The Spinners

The Spinners are a Detroit, Michigan-based soul vocal group active since 1954 (see 1954 in music), and most popular during the 1970s. The group still tours as of 2006.

The Spinners are known in the United Kingdom as The Detroit Spinners or The Motown Spinners because a Liverpool-based folk band had taken the name "The Spinners" in Britain during the 1960s.

In 1954 a group of friends in Ferndale High School in Ferndale, Michigan, just outside Detroit, came together to make music. Billy Henderson, Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson, C.P. Spencer, and James Edwards called themselves The Domingoes. James Edwards lasted only a few weeks; he was replaced by Bobbie Smith, who sang lead on most of the Spinners' early records. C.P. Spencer left the group shortly afterwards, and would later go on to be a member of the Voice Masters and The Originals. He was replaced by George Dixon. The group would also rename themselves The Spinners at this time.


1961-1971: A decade in the wilderness
The Spinners first hit the charts in August of 1961 on Harvey Fuqua's Tri-Phi Records, with "That's What Girls Are Made For," peaking at number 27. Bobby Smith sang lead vocal on this track, coached by Fuqua (legend has it that Fuqua sang the lead, but that legend has been debunked by both Fuqua and Smith). The group's followup, "Love (I'm So Glad) I Found You" (with lead vocals by Smith), would reach number 91 that November, but none of their other Tri-Phi singles charted.

James Edwards' brother, Edgar "Chico" Edwards, would replace Dixon in the group in 1963, at which time Tri-Phi and the entire artist roster was bought out by Berry Gordy of Motown Records. The Spinners were then assigned to the Motown label.

In 1964, they made their debut at the Apollo Theater and won instant acclaim, a rare feat at the time. But with the exception of "I'll Always Love You," which hit #35 in 1965, success mostly eluded them during the 1960s. After "I'll Always Love You", they released one single a year from 1966-1969 inclusive, but none charted on the Billboard Hot 100.

With commercial success virtually non-existent, during much of this decade the Spinners would be used by Motown as road managers, chaperones and chauffeurs for other groups, and even as shipping clerks. G.C. Cameron replaced Edgar "Chico" Edwards in 1967, and in 1969, the group switched to the Motown-owned V.I.P. imprint. (The label name is somewhat ironic, given that V.I.P. was generally considered a substandard imprint behind Motown, Gordy, Tamla, and Soul).

In 1970, after a five-year chart absence they hit #14 with writer/producer Stevie Wonder's composition, "It's A Shame", and charted again the following year with another song Wonder wrote and produced, "We'll Have It Made" from their new album Second Time Around. However, these were their last two singles for V.I.P.

Shortly after the release of Second Time Around, legend has it that Atlantic Records recording artist Aretha Franklin suggested the group finish out their Motown contract, and sign with Atlantic. The group made the switch -- except for Cameron who elected to leave the group and remain with Motown as a solo artist. Singer Philippé Wynne then joined The Spinners as Cameron's replacement and the group's new lead singer.


The Hit Years with Philippe Wynne
When The Spinners signed to Atlantic in 1972, they were a respected but commercially unremarkable singing group who had never had a top-ten pop hit -- despite having been a recording act for over a decade. But under the helm of producer and songwriter Thom Bell, The Spinners would chart five top 100 singles (and two top tens) off their album The Spinners , released in 1972, and go on to be one of the biggest soul groups of the 1970s.

"I'll Be Around" was their first top ten hit, but it was actually the B-side of the first single, "How Could I Let You Get Away". Radio airplay for the B-side led Atlantic to flip the single over, with "I'll Be Around" hitting #3 and "How Could I Let You Get Away" reaching #89.

Follow-up singles "Could It Be I'm Falling in Love" (#4, March 1973), "One of a Kind (Love Affair)" (#11, June 1973), and "Ghetto Child" (#29, September 1973) would cement the group's sudden hit-making reputation -- as well as that of Bell, who was beginning to be recognized for his contributions to Philly soul or "Philadelphia Sound", a precursor to disco.

Following their Atlantic successes, Motown also issued a "Best of the Spinners" LP which featured selections from their Motown/V.I.P. recordings. They also remixed and reissued the 1970 B-Side "Together We Can Make Such Sweet Music" as a 1973 A-Side. In the midst of all their Atlantic hits, it crawled to number #91 US.

The group's 1974 followup album, Mighty Love, would contain three Top 20 hits, "I'm Coming Home," "Love Don't Love Nobody," and the title track. Their biggest hit of the year, however, would be a collaboration with Dionne Warwick (then billed as "Dionne Warwicke"). Their joint effort "Then Came You" would reach #1 in October -- the first chart-topper for either artist. Bell later noted, "Dionne made a face when we finished [the song]. She didn't like it much, but I knew we had something. So we ripped a dollar in two, signed each half and exchanged them. I told her, 'If it doesn't go number one, I'll send you my half.' When it took off, Dionne sent hers back. There was an apology on it."

The band would hit the Top 10 twice in the next two years with "(They Just Can't Stop It) Games People Play" (which would lead to a nickname of "12:45" for bass singer Jackson, after his signature vocal line on the song), and "The Rubberband Man."


[edit] The Post-Wynne Years
Wynne left the group in 1977, to be replaced by Jonathan Edwards. Though this version of the group had minor hits from 1977-79, they failed to hit the pop Top 40 for two years, and parted ways with producer Bell.

The group did manage several big hits in 1980, charting with medleys of "Working My Way Back to You/Forgive Me, Girl" (#2 in March) and "Cupid/I've Loved You for a Long Time" (#4 in July), but a third trip to the well proved one time too many, when "Yesterday Once More/Nothing Remains the Same" failed to break Top 40. The group's last Hot 100 pop hit was a remake of Willie Nelson's "Funny How Time Slips Away," peaking at #67 in 1983. The following year, the group had their last R&B hit with "Right or Wrong".

After some years spent collaborating with Parliament/Funkadelic and working solo, former Spinners member Philippé Wynne would die of a heart attack while performing in Oakland in 1984.


The Spinners now

The Spinners in concert at the Chumash Casino Resort in Santa Ynez, California on March 18, 2006.After their chart career ended, The Spinners continued touring for decades. Even though their last hits were over 20 years ago, the bright lights of their 1972–1976 run of the charts continues to provide for the current members. They are big draws on the oldies and nostalgia concert circuits, and continue to play the music that made them famous.

A voice from their past, G. C. Cameron, would rejoin the group as lead vocalist from 2000 to 2002, (replacing Jonathan Edwards, who left due to illness) but he left them in 2003 to join The Temptations. Frank Washington, formerly of The Futures and The Delfonics, is now the lead vocalist.

In 2004, original member Billy Henderson was dismissed from the group after suing the group's corporation and business manager to obtain financial records. He was replaced by Harold "Spike" Bonhart. Today, the group is actively touring with three of its original members (Jackson, Fambrough and Smith) along with Washington and Bonhart.

In their recently released box set The Chrome Collection, The Spinners were lauded by David Bowie and Elvis Costello. The Spinners were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. On July 27, 2006, The Spinners performed on The Late Show With David Letterman to several standing ovations.

Original member Billy Henderson died due to complications from diabetes on February 2, 2007 at the age of 67.

Ray Charles

Ray Charles Robinson was born in Albany, Georgia to Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman, and Aretha Williams, who stacked boards in a sawmill; the two were never married. The family moved to Greenville, Florida, when Ray was an infant. Bailey had two more families, leaving Aretha to raise the family. When Charles was five, he witnessed his younger brother, George, drown in his silverlarge portable laundry tub.

When he was six, Charles began to go blind, becoming totally blind by the age of seven. Charles never knew exactly why he lost his sight, though there is are sources which suggest Ray's blindness was due to glaucoma. He attended school at the St. Augustine School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine, Florida. He also learned how to write music and play various musical instruments. While he was there, his mother died. His father died two years later.

After he left school, Charles began working as a musician in several bands that played in various styles, including jazz and, in Tampa “with a hillbilly band called The Florida Playboys."

Charles moved to Seattle in 1947 or 1948. He soon started recording, first for the label Swingtime Records, achieving his first hit with "Baby, Let Me Hold Your Hand" in 1951, then signed with Ahmet Ertegün at Atlantic Records a year later.When he entered show business, his name was shortened to Ray Charles to avoid confusion with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson.

Almost immediately after signing with Atlantic, Charles scored his first hit singles with the label with the rap-like "It Should Have Been Me" and the Ertegun-composed "Mess Around", both making the charts in 1953. But it was Charles' "I Got a Woman" (composed with band mate Renald Richard ) that brought the musician to national prominence. The song reached the top of Billboard's R&B singles chart in 1955 and from there until 1959, Charles would have a series of R&B chart-toppers including "This Little Girl of Mine", "Lonely Avenue", "Mary Ann", "Drown in My Own Tears" and "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)". During this time of transition, he recruited a young girl group from New York named the Cookies as his background singing group, changing their name to the Raelettes in the process. In 1959, Charles crossed over to top 40 radio with the release of his impromptu blues number, "What'd I Say", which was initially conceived while Charles was in concert. The song would reach number 1 on the R&B list and would become Charles' first top ten single on the pop charts, peaking at number 6. Charles would also record one of his finest albums, The Genius of Ray Charles, before leaving Atlantic for a more lucrative deal with ABC in 1959. Hit songs such as "Georgia On My Mind", "Hit the Road Jack" and "Unchain My Heart" helped him transition to pop success and his landmark 1962 album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, helped to bring country into the mainstream.

