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By 1966, Tarnopol was seeking a new sound for Wilson, whose star power was starting to fade. It was at a New York Disc Jockey convention in August of that year when Tarnopol was introduced to Chicago based record producer Carl Davis. Davis had recently been released from Columbia subsidiary Okeh Records for moonlighting while under contract. Tarnopol liked Davis and contracted him to produce one album for Wilson, which resulted in the hit single "Whispers (Getting Louder)" which reached #5 on the Billboard singles chart. Impressed with the quality of the entire production of the "Whispers" album, Tarnopol made Davis his new head of A&R and the Executive Vice President of Brunswick that October.

Brunswick Records Building, 1449 South Michigan Ave., Chicago IL

1449 South Michigan Avenue in Chicago was the address of Vee Jay Records, which had recently gone out of business and whose assets were being auctioned off in February of 1967. Tarnopol and Davis purchased most of the assets and converted that same building into Brunswick's new A&R office over a period of six weeks. The building was a simple two-story walk-up with a very basic recording studio and offices on the second floor. Seemingly overnight, the building quickly filled up with some of Chicago's best writers, producers and musicians.

Some of the musicians who came over to Brunswick were former Okeh Records musicians like guitarists Johnny Bishop, Byron Gregory, Phil Upchurch and Danny Leake. Brunswick's two main keyboardists were Floyd Morris and Tennyson Stephens, who were both recording artists in their own right. The brass section, which helped personify the Brunswick sound, was comprised of John Avant and Morris Ellis on trombone, Maury Watson and Lionel Bordelon on trumpet and Willie Henderson, Cliff Davis and Steele Seals on Saxes. On bass guitar was Bernard Reed, on the vibes was Bobby Christianson and, last but not least, on drums was Quintin Joseph, who played every session standing up.

The string section for Brunswick was usually contracted out to Sol Bobrov. Bobrov would be advised by one of the label's arrangers how many strings they wanted and what the ratio as to instruments were – violins, violas, cellos, and string basses. Bobrov would then pick out the appropriate musicians to play the session. Bobrov and Elliot Golub were two of the regulars in the string section.

Carl Davis, Nat Tarnopol, Sonny Sanders,
Jackie Wilson and Jeffry Perry

Carl Davis and Chuck Jackson