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B. T. Express

American band

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General referenceInterpretive dossier study · Crown Archives visual atlas
Record originEnglish Wikipedia
Text licenseCC BY-SA 4.0
Source revisionAug 1, 2026
Entity authorityQ689160 ↗
Source-derived summary

B.T. Express (originally named Brooklyn Transit Express) was an American funk/disco group that had a number of successful songs during the 1970s.

Background

According to a Record World article in March, 1975, the King Davis House Rockers begat the Madison Street Express which begat Brothers Trucking which begat B.T. Express. At the time, the group consisted of Rich Thompson on lead guitar and Bill Risbrook on tenor saxophone who were the nucleus of King House Rockers. Also in the group were Louis Risbrook on bass, who was the brother of Bill on solo flute, alto sax, piccolo and clarinet. There was also Olando T. Woods on drums and singer Barbara Joyce Lomas. The latest member was Dennis Rowe on congas. Carlos Ward who was born in Panama had played with the John Coltrane Octet, Don Cherry, Pharoah Sanders, and McCoy Tyner. Barbara Joyce Lomas who came from Alabama had been with the Uptights and sang on their single, "Free at Last" b/w "You Git’s None of This", released on Skye Records SKYE 4525.

Beginnings

The group was part of the "Brooklyn sound" of the early 1970s, formed from three players of the group King Davis House Rockers. The House Rockers were a local dance band who had released a couple of obscure singles (1967's "We All Make Mistakes Sometimes" on Verve Records, 1972's "Rum Punch").

Editorial summary

Begin with the source’s own compact description: “B. T. Express” is american band. The dossier treats that line as a proposition to test through Express, American and band, not as a finished interpretation.

Editorial reviewA concise reference frame for defining the subject, testing terminology and identifying the institution closest to the evidence. The current lead gives the account dated anchors—1975, 1967, 1972—that can be checked directly. The linked authority record independently contributes the date 1973-01-01. For this dossier, Express, American and band is the immediate research focus.
Editorial analysis

Why this record matters

The phrase “american band” supplies a clear boundary for inquiry. It also exposes the unanswered questions: who defined that boundary, when it became stable and which sources sit outside it.

Evidence profile

Named sources, stable identifiers and responsible institutions provide the strongest route from overview to verifiable evidence. The source revision retrieved here is dated Aug 1, 2026. The linked authority identifier is Q689160. VIAF identifies the subject as 147938590. The Library of Congress control number is n93002421. 2 of 3 selected statements include explicit references; 0 carry qualifiers and 0 use preferred rank. The first chronological checks are 1975, 1967 and 1972.

Critical limits

Overview language is designed for orientation and should not be treated as a substitute for the evidence cited beneath it. The lead is largely declarative, so disagreement and counter-evidence require a deliberate search beyond the opening account. Authority statements aid reconciliation but still require their own references, qualifiers and ranks to be checked.

How to read it

Use the entry as an orientation point, then follow its citations and revision history. Names, dates and institutional relationships should be checked against the original record.

Best used for
  • Subject orientation
  • Search vocabulary
  • Locating named sources
Verify next

The closest primary source, responsible institution and strongest cited specialist reference.

Three-step research path

  1. Establish the record: confirm the title “B. T. Express”, its source revision and the description used here.
  2. Expand the search: follow B. T. Express primary sources, B. T. Express archive and Express research across catalogues and specialist indexes.
  3. Test the account: compare the strongest cited source with the responsible institution’s current record and note any disagreement.

Questions for further research

  1. Which source most directly establishes the central claim about “B. T. Express”?
  2. Which cited source is closest to the event, object or claim?
  3. What terminology or title could unlock a more precise catalogue search?
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Source & attribution

This entry incorporates text from “B. T. Express” on English Wikipedia. Contributors are listed in the page history. Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Selected authority identifiers and statements are retrieved from Wikidata under CC0; their references and qualifiers remain part of the verification path.