Leader Rene Chabert, Pau 8am departure, departure 9:30 hike over Ortiac, arrived at Peak 13h loop circuit: abbey of Saint Orens , barns, water chamber, to Arribaut Plaa, Nerbiou peak, down to the valley Isaby, ford, left bank, arrival 16.30.
barns after the abbey of Saint Orens
the path to the water chamber and which dominates Pierrefitte Nestalas: the chimney do not smoke anymore.
on peak
the apex of Nerbiou
it descends on the ridges in the direction of Soum Maugasau
then we pass under the Courade Maucasau of the creek flows down Isaby
the ford of the creek Isaby
on the left bank of the creek road Isaby the storm hit Xyntia
style to heavy muffled sounding jazz ballad that anticipates the follower of fashion divas like Anita Baker Soul and Regina Belle in the late 1970s. At the time, its success shows there is an alternative to disco.
Raised in the Bronx, this daughter of a former lead singer of Latin jazz Machito, teaches herself to sing very early before learning the piano at ten years. In high school she was part of a vocal group called the Puerto Rican Supremes and even recorded a first 45-t. My Friend, which sells very well in the Hispanic community. Everything seems predestined to the future in this cultural milieu until his passing in the choirs of Harlem Dance Teater introduced him to jazz. She composes a sequel Under the Moon and Over the Sky and performs regularly with artists such as Stan Getz and Benny Goodman. In 1978, Angela is made under contract by the GRP mark that makes him record a debut album, Angie , followed the next year Angel of the Night the content away from to flirt with jazz and soul. Substantial sales of this compilation, as the arrival on the charts What I Would not Do (for the Love of You) , show him the way to go when his contract is transferred from Arista. Something About You in 1981 and especially Too Tough , a Top 5 hit from the album of the same name two years later, reinforce his star status of ballad, before his popularity began to show signs of weakness in the middle of the decade. This does not Angela Bofill recording six albums for Arista in the colors ( Teaser , Let Me Be the One , Tell Me Tomorrow ), Capitol ( intuition in 1988) Jive ( I Want to Love Somebody in 1993) and Shanachie ( Love in Slow Motion in 1996), while increasing stage appearances with the New York Jazz Explosion and studio with Stanley Clarke, Stacy Lattisaw, Johnny Mathis and Marion Meadows ( Love Was Never in 1992).
Biography taken from the book Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul by Sebastian Danchin, Fayard (2002).
Atlanta (Georgia) January 4, 1946 Ruurlo (Netherlands) November 16, 2003
Gradually, as his genius asserts itself on stage and in studio, Otis Redding took charge various aspects of his career whether the scene studio, or writing. In 1965, he even decided to produce other artists, to give chance to those who come after him. That year, his path crosses that of a singer nineteen year-old from Atlanta, Arthur Conley.
After taking him on tour with him, Otis led the studio, like Stax in Memphis to Muscle Shoals. Their first collaboration, I'm a Lonely Stranger is followed Sweet Soul Music , inspired Yeah Man Sam Cooke, Otis Redding gives distribution Atco, Atlantic sub-brand. Ranked in second place on the charts R & B and Pop in spring 1976 (a feat Otis himself had not yet successful), Sweet Soul Music becomes an inescapable anthem to the soul, with references to all the giants of the genre, James Brown, Wilson Pickett Lou Rawls and Sam & Dave, while the album Sweet Soul Music became a bestseller of the season. On his return from a European tour with Otis and other Stax stars, Arthur Conley found the charts during the summer with the beach as another production signed Otis, Shake Rattle & Roll.
The death of Otis Redding a few months later is catastrophic for Arthur Conley who loses his best protector. Atlantic did not want to give up along the way an artist as promising, the engineer assigned to the firm, Tom Dowd, became the artistic director of the album Soul Directions. Without both Otis, Tom Dowd gets away with the honors since Funky Street among the Top 10 black and Top 20 Pop in the first half of 1968, which is to participate in Arthur Conley adventure ephemeral Soul Clan alongside Joe Tex, Ben E. King, Don Covay and Solomon Burke to record the 45-t. Soul Meeting. After a recent collection titled Atlantic More Sweet Soul giving Arthur Conley hit two minors in 1969 (including a replay of Ob-La-Di, Ob-la-da Beatles), his career mired despite a contract with Capricorn and mark it ends s Install in Holland where he lived for many years of his legendary status of the soul.
Biography taken from the book Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul by Sebastian Danchin, Fayard (2002).
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the English version of the biography As his genius asserted on stage and in the studio, Otis Redding took on the different aspects of his career be them stage, studio or writing. In 1965, he even decided to produce other artists, to give a chance to those who would come after him. On that year, his road crossed the one of a nineteen year-old singer from Atlanta named Arthur Conley.
After taking him on his tour, Otis put him in studio, at Stax in Memphis or in Muscle Shoals. Their first collaboration, I'm a Lonely Stranger is followed by Sweet Soul Music, inspired by Sam Cooke's Yeah Man, which Otis Redding gives the distribution to Atco, division of Atlantic. Coming second in the R&B and Pop charts in the spring of 1976 (a thing Otis had never managed to do yet), Sweet Soul Music became a Soul anthem, with references to all the legends of the genre, James Brown, Wilson Pickett, Lou Rawls and Sam & Dave. Meanwhile, the album Sweet Soul Music turned into one of the best selling records of the season. Coming back from the Stax tour with Otis and others, Arthur Conley got back in touch with the charts during the summer with an other Otis production, Shake Rattle & Roll. The death of Otis a few months later is catastrophic for Arthur Conley who lost his best protector. Atlantic, not willing to give up such a talented artist, placed Tom Dowd, the sound engineer of the company, as artistic director for the album Soul Directions. Without doing as well as Otis, Tom Dowd managed to get Funky Street to the Black Top 10 and the Pop Top 20 during the first semester of 1968 which allowed Arthur Conley to take part in the short Soul Clan adventure along with Joe Tex, Ben E. King, Don Covay and Solomon Burke for the recording of the 45rpm Soul Meeting.
After a last Atlantic compilation entitled More Sweet Soul, giving Arthur Conley two minor hits in 1969 (among which a reinterpretation of the Beatles' Ob-La-Di, Ob-la-Da) his career faded despite a contract with Capricorn Records. He ended up settling in Holland where he lived for a long time on his reputation of Soul music legend.
Contradicting an Isaac Hayes, whose genius was to revolutionize the R & B, Leon Haywood skillfully surfed for twenty years on the commercial potential of the soul and funk for a career. To have learned his craft as a pianist in the formation of Big Jay McNeely and Sam Cooke, Leon Haywood very familiar with the musical history of rhythm & blues, which allows it to make its debut on the charts since 1965 under the name of Leon Hayward with She's With Her Other Love, a soul as the more traditional recorded for account of the Imperial brand through radio host Magnificent Montague.
When the Decca found two years later with It's Got to Be Mellow after a short stint with the Parckers of Parky Axton (Hole in the Wall) and a stay at Fat Fish ( Soul Cargo in 1966 ), Leon Haywood incorporated in his music the influence of Motown which reproduces the sound intelligent backbone. After a second hit for Decca in early 1968 ( Mellow Moonlight), he disappears from the charts and is dedicated to his job as a studio musician in Los Angeles to return to the front of the stage six years later thanks to 20th Century with a long string of hits including comfortable Keep It in the Family is first. While Sugar Lump and Believe Half of What You See (and Not of What You Hear) follow in 1974, next season it is even more favorable with the album Come and Get Yourself Some especially the very suggestive I Do Something Freaky Want'a to You moves into the Top 10 Top 20 Soul and Pop.
Leon Haywood then made a foray in Columbia, recorded in 1976 The Streets Will Love You to Death - Shared - since become one of the proponents of standard favorites the soul-blues tradition. Upon his arrival at MCA in 1977, the page is turned and he jumps on the train of disco with the catchy compositions like Super Sexy , Double My Pleasure and Party. Yet with his return to 20th Century in 1980 he earned his biggest bestseller when Do not Push It, Do not Force It missed a place only the head of the black classes.
changed once more stable, Leon Haywood joined Casablanca where he signed the album It's Me Again and the single I'm Out To Catch in 1983, but his style is clearly past fashion and concludes his list a few months later with Tenderomi. Refusing to give up the job of the disc, Leon Haywood is now head of his own studio in Los Angeles and brand Evejim specializing in the production of artists from blues and soul-blues like Jimmy McCracklin, Little Joe Blue, Clay Hammond, Vernon Garrett and Ronnie Lovejoy.
Biography taken from the book Encyclopedia of Rhythm & Blues and Soul by Sebastian Danchin, Fayard (2002).
"Because of the importance of its industry Automotive, Detroit is nicknamed the Motor City a long time. As I was talking primarily to people of rural origin who came from southern states, I decided to replace "city" with "town", which is of advantage to think about a small town, and contraction of Motor Town Motown gave the word. " Berry Gordy
With Stax in Memphis, Motown in Detroit and Los Angeles, has shaped the future of black popular music from the early sixties and 'disco arrived five years later. But while Stax remained true to the roots of culture African-American based on the fervor of black gospel and philosophy nonchalant blues, Motown was inspired by the transmutation of rhythm & blues rock & roll at the height of the Eisenhower era to produce an urban soul, both benign and developed, capable of conquering the American public at a time for relations between communities. Ultimately, Motown was integrated into daily American just like Broadway, to the point of cultural reference is today obliged, as evidenced by the recent example George Tenet, omnipotent CIA director, who calmed his nerves with the aftermath of September 11, 2001, singing loudly standards Motown in his office between meetings of crisis in the White House. But even more than the characterization of a style, Motown is a success story and a man, Berry Gordy, who put his intelligence and intuition in the service of his ambition and intuition in the service of his ambition to escape the mediocrity of existence that awaited him in the ghetto of Detroit. Until his company was acquired by MCA in 1988, the fate of Motown turned exclusively exceptional carrying a visionary project.
Since he entered the world of rhythm & blues writing some success for Jackie Wilson (Reet Petite, Lonely Teardrops), this former boxer and jazz record shop worker became a requirement by including the universe the song is different and that the law is inevitably the stronger side, a fact that disturbs him deeply. Nature is rebellious, Gordy did not see why the record industry would continue to make huge profits on the backs of these small producers Afro-American which he is the archetype. In Chicago, the growing success of Vee-Jay Records, a company founded and run by blacks, proves that show business was not the white monopoly of commercial success. Yet, Vee-Jay can not escape the limited scope of the black community and understands the need Gordy "integrate" its production if it wants to reach ninety percent of the remaining America.
The recent example of rock and roll shows him the way forward while enlightening about the nature of the pitfalls to avoid, by borrowing rhythms purely African-American to give priority to white artists, the profession has given birth to a universal phenomenon that revolutionized popular music. To prevent such looting from happening again, Gordy intends to erase the features most "ethnic" rhythm & blues to keep only the specific elements of rhythm, obliterating any sexual connotation to give his repertoire a freshness and naivety reserved until the white variety. If Sam Phillips who discovered Elvis Presley, has always said that his fortune would be made the day he would find a white singer capable of assimilating the vitality of black blues, Berry Gordy knows that success awaits those who will make the public appreciate black artists seamlessly integrated, enabling the American dream.
To achieve his ends, he must first find the money, which he did early in 1959 borrowing eight hundred dollars to the reserve fund family fed by his many brothers and sisters, after a showdown with his elder Esther who criticized him for thirty years to maintain chimeras adolescent. With this sum, he created the label Tamla - a name inspired by the standard Tammy Debbie Reynolds - on which he recorded his first artist, Marv Johnson. When Come to Me shows some signs of success, Gordy did not have the necessary means of distribution and must sell the rights to his artist at United Artists, death in the soul.
For eighteen months, the pattern is repeated several times. To move to the next step by publishing and distributing itself hits it starts to generate (Barrett Strong Money is a case in 1960), he must find moral support from William "Smokey "Robinson, a young singer and songwriter crossed in 1957. This meeting will change their two lives. "It's Berry who taught me to write a song and give it meaning," to remember Smokey. "I've always been good at making rhymes, but my songs had no continuity. Berry showed me how to tell real stories around a coherent theme, with a beginning, middle and conclusion. "Passionate
song since childhood, Robinson founded a group with some classmates at Northern High School, originally dubbed the Matadors, they become the Miracles on the advice of Gordy and carry him to a first 45-T entitled Got a Job, assigned End Records in New York. The day when Berry and Smokey are mailed a check for three dollars and nineteen cents in return for their labor, they decided to build around a real Tamla label. A new common composition and performed by the Miracles Shop Around, gives them the means by moving the top of the charts R & B and Pop charts in second place early in 1961, a crossover success that validates the outset Policy Editorial imagined by Gordy.
development of his company through the recruitment of new interpreters. After obtaining the results commercially mixed with Blind Sammy Ward and Mable John in a similar vein of the blues, Gordy focuses on artists from beginners softer soul, which he says compositions carried by easily memorable melodies around romance commonplace that everyone can s identify. After the Miracles, the Marvelettes (Please Mr. Postman) in 1961, Contours (Do You Love Me) Mary Wells (You Beat Me To The Punch) and Marvin Gaye (Stubborn Kinda Fellow) in 1962, Martha & the Vandellas ( Heat Wave, Quicksand) and Stevie Wonder (Fingertips - Pt 2) in 1963 confirms the reputation of the firm in Detroit until the Supremes, The Four Tops, the Temptations, the Elgin, and Shorty Long finally ensure its future.
Berry Gordy is not only a talented producer, is also a virtuoso of the organization and a prudent manager who does not let itself be influenced by its success in administering the company. In particular, he runs his business from his home, buying at 2648 West Grand Boulevard a cottage on two levels in which he mixes his family life and his art. To tame the chance, give it a name Gordy prophetic Hitsville, USA
With time and as and as the success allows him to develop the building and buying houses nearby, will host Hitsville studios and offices, to eventually become the seat of the first label of Afro-American countries. In the meantime, after Tamla , other labels are emerging one after another - Gordy, Soul and Rare Earth VIP - all clustered around a single banner, that of Motown.
Gordy applied on an almost industrial recipe that was used to construct the initial success of the Miracles, defining what was soon called "the Motown sound . For the directory of artists, he uses the services of songwriters employees who work exclusively for him. Gordy generally prefers to work in teams, to better control the quality of their work, risking a certain standardization. The trio flagship of his empire consists of two brothers, Brian and Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier associated. From 1963, HDH (for Holland-Dozier-Holland) become the privileged authors of Martha & the Vandellas, the Four Tops, of Elgin, Mary Wells, Marvin Gaye and the Supremes, creating the chain of international hits: Baby Love, Come See About Me, How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You), It's The Same Old Song, Nowhere to Run, Reach Out I'll Be There, Stop! In the Name of Love, Where Did Our Love Go ... In total, thirty of their compositions will be entitled to the honors of Top 10 Pop, allowing the name of Motown to circumnavigate the world.
In the studio, the same systematic rigor, while an orchestra was formed welded and extremely inventive, capable of recording the chain behind the major Motown stars with the blessing of his musical director Maurice King former conductor of the Flame Show Bar home. Led by pianist Earl Van Dyke, the Funk Brothers rhythm section of drummer Benny Benjamin includes bassist James Jamerson and and a series of guitar including Joe Messina, Eddie Ellis and Robert White. For arrangements, it is for Hank Cosby and Gil Askey, while the choruses are provided mostly by secretaries, each putting his hand to the dough when it comes to advancing the various departments of the business entrusted to that Gordy mostly to his brothers and sisters.
As enriched as the winners of Motown and new artists recruited (Brenda Holloway, Junior Walker, Jimmy Ruffin, Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Spinners, Edwin Starr, Undisputed Truth ...), Gordy expanded the team that supports him. If he himself supervised the entire production of Smokey Robinson's debut with the multiplication of the sessions required to appeal to new producers in the first half of the 1960s: Brian Holland and Lamont Dozier, of course, but also Norman Whitfield, who took over the artistic direction of Motown, William "Mickey" Stephenson, Barrett Strong, Clarence Paul, Ivy Hunter, Johnny Bristol, Harvey Fuqua and later Nick Ashford and Valerie Simpson, Frank Wilson, Hal Davis and Marvin Gaye.
Gordy's intelligence is that he understood early on that disk is not sufficient to guarantee the success of its artists. For having observed how Colonel Parker was managing the rise of Elvis Presley, he knows the scene and promotion - especially television - can make and break careers. This observation led him to develop a school for the show, Artist Development, told Harvey Fuqua. Edited by Cholly Atkins, the Temptations or the Supremes choreography work developed, while Maxine Powell gives Motown stars maintenance courses to teach them to smile, to be held in public, answering questions with wit journalists and television hosts, to be tactful in all circumstances. Gordy for this is to reassure middle America by proving that all African Americans are not aggressive.
Finally, the skill with which he built his empire is a reflection of his talents as a businessman. In addition to its various labels, the armed wing of his empire is its music publishing company, Jobet Music, which must be added the company Organizing shows International Talent Management, as many complementary strengths that enable it to garner the dollars at all levels of the chain, writing for the stage. In 1965, Motown employs one hundred people in Detroit, New York and Los Angeles, and the turnover of the company amounts to eight million dollars, making the boss Gordy Afro-America's most powerful American a success that benefits first and foremost to his family.
In contrast, his main collaborators are not always treated with the same consideration, even if memories contradictory spoke about it. However, it is undeniable that some discontent is emerging in the Motown stable , most artists of the company having imprudently signed unfavorable contracts. If some do not hesitate to go when they are released from their obligations, others use their celebrity to renegotiate their future. This is the case of Stevie Wonder that threatens to leave Motown, the day of his majority and ended up getting a royalty rate and an acceptable total artistic freedom in the studio. Things did not go favorably in the case HDH of which have slammed the door at the end of 1967, holding that their pay was not up to what they brought to the company. The break is when Gordy their claims four million dollars in damages, prompting the immediate response of the trio's lawyers, whose requirements are five times higher, and the trial will succeed until the mid-1970s.
Gordy reveals nothing of these problems out, sticking to a policy of showing a reassuring face whatever the circumstances, even washing his dirty linen family. Always very attentive to his image, he usually plays on all fronts: vis-à-vis the show business, it is a responsible partner who never calls into question the usual practice of a profession largely driven by the white establishment ; the same time, to defuse any criticism within the black community, he published on Motown speeches of Martin Luther King in 1963.
The radicalization of the black movement in the aftermath of the assassination of Dr. King forced Gordy to greater clarity in his positions. Forum for Black, he publishes texts opposed the war in Vietnam and manifests virulent against exploitation Blacks in America from Nixon. It is true no late pays more militant manages to consequences, the entire American intelligentsia as having taken up the cause of the minority Afro-American at the turn of the decade. In artistic terms, the net shift in policy Motown is a much more credible extension through the works of social consciousness and politics that is the album What's Going On - or protected from producer Norman Whitfield: Edwin Starr, Undisputed Truth, and the Temptations who suddenly give their records a funky color, radically different innocent harmonies of their debut.
If the sixties soul allowed the politically correct Motown to impