 2006), from the April 1978 issue of LA Movin', coverage
of the event mentioned above, with some very candid pics of Carl Bean

   

Below, added August 2010, article on Bean from Soul Magazine, 3/27/78

and there have been other efforts to make Bean's versions of the song a hit, with remixes galore, by Next Plateau Records in 1986
and in 1994 by Red Ribbon Records (RR 0369-2)...by that time he was Bishop Carl Bean and founded the Unity Fellowship Church,
in Los Angeles...see that site

 

   

In Sept of 2005 there were efforts to re-release the single again, a
cover was designed (see below), and they even contacted me for
a quote for the liner notes, but I understand that Mel Cheren
died before West End completed the necessary paperwork,
so it was never officially released. See More...

Fortunately, they sent me a copy...

Why, yes, that IS my name in the "thank you" credits....

http://www.westendrecords.com/WES5014-2/about.html

and now there's a book...

Sadly, Rev Bean passed on September 7, 2021, age 77. See the NYT Obituary

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