The Originals | |
|---|---|
| Origin | Detroit, Michigan, United States |
| Genres | R&B, soul, disco |
| Years active | 1966–1982, 1989–present |
| Labels | Soul (Motown) |
| Members | Hank Dixon Dillon Gorman Terrie Dixon Defrantz Forrest |
| Past members | Freddie Gorman Walter Gaines Ty Hunter C. P. Spencer Joe Stubbs |
The Originals, often called "Motown's best-kept secret", [1] were a successful Motown R&B and soul group during the late 1960s and the 1970s, most notable for the hits "Baby I'm for Real", "The Bells", and the disco classic "Down to Love Town." Formed in 1966, the group originally consisted of baritone singer Freddie Gorman, tenor/falsetto Walter Gaines, and tenors C. P. Spencer and Hank Dixon (and briefly Joe Stubbs). Ty Hunter replaced Spencer when he left to go solo in the early 1970s. They had all previously sung in other Detroit groups, Spencer having been an original member of the (Detroit) Spinners and Hunter having sung with the Supremes member Scherrie Payne in the group Glass House. Spencer, Gaines, Hunter, and Dixon (at one time or another) were also members of the Voice Masters. As a member of the Holland–Dozier–Gorman writing-production team (before Holland–Dozier–Holland), Gorman (as a mailman) was one of the co-writers of Motown's first number 1 pop hit "Please Mr. Postman", recorded by the Marvelettes. In 1964 the Beatles released their version and in 1975 the Carpenters took it to number 1 again. This was the second time in pop history that a song had reached number 1 twice as "The Twist" by Chubby Checker, reached number 1 in both 1960 and 1961. In 2006, "Please Mr. Postman" was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame.
The group found success in the latter half of the 1960s as background singers for recordings by artists such as Jimmy Ruffin's "What Becomes of the Brokenhearted", Stevie Wonder's "For Once in My Life" and "Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday", David Ruffin's "My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Left Me)", Marvin Gaye's "Chained" and "Just to Keep You Satisfied", Edwin Starr's "War" and "25 Miles", and many more. Much like the Andantes, Motown's in-house female backing group, they are on countless Motown recordings but were never credited.
They recorded their own material for Motown but saw only one single release before 1969. A cover of Lead Belly's "Goodnight Irene" was released in 1966, backed with "Need Your Lovin'" (both featuring Joe Stubbs on lead) but failed to chart. They recorded the song "Suspicion" in 1966, but it was never released as a single. Nevertheless, it has become a Northern soul classic. The track has since been featured on many of their compilation albums and many Northern Soul compilations. The group saw the release of two more singles, "We've Got a Way Out of Love" and "Green Grow the Lilacs", which failed to chart, in 1969.
The group found their biggest commercial success under the guidance of Marvin Gaye, who co-wrote and produced two of the group's hit singles, the doo-wop influenced ballads "Baby, I'm for Real" and "The Bells". [2] The former was such a hit that the group's debut album, 1969's Green Grow the Lilacs, was soon reissued as Baby, I'm for Real. [2] The latter disc, from 1970s Portrait of the Originals, sold more than one million copies and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. [3] Both songs became seminal soul music recordings, and both have since been covered: 1990s R&B group After 7 re-recorded "Baby, I'm for Real" and made it a hit again in 1992, while another 1990s R&B group, Color Me Badd, re-recorded "The Bells" for one of their albums.
The release of their singles remained constant throughout the early 1970s, although chartings proved lower and more sporadic. The year 1970 saw two album releases and four singles, all of which were top 20 R&B Hits. Ballads like "We Can Make It, Baby" [2] and "God Bless Whoever Sent You", both from Naturally Together, continued the group's hit-making streak. "Don't Stop Now", an uptempo number produced by Smokey Robinson, also became popular, despite not being released as a single.
