Monday, October 5, 2015

Harold Melvin & The Blue Notes~ "If You Don't Know Me By Now"



Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were an American singing group, one of the most popular Philadelphia soul groups of the 1970s.

The group's repertoire included soul, R&B, doo-wop, and disco.

Founded in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania in the early 1950s as The Charlemagnes, the group is most noted for several hits on Gamble and Huff's Philadelphia International label between 1972 and 1976, although they performed and recorded until Melvin's death in 1997.

However, the remaining members, the Blue Notes, were reunited in 2013 for the Soul Train Cruise, and will reunite again in 2015, during the fourth sailing.

Despite group founder and original lead singer Harold Melvin's top billing, the Blue Notes' most famous member was Teddy Pendergrass, their lead singer during the successful years at Philadelphia International.


Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes
Also known as
  • The Charlemagnes
  • The Blue Notes
  • Harold Melvin's Blue Notes
Origin Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States
Genres
Years active 1954–1996, 2013 and 2015 (reuniting, during Soul Train Cruise)
Labels
  • Philadelphia International
  • ABC
  • Source
  • Philly World
Associated acts

Past members Harold Melvin
Bernard Williams
Don Haney
Roosevelt Brodie
Jesse Gillis Jr.
Franklin Peaker
John Atkins
Teddy Pendergrass
Lawrence Brown
Bernard Wilson
Lloyd Parks
Jerry Cummings
Sharon Paige
David Ebo
Dwight Johnson
William Spratelly
Gil Saunders

 

History

Early years

The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954, with a lineup consisting of lead singer Franklin Peaker,Bernard Williams, Roosevelt Brodie, Jesse Gillis, Jr., and Harold Melvin.

The group recorded for a number of labels without success from its inception into the 1960s.

The 1960 single "My Hero" was a minor hit for Val-ue Records, and 1965's "Get Out (and Let Me Cry)" was an R&B hit for Landa Records.

During this period, the group's lineup changed frequently, with Bernard Wilson leaving the act to start a group called "The Original Blue Notes", and Harold Melvin bringing in new lead singer John Atkins.

In 1970, the group recruited Teddy Pendergrass as the drummer for their backing band. Pendergrass had been a former member of Philadelphia R&B group The Cadillacs (not the New York group that had hits in the late 1950s) and was promoted to lead singer when John Atkins quit the same year.

Philadelphia International success

This line-up of the group, featuring Melvin, Pendergrass, Bernard Wilson, Lawrence Brown, and Lloyd Parks, was signed to Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International label in 1972, scoring several major R&B and pop hits including million-selling singles and albums over the next four years.

Among the Blue Notes' most important and successful recordings are love songs such as 1972's "If You Don't Know Me By Now" (#1 Billboard R&B, #3 pop), their breakout single, "I Miss You" (#7 R&B, #58 pop), "The Love I Lost" (#1 R&B, #7 pop, 1973) and socially conscious songs such as "Wake Up Everybody" (#1 R&B, #12 pop) and "Bad Luck" (#4 R&B, #15 pop), both in 1975.

"If You Don't Know Me By Now" sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc by the RIAA on November 21, 1972.[1]

"Bad Luck" holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks.

A fourth #1 R&B hit for the group was 1975's "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" which featured female vocalist Sharon Paige.

A 1976 cover of "Don't Leave Me This Way" by Motown artist Thelma Houston was a number-one hit on the US pop chart; her version is one of the defining recordings of the disco era.

The Blue Notes' version on the album, "Wake Up Everybody" was not released as a single in the USA at the time, but proved to be the group's biggest hit in the UK (#5) when released there as a single in 1977.

The track was finally issued as a single in the US on 12-inch in 1979, coupled with "Bad Luck". The group recorded four albums with Gamble & Huff, all of them going gold (over 500,000 copies), according to RIAA, including To Be True (#26, Billboard Top 40 albums) and Wake Up Everybody (#9), both in 1975.  

Wake Up Everybody and a greatest hits compilation released in 1976, Collector's Item, have now sold over a million copies.

Despite success, the Blue Notes' lineup continued to change regularly. In 1974, Melvin brought in Jerry Cummings to replace Lloyd Parks and Sharon Paige was added to the line-up at that time, providing solo performances on several recordings.

While at the top of their success in 1976, Pendergrass quit after an argument over the money he earned.

A year earlier, he had gained billing recognition by having the act renamed to "Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes featuring Theodore Pendergrass", starting from the Wake Up Everybody album.

Pendergrass went on to a successful solo career, with four consecutive million-selling albums with Philadelphia International between 1977 and 1980.

His career was almost ended by a paralyzing 1982 car accident. He made a triumphant comeback in 1984, signing with Asylum/Elektra Records, and recording the hit LP Love Language and then the platinum selling Joy LP, released in 1988, which featured the Grammy nominated title song, an R&B number 1; his comeback was cemented by an appearance at the Live Aid concert in 1985.

Later years

Melvin replaced Pendergrass with David Ebo while Jerry Cummings remained with Harold Melvin.

The Blue Notes departed Philadelphia International (who had signed Pendergrass for solo recordings) and joined ABC Records in 1977, where they recorded two albums produced by Melvin.

"Reaching for the World" (#7 R&B, #74 pop) became the group's last major-selling single.

Harold Melvin, Jerry Cummings, and new members Dwight Johnson, David Ebo and William Spratley moved to MCA Records and, in 1980, recorded two commercially successful albums, again with Melvin as producer.

Gil Saunders took the lead position in 1982, replacing David Ebo. With Gil Saunders, the group had success in the United Kingdom with the Philly World album Talk It Up (Tell Everybody), and singles such as "Today's Your Lucky Day" and "Don't Give Me Up".

Several of the Pendergrass-era hits were re-recorded in England with Gil Saunders on lead. Saunders left the act in 1992, and Harold Melvin continued to tour with various lineups of Blue Notes until suffering a stroke in 1996.

Melvin died on March 24, 1997 at the age of 57.[2]

Lawrence Brown died of a respiratory condition on April 6, 2008 at age 63.[3]

In addition, three former members of the group would die during the year 2010.

First, Teddy Pendergrass died of respiratory failure[4] on January 13, 2010 at age 59, after having previously dealt with colon cancer.

Six months later, original member Roosevelt Brodie, who was the second tenor for the original Blue Notes, died July 13, 2010 at age 75 due to complications of diabetes.[5]

And just five months later in that year, Bernard Wilson died on December 26, 2010 at age 64 from complications of a stroke and a heart attack.[6]

Pendergrass' predecessor, John Atkins, died of an aneurysm in 1998.[7]

David Ebo, who succeeded Pendergrass, died of bone cancer on November 30, 1993 at age 43.[8]

Lloyd Parks is still living and is the sole survivor of the original Blue Notes.

Legacy

Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes are arguably the most-covered Philly soul group in history:[citation needed] many of their hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including Simply Red, David Ruffin, Jimmy Somerville, Sybil, and John Legend, while dance music DJ Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time.

Today, Gil Saunders continues to perform as a solo artist, and still performs all the hits of the past as well as his own material.

Several members of various incarnations of the Blue Notes continue to tour as "Harold Melvin's Blue Notes".

Melvin's widow, Ovelia currently manages Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, featuring lead singer Donnell "Big Daddy" Gillespie, Anthony Brooks, Rufus Thorne and John Morris.

For his album This Note's for You, singer Neil Young named his back-up band, The Blue Notes, without permission from name rights holder Harold Melvin.

Melvin took legal action against Young over use of the Blue Notes name, forcing the singer to change the name of the back-up band to "Ten Men Workin'" during the balance of the tour that promoted the This Note's for You album.

The band is mentioned on Snoop Dogg's 1993 album Doggystyle. In the intro for "Doggy Dogg World" Snoop says "Bitch, you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes, you'll never go platinum!"

Former member, Jerry Cummings, is an ordained minister and has been asked to form Jerry Cummings' Blue Notes but has turned down the offer.

As of May 2014 Jerry Cummings became the Music Life Coach and producer of the X Factor superstar Lillie McCloud and Lillie has recorded one of Cummings' songs "The Other Part of Me".

Rapper Big Boi uses a sample of "I Miss You" on his song "Shine Blockas" feat.

Gucci Mane. "I Miss You" was also sampled by Kanye West on Jay-Z's song "This Can't Be Life", featuring Beanie Sigel and Scarface.

Reunion

In 2013, Centric presented the Soul Train Cruise, and the Blue Notes reunited for this event.

They will reunite again in 2015 for the fourth sailing.

Source: Wikipedia.org



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Bill Withers~ "Ain't No Sunshine"




William Harrison "Bill" Withers, Jr. (born July 4, 1938) is an American singer-songwriter and musician who performed and recorded from 1970 until 1985.[1]

He recorded a several major hits, including "Lean on Me", "Ain't No Sunshine", "Use Me", "Just the Two of Us", "Lovely Day", and "Grandma's Hands".

Withers won three Grammy Awards and was nominated for four more. His life was the subject of the 2009 documentary film Still Bill.[1]

He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2015.[2]

 

Bill Withers
Withers smiling to the camera
Withers in a 1976 publicity shot
Background information
Birth name William Harrison Withers, Jr.
Born July 4, 1938 (age 77)
Slab Fork, West Virginia
United States
Origin Los Angeles, United States
Genres Soul, R&B, smooth soul, blues, funk
Occupation(s) Musician, singer-songwriter, record producer
Instruments Vocals, guitar, keyboards
Years active 1963 – present
Labels Sussex
Columbia
Associated acts Grover Washington Jr.
Website billwithers.com

 

Early life

Withers was born the youngest of six children in the small coal-mining town of Slab Fork, West Virginia.[3]
He was born with a stutter and has said he had a hard time fitting in.[4] Raised in nearby Beckley, West Virginia, he was thirteen years old when his father died.[4]

Withers enlisted with the United States Navy at the age of 18 and served for nine years, during which time he got over his stutter and became interested in singing and writing songs.

Discharged from the Navy in 1965, he relocated to Los Angeles in 1967 for a musical career.[4][5]

Withers worked as an assembler for several different companies, including Douglas Aircraft Corporation, while recording demo tapes with his own money, shopping them around and performing in clubs at night.

When he debuted with the song "Ain't No Sunshine" he refused to resign from his job because of his belief that the music business was a fickle industry.[4]

Career

Sussex records

During early 1970, Withers' demonstration tape was auditioned favorably by Clarence Avant, owner of Sussex Records.

Avant signed Withers to a record deal and assigned former Stax Records stalwart Booker T. Jones to produce Withers' first album.[4]

Four three-hour recording sessions were planned for the album, but funding caused the album to be recorded in three sessions with a six-month break between the second and final sessions.

Just as I Am was released in 1971 with the tracks, "Ain't No Sunshine" and "Grandma's Hands" as singles.

The album features Stephen Stills playing lead guitar.[6]

On the cover of the album, Withers is pictured at his job at Weber Aircraft in Burbank, California, holding his lunch pail.[3]

The album was a success and Withers began touring with a band assembled from members of The Watts 103rd Street Rhythm Band: drummer James Gadson, guitarist Benorce Blackmon, keyboardist Ray Jackson, and bassist Melvin Dunlap.

At the 14th annual Grammy Awards on Tuesday, March 14, 1972, Withers won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song for "Ain't No Sunshine."

The track had already sold over one million copies and was awarded a platinum disc by the RIAA in September 1971.[7]

During a hiatus from touring, Withers recorded his second album, Still Bill. The single, "Lean on Me" went to number one the week of July 8, 1972.

It was Withers' second gold single with confirmed sales in excess of three million.[7]

His follow-up, "Use Me" released in August 1972, became his third million seller, with the R.I.A.A. gold disc award taking place on October 12, 1972.[7]

His performance at Carnegie Hall on October 6, 1972, was recorded, and released as the live album Bill Withers, Live at Carnegie Hall on November 30, 1972. In 1974, Withers recorded the album +'Justments.

Due to a legal dispute with the Sussex company, Withers was unable to record for some time thereafter.

During this time, he wrote and produced two songs on the Gladys Knight & the Pips record I Feel a Song, and in October 1974 performed in concert together with James Brown, Etta James, and B. B. King four weeks prior to the historic Rumble in the Jungle fight between Foreman and Ali in Zaire.[8]

Footage of his performance was included in the 1996 documentary film When We Were Kings, and he is heard on the accompanying soundtrack.

Other footage of his performance is included in the 2008 documentary film Soul Power which is based on archival footage of the 1974 Zaire concert.

Columbia records

After Sussex Records folded, Withers signed with Columbia Records in 1975.

His first album release with the label, Making Music, Making Friends, included the single "She's Lonely", which was featured in the film Looking for Mr. Goodbar.

During the next three years he released an album each year with Naked & Warm (1976), Menagerie (1977, containing the successful "Lovely Day"), "Bout Love" (1978) and "Get on Down"; the latter song also included on the Looking for Mr. Goodbar soundtrack.

In 1976, Withers performed "Ain't No Sunshine" on Saturday Night Live.[9]

Due to problems with Columbia and being unable to get songs approved for his album, he concentrated on joint projects between 1977 and 1985, including the successful "Just the Two of Us", with jazz saxophonist Grover Washington, Jr., which was released during June 1980.[10]

It won a Grammy on February 24, 1982. Withers next did "Soul Shadows" with The Crusaders, and "In the Name of Love" with Ralph MacDonald, the latter being nominated for a Grammy for vocal performance.

In 1982, Withers was a featured vocalist on the album, "Dreams in Stone" by French singer Michel Berger.

This record included one composition co-written and sung by Withers,[11] an upbeat disco song about New York City entitled "Apple Pie."[12] The album was not released in North America, although it contains several songs about America.

In 1985 came Watching You Watching Me, which featured the Top 40-rated R&B single "Oh Yeah", and ended Withers' business association with Columbia Records.

Withers stated in interviews that a lot of the songs approved for the album, in particular, two of the first three singles released, were the same songs which were rejected in 1982, hence contributing significantly to the eight year hiatus between albums.[10]

Withers also stated it was frustrating seeing his record label release an album for Mr. T, an actor, when they were preventing him, an actual singer, from releasing his own.

He toured with Jennifer Holiday in 1985 to promote what would be his final studio album.[10]

His disdain for Columbia's A&R executives or "blaxperts", as he termed them, trying to exert control over how he should sound if he wanted to sell more albums, played a part in him making the decision to not record or resign to a record label after 1985, effectively ending his performing career, even though remixes of his previously recorded music were released after his 'retirement'.[13][4][14][15][16]

Finding musical success later in life than most, at 32, he has said he was socialized as a 'regular guy' who had a life before the music so did not feel that inherent need to keep recording once he fell out of love with the industry.[4]

He has also stated that he doesn't miss touring & performing live and does not regret leaving music behind.[4][13]

He seemingly no longer suffers from the speech impediment of stuttering that affected him during his recording career.[13]

Post-Columbia career

In 1988, a new version of "Lovely Day" from the 1977 Menagerie album, entitled "Lovely Day (Sunshine Mix)" and remixed by Ben Liebrand, reached the Top 10 in the United Kingdom, leading to Withers' performance on the long-running Top of the Pops that year.

The original release had reached #7 in the UK in early 1978, and the re-release climbed higher to #4.

In 1987, he received his ninth Grammy Award nomination and on March 2, 1988, his third Grammy for Best Rhythm and Blues Song as songwriter for the re-recording of "Lean on Me" by Club Nouveau on their debut album Life, Love and Pain, released in 1986 on Warner Bros. Records.

In 1996, a portion of his song "Grandma's Hands" was sampled in the song "No Diggity" by BLACKstreet, featuring Dr. Dre.

The single went to Number 1 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart and sold 1.6 million copies and won a Grammy in 1999 for Best R&B Performance by a Duo or Group with Vocals.

Withers contributed two songs to Jimmy Buffett's 2004 release License to Chill. Following the reissues of Still Bill on January 28, 2003, and Just As I Am on March 8, 2005, there was speculation of previously unreleased material being issued as a new album.[17]

In 2006, Sony gave back to Withers his previously unreleased tapes.

In 2007, "Lean on Me" was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame.

On January 26, 2014, at the 56th annual Grammy Awards in Los Angeles, Bill Withers: The Complete Sussex & Columbia Albums Collection, featuring Withers' 9 studio albums, received the "Best Historical" Grammy Award (in a tie with The Rolling Stones' "Charlie Is My Darling - Ireland 1965.")

The award was presented to Leo Sacks, who produced the collection, and the mastering engineers Mark Wilder, Joseph M. Palmaccio and Tom Ruff.

On April 18, 2015, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame by Stevie Wonder.[18][2]

On October 1, 2015, there was a tribute concert at Carnegie Hall in his honor, featuring D'Angelo, Ed Sheeran, Sheryl Crow, Dr. John, Michael McDonald recreating his 1973 concert album, Live at Carnegie Hall, along with later Withers material.[19]

Personal life

Withers married actress Denise Nicholas in 1973, during her stint on the sitcom Room 222.

The couple divorced the following year.[20]

In 1976, Withers married Marcia Withers née Johnson and they had two children, Todd and Kori.[4]

Marcia eventually assumed the direct management of his Beverly Hills-based publishing companies, in which his children also became involved as they became adults.[21]

Source: Wikipedia.org


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The Main Ingredient~ "Everybody Plays The Fool"


The Main Ingredient is an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song "Everybody Plays the Fool".


The Main Ingredient
TheMainIngredientByPhilKonstantin.jpg
The Main Ingredient in 2008.
Background information
Origin Harlem, New York, U.S.
Genres Soul, R&B, funk
Years active 1964–1977, 1979–1981, 1986–1991, 1999–present
Labels Red Bird Records (1964)
RCA Records (1970–1981)
Polydor Records (1989)
Magnatar (2001)
Kent Soul (2007–present)

Members Cuba Gooding, Sr.
Jerome Jackson
Stanley Alston

Past members Donald McPherson (deceased)
Tony "Panama" Silvester (deceased)
Luther Simmons
Carl Tompkins
Larry Moore
Carlton Blount
George Staley, Sr.

 

Early history

The group was formed in Harlem, New York in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons, Jr., and Panama-born Tony Silvester.

They made their first recordings for Leiber & Stoller's Red Bird label, but soon changed their name to the Insiders and signed with RCA.

After a couple of singles, they changed their name once again in 1968, this time permanently to the Main Ingredient, taking the name from a Coke bottle.

The Main Ingredient then teamed up with record producer Bert DeCoteaux.

Under his direction, the Main Ingredient reached the R&B Top 30 for the first time in 1970 with "You've Been My Inspiration". A cover of The Impressions' "I'm So Proud" broke the Top 20, and "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)" went into the Top 10.

They scored again with the McPherson-penned black power anthem "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," but tragedy struck in 1971.

Don McPherson, who had suddenly taken ill with leukemia, died unexpectedly.

Stunned,Tony Silvester and Luther Simmons regrouped with new lead singer Cuba Gooding, Sr., who had served as a backing vocalist on some of their previous recordings and had filled in on tour during McPherson's brief illness.

The Gooding era began auspiciously enough with the million-selling smash "Everybody Plays the Fool", which hit number two R&B and number three pop to become the group's biggest hit.

It sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. in September 1972.[1]

The accompanying album, Bitter Sweet, became their first to hit the Top 10 on the R&B album chart; its follow-up, 1973's Afrodisiac, featured several songs written or co-written by Stevie Wonder, although it did not produce any huge successes on the singles charts.

They peaked at number eight on the R&B chart in 1974 with "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely", which sold over a million copies,[1] and also reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100.

The track peaked at number twenty-seven in the UK Singles Chart in July 1974, although it was their only chart presence in the UK.[2]

In 1975, the group recorded several songs co-written by Leon Ware, including the R&B Top Ten "Rolling Down a Mountainside".

By this point, however, Tony Silvester was harboring other ambitions; he released a solo album called Magic Touch that year, and left the group to form a production team with DeCoteaux.

The two of them scored a Top 10 Pop and R&B smash with their production of Ben E.King's hit "Supernatural Thing" in 1975.

Later years

Silvester was replaced by Carl Tompkins, and Gooding departed for a solo career on Motown in 1977, which produced two albums; Simmons, meanwhile, left the music industry to work as a stockbroker.

Gooding, Silvester and Simmons reunited as the Main Ingredient in 1979, and recorded two more albums, 1980's Ready for Love and 1981's I Only Have Eyes for You (the latter featured a minor hit in "Evening of Love").

The trio reunited for a second time in 1986, but their Zakia single "Do Me Right" flopped, and Simmons returned to his day job.

He was replaced by Jerome Jackson on the 1989 Polydor album I Just Wanna Love You.

In the wake of Aaron Neville's Top Ten revival of "Everybody Plays the Fool", Gooding resumed his solo career and issued his third album in 1993.

Silvester and Simmons re-formed the Main Ingredient in 1999 with new lead singer Carlton Blount; this line-up recorded Pure Magic in 2001.

Tony Silvester died after a six-year struggle with multiple myeloma on November 27, 2006, at the age of 65, and original member Luther Simmons retired shortly thereafter.

The current line-up of the group consists of Cuba Gooding Sr., Jerome Jackson, and Stanley Alston

 

 Source: Wikipedia.org



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The Man Inside the Man
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