SOUND PROJECTIONS
AN ONLINE QUARTERLY MUSIC MAGAZINE
EDITOR: KOFI NATAMBU
WINTER, 2019
VOLUME SIX NUMBER THREE
ANTHONY BRAXTON
Featuring the Musics and Aesthetic Visions of:
ISAAC HAYES
(December 29—January 4)
THOM BELL
(JANUARY 5-11)
THE O'JAYS
(January 12-18)
OTIS REDDING
(January 19-25)
THE STYLISTICS
(January 26-February 1)
BOOKER T. JONES
(February 2-8)
THE STAPLE SINGERS
(February 9-15)
OTIS RUSH
(February 16-22)
ERROLL GARNER
(February 23-March 1)
EARL HINES
(March 2-8)
BO DIDDLEY
(March 9–15)
BIG BILL BROONZY
(March 16–22)https://www.allmusic.com/artist/the-ojays-mn0000892771
/biography
THE O'JAYS
(1960-2018)
Artist Biography by Steve Huey
Rivaled only by the Spinners as soul's greatest vocal group of the '70s, the O'Jays are one of Philadelphia soul's most popular and long-lived outfits. The O'Jays'
prime recordings epitomize the Philly soul sound: smooth, rich
harmonies backed by elaborate arrangements, lush strings, and a touch of
contemporary funk. They worked extensively with the legendary
production/songwriting team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff,
and were the flagship act of the duo's Philadelphia International label
with Top Ten pop hits such as "Love Train," "For the Love of Money,"
and "I Love Music," all three of which were nominated for R&B group
vocal Grammy Awards. The O'Jays were equally at home singing sweet love ballads or uptempo dance tunes, the latter of which were often mouthpieces for Gamble & Huff's social concerns. After stringing together nine consecutive gold or platinum albums for PIR, from Back Stabbers (1972) through Identify Yourself
(1979), the O'Jays continued to perform and occasionally added to their
discography. Their later releases included Top Ten R&B albums such
as Let Me Touch You (1987) and Emotionally Yours (1991), as well as For the Love...
(2001), nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional
R&B Vocal Album, and final full-length, The Last Word (2019). During
the period between the two last mentioned titles, the O'Jays were
inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
The O'Jays were formed in 1958 in Canton, Ohio, where all five original members -- Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell, Bill Isles, and Bobby Massey -- attended McKinley High School. Inspired to start a singing group after seeing a performance by Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers, they first called themselves the Triumphs, then switched to the Mascots
in 1960. The Mascots made their recording debut in 1961 with the single
"Miracles," issued on the Cincinnati-based King label. It earned them a
fan in the influential Cleveland DJ Eddie O'Jay, who gave them some
airplay and career advice; in turn, the group renamed itself the O'Jays
in 1963, after having recorded for Apollo Records with producer Don Davis. Under their new name, the O'Jays signed with Imperial and hooked up with producer H.B. Barnum, who helmed their first charting single, 1963's "Lonely Drifter," plus several more singles that followed. Isles left the group in 1965 and was not replaced, leaving them a quartet; late in the year, they released their first-ever album, Comin' Through.
In 1967, the O'Jays left Imperial for Bell, where they landed their
first Top Ten single on the R&B charts, "I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow
(Than I Was Today)." Discouraged by the difficulty of following that
success, the group members considered throwing in the towel until they
met Gamble & Huff -- then working as a production team for their fledgling Neptune label -- in 1968. Gamble & Huff
took an interest in the group, and they recorded several successful
R&B singles together; however, Neptune folded in 1971, leaving the
O'Jays in limbo, and Massey decided to exit the group.
Fortunately, Gamble & Huff formed another label, Philadelphia International, and made the O'Jays -- now a trio -- one of their first signings. The O'Jays' label debut, Back Stabbers,
released in 1972, became a classic landmark of Philly soul, and finally
made them stars. The paranoid title track hit the pop Top Five, and the
utopian "Love Train" went all the way to number one (both singles
topped the R&B chart). It was the beginning of a remarkable run that
produced nearly 30 chart singles and three Grammy nominations over the
course of the '70s, plus a series of best-selling albums and a bevy of
number one hits on the R&B chart. The O'Jays followed up their breakthrough with another classic LP, Ship Ahoy,
in 1973; it featured the number one R&B hit "For the Love of
Money," a funky protest number that still ranks as one of their
signature songs, as well as the ten-minute title track, an ambitious
suite recounting the ocean journeys of African slaves. Released in 1975,
Survival was another hit, spinning off the hits "Let Me Make Love to You" and the R&B number one "Give the People What They Want." Family Reunion
found the O'Jays making concessions to the emerging disco sound, which
got them their third Top Five pop hit in "I Love Music, Pt. 1."
Unfortunately, William Powell was diagnosed with cancer that year, and although he continued to record with the group for a time -- appearing on 1976's Message in Our Music -- he was forced to retire from live performing, and passed away on May 26, 1977.
Powell's replacement was Sammy Strain, a 12-year veteran of Little Anthony & the Imperials. The O'Jays regrouped on the albums Travelin' at the Speed of Thought (1977) and So Full of Love
(1978), the latter of which produced their final Top Five pop hit, "Use
ta Be My Girl." The group kept plugging away, and never completely
disappeared from the R&B singles and albums charts, completing their
PIR run in 1987 with Let Me Touch You, which melded their classic sound with up-to-date commercial production. Powered by the Gamble & Huff-penned R&B number one "Lovin' You," as well as the increased visibility of Eddie Levert's sons Gerald and Sean (two-thirds of the hit group LeVert), the album gave their career a much-needed shot in the arm.
Released in 1989, Serious supplied another big R&B hit in "Have You Had Your Love Today?"; with Nathaniel Best replacing Sammy Strain, 1991's Emotionally Yours and 1993's Heartbreaker also placed very well on the R&B chart. The O'Jays'
comeback didn't really extend to the pop side, and didn't attract the
sort of critical praise earned by their '70s classics; as the new jack
swing craze subsided, so did the O'Jays' recording activity, though they
remained consistent draws on the live circuit. In 1997, now with Eric Grant joining Levert and Williams, they returned with Love You to Tears. A recording layoff followed, during which the O'Jays signed with MCA for one album, For the Love..., which was released in 2001 and nominated for a Grammy in the category of Best Traditional R&B Vocal Album. Imagination followed in 2004 on Sanctuary Records. The next year, they were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame. Christmas with the O'Jays
appeared on the Saguaro Road label in 2010. They returned in 2018 with
the protest song "Above the Law," a sonically nostalgic, lyrically
topical number co-written by fellow soul legend Betty Wright. The single preceded what the O'Jays promised to be their final studio album, 2019's The Last Word.
https://blackpast.org/aah/o-jays-1960
Through the 1970’s, the O’Jays were considered one of the most successful and familiar R&B groups. Hits like “Love Train”, “For the Love of Money,” and “Back Stabbers” became the anthems of an era. With the help of producer duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the O’Jays were able to cultivate a unique sound that has endured for generations.
In 1950, Walter Williams and Eddie Levert met as children in Canton, Ohio. Inspired by singing groups that performed at the local auditorium in Canton, they decided to try a singing career for themselves. In 1958, they started a doo-wop group with their high school friends Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell. This first group was called the Triumphs, and they began by performing in local YMCA Urban League events, as well as sock hops and pre-recorded shows. They eventually changed their names to the Mascots, and continued to be a local success.
Through their performances they met Eddie O’Jay, a DJ who would be one of their early managers. O’Jay introduced the group to Berry Gordy of Motown Records. While Gordy did not sign the Mascots at the time, his ex-wife Thelma Gordy expressed interest in their music. Thelma believed in the group’s talent; however she thought they needed to change their name. They would settle on the O’Jays, as a nod to their manager.
After briefly recording with a series of record labels during the 1960’s, the O’Jays found themselves with little commercial success. By 1970, the group had become a trio after Isles and Massey left. However, the O’Jays would catch their break when they met production and songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff after performing a show at the Apollo Theater. This would lead them to sign with Philadelphia International Records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and begin a successful partnership with Gamble and Huff.
The O’Jays’ collaboration with Gamble and Huff led to their greatest commercial successes. The 1972 hit “Love Train” would help lead the O’Jays to their first bestselling album, Back Stabbers. To date, Back Stabbers has sold over one million copies. In addition to numerous Grammy nominations, the group had eight #1 R&B Hits between 1972 and 1978. The group also had five LP’s that went Gold, and three went Platinum.
In 1975, William Powell was diagnosed with cancer and discontinued his touring with the group. He passed away in 1977, leaving the group with two of its original members. Sammy Strain from Little Anthony and the Imperials joined the group after Powell’s death, and the group continued touring until Strain left to rejoin the Imperials. After a stint with Nathaniel Best from 1992 to 1997, singer Eric Grant replaced him. Williams, Levert, and Grant continue recording and performing and have been an influence for many modern R&B acts. The O’Jays were recognized for this influence when in 2005, the group was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Sources:
Jessica Abraham, “The O'Jays Walter Williams, Sr: An Inspiration, Legend and Man of Great Wisdom.” AXS, 24 Feb. 2015, https://www.axs.com/news/the-o-jays-walter-williams-sr-an-inspiration-legend-and-man-of-great-w-41834;
“The O'Jays.” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ojays.
https://blackpast.org/aah/o-jays-1960
The O’Jays (1960-Present)
Through the 1970’s, the O’Jays were considered one of the most successful and familiar R&B groups. Hits like “Love Train”, “For the Love of Money,” and “Back Stabbers” became the anthems of an era. With the help of producer duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, the O’Jays were able to cultivate a unique sound that has endured for generations.
In 1950, Walter Williams and Eddie Levert met as children in Canton, Ohio. Inspired by singing groups that performed at the local auditorium in Canton, they decided to try a singing career for themselves. In 1958, they started a doo-wop group with their high school friends Bill Isles, Bobby Massey, and William Powell. This first group was called the Triumphs, and they began by performing in local YMCA Urban League events, as well as sock hops and pre-recorded shows. They eventually changed their names to the Mascots, and continued to be a local success.
Through their performances they met Eddie O’Jay, a DJ who would be one of their early managers. O’Jay introduced the group to Berry Gordy of Motown Records. While Gordy did not sign the Mascots at the time, his ex-wife Thelma Gordy expressed interest in their music. Thelma believed in the group’s talent; however she thought they needed to change their name. They would settle on the O’Jays, as a nod to their manager.