Chart appearances subsequently became less frequent, with only two appearances on any US charts between 1971 and 1975. In this time the group went through changes in personnel and style, with C.P. Spencer leaving in 1972 and being replaced by former the Glass House member Ty Hunter (July 14, 1940 – February 24, 1981 [4] ). [2] 1974's Game Called Love saw them experimenting with a more country sound [2] (surprisingly the title track was written and produced by Stevie Wonder) and 1975's California Sunset was an album of modern soul written and produced entirely by Lamont Dozier. [2] Communique from 1976 marked the group's first foray into disco, expanded on with 1977's Down to Love Town. [2] In total the group released some eight albums during their tenure at Motown. [2]
Although the group went on to have more modest success in both the soul and disco fields near the end of the decade, including "Down to Love Town", a No. 1 dance chart hit, and their early hit songs. The group had left Motown in 1977, releasing two albums for Columbia and their final album for the independent label Phase II. Spencer returned briefly in the late 1970s, but after the death of Ty Hunter, on February 24, 1981, [5] who died of lung cancer, [4] the group ceased recording and disbanded the following year. [2] They later reunited and recorded for Ian Levine's Motorcity Records; [2] the group recorded several songs together including "Take the Only Way Out" which was scheduled for a single release, and individual members (including former member Joe Stubbs) also made some solo recordings. [2] The group duetted with former Motown labelmates the Supremes for one single, "Back by Popular Demand" in 1991. [2] Freddie Gorman also released a handful of solo singles in the 1980s and later released a solo CD (as Freddi G) entitled It's All About Love (1997).
Joe Stubbs, brother of Four Tops lead Levi Stubbs, died on February 5, 1998. [6] He had been with the group for about six months in 1966, as well a member of the Falcons, the Contours, and 100 Proof (Aged In Soul). C. P. Spencer died on October 20, 2004, and the group's spokesman, Freddie Gorman, followed on June 13, 2006. [7] Walter Gaines died January 17, 2012, after a long illness. [8] Dixon is now the only surviving, and active, founding member of the original group.
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Following the death of Freddie Gorman in 2006, longtime member Hank Dixon and Hank's daughter Terrie Dixon reformed the Originals as a live touring act, with Freddie's son songwriter and producer Dillon F. Gorman, plus the son of Gene Chandler, Defrantz Forrest, to complete the line-up.
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [9] | US R&B [9] | ||||||
| 1969 | Green Grow the Lilacs [A] | 174 | 18 | Soul | |||
| 1970 | Portrait of the Originals | 198 | 47 | ||||
| Naturally Together | — | 44 | |||||
| 1972 | Def·i·ni·tions | — | — | ||||
| 1974 | Game Called Love | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | California Sunset | — | 51 | Motown | |||
| 1976 | Communique | — | — | Soul | |||
| 1977 | Down to Love Town | — | — | ||||
| 1978 | Another Time, Another Place | — | — | Fantasy | |||
| 1979 | Come Away with Me | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | Yesterday and Today | — | — | Phase II | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | ||||||
| 1990 | Baby, I'm for Real | — | — | Motown | |||
| 1999 | The Very Best of the Originals | — | — | ||||
| 2002 | The Essential Collection | — | — | Spectrum | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
| Year | Single (A-side, B-side) Both sides from same album except where indicated | Peak chart positions | Album | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [10] | US R&B [10] | US Dance [10] | |||||
| 1967 | "Good Night Irene" b/w "Need Your Lovin' (Want You Back)" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | ||
| 1969 | "We've Got a Way Out Love" b/w "You're the One" | — | — | — | Green Grow the Lilacs | ||
| "Green Grow the Lilacs" b/w "You're the One" | — | — | — | ||||
| "Baby, I'm for Real" b/w "Moment of Truth" | 14 | 1 | — | ||||
| 1970 | "The Bells" b/w "I'll Wait for You" | 12 | 4 | — | Portrait of the Originals | ||
| "We Can Make It Baby" / | 74 | 20 | — | Naturally Together | |||
| "I Like Your Style" | — | 20 | — | Portrait of the Originals | |||
| "God Bless Whoever Sent You" b/w "Desperate Young Man" (non-album single) | 53 | 14 | — | Naturally Together | |||
| 1971 | "Keep Me" b/w "A Man Without Love" (from Naturally Together) | — | — | — | Definitions | ||
| 1972 | "I'm Someone Who Cares" b/w "Once I Have You (I Will Never Let You Go)" (from Naturally Together) | 113 | — | — | |||
| 1973 | "Be My Love" b/w "Endlessly Love" | — | — | — | Game Called Love | ||
| "There's a Chance When You Love You'll Lose" b/w "First Lady (Sweet Mother's Love)" | — | — | — | Non-album tracks | |||
| 1974 | "Supernatural Voodoo Woman" (Part 1) b/w Part 2 (Non-album track) | — | — | — | Game Called Love | ||
| "Game Called Love" b/w "Ooh You (Put a Crush on Me)" | — | — | — | ||||
| "You're My Only World" b/w "So Near (And Yet So Far)" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1975 | "Good Lovin' Is Just a Dime Away" b/w "Nothing Can Take the Place (Of Your Love)" | — | 53 | — | California Sunset | ||
| "Fifty Years" b/w "Financial Affair" Unreleased | — | — | — | ||||
| "Everybody's Got to Do Something" b/w Instrumental version of A-side | — | — | — | Communique | |||
| 1976 | "Touch" b/w "Ooh You (Put a Crush on Me)" (from Game of Love) | — | — | — | |||
| "Down To Love Town" b/w "Just to Be Closer to You" | 47 | 93 | 1 | ||||
| 1977 | "Call on Your Six-Million Dollar Man" b/w "Mother Nature's Best" | — | — | 6 | Down to Love Town | ||
| 1978 | "Temporarily Out of Order" b/w "It's Alright" | — | — | — | Another Time, Another Place | ||
| 1979 | "Blue Moon" b/w "Ladies (We Need You)" (from Another Time, Another Place) | — | — | — | Come Away with Me | ||
| "J-E-A-L-O-U-S (Means I Love You)" b/w "Jezebel (You Got Me Under Your Spell)" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1981 | Medley: "Waitin' on a Letter"/"Mr. Postman" b/w "The Magic Is You" | — | 74 | — | Yesterday and Today | ||
| "The Magic Is You" b/w "Let Me Dance" | — | — | — | ||||
| 1982 | "Baby, I'm for Real - '82" b/w "The Magic Is You" | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of motor and town, has become a nickname for Detroit, where the label was originally headquartered.
The Funk Brothers were a group of Detroit-based session musicians who performed the backing to most Motown recordings from 1959 until the company moved to Los Angeles in 1972.
The Andantes were an American female session group for the Motown record label during the 1960s. Composed of Jackie Hicks, Marlene Barrow, and Louvain Demps, the group sang background vocals on numerous Motown recordings, including songs by Martha Reeves & the Vandellas, the Temptations, Stevie Wonder, the Four Tops, Jimmy Ruffin, Edwin Starr, the Supremes, the Marvelettes, Marvin Gaye and the Isley Brothers, among others. It is estimated they appeared on 20,000 recordings.
Diana & Marvin is a duets album by American soul musicians Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye, released October 26, 1973 on Motown. Recording sessions for the album took place between 1971 and 1973 at Motown Recording Studios in Hollywood, California. Gaye and Ross were widely recognized at the time as two of the top pop music performers.
Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations is a collaborative album combining Motown's two best selling groups, Diana Ross & the Supremes and the Temptations. Issued by Motown in late 1968 to coincide with the broadcast of the Supremes/Temptations TCB television special, the album was a success, reaching #2 on the Billboard 200. Diana Ross & the Supremes Join the Temptations spent four weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart.
Meet the Supremes is the debut studio album by The Supremes, released in late 1962 on Motown.
"For Once in My Life" is a song written by Ron Miller and Orlando Murden for Motown Records' Stein & Van Stock publishing company, and first recorded in 1965.
"Yester-Me, Yester-You, Yesterday" is a 1969 soul song written by Ron Miller and Bryan Wells, released by American Motown singer-songwriter-musician Stevie Wonder on the album My Cherie Amour (1969). The song continued Wonder's success on the pop charts. It reached number 7 on the pop singles chart and become Wonder's ninth Top 10 single of the 1960s. The single fared even better on the UK singles chart where it reached number 2 in November 1969, and at that time, it was Wonder's biggest UK hit.
"Baby, I'm for Real" is a soul ballad written by Marvin Gaye and Anna Gordy Gaye, produced by Marvin and recorded and released by American Motown vocal group The Originals for the Soul label issued in 1969.
"The Bells" is a 1970 single recorded by The Originals for Motown's Soul label, produced by Marvin Gaye and co-written by Gaye, his wife Anna Gordy Gaye, Iris Gordy, and Elgie Stover.
Tamla Motown Gold: The Sound of Young America is a three-disc compilation album released by the Tamla Motown label in 2001. It features all the hits from the label in the 1960s, by various artists.
"Gonna Give Her All the Love I've Got" is a 1967 Soul song, originally recorded and made a hit by Jimmy Ruffin on Motown's Soul Label imprint. Ruffin's 1967 original version, from his album Jimmy Ruffin Sings Top Ten, reached the Pop Top 30, peaking at #29, and was a Top 20 R&B Hit as well, peaking at #14. It was also a hit in Britain, reaching #26 on the UK Singles Chart. The song has a social context: it depicts a man anticipating his release from prison on the morrow, when he'll return home on a train to "the girl that I left behind," promising himself that he will reward her steadfast love for him by "giv[ing] her all the love [he's] got." The song was written by Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong and produced by Whitfield.
"How Can I Forget" was originally recorded as a love ballad by Motown group The Temptations in 1968 and was re-recorded in a psychedelic soul/funk styling by fellow Motown artist, Marvin Gaye in 1969. His version, released on Motown's first subsidiary, Tamla, became a modest hit that almost reached the Top 40 of the pop charts while peaking at number-eighteen on the Hot Selling Soul Singles chart in 1970. Marvin's recording was featured on his That's the Way Love Is album. The song is also notable for being one of the shortest recordings for both The Tempts and for Gaye; recorded when most songs are over three minutes, its length is just under two.
Motown Chartbusters is a series of compilation albums first released by EMI under licence on the Tamla Motown label in Britain. In total, 12 editions were released in the UK between 1967 and 1982. Volumes 1 and 2 were originally called British Motown Chartbusters; after this the title Motown Chartbusters was used.
Paul Riser is an American trombonist and Motown musical arranger who was responsible for co-writing and arranging dozens of top ten hit records. His legacy as one of the "Funk Brothers" is similar to that of most of the other "Brothers", as his career has been overlooked and overshadowed by the stars of Motown that became household names. Some of the Funk Brothers he worked with include: Earl Van Dyke, Johnny Griffith, Robert White, Eddie Willis, Joe Messina, Dennis Coffey, Wah Wah Watson, James Jamerson, Bob Babbitt, Eddie Watkins, Richard "Pistol" Allen, Uriel Jones, Andrew Smith, Jack Ashford, Valerie Simpson, Eddie "Bongo" Brown, Benny Benjamin, Cornelius Grant, Joe Hunter, Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, Marcus Belgrave, Teddy Buckner and Stevie Wonder.
"Pops, We Love You " is a 1978 single recorded and released by Motown stars Diana Ross, Marvin Gaye, Smokey Robinson and Stevie Wonder, as a tribute to Berry "Pops" Gordy Sr., father of Motown founder Berry Gordy, who had died that year from cancer.
Freddie Gorman was an American musician and record producer, most famous as a singer, songwriter for the Motown label in the late 1960s and mid 1970s.
Joe Stubbs was an American R&B/soul singer who became the lead singer of four different groups throughout his recording career. He was the younger brother of The Four Tops' lead Levi Stubbs.
Anna Ruby Gaye was an American businesswoman, composer and songwriter. An elder sister of Motown founder Berry Gordy, she became a record executive in the mid-to-late 1950s distributing records released on Checker and Gone Records before forming the Anna label with Billy Davis and her sister Gwen Gordy Fuqua. Gordy later became known as a songwriter for several hits including the Originals' "Baby, I'm for Real", and at least two songs on Marvin Gaye's What's Going On album. The first wife of Gaye, their turbulent marriage later served as inspiration for Gaye's 15th studio album, Here, My Dear.
"Don't You Miss Me a Little Bit Baby" is a 1967 soul song originally recorded by Motown singer Jimmy Ruffin and released on the company's Soul subsidiary label.
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