In 1965, Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for nearly 20 years . It was his third arrest for the offense, but he avoided prison time after kicking the habit in a clinic in Los Angeles. He spent a year on parole in 1966.

During the late 1960s and into the 1970s, Charles' releases were hit-or-miss, with some big hits and critically acclaimed work. His version of "Georgia On My Mind", was proclaimed the state song of Georgia on April 24, 1979, with Charles performing it on the floor of the state legislature. He also had success with his unique version of "America the Beautiful." In November 1977 Charles appeared as the host of NBC's Saturday Night Live.

In the late 1980s a number of events increased Charles' recognition among young audiences. He made a cameo appearance in the popular 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1985, "The Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show on NBC. In a Pepsi Cola commercial of the early 1990s, Charles popularized the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby!"

In 1989, Charles recorded a cover version of the Japanese band Southern All Stars' song "Itoshi no Ellie" as "Ellie My Love" for a Suntory TV advertisement, reaching on Japan's Oricon chart. Eventually, it sold more than 400,000 copies, and became that year's best-selling single performed by a Western artist for the Japanese music market.

In the late '80s and early '90s, Charles made appearances on The Super Dave Osbourne Show, where he performed and appeared in a few vignettes where he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for quite a few projects. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit "I'll Be Good To You" in 1990, from Jones' album Back on the Block.

Following Jim Henson's death in 1990, Ray Charles appeared in the one-hour CBS tribute, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. He gave a short speech about the deceased, stating that Henson "took a simple song and a piece of felt and turned it into a moment of great power". Charles was referring to the song It's Not Easy Being Green, which Charles later performed with the rest of the Muppet cast in a tribute to Henson's legacy.

During the sixth season of Designing Women, Ray Charles vocally performed "Georgia On My Mind", rather than the song being rendered by other musicians without lyrics as in the previous five seasons.

Gladys Knight performed Charles' "Georgia On My Mind" during the Opening Ceremonies of the 1996 Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

In 2000, Charles made a special guest appearance on Blues Clues Big Musical Movie as a fictional character named G-Clef. The Temptations also made a guest appearance as his companions. Charles recorded "There It Is" during and after filming with Steve Burns and Traci Paige Johnson. After recording, Charles commented "This has been the most fun I ever had since I met President Reagan in '84."

In 2002 Charles headlined during the Blues Passions Cognac festival in southern France.

In 2002 he took part - with other musicians - in a peace concert in Rome, which was the first event to take place inside the city’s ancient Colosseum since 404 A.D. The event was organized in partnership with the Glocal Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation.

In June, 2003, Ray Charles presented one of his greatest admirers, Van Morrison, with his award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the two sang Morrison's song from the Moondance album, "Crazy Love". This performance is captured on Morrison's 2007 album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3.

In 2003 Charles performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, D.C., at what may have been his final performance in public. Ray Charles' final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles.


Cover of Genius Loves Company, an album released posthumously.He died on June 10, 2004 of Hepatocellular carcinoma (liver cancer) at his home in Beverly Hills, California, surrounded by family and friends. He was interred in the Inglewood Park Cemetery in Inglewood, California.

His final album, Genius Loves Company, released two months after his death, consists of duets with various admirers and contemporaries: B.B. King, Van Morrison, Willie Nelson, James Taylor, Gladys Knight, Michael McDonald, Natalie Cole, Elton John, Bonnie Raitt, Diana Krall, Norah Jones, and Johnny Mathis. The album won eight Grammy Awards, including five for Ray Charles for Best Pop Vocal Album, Album of the Year, Record of the Year and Best Pop Collaboration with Vocals for "Here We Go Again" with Norah Jones, and Best Gospel Performance for "Heaven Help Us All" with Gladys Knight; he also received nods for his duets with Elton John and B.B. King.

The album included a version of Harold Arlen's "Over the Rainbow", sung as a duet by Charles and Johnny Mathis; that recording was later played at his memorial service.

Two more posthumous albums, Genius & Friends (2005) and Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006), were released. Genius & Friends consisted of duets recorded from 1997-2005 with artists were personally chosen by Ray Charles. Ray Sings, Basie Swings consists of archived vocals of Ray Charles from a live 1973 performance added to Count Basie's music. Charles' vocals recorded from the concert mixing board were added to a new accompaniment by the Count Basie Orchestra (among others). Gregg Field, who had performed as a drummer with both Charles and Basie, produced this album.