After briefly recording with a series of record labels during the 1960’s, the O’Jays found themselves with little commercial success. By 1970, the group had become a trio after Isles and Massey left. However, the O’Jays would catch their break when they met production and songwriting duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff after performing a show at the Apollo Theater. This would lead them to sign with Philadelphia International Records in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, and begin a successful partnership with Gamble and Huff.
The O’Jays’ collaboration with Gamble and Huff led to their greatest commercial successes. The 1972 hit “Love Train” would help lead the O’Jays to their first bestselling album, Back Stabbers. To date, Back Stabbers has sold over one million copies. In addition to numerous Grammy nominations, the group had eight #1 R&B Hits between 1972 and 1978. The group also had five LP’s that went Gold, and three went Platinum.
In 1975, William Powell was diagnosed with cancer and discontinued his touring with the group. He passed away in 1977, leaving the group with two of its original members. Sammy Strain from Little Anthony and the Imperials joined the group after Powell’s death, and the group continued touring until Strain left to rejoin the Imperials. After a stint with Nathaniel Best from 1992 to 1997, singer Eric Grant replaced him. Williams, Levert, and Grant continue recording and performing and have been an influence for many modern R&B acts. The O’Jays were recognized for this influence when in 2005, the group was inducted into the Rock n’ Roll Hall of Fame in Cleveland.
Sources:
Jessica Abraham, “The O'Jays Walter Williams, Sr: An Inspiration, Legend and Man of Great Wisdom.” AXS, 24 Feb. 2015, https://www.axs.com/news/the-o-jays-walter-williams-sr-an-inspiration-legend-and-man-of-great-w-41834;
“The O'Jays.” Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, https://www.rockhall.com/inductees/ojays.
Entry Categories:
The O'Jays
American musical group
Isles departed in 1965, and that year the remaining quartet released its debut album, Comin’ Thru. They first entered the rhythm and blues Top Ten in 1967, with “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (than I Was Today).” The following year they began a long and fruitful collaboration with writer-producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, who infused the O’Jays’ music with the hallmarks of Philadelphia soul: lush orchestration, funk rhythm, and socially conscious lyrics. Massey departed in 1971, and the next year the group released the classic album Back Stabbers, with the album’s title track initiating a long string of hit singles, including “For the Love of Money” (1973) and the disco-influenced pop hit “I Love Music, Pt. 1” (1975).
Powell retired after a cancer diagnosis and died in 1977. He was replaced by Sammy Strain (b. Dec. 9, 1941, Brooklyn, N.Y.), formerly of Little Anthony and the Imperials; later Nathaniel Best and Eric Grant filled the role of third member. The O’Jays’ commercial fortunes waned over the following decade, although they enjoyed moderate comebacks in the late 1980s and early ’90s, and they continued recording and touring into the 21st century. In 2005 the O’Jays were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Learn More in these related Britannica articles:
Philadelphia International Records: The Sound of Philadelphia
2. Use Ta Be My Girl
Audio Player
3. Backstabbers
Audio Player
4. For The Love Of Money
Audio Player
Inductees: Walter Williams (vocals; born August 25, 1942) , Eddie Levert (vocals; born June 16, 1942), William Powell (vocals; born January 20, 1942, died May 26, 1977), Sammy Strain (vocals; born December 9, 1941)
Bobby Massey (vocals; born tk.)
The O’Jays were at the forefront of Seventies soul music. Racking up a lengthy string of modern R&B classics, including “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “For the Love of Money,” “I Love Music” and “Use Ta Be My Girl,” they helped put the “Philly Soul” sound (so named for Philadelphia-based producers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff) on the map. In fact, the O’Jays were the backbone of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label, which released some of the greatest and most influential Seventies records.
During a fifteen-year run from “Back Stabbers” (1972) to “Lovin’ You” (1987), the O’Jays placed more than forty singles on the R&B chart, nine of which went to #1. The vast majority of the group’s hits were made with Gamble and Huff for their various labels – Neptune, Philadelphia International, TSOP – in a relationship dating back to 1969.
The O’Jays’ story dates back further still, beginning in the late Fifties when founding members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams began singing gospel on a radio station in their hometown of Canton, Ohio. Joined by fellow high-schoolers William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles, they became the Triumphs, an R&B vocal group, in 1959. Their popularity as a live act got them signed to Syd Nathan’s King label, where they released a pair of singles as the Mascots.
They were then taken under the wing of Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O’Jay and renamed the O’Jays – a name that stuck. In 1961 they headed to Los Angeles, where they honed their craft with producer H.B. Barnum. They recorded for Barnum’s Little Star label and then got signed to Imperial Records. The O’Jays spent much of the Sixties on the Imperial and Bell labels, enjoying chart success on the R&B side with such hits as “Stand in For Love” (#12) and “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)” (#8).
The group’s fortunes took a leap when they met producers Gamble and Huff backstage at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1968. The O’Jays signed to the duo’s fledgling Neptune label, for which they recorded seven singles, including the R&B hit “One Night Affair” (#15). The relationship really took off when Columbia Records gave Gamble and Huff their own imprint, Philadelphia International, in 1972. Writers, producers and label impresarios, this dynamic duo honed the Philly Soul sound with the O’Jays. Philly Soul – a.k.a. “The Sound of Philadelphia” or “TSOP,” for short – was a churchy yet contemporary melange of strings, keyboards, octave-leaping guitars and propulsive dance rhythms, crowned by rich, gospel-drenched vocal harmonies. Such O’Jays records as “Back Stabbers” and “Love Train” – both from Back Stabbers, their stunning 1972 debut album for Philadelphia International – apotheosized Seventies soul in general and Philly Soul in particular.
“The day we signed [with Philadelphia International] was the day we finally came in from the rain,” Walter Williams said. The group was now down to a trio of Levert, Williams and Powell, with original members Isles and Massey having left in 1966 and 1971, respectively. “Back Stabbers” kicked off a hit streak that finally made crossover stars of the O’Jays. With Gamble and Huff, they cut consistently strong records and tore up the R&B and pop charts with high-spirited and often message-minded songs. Highlights include such soul essentials as “Time to Get Down” (#2 R&B, #33 pop), “Put Your Hands Together (#2 R&B, #10 pop), “For the Love of Money” (#3 R&B, #9 pop), “Give the People What They Want” (#1 R&B), “I Love Music” (#1 R&B, #5 pop), “Livin’ for the Weekend” (#1 R&B, #20 pop), “Message in Our Music (#1 R&B), “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby” (#1 R&B), “Use Ta Be My Girl” (#1 R&B, #4 pop), “Forever Mine” (#4 R&B, #28 pop) and “Lovin’ You” (#1 R&B). However, the O’Jays were more than just a hot singles act, as they released such solid albums as Back Stabbers (1972), Ship Ahoy (1973), Survival (1974), Family Reunion (1975), Message in the Music (1976) and So Full of Love (1978).
Founding member Powell dropped out in 1975 due to health reasons, dying two years later of cancer. He was replaced by Sammy Strain, who’d previously sung with Little Anthony and the Imperials. Strain lasted with O’Jays until 1993, when he was replaced by Nathaniel West. Meanwhile, Eddie Levert’s sons, Gerald and Sean, had begun enjoying success with their own R&B group, Levert, in the mid-Eighties, and this multigenerational link helped keep the O’Jays in the public eye.
The O’Jays’ historic run with Gamble and Huff continued until 1988. Even after switching labels and producers, the trio kept having hits. The O’Jays scored their ninth R&B chart-topper, “Have You Had Your Love Today,” in 1989. Emotionally Yours (1991) yielded three R&B smashes, including their choir-filled arrangement of the Bob Dylan-penned title track. The group’s latest album of new material, Love You to Tears, appeared in 1997. The O’Jays received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1998, and they remain a popular performing entity.
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20181019/entlife/310199949
10/19/2018
00:00
00:00
2. Use Ta Be My Girl
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
3. Backstabbers
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
4. For The Love Of Money
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
5. Love Train
Audio Player
Audio Player
00:00
00:00
Inductees: Walter Williams (vocals; born August 25, 1942) , Eddie Levert (vocals; born June 16, 1942), William Powell (vocals; born January 20, 1942, died May 26, 1977), Sammy Strain (vocals; born December 9, 1941)
Bobby Massey (vocals; born tk.)
The O’Jays were at the forefront of Seventies soul music. Racking up a lengthy string of modern R&B classics, including “Back Stabbers,” “Love Train,” “For the Love of Money,” “I Love Music” and “Use Ta Be My Girl,” they helped put the “Philly Soul” sound (so named for Philadelphia-based producers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff) on the map. In fact, the O’Jays were the backbone of Gamble and Huff’s Philadelphia International label, which released some of the greatest and most influential Seventies records.
During a fifteen-year run from “Back Stabbers” (1972) to “Lovin’ You” (1987), the O’Jays placed more than forty singles on the R&B chart, nine of which went to #1. The vast majority of the group’s hits were made with Gamble and Huff for their various labels – Neptune, Philadelphia International, TSOP – in a relationship dating back to 1969.
The O’Jays’ story dates back further still, beginning in the late Fifties when founding members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams began singing gospel on a radio station in their hometown of Canton, Ohio. Joined by fellow high-schoolers William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles, they became the Triumphs, an R&B vocal group, in 1959. Their popularity as a live act got them signed to Syd Nathan’s King label, where they released a pair of singles as the Mascots.
They were then taken under the wing of Cleveland disc jockey Eddie O’Jay and renamed the O’Jays – a name that stuck. In 1961 they headed to Los Angeles, where they honed their craft with producer H.B. Barnum. They recorded for Barnum’s Little Star label and then got signed to Imperial Records. The O’Jays spent much of the Sixties on the Imperial and Bell labels, enjoying chart success on the R&B side with such hits as “Stand in For Love” (#12) and “I’ll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today)” (#8).
The group’s fortunes took a leap when they met producers Gamble and Huff backstage at Harlem’s Apollo Theater in 1968. The O’Jays signed to the duo’s fledgling Neptune label, for which they recorded seven singles, including the R&B hit “One Night Affair” (#15). The relationship really took off when Columbia Records gave Gamble and Huff their own imprint, Philadelphia International, in 1972. Writers, producers and label impresarios, this dynamic duo honed the Philly Soul sound with the O’Jays. Philly Soul – a.k.a. “The Sound of Philadelphia” or “TSOP,” for short – was a churchy yet contemporary melange of strings, keyboards, octave-leaping guitars and propulsive dance rhythms, crowned by rich, gospel-drenched vocal harmonies. Such O’Jays records as “Back Stabbers” and “Love Train” – both from Back Stabbers, their stunning 1972 debut album for Philadelphia International – apotheosized Seventies soul in general and Philly Soul in particular.
“The day we signed [with Philadelphia International] was the day we finally came in from the rain,” Walter Williams said. The group was now down to a trio of Levert, Williams and Powell, with original members Isles and Massey having left in 1966 and 1971, respectively. “Back Stabbers” kicked off a hit streak that finally made crossover stars of the O’Jays. With Gamble and Huff, they cut consistently strong records and tore up the R&B and pop charts with high-spirited and often message-minded songs. Highlights include such soul essentials as “Time to Get Down” (#2 R&B, #33 pop), “Put Your Hands Together (#2 R&B, #10 pop), “For the Love of Money” (#3 R&B, #9 pop), “Give the People What They Want” (#1 R&B), “I Love Music” (#1 R&B, #5 pop), “Livin’ for the Weekend” (#1 R&B, #20 pop), “Message in Our Music (#1 R&B), “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby” (#1 R&B), “Use Ta Be My Girl” (#1 R&B, #4 pop), “Forever Mine” (#4 R&B, #28 pop) and “Lovin’ You” (#1 R&B). However, the O’Jays were more than just a hot singles act, as they released such solid albums as Back Stabbers (1972), Ship Ahoy (1973), Survival (1974), Family Reunion (1975), Message in the Music (1976) and So Full of Love (1978).
Founding member Powell dropped out in 1975 due to health reasons, dying two years later of cancer. He was replaced by Sammy Strain, who’d previously sung with Little Anthony and the Imperials. Strain lasted with O’Jays until 1993, when he was replaced by Nathaniel West. Meanwhile, Eddie Levert’s sons, Gerald and Sean, had begun enjoying success with their own R&B group, Levert, in the mid-Eighties, and this multigenerational link helped keep the O’Jays in the public eye.
The O’Jays’ historic run with Gamble and Huff continued until 1988. Even after switching labels and producers, the trio kept having hits. The O’Jays scored their ninth R&B chart-topper, “Have You Had Your Love Today,” in 1989. Emotionally Yours (1991) yielded three R&B smashes, including their choir-filled arrangement of the Bob Dylan-penned title track. The group’s latest album of new material, Love You to Tears, appeared in 1997. The O’Jays received the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award in 1998, and they remain a popular performing entity.
- The Honeymooners (2005) (performer: “For the Love of Money”)
- Hitch (2005/I) (performer: “Love Train”)
- Radio (2003) (performer: “Put Your Hands Together” (1973))
- The Fighting Temptations (2003) (performer: “Loves Me Like A Rock”, “Down By The Riverside/To Da River”, “Rain Down”, “He Still Loves Me”, “Come Back Home”) (“Rain Down”, “He Still Loves Me”)
- Undercover Brother (2002) (performer: “Love Train”)
- Muppets from Space (1999) (performer: “Survival”)
- “Friends”
- The One in Vegas: Part 1 (1999) TV Episode (performer: “For the Love of Money”)
- Dead Presidents (1995) (performer: “Love Train”)
- Mixed Nuts (1994) (performer: “What Are You Doing New Year’s Eve?”)
-
- A.K.A. Lifesavers
- Above the Rim (1994) (“POUR OUT A LITILE LIQUOR”)
- Twenty Bucks (1993) (performer: “For the Love of Money”)
- Jo Jo Dancer, Your Life Is Calling (1986) (performer: “FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY”
- Filmography links and data courtesy of The Internet Movie Database.
https://www.dailyherald.com/article/20181019/entlife/310199949
Old-school R&B group The O'Jays get into a political groove
10/19/2018
-
This image released by S-Curve Records shows "Above the Law," a release by The O'Jays. The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductees known for the classic song "Love Train" on Friday released the politically charged single Above the Law, which explores racial and class inequality. The single will be part of the group's final studio album, "The Last Word", which is their first original material in almost 20 years and is set for release February 22, 2019 (S-Curve Records via AP)Associated PressShow photos
NEW YORK -- The iconic
R&B group The O'Jays has always made music for the heart. Now the
group is going for the jugular on what it says is its last album.
The Rock and Roll Hall
of Fame inductees known for the classic song "Love Train" on Friday
released the politically charged single "Above the Law ," which explores
racial and class inequality. The lyrics include: "Game is fixed/ Pure
parlor tricks."
The single will be part of The
O'Jays' final studio album, the socially conscious "The Last Word,"
their first original material in almost 20 years, which is set for
release Feb. 22 from S-Curve Records.
Group co-founders Eddie Levert
Sr. and Walter Williams Sr. told The Associated Press this week that the
group didn't intend to make new music as it looks toward retirement but
felt compelled by what it has seen over the past few years.
"You almost have to say
something. You almost have to get involved. You know, it's bad. I've
never seen it this bad," said Williams, 75. "You have to say something.
You have to do something. People have to get out and vote to change
things if they want change."
"Above the Law" was composed by
Betty Wright and Angelo Morris, and produced by Steve Greenberg, Wright,
Mike Mangini and Sam Hollander. More of its lyrics include the lines
"Re-invent slavery/ Erase the war on poverty/ Separate primarily/ By
class."
"As soon as I heard it, I told
Mr. Greenberg, 'We are all going to jail,'" Williams said, laughing. "He
said, 'Don't worry about it. I'll be the guy that gives you the cake
with the file in it.'"
The cover, by artist Christa
Cassan, shows businessmen with briefcases riding flying pigs over the
Capitol. A lyric video for "Above the Law" begins with a $100 bill being
burned, before showing photos of black men manhandled by the police,
scary newspaper headlines, White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee
Sanders and Supreme Court Justice Brett Kavanaugh.
Levert, 76, said he feels like
he's stepped back in time to when he was a child in Alabama and the Ku
Klux Klan was terrorizing people. He watched with alarm as white
supremacists are walking through U.S. city streets once more.
"Now, it seems like we've done a
360-degree turn and gone back to those same times when they can hang and
shoot and kill people just because of their color," Levert said.
"Walter and myself, we're living this twice. It's like repeating
yourself. It's crazy."
Williams and Levert formed the
band in Canton, Ohio, in 1963, alternating as lead singers. Hits from
their peak in the 1970s and 1980s include "Backstabbers," ''Love Train"
and "Use Ta Be My Girl." The group's last album of new material, "Love
You to Tears," appeared in 1997.
While known for their funky,
soulful songs, The O'Jays often tackled social issues, as with "For the
Love of Money" and "Put Your Hands Together," in which they urged
"praying for all the people who are sleeping in the street." They had a
hard time getting radio stations to play "Rich Get Richer," which
argued: "The people who live on the hill/ Don't have time for the
ghetto."
But "The Last Word" will be the
group's most powerful political statement yet. Another track is called
"Stand" and speaks of how love is needed to heal. "Turn off the TV to
avoid the news/ Look up to heaven 'cause I'm so confused/ Another child
lost to the city."
As for this being their last
album, the singers insist they're trying to be realistic. "I'll be 80 in
four more years. What girl is going to fall out and scream on the floor
for an 80-year-old man? It's time," Levert said.
His bandmate agreed: "If, in
fact, we see one fall out, she really fell out!" Williams joked.
"Somebody better call the paramedics."
___
Online:
___
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
___
Mark Kennedy is at http://twitter.com/KennedyTwits
Walter Williams, Sr.
Eric Nolan Grant
Eddie Levert
The O'Jays are touring history, a connection to an era and a sound that formed the soundtrack for the lives of several generations. The O’Jays are still hitting the road with the same electrifying energy they’ve had for over 50 years.
Walter Williams and Eddie Levert first met when they were the ages of 6 and 7 respectively. As teenagers in Canton, Ohio, they formed a band originally consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles. In 1963, the band took the name "The O'Jays" in tribute to Cleveland radio disc jockey Eddie O'Jay. Several members have changed, but the core, original lead singers Eddie Levert and Walter Williams, continue to front the group.
In 1972, Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters with whom the O'Jays had been working for several years, signed the group to their Philadelphia International label. With this magic formula, often called The Sound of Philadelphia, The O’Jays scored the first number 1 and million-seller, “Backstabbers.” Subsequently, they succeeded with various chart-topping pop and R&B singles including “Love Train”, “Put Your Hands Together”, “For The Love of Money”, “I Love Music”, “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)”, “Livin’ For The Weekend” and“Use Ta Be My Girl.” This success propelled The O’Jays to be the first black vocal group to perform in arenas throughout America during the 70s and 80s.
Eddie and Walter have a rare lifelong bond that few of us will ever experience; friends and partners for almost 65 years. “We still appreciate our friendship, dedication to each other and the group and our love for good music." Walter continues, "We probably could have had great solo careers, but I don't think either one of us could have ever have been as big as The O'Jays." Walter Williams could be considered a hero as he has battled Multiple Sclerosis or “MS” for 30 years and continues to execute his dance moves with perfection when performing on-stage with the group. Walter is also a volunteer National Ambassador for the MS Society and a spokesperson for MS Active Source. Eddie Levert is known for his raspy voice and has a range that takes him from alto to second tenor. Levert teamed up with his son Gerald for a duet on“Baby Hold On To Me”, which hit number one on the R&B charts. Eddie has also mentored his very successful sons Gerald and Sean who became major forces in the music industry.
The O'Jays were inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame in 2005. They were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2005 and honored with BET's Life Time Achievement Award in 2009. In 2013, they were inducted into The Official R&B Music Hall of Fame. Today, the songs of The O’Jays are still being used in many movies, commercials and TV shows. “For The Love of Money” continues to be the theme song for “The Apprentice.”
Eddie Levert Sr., Walter Williams Sr. and Eric Nolan Grant, who joined the group in 1995, continue to thrill fans today. Throughout their career The O'Jays have achieved 10 Gold albums, 9 Platinum albums and 10 #1 hits. It's been a long journey but thanks to the fans the LOVE TRAIN is still going strong!
https://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/sdut-ojays-ask-republican-congressman-to-stop-using-2016jul27-story.html
O'Jays ask Republican congressman to stop using their music
Associated Press
July 27, 2018
FILE- In this June 13, 2016, file photo, members of the group The O'Jays, from left, Eric Grant, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams attend the 2016 Apollo Theater Spring Gala in New York. In a statement Wednesday, July 27, Levert and Williams say they sent a letter to Rep. John Mica, R-Florida,asking him to stop using their song "For The Love Of Money" in an online video featuring Donald Trump posted in 2014. (Photo by Charles Sykes/Invision/AP, File) (The Associated Press)
LOS ANGELES (AP) — The founding members of the O'Jays are asking a Republican to stop using their music for the second time in a week.
In a statement released Wednesday, Eddie Levert and Walter Williams said they sent a letter to Rep. John Mica, R-Florida, asking him to stop using their song "For The Love Of Money" in an online video featuring Donald Trump posted in 2014 .
The R&B group previously decried Republican presidential nominee Donald Trump for using their song "Love Train" during last week's Republican National Convention, including a version remixed as "Trump Train" without the O'Jays' consent.
"Trump and his people have no right to help themselves to our music," Levert said. "He presents himself as supporting 'law and order' but, in truth, he's not respecting the law at
all."The O'Jays' song "For the Love of Money" served as the theme song for Trump's reality show "The Apprentice."
A Trump campaign spokeswoman didn't immediately respond to a request for comment.
O'Jays' 'For the Love of Money' makes Grammy Hall of Fame The Philadelphia Tribune
The O’Jays’ smash single “For the Love of Money,” written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and bassist Anthony Jackson, will be inducted into the prestigious Grammy Hall of Fame. — file photo
Continuing the tradition of “preserving and celebrating timeless recordings,” The Recording Academy recently announced that the O’Jays’ smash single “For the Love of Money,” written by Kenny Gamble, Leon Huff and bassist Anthony Jackson, will be inducted into the prestigious Grammy Hall of Fame. The R&B anthem is among 26 new inductees for 2016.
Released on the album “Ship Ahoy,” featuring love songs and the signature “message music” of Philadelphia International Records, “For the Love of Money,” built on a hypnotic and innovative bass line by Jackson, ascended the charts in 1974, peaking at No. 3 on the R&B chart and at No. 9 on the Billboard Hot 100. The song enjoyed a second life in 2004, when it was chosen as the theme song for Donald Trump’s NBC reality shows, “The Apprentice” and “Celebrity Apprentice.”
“It all started with Anthony Jackson’s bass line,” said celebrated sound engineer Joe Tarsia, who recorded “For the Love of Money” at his legendary Sigma Sound Studios. “I walk into the studio, and I heard this bending wah-wah on the bass. Nobody ever did that before, that I knew of.”
Tarsia, a pioneer in his own right, explained how the classic recording is a successful marriage of creativity and technology.
“Todd Rundgren, a local guy, had recorded an album on the West Coast, and he came to Philadelphia to finish it, and he brought his engineer,” he said. “I’m always trying to learn, and because he brought his engineer from the West Coast, I was the assistant on the session. He did all these various tricks.
“Shortly after that, (Kenny) Gamble comes in with Anthony Jackson, and they’ve come to record ‘For the Love of Money.’ When I heard the wah-wah in the bass pedal that Anthony Jackson was using — this different sound — it gave me the feeling of a psychedelic record,” Tarsia continued. “I had a new device called a fazer that gives that swishing sound, and I put that on the drums.
“Kenny was in the studio, I was in the control room, so we he came back, I made sure that I recorded it the regular way, and I played this faze sound for him and Kenny says, ‘Yeah, I like that!’ Afterward, I was trying to make this record really different, and when everybody went home, I took the 24-track tape and turned it upside down so that it ran from the end to the beginning — backwards — and when the O’Jays were singing background, I put echo on their voices so that when you turned the tape back, the echo preceded the voice(s).
“It was so funny! Eddie (Levert) called me up and said, ‘Listen. We gotta do this show on the road. How can we get that sound?’ It’s impossible. You can’t do that live. So together, it made that song unique sound-wise, because I had the swishing drums and that fantastic bass, and the backward echo in the voices.”
Tarsia was inducted into the Broadcast Pioneers of Philadelphia’s Hall of Fame on Nov. 20.
This latest round of inducted recordings, which also includes “Celebration” by Kool & the Gang, “Cold Sweat — Part 1” by James Brown and the Famous Flames and “Heart of Glass” by Blondie, continues to highlight diversity and recording excellence, and acknowledges both singles and album recordings of all genres at least 25 years old that exhibit qualitative or historical significance. Recordings are reviewed annually by a special member committee comprised of eminent and knowledgeable professionals from all branches of the recording arts, with final approval by The Recording Academy’s National Board of Trustees. With 26 new titles, the list, now in its 43rd year, currently totals 1,013 recordings and is on display at the Grammy Museum at L.A. Live.
“The Recording Academy remains dedicated to celebrating a wide variety of great music through the decades,” said Neil Portnow, president/CEO of The Recording Academy. “Spanning more than 50 years, the 2016 Grammy Hall of Fame entries are an outstanding collection, marked by both historical and cultural significance. These works have influenced and inspired both music creators and fans for generations and we are proud to induct them into our catalog of distinguished recordings.”
Eligible recipients receive an official certificate from The Recording Academy. For a full list of recordings inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, as well as information on the 58th Annual Grammy Awards airing at 8 p.m., Monday, Feb. 15 on CBS, www.grammy.org/recording-academy/awards/hall-of-fame. kroberts@phillytrib.com
O’Jays take the stage at the Mann
July 27, 2012
Philadelphia Tribune
The O’Jays will perform at the Mann on Friday night, July 27.—FILE PHOTO
Some truly amazing R&B acts will join together Friday July 27 on the stage at the Mann for an unforgettable night filled with legend and soul, including the iconic Patti LaBelle, Maze featuring Frankie Beverly, Kenny “Babyface” Edmonds, Tank, and the truly American musical treasures, The O’Jays.
Having secured their rightful place in music history with 24 Top Ten smashes and 59 total charted songs, The O’Jays have received many honors and awards over the years, including their induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
There may have been others who helped them to the top, but Eddie Levert, one of the group’s founders, thinks the thanks should all go to themselves for having providing super smooth music, which led to them now being labeled a “Living Legend.”
Levert says, “Even after more than 50 years in the business, The O’Jays continue to draw in audiences. And that’s because we take great pride in what we do and try to give our all each and every time we perform.”
The original vocal group form Canton, Ohio originated with Levert Sr., Walter Williams Sr., William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Isles, and they were named after Cleveland DJ Eddie O’Jay. Today, Levert and Williams are the only originals still performing.
“We were originally called the Triumphs then the Mascots and finally the O’Jays when we released a record that required a new name,” Levert remembers. “We decided to use Eddie’s last name and later change it to something we liked better. But it stuck. And so here we are today.”
For Levert, although he sang most of his life, he still considers himself “very lucky to be where I am today. I had a gift for song and a third-grade teacher who made us sing from the diaphragm. She’d stand up in front of us and poke us in the stomach just to make sure we were doing exactly what she told us to do.”
Levert wisely followed orders and has found a lifetime of success along with the others, producing such timeless hits as “Love Train,” “I Love Music,” and many, many more. Their song “For the Love of Money” became the theme song to Donald Trump’s hit reality TV show “The Apprentice.”
The O’Jays have proven time and time again that the mixture of “ol’ school” and contemporary is a winning formula which always reflects their uncompromising stance on love and relationships — such as the one between Levert and Williams.
Because of their lifelong relationship, there’s a bond that keeps them in good stead and strengthens their business relationship, admitting, however, that they had to grow on each other because, Levert insists, they were like two wild bulls when they first became friends.
“We’ve been friends since he was six and I was seven,” says Levert. “And do we wrestle with ego problems? Are you crazy? Of course we do. It never stops. But one key thing we are able to keep in mind is that this is a business and this is what we do, so we can’t let personal problems disrupt what we do. This business is how we pay the rent and feed our families. So we can always get past all the personal and ego stuff that might get in the way.”
In addition to their music, The O’Jays embarked on acting careers and writing books — and, of course, producing great music and winning more awards.
“We’re touring right now, and then we’ll go in the studio to record some new O’Jays material,” Levert explains. “We have lots of plans and lots of things to do. But even after all these years, the best thing we have going for us are our fans and their response to our music even now, even after all these years. All our music has stood the test of time and seems very much in tune with what’s going on today. But most of all, we love the way people respond to it all.”
CBS News
February 11, 2018
The O'Jays and their enduring message of love
There was no stopping The O'Jays' hit "Love Train," which raced to the top of the charts way back in 1973. FOR THE RECORD, all these years later, The O'Jays are still doing what they love -- and talking about it with our Jim Axelrod:
Nothing says "old school" like The O'Jays. With hit after hit, they practically ruled the R&B radio charts in the 1970s. And while some of the outfits may have fallen out of fashion, their songs stand the test of time.
Still performing after more than half a century together, their vintage days may be behind them. But listen to The O'Jays sing and watch The O'Jays work -- this is no nostalgia act.
Axelrod said, "We've all seen the groups that are the name only, and they're not creating new, fresh moments."
"We're still having moments," said Eddie Levert. "Those hallelujah moments."
At 75 and 74 years old, Levert and Walter Williams -- together with the new kid, Eric Nolan Grant -- are still creating plenty of "hallelujah moments."
The O'Jays - Eddie Levert, Eric Nolan Grant and Walter Williams - with correspondent Jim Axelrod. CBS News
Perfectly fitting, since Williams and Levert started singing together in a Canton, Ohio church choir more than 60 years ago. They formed a group, and had some local success.
But Canton didn't change their lives; Philadelphia did.
That's where, in the early 1970s, a post-Motown R&B sound was evolving in a studio run by Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
"I have seen them take a song totally apart with just bass, piano, and drums," said Williams. "And then they add all of the sweetness to it with the other instruments, and horns, and strings, and it's unbelievable."
Gamble & Huff's "Philly sound" polished The O'Jays' mix of sweet soul groove and romantic ballads into 11 gold and four platinum records -- two-dozen Top 10 R&B singles -- and their signature hit: "Love Train," which went to No. 1 on the pop charts in 1973.
Not bad for improvising!
Axelrod asked, "Is it true you didn't step into the recording session with the lyrics fully written?"
"Absolutely," said Williams. "Gamble sat at the console. He didn't have a second verse! And he wrote it right there in the studio."
And 45 years later they're still singing it.
Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and Eric Nolan Grant. CBS News
But it hasn't been all bright lights and hit records … it never is. There have also been painful personal challenges.
Since 1983, Walter Williams has battled multiple sclerosis: "If I had gone home, probably would never come out again to work. So I wanted to work through it."
"Work through M.S.?"
"Yeah. I didn't have a choice."
In 2006, Levert's son Gerald, a hit singer himself, died from a prescription drug overdose. Two years later, his son Sean, who'd suffered from heart and lung problems, died as well.
Axelrod asked, "How'd you keep it going through that kind of tragedy, both the boys?"
"There's a lot of people depend on me; I have to stay focused. I'm no good if I fall apart," Levert replied.
Watching all this was Eric Nolan Grant, who's been with Williams and Levert 22 years now.
Eric Nolan Grant (center) joined The O'Jays in 1995. CBS News
Grant said, "When I got in the group I thought I was a man, and they couldn't tell me nothing different." Being with them, "I learned how to be a man."
And what happens for Grant when Williams and Levert are done? "It's done. If I don't have Eddie and Walt, you know, the bookends, it's a wrap."
Members of the Rock 'n' Roll Hall of Fame since 2005, The O'Jays know this won't go on forever. However fine their form, it's time that always gets to close the show.
The O'Jays say they've got two years left.
"So, let's just say it's 2020 and you're done. What do you want the legacy to be when people think about The O'Jays?" Axelrod asked.
"When they're on their way home, they should be talkin' about you," Williams laughed. "On my way out, I want them to be talking about me!"
And they still are, all these years later … drawn to The O'Jays by their music and their message.
"At the end of the day," said Levert, "what were we trying to convey? Love is the only thing that matters, man."
The O'Jays endure, as do their scintillating romantic ballads - blends of R&B and a sweet soul groove. CBS Newshttp://www.soulandjazzandfunk.com/interviews/5437-the-love-trains-back-in-town-eddie-levert-talks-to-sjf-about-the-legendary-ojays-one-off-london-gig-in-july-.html
THE LOVE TRAIN'S BACK IN TOWN - Eddie Levert talks to SJF about the legendary O'JAYS' one-off London gig in July
15 April 2018
by Charles Waring
One of the best-loved vocal groups of the 1970s, the mighty, much-garlanded O'Jays are synonymous, of course, with the Philadelphia sound, an urbane and sophisticated style of R&B where soul and funk grooves were dressed up in opulent symphonic orchestration. Though they started out way back in 1959, it was in 1972 when the O'Jays joined Gamble & Huff's groundbreaking Philadelphia International label that the trio originally from Canton, Ohio, hit the big time and became a global force, racking up hit after memorable hit in the shape of 'Backstabbers,' 'Love Train,' 'I Love Music' and many, many more.
Like their contemporaries, The Temptations and Four Tops, the O'Jays have been working consistently during the last six decades and are still going strong today. But unlike those two illustrious groups, who can only boast one founding member each, the O'Jays actually have two charter members on board - Eddie Levert and Walter Williams. Ahead of the trio's forthcoming show in London's West End at the Theatre Royal Drury Lane - where they'll be performing on Sunday 15th July - SJF's Charles Waring talked to Eddie Levert (on the right of the above picture) about the group's imminent UK trip and their storied career.
Talking to me from his home in sunny Las Vegas, our conversation starts off with Levert asking me about the British weather. He chortles raucously when I tell him he'll probably need to bring an umbrella with him in July. "I love going over there because it's the only place I know that serves beans with breakfast," he laughs. While the prospect of having baked beans with a traditional "full English" palpably excites him, on a more serious note, he remarks that the UK remains a hard market for the O'Jays to crack - and it perplexes him. "We recorded a live album over there back in the '70s, 'The O'Jays Live In London,' which did very well for us, but we've never quite been able to really bust or break into that market," he says ruefully. "Our popularity there is not as great as it is in other places and other parts of the world. I don't quite understand that because we get a lot of requests from people over there. They say, 'come back to England, come back, we want to see you,' but I'm always disheartened when we get there as the places are not really packed out."
I'd always assumed that the group were well-loved in England but when you compare their chart statistics with, for example, The Temptations and Four Tops who tour the UK regularly and play to packed houses, you can see what he's getting at. The group has racked up only nine chart entries in Britain compared to The Tempts thirty-one and the Tops thirty-five, with 'Love Train' being their only Top 10 hit. "Maybe it's the music that we're doing," muses Levert, adding with a laugh, "or maybe we're just not good when we get over there." But Eddie is at pains to point out that he's not being critical of the British public. "At the end of the day, I always look at us as the reason, not the crowd." he explains. "It baffles me and I always go back and look at the material and say well, maybe we're not doing the right stuff, maybe we should go back and revamp the show." 
Eddie reveals that for this London trip, the O'Jays will be doing a different show - it will be longer and include more material, even some old songs from early on in their career. "We've revamped and changed it," he confirms. "In our early career, we would sing maybe one song for ten minutes but now we do less vamping and go on to the next song so we can get more stuff in from the repertoire because, if you're vamping you're cutting into the time that you can spend on other material."
All of their shows contain the immortal 'Love Train,' of course, which is like the group's own national anthem. "We always have to do that one," laughs Eddie, "and we'll also be doing 'Used Ta Be My Girl, and 'I Love Music,' they're staples too. The last time we were in the UK, we got a lot of requests for songs that we did early in our career, so we'll be doing some of those and songs like 'Ship Ahoy'... and we have to do the ballads, of course."
Eddie also reveals that they'll be performing, 'Now That We've Found Love,' an anthemic, smoothly-harmonised ballad that first appeared on their 1974 concept album, 'Ship Ahoy.' A great album cut, it wasn't issued as a single by the group's record label in the USA and ironically, it became a global hit and million-seller for reggae group, Third World, in 1978. "I always felt that our version was just a little bit more classier," opines Eddie, who says he wasn't amused when the Jamaican group had a hit with an O'Jays song. He laughs about it now, though. "Not that they didn't do a bad job - they did a great job because they got a gold record out of it - but I felt like that we didn't get the airplay. But there was so much other material that radio was gravitating to at the time that that song just didn't get off the album."
Born in Alabama in 1942, Eddie Levert moved north with his family to the Midwest town of Canton, Ohio, in 1948 and reveals that he began singing with fellow O'Jays founder, Walter Williams, when they were both young children. "I was seven years old, he was six, and it's amazing that we are still able to stand one another," he laughs. He honed his singing in his local church and says that gospel music is the foundation of his style. "Its influence was overwhelming because that's how we got into singing. We were in the church choir together and his father was the choir director. He taught us a lot about how to address a song. He'd say: you start off on the first floor, then you go to the second floor, then you go to the third floor, and now you go through the roof. That's how you address a song. The amazing part is that it still works for us. We still use that philosophy."
In terms of his musical heroes, Eddie cites several key influences, all soulful male singers. "Ronnie Isley for one, Marvin Gaye for another and Nat 'King' Cole," he reveals. His voice, a robust and powerful baritone, possesses a tone and timbre that is markedly different from Walter Williams' smooth tenor. "I'm not what I call a 'runner,' like Walt, who can do runs and tricks with his voice," says Eddie, who then reveals that one of the singers who arguably had the most profound impact on his own style was a white Italian-American operatic crooner. "I got my style of singing from Mario Lanza," he confesses, "because it was amazing to me the way he held a note, the way he gave the note the true value and the true worth, which was enough to wrench your heart out, so I sort of copied that. I stole a little bit from him to get to Eddie Levert. I learned how to do that and it still works for me now." 
At high school in 1958, Eddie and Walter Williams joined forces with William Powell, Bobby Massey, and Bill Isles to form a singing group called The Triumphs. "We fell out of love with that name because people started calling us The Tramps," laughs Eddie, "and then we changed to The Mascots, though we always felt like mascots represented a dog or a goat or a horse." In 1969, they came to the attention of Syd Nathan, the owner of King Records - then James Brown's label - in Cincinnati. "We went down there as The Triumphs and Syd Nathan said we've got to call ourselves The Mascots. We did a song called 'Lonely Rain' for King and they played it in Cleveland, where it became such a tremendous, popular record."
It was in Cleveland where they met the man who would inspire their third and final name change - Eddie O'Jay (pictured below on the left). "He was a DJ there," explains Eddie, "and was doing record hops on Friday nights. He invited us up to do 'Lonely Rain' and he saw us and from there, he liked us." Smitten by the group - then still a quintet - O'Jay thought that they deserved bigger and better than King Records and took them to Michigan. "He took us to Detroit for Berry Gordy to listen to," remembers Eddie. "Berry Gordy wanted to sign us but he wanted 50% of everything and Eddie said, 'no, no way, I can't let you do that.' So he went around the corner to Berry Gordy's wife, Thelma, and she had this label called Daco and we recorded a song called 'Miracles.' They wanted to change the name from The Mascots to something else but couldn't think of a name for the group, so Eddie O'Jay said 'okay, listen, we're going to call them the O'Jays for the time being to get the record out, but when we think of something else, we'll change the name.' But we never thought of anything else and it seemed like as soon as we became the O'Jays, things started to happen. 
As the O'Jays, the group released their second single, 'Miracles' - eventually issued via the New York indie, Apollo - in 1960 but it wasn't until 1963, when they had switched to Imperial that they scored their first US R&B hit, 'Lonely Drifter.' After three more chart hits for Imperial, including 1965's 'Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette), they joined Bell Records in 1967 and scored their first US R&B Top 10 smash, 'I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today).' A year later, the O'Jays came on the radar of aspiring Philly songwriters and producer, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. Recalling how Gamble & Huff came across the group - which by this time had slimmed down to a trio consisting of Eddie Levert, Walter Williams, and William Powell - Eddie Levert says: "What happened, we were playing the Apollo Theatre and (Philly group) The Intruders had this song, 'Cowboys To Girls' (a 1968 US R&B chart-topper written and produced by Gamble & Huff) and it was a tremendous smash at that time. Gamble and Huff came up to see them perform and in the interim, they saw us perform and they wanted to sign us. Then they came to Cleveland to see us perform at a club and they liked what they saw and we went to Philly to record, and that's how that relationship started."
This was before the production and songwriting duo had begun Philadelphia International, though they had their own label, Neptune. "Leonard Chess was distributing their records," remembers Eddie, "and when he died, everything fell apart." The O'Jays scored four US R&B chart entries for Neptune, their biggest being 'One Night Affair' but when Chess Records was sold to the GRT corporation at the end of 1969, Neptune went under. Undeterred, Gamble & Huff (pictured below) sought to start a new label and in 1971, with backing from the monied major label, CBS, they started Philadelphia International Records. It was a major turning point for the O'Jays career. 
"We had never before been with people who produced records and who could write songs which were suitable to us like Gamble & Huff," says Eddie Levert. "They were fabulous producers. Everything they did for us just embodied what we were on the inside. We were their messengers." Eddie believes that the group's gospel-inflected vocals exerted a powerful effect on Gamble & Huff. "I think our gospel influence on them took them to another place," he states, "and that's when they got people like Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and Billy Paul, which started them writing in another vein."
In the USA, the O'Jays notched up eight number one records, with 'Love Train' - also their biggest UK hit - topping both the R&B and pop charts. The song's enduring popularity still continues to surprise Eddie Levert and it remains the centrepiece of their live set. "It still amazes me, man. They get up and dance around the concert hall. When we finish it, we just joke around and say 'you want us to do it again?' and the crowd are like "yeah, do it again!" It's the only song we have in our repertoire that we can do at least three or four times in a row and no one complains. They love it."
What's even more astonishing about the song is that Eddie describes it as "a five-minute record," referring to the speed at which it came together and was recorded. "Gamble & Huff did the track but it had no words," he explains. "When we came in to record our parts, they had the backgrounds - the sing-along part "people all over the world, join hands" - but no lyrics on the inside. So we were sitting there and Gamble started his brain working and we came up with all of these lines about people over in England, London, and China too, all of that stuff. That took just five minutes in the studio."
But at the height of their success, tragedy struck - in 1977, William Powell (above), then just 37, succumbed to cancer. But his passing didn't derail the 'Love Train.' "That was a terrible loss because we had been together since high school," admits Eddie. "But we never thought of giving up because we thought if the worst comes to the worst, me and Walt could handle it as a duo because we felt we were the nucleus of the group anyway, because we were doing all the lead singing. But we were close like brothers and William's loss was so devastating that we even thought 'okay, we don't want nobody else in here,' but along comes Sammy Strain."
A former member of Little Anthony & The Imperials, the addition of Sammy Strain (pictured above) helped to take the group to another level. "We became superstars with Sammy because he was such an entertainer," remembers Eddie. "He was such an energetic person. You know when you add that last piece to the puzzle and you're so happy that you've finally finished it? That's what he was to the O'Jays."
Strain stayed with the group until 1994. He was superseded by Nathaniel Best and his role is now taken by Eric Nolan Grant (pictured below, in the middle). Despite the changes - which are very few compared with The Temptations and Four Tops - the group continues onwards and manages to maintain their high standards of old, though they haven't released an album since 2010.
"I think it's because we love what we're doing... and we're good at it," answers Eddie Levert when I ask him what has kept the group going for sixty years. "I still admire Walt's talent and I think he admires my talent," he laughs, and then adds, "but he wonders why all the girls love me. I tell him all the time, it's just because I've got that 'it' thing, man. It's not because I'm handsome or nothing." Eddie guffaws heartily. Indeed, his readily apparent humour is an endearing quality of his character and it's also, perhaps, a feature of his personality that has helped to insulate him from tragedy. I'm referring, of course, to the death of his two sons, Gerald and Sean, who were in the successful '90s group, Levert. Eddie says that the duet album ('Something To Talk About') that he recorded with Gerald in 2006, just before the latter's death, is the main highlight of his career. "I've had some great, high, high times with the O'Jays, and I can't beat that, but the proudest moment was when I started doing stuff with my son, Gerald," says Eddie. "The father and son trip to me was so gratifying. It was so great that I was able to do that with my kid. That was really the high point in my career."
In life, all good things must come to an end, of course, and now, in the late twilight of his career, Eddie Levert is acutely aware that the O'Jays can't go on forever and that their end is drawing ever nearer. "I'm seventy-five... how much more can I do?" he asks. "I'm telling people now that I'm going to give it my all for the next two or three years, and then I'm going to hang it up. I just don't want to be a casualty on stage."
Eddie Levert didn't anticipate that the O'Jays would enjoy such a long and illustrious career. "I never imagined that we would last as long," he says, "because the music business is very fickle, so a lot of acts come and go. But to be able to still go out and draw people at this age - we're going on sixty years in this game - still amazes me. I never thought or imagined that we'd go this far. People still react to our old songs like they were released yesterday."
CATCH THE O'JAYS AT LONDON'S THEATRE ROYAL DRURY LANE ON SUNDAY JULY 15TH
For tickets go to:
Last Updated on Sunday, 22 April 2018
https://www.billboard.com/articles/columns/hip-hop/8480741/ojays-challenge-status-quo-above-the-law-watch-lyric-video
The O'Jays Challenge Status Quo With 'Above the Law' Lyric Video: Watch
10/19/2018
BILLBOARD
Denise Truscello
The O'Jays
The single is the first release from the soul group’s final studio album 'The Last Word,' featuring songs from Bruno Mars, Betty Wright and more.
The mighty O’Jays are back. The legendary trio behind classics such as “Love Train,” “Back Stabbers,” “For the Love of Money” and “Use Ta Be My Girl” is releasing a new single today (Oct. 19): “Above the Law."
Just in time for the Nov. 6 midterm elections, the politically charged “Above the Law” — co-written by fellow soul legend Betty Wright and Angelo Morris — is the lead single from The Last Word, the O’Jays’ first studio album in almost 20 years. S-Curve Records founder Steve Greenberg, Wright, Mike Mangini and Sam Hollander produced “Above the Law,” which critically addresses the social and criminal justice turmoil currently enveloping America. The Last Word, due Feb. 22 from S-Curve/BMG, will also be the Rock and Hall of Fame group’s final studio album in its rich 60-year legacy.
“We’re going to be loaded for bear,” says Eddie Levert Sr. of The Last Word. He notes that in addition to Wright, Bruno Mars will be contributing a song. The group is also looking to reunite with Gamble & Huff, the architects behind some of the group’s biggest hits, and industry veteran Ron Fair on the forthcoming project.
“I’m writing a song and Walter is too. It’s all feeling good,” adds Levert. He together with fellow founding member Walter Williams Sr. and Eric Nolan Grant, who joined in 1995, comprise the O’Jays.
Read More
Paul Thorn Covers The O'Jays' Classic 'Love Train': Premiere
Beyond sexy love ballads, the O’Jays’ other hallmark has always been strong, inspirational messages in their music. And The Last Word is no exception. The trio will also be dropping words of advice for the next generation. “There’s one song we’re working on called ‘Stand,’” explains Williams. “In the lyrics, the writer wants to know ‘if there’s a heart out there somewhere’ in the wake of school killings and other such news. Like ‘Love Train,’ it’s saying the right thing.”
Watch the “Above the Law” lyric video:
Here are five more takeaways from Levert and Williams’ Billboard chat:
The decision to record "Above the Law":
Levert: Our manager Toby Ludwig [head of 21st Century Artists, Inc.] introduced us to Steve Greenberg. Steve brought us the song and we immediately related to it. What’s transpired since the presidential election and the injustice that’s going on now directed where this song and album are coming from. Some things just need to be said. So either we’re going to get a lot of airplay or people aren’t going to play it at all. If nothing else, it will hopefully open some eyes or get us blackballed out of this business [laughs heartily] because there are powerful people who own the radio and media needed for this song to be heard.
Williams: When we first heard the song, we told Steve that as soon as we do this, we’re all going to jail. But some of the lyrics just take you there pretty much.They speak the truth while telling a story about what’s happening right now. People know in their heart of hearts what’s happening; they’re not blind to what’s going on. The bad apples trying to control everything won’t spoil the whole bunch. People are going to step up. And this song really spells it out.
Artwork by Christa Cassano
Working in the studio with Betty Wright:
Levert: We’ve known each other and done shows together for years because of her hit “Clean Up Woman” and other songs. But this is the first time that we’re doing some of her material. I’m elated and impressed. She’s a craftsman who knows her business and is a joy to work with. It’s remindful of what it was like working with Gamble & Huff and Bunny Sigler back in our Philadelphia International days.
Williams: I’m in awe of her songwriting talent: what she hears, how she expresses it and how she wants you to grasp it. I admire her for taking it on the way she does.
Coming full-circle to early ‘70s career-defining albums Back Stabbers and Ship Ahoy:
Levert: People are going to be talking about this cover. He [President Trump] might put our names in a tweet this time [laughs].
Read More
The O'Jays' Eddie Levert Talks Trump Using His Music & Posing for Pics With Kanye West
Williams: We did a lot of message material in the ‘70s. Some things have changed but a lot of things have not. The cover for Ship Ahoy [featuring the group in a slave hold] was controversial for its time. Even then we were all trying to figure out how to exist and get along. We were on a good track in those days and those [album] songs helped people understand and learn something as they danced. Now things are a little more tense. So this single cover is something to remember as well.
The secret behind the pair’s 60 years together:
Levert: You’ve got to realize that you’re never going to like somebody every day. You also have to realize that business overrides all of the pettiness. It’s about making money, people’s lives and being able to pay bills. We came to grips with that a long time ago. We used to disagree and get so mad with one another that we’d fight and tear up a room. But it’s the right of every individual to be able to disagree. And you cannot change a person no matter how much you beat them down. No matter what our disagreement was, we had to come to some kind of decision or else the business stops. So we got a manager, a third party to break all ties.
Williams: The glue is also enjoying what we do and watching people enjoy it. And yes, the one clever thing Eddie and I did to have longevity and still stay inspired was finding a mediator that we trust. We grumble about it sometimes. Sometimes it’s like trying to flavor crow — finding salt, pepper and Cajun seasoning to make it taste better — because you have to eat it sometimes [laughs]. But that’s our policy and what’s kept us in the same book.
Favorite O’Jays message song:
Levert: Mine is “Back Stabbers” because the haters are always there.
Williams: “Love Train” because it says all the things that need to be said, inviting everyone to come on board. There’s no prejudice in any sense. And it’s the biggest song we’ve done to date. We’re still getting royalty checks [laughs].
The O'Jays say "Two More Years" until retirement
by Chris Rizik
(February 11, 2018)
Soultracks
They are one of the all-time great R&B vocal groups, and they're still going strong today. But with lead members Eddie Levert and Walter Williams now at age 75 and 74 respectively, the O'Jays are beginning to plan an exit.
In a special tribute to the group this morning on the national television show CBS Sunday Morning, Williams and Levert indicated that they're planning two more years of touring, before hanging up their performance outfits, after nearly six decades together. And "new" member Eric Nolan Grant (22 years in the group) says when his two senior partners leave, then that'll be the end of the O'Jays.
Originally a regionally popular act in Cleveland (and in fact named after local deejay Eddie O'Jay), the group was together for a decade before getting a major break by teaming with young songwriter/producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. The quintet had a number of minor hits together on Chess Records in the late 60s and early 70s, and frustration with their lack of real success pared the group down to the trio of Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and William Powell by 1972. And it was that lineup that recorded the groups first album on Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia International Records, Backstabbers. Backstabbers was a triumph, highlighted by the McFadden & Whitehead-penned title track. The haunting song with the great intro (later sampled by Angie Stone on "I Wish I Didn't Miss You") became a monster hit, and was followed by the even bigger "Love Train," which became the group's signature song. It also began a string of critically acclaimed and commercially popular albums.
During the period of Philadelphia International's 70s dominance of the airwaves, it was clear that the O'Jays were the foundation of the house. The contrast of the gruff, electrifying voice of Eddie Levert and the mellifluous tones of Walter Williams gave the group the ability to masterfully handle the funkiest cuts Gamble & Huff could throw at them and yet also handle ballads beautifully. They generally received the best songs and the most creative Gamble & Huff arrangements, with far more hits than misses. Songs like "For The Love of Money," "Livin' For the Weekend," and the classic "Use Ta Be My Girl" all appeared to be a year or two ahead of what everyone else was doing, and made each new O'Jays release an event. And, as the vehicle for G&H's social statements, the group released some of the most intelligent, relevant album cuts of the decade. Their mid-70s albums, especially Ship Ahoy, are worth seeking out.
With popularity came the dangers of stardom: women and drugs. The group succumbed to both vices, but Williams and Levert were able to bring themselves back and continue developing as performers. Powell had more difficulty, becoming addicted to drugs before tragically being felled by cancer. He died in 1977. Former Little Anthony & the Imperals singer Sammy Strain became the new member of the trio, and stayed with the group for a decade and a half.
As the 70s ended, the Gamble & Huff sound became more familiar -- even formulaic -- but the O'Jays' albums continued to include fine material and always wonderful vocal performances. Generally forgotten early 80s releases such as When Will I See You Again and Love and More featured some of the group's best ballads, but found a more limited audience acceptance. With their crossover days were behind them, the O'Jays began focusing on writing more of their own material and continued to adjust to changes in the sound of popular black music, ultimately leaving the Gamble & Huff fold. They continued to score sporadic hits, such as the rap-introed "Have You Had Your Love Today" and the gospel-like cover of Bob Dylan's "Emotionally Yours." During that period Eddie Levert also made a terrific album with son Gerald, who was then a rising solo star and leader of the popular group Levert.
In 1992, Strain left the O'Jays to again join the reunited Little Anthony & the Imperials. He was first replaced by Nate Best, but ultimately by Grant.
Unlike many of their 70s soul counterparts, The O'Jays never stopped successfully recording successfully, most recently contributing to the Brawl in Cellblock 99 soundtrack last year. However, they've faced their share of struggles, too. Levert suffered a parent's nightmare, with the deaths of Eddie's sons Gerald and Sean in 2007 and 2008. And in 2010, Williams revealed that he had been suffering from multiple sclerosis for years.
But the group has soldiered on, and this year will be celebrating their 60th anniversary together. With Levert living in Las Vegas and Williams in Cleveland, the group's founders continue working both together and separately. But they continue to perform around the world and are still bringing it well into their eighth decade of life.
It will be a sad day for the music world when the O'Jays ultimately hang it up in 2020, but we're looking forward to fully cherishing their last couple years of performance excellence.
THE O'JAYS SINGING THEIR NATIONAL NUMBER ONE HIT "LOVE TRAIN" ON THE DANCE SHOW "SOULTRAIN IN 1973
http://www.mightyojays.com/music/
The O’Jays, a well-known rhythm and blues group from Canton, Ohio, that has recorded music for several decades, plan to release a final album before retiring next year. That album includes a tune which confronts the class warfare of the rich and their political defenders in Washington.
The song, “Above the Law,” opens with the chorus, “How much money would you give to live above the law, how many souls would you sell to dwell above the law.” These may seem like questions, but for the O’Jays, they are statements of scorn.
“As long as it’s working in your favor, you love the law,” they add. “Making our lives a living hell—above the law!”
It captures three dynamics: how elites manipulate the law to amass greater wealth, how elites use their influence to avoid accountability for crimes, and how elites wield the law to keep the poor and working class under their control.
As the group summarizes, the plan of those in power is to “re-invent slavery, erase the war on poverty, separate primarily by class—stealthily, carefully.”
“Go ahead and ring that bell,” the group sings. “An open market.” They juxtapose the casino for the rich, which the poor and working class do not and typically cannot access for their prosperity. And they ask, “Do the ones that work the most get to put any money in their pocket?”
Later in the song, it presents the racial disparity that is created by the law. “Black boy on drugs, imprisonment and a heavy fine. White boy on drugs, rehab and treatment to restore the mind.”
A lyric video produced for the song shows Republican Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell on Fox News. When “making our lives a living hell” appears, the New York police who killed Eric Garner are shown.
It also features a TIME Magazine cover of Brett Kavanaugh, who was recently sworn in as the next Supreme Court justice. They include Trump Tower, as well as newspapers with headlines about banks dodging prosecutions and the rich not paying their taxes.
Former San Francisco 49ers quarterback Colin Kaepernick is shown kneeling as they sing, “Using religion as a weapon, dealing with me unrighteously.”
This is far from the O’Jays first foray into protest music. They may be best known for “Love Train,” but one of their most potent songs, “For The Love Of Money” (1973), was appropriated by President Donald Trump for his reality television show, “The Apprentice.” The song, bolstered by its catchy hook, decried money as the root of all evil.
“For the love of money, don’t let it, don’t let it, don’t let money rule you,” they sing. “For the love of money, how many things have I heard you say. For the love of money, don’t let it, don’t let it, don’t let money fool you.”
In the song, “Rich Get Richer” (1975), class conscious lyrics
addressed the growing inequality gap between the super-rich and the super-poor. “The people who live on the hill don’t have time for the ghetto.” They added, “But they make money from the people who live in the ghetto.
They said there were only 16 families that control most of the world’s wealth and name-checked the Rockefellers and Mellons—elites of the time period. Elites, particularly from these families, always win. They never lose.
As for the poor that live in one-room shacks, it’s “tough luck” for them.
Eddie Levert, lead singer and co-founder of the O’Jays, told Billboard, the song came to the group from producer Steve Greenberg.
“We immediately related to it. What’s transpired since the
presidential election and the injustice that’s going on now directed where this song and album are coming from,” Levert shared. “Some things just need to be said. So either we’re going to get a lot of airplay or people aren’t going to play it at all.”
“If nothing else, it will hopefully open some eyes or get us
blackballed out of this business [laughs heartily] because there are powerful people who own the radio and media needed for this song to be heard,” Levert added.
Walter Williams, singer and co-founder of the group, said they had to say something about what was happening with the Trump administration. “I’ve never seen it this bad.”
While talking to Billboard, Williams acknowledged this album brings them back to albums in the 1970s, which spoke to social issues.
“We did a lot of message material in the ‘70s. Some things have changed but a lot of things have not,” Williams recalled. “The cover for ‘Ship Ahoy’ [featuring the group in a slave hold] was controversial for its time. Even then we were all trying to figure out how to exist and get along. We were on a good track in those days and those [album] songs helped people understand and learn something as they danced. Now things are a little more tense.”
Listen to the O’Jays new song, “Above The Law” from their forthcoming and final album, “The Last Word” (due February 22, 2019):
The O'Jays Return With Politically Charged Anthem "Above The Law"
October 25, 2018
VIBE
The song is apart of their group's final album, The Last Word.
In between the falsettos, love, and passion, R&B has always included socially conscious messages. Legendary R&B titans The O'Jays are aware of this as their comeback single "Above The Law" declares a call to action for social justice in 2018.
Written by fellow legend Betty Wright, "Above The Law" mixes gritty soul with underlying truths about society's view on race relations, women's rights, child labor, political warfare and more. The lyrics, belted with compassion from Eddie Levert Sr. and Walter Williams Sr. as well as Eric Nolan Grant, questions just how much it takes to live above the law. Poignant lyrics include "As it works in your favor/you're above the law" and "The game is fixed/pure politricks."
“If you listen to the lyrics, it answers the question why we chose to release this song first,” Eddie Levert Sr. says in a press release. “The song speaks for itself. And whether it’s us saying it or any concerned person: nobody is above the law. The law is there to punish the guilty and protect the innocent no matter who you are.”
Walter Williams Sr. also shared the importance of the song as well as voting in this year's midterm elections. “We live in an extraordinary but troubling time," he said. "The opening verse of the song states 'The man with the pen in his hand changes that lay and the law of the land,' We are all blessed to live in this great country, but to keep it great it requires us to be vigilant in preserving our democracy. This means voting regardless of the obstacles put in front of us and also making sure that our laws are followed. Nobody is above the law, and we need to keep it this way.”
THE O'JAYS. Photo: Denise Truscello
"Above The Law" is apart of the Rock and Roll Inductees' final album, The Last Word. The album will include the group's signature sound with contributions from Wright, Bruno Mars and songwriting mavens Gamble & Huff, who previously worked with the group. Their first album in 20 years will arrive on streaming platforms Feb. 22 on S-Curve Records.
If you are an R&B or renowned music lover, you're aware of The O'Jays 60-year legacy. The group scored their first hit in 1972 with "Backstabbers" and continued their reign with singles "Love Train," "Put Your Hands Together," "For The Love of Money," "Livin For The Weekend" and so much more.
The group has 10 gold albums, 9 platinum albums, and 10 #1 hits.
Check out the lyric video above.
A Quietus Interview
All The Pain Is Gone: Eddie Levert Of The O'Jays Interviewed by John Doran August 11th, 2014
John Doran talks to Eddie Levert of The O'Jays about five and a half decades of soul power
When it was announced that powerhouse Philly soul, funk and disco legends The O'Jays were playing live in London next month it sent a frisson of excitement sparking through certain types of music fan. After all this group who formed while teenagers in Canton, Ohio in 1958 are one of the last remaining classic vocal R&B groups worth a damn who are still performing live. And given that it is well over two decades since the group last played here, until this announcement it would have been reasonable to presume that they wouldn't be returning to Britain again. But then the UK has always loved The O'Jays; the trio has scored nine hits here, four of them hitting the top twenty and their one and only live album was recorded on their first visit to these shores.
While probably most well-known for their sparkling cross-over pop hits such as 'Love Train' and 'I Love Music', they were equally as popular for silk smooth Philadelphia soul cuts such as 'Back Stabbers' and stone to the bone funk tracks like 'For The Love Of Money'. Their flexibility, popularity and longevity has only really been shared with the likes of The Temptations. Perhaps one of the things that helped The O'Jays secure such longevity was the fact that real success was a long time coming and very hard won. After forming straight out of school 56 years ago, Eddie Levert, Walter Williams and William Powell moved from city to city looking for a sound they could call their own - trying their luck in Detroit, Cincinnati, New York and California but it was only when they arrived in Philadelphia in 1972 and joined forces with the mighty Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff did they truly realise their potential.
Their first recording for Philly International, Back Stabbers is an all-time great album that (as well as the mighty title track) introduced the world to the amazing '992 Arguments' - a soul classic, hidden in plain sight. Their follow up album in 1973, Ship Ahoy was just as good and proved that when it came to mixing uplifting pop, with hard hitting social commentary and making music that was by turns innovative, classy and accessible, they really only had a rival in Curtis Mayfield in the early part of that decade.
The O'Jays are over in Europe soon to play some live dates. Is it a while since your last visit?
Eddie Levert: We haven't been over for about 24 years.
When was the first time you came over to London?
EL: We came to England first in… wow… it was when we recorded a live album years ago. Yeah, it's 40 years since we recorded The O'Jays Live In London in 1974.
What are going to be the main differences in the shows do you think?
EL: Well, I'll tell you one thing we're much older now [laughs] so we wont' be dancing as hard but we will still be dancing. The show will be as energetic as it ever has been but we're much classier guys now. [laughs]
Do you have any thoughts on why The O'Jays really struck a chord over in the UK? You had nine hit singles over here.
EL: You know what I think? Our music, Gamble and Huff's style of writing and the way that we sing just struck a chord with people. Songs like 'I Love Music', 'Love Train', 'For The Love Of Money', that resonates with the way that people are thinking no matter where they are.
You're in the 56th year of the group now, which is amazing longevity for any genre of music. How do you keep up your enthusiasm for revisiting your standards year in year out?
EL: It's because I love what I do and I love people loving what I do. When I see people loving it as much as I do, this has a positive effect on me. Music has a therapeutic effect - I always tell people this. No matter what pain I'm feeling, the minute the announcer says, 'The O'Jays' and I walk on stage, the pain is gone, the trouble that I was worried about is then put on the backburner and for the next 70 or 90 minutes when we're on the stage, all of that pain, all of that confrontation, all of the blues, all of that goes away and I'm just focusing on the music and on having a good time.
So all being well, you'll be celebrating your 60th anniversary live?
EL: All being well we will. Then I'll be as old as Paul McCartney, which is 72 years old.
A lot is said about The O'Jays from the Philly International years onward but you formed the group in 1958…
EL: What happened here was this: we started off our career in Ohio, we went to Cincinnati and King Records which was James Brown's record label, then we went to Detroit because they had the Motown sound, then we went to New York and recorded with the New York sound… Then we went to California, to do beach music. We were hanging out with Jan and Dean and The Beach Boys and all of those guys. We were doing beach music like 'Lipstick Traces', 'Lonely Drifter' all of those tunes. A lot of these records did reasonably but there were no big hits. It was a wide ranging trip to find ourselves. And when we went to Philadelphia we finally found ourselves. We found out how we were supposed to go about making records and how to make hit records with people like Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.
You mentioned 'Lipstick Traces', which was originally written by Allen Toussaint, a gentleman who I've interviewed before and the king of New Orleans R&B, which is a different tradition.
EL: We were part of that Southern tradition. The Muscle Shoals sound. The Memphis sound. We were part of that tradition. We found ourselves via these places. In all of these places we went we learned something. We found a little bit of success in each place but just not the success we found in Philadelphia with Kenny and Leon. They found that gospel thing that we had and were able to put it into popular music. They created a sound for us that almost sounded gospel but was in fact rhythm and blues.
Detroit and Philly are similar in some respects but why do you think they had such different musical traditions when it came to soul music?
EL: It was because of the gospel and spiritual influence in Philly. The O'Jays came from the church and when we came to Philly they hadn't yet ventured into that kind of sound yet but when we got there and we got those things in tandem we hit a great run and this sound affected a lot of other artists. It was given to such artists as Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes… Teddy Pendergrass and even The Intruders.
So I read that you thought about quitting in 1972, what was it that made you keep on going?
EL: Gamble and Huff. I'd never been with any other people who had touched my soul and who made me want to sing like they did.
And did they ever tell you what they felt they saw in The O'Jays?
EL: We had a relationship that I guess you could say was a mutual admiration society. I loved the way they made music and the way they wrote. I loved the way Leon played the piano and I loved Kenny's lyrics. And they loved the way that me and Walter sang. That we could appear on those records was unbelievable. Do you know what I'm saying? It was unbelievable to us. When we did those vocals and heard them played back to us, we could not believe it.
Philly International had such an amazing roster of artists when you look at Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes, Billy Paul, The Three Degrees, The Intruders... Was it a busy time? Was there a lot of pressure to get in and out of the studio as quickly as possible?
EL: Do you know, that if they gave us all the rhythm tracks - if all of them were finished - because we rehearsed songs so much, that we could record an entire album in one night.
Wow. So around the time of the Back Stabbers album, was there a set way of how you did tracks?
EL: Absolutely, there was a formula. You had people who lived with that music from the time you started rehearsing it. People like Bobby Martin was there from the absolute beginning and he'd be arranging the tracks. He lived with that music every step of the way. Thom Bell [string arranger] would be there from the time we started rehearsing, from starting work on the rhythm track to the end. Vince Montana [percussion, vibes] and all of those guys would be there from the first note to the final note.
For me Back Stabbers is one of the all time great soul albums. Every song is a classic. But like with quite a lot of soul and funk it's got a thick seam of darkness and unease to it. Not 'Love Train' but the rest of the tracks...
EL: Sometimes when you deal with truth, when you deal with things that are real, they have a certain darkness to them. And other times when you deal with things that are real, they have a bright future to them. Like with 'Love Train' - it was so positive that people still celebrate that song like it was just out. The same with 'I Love Music'. It was just an expression of the fact that we love what we do. Now 'Back Stabbers' was one of my favourite songs. We started out with the sheet music. We started out with the piano and me, Walter, William and [Gene] McFadden and [John] Whitehead [composer] standing around the piano. And then when they did the rhythm track it became special. And then when we recorded the vocals it became extra special. And then when they put the top on it, it became extra, extra, extra special. And then when I heard it [for the first time] on the radio in the middle of Colorado and it became extra, extra, extra, extra super special.
Is the song autobiographical to anyone?
EL: No, I just think we were just relating to the world and what goes on in the world and what still goes on.
My favourite track on the album is '992 Arguments'.
EL: [laughs] Now, on that song you might be talking about somebody's story…
Can you tell me more?
EL: [laughs] No… I can't do that. Ha ha ha! Look, it's like with any man woman relationship. "I can't even go down to the store and get myself a cold, cold beer because when I come out to the house, your mouth I'm going to hear. It's a shame all this fussing and fighting we're doing. You know it's got to stop. We can't go on like this. Our love affair is a total flop. [singing] 992 arguments." You do it every day with your woman or with whoever your mate is. It's about relationships.
The production on that track is nuts. It's absolutely genius the way the vocals fade out at the end and the music's still going… With 'Love Train' was it a conscious decision to end the album with it? It's so different in pace and tone to the rest of the record.
EL: It was last on the record because it literally was the last song we recorded. We were there in the studio and we had no music or lyrics. So we started making up lyrics and that's where the song developed from. The message was so tremendous after we'd done it, that we felt it deserved to be the closing track.
So you'd been going since 1958 and then Back Stabbers was this massive, massive hit album in 1972. It must have been gratifying to make it big after so long of trying.
EL: Absolutely man. Because I was at that point where I was thinking, 'Are we ever going to get there? Are we ever going to make it happen?' When that record came along all of our dreams came true. It was like we were living in a dream. That was the end of the struggle and the beginning of something great. I am so humbled by it. 'Back Stabbers' is my all time favourite O'Jays song because it opened up a new era and new door for us.
The O'Jays have been working through so many massive changes in modern popular music, including soul, funk and disco. For example, the Tom Moulton remix of 'Back Stabbers' is a classic and very early example of the disco re-edit.
EL: To be innovative, to know which way the world is going, these are two of the things which The O'Jays have been able to achieve. We've been able to keep on reinventing ourselves and to keep on giving good music. You can't beat that man. Good music is a love and we're just spreading that love.
Did the success of Back Stabbers give you a lot of options?
EL: Back Stabbers opened the door but once you're through the door it's up to you to take care of business and make sure that it lasts. We were through the door but we still had to deliver as artists.
Did you feel like you were taking a risk with Ship Ahoy given some of the strong, political material on that album? You had almost like a dual existence going on as soul musicians but also as pop stars. Was there any talk of whether it might alienate some of your audience?
EL: Er, no. I say no because we at that time we were trying to be conscious, to be aware, we were trying to teach our audience, the people who loved our music, where we were from and what we were about. We weren't just making music, we were trying to send out messages about where we came from, what our heritage was and where we needed to go. And Ship Ahoy was part of a process of trying to convey to the world of who we were.
Ship Ahoy has got my favourite O'Jays track on it. For The Love Of Money is such a bad ass number.
EL: [laughs] Bad ass… that is a bad asssssss song. [laughs]
When you record a track like that, is it immediately apparent that you've got something special on your hands?
EL: They did so much to that track. Joe Tarsia, the things that he did to that track, engineering wise… the things that we did vocally, turning the backing vocals around, playing them backwards and then forwards, using phase shifting… that was a very innovative record. We knew it was a smash because we knew it was different to anything the world had heard before. And the message was so great.
Around this period, who did you keep your eyes on? Who did you see as rivals? Who would you always be checking out to see what they were up to?
EL: The Temptations, The Manhattans, The Delfonics, Harold Melvin And The Bluenotes for sure, The Stylistics, Sly And The Family Stone, The Isley Brothers, The Spinners… you were always competing with these people. Those were the people you were in competition with so you always had to keep your stuff on the same level.
And do you think there's a key to longevity as a musician?
EL: Yes. The key is to remember at all times that your fans are very important to you and you are their entertainment for the evening. You're not a diva. You're not the wherewithal. They have hired you to entertain them for the evening. That's what you are: the entertainment for the evening.
The O'Jays play at London O2 Indigo on September 18 and 19. Back Stabbers and Ship Ahoy are included in the Philadelphia Internationals Records Collection box set, out now
THE MUSIC OF THE O’JAYS: AN EXTENSIVE VIDEO OVERVIEW, A CROSS SECTION OF RECORDINGS, MUSICAL ANALYSIS AND COMMENTARY, PLUS VARIOUS INTERVIEWS WITH THE O’JAYS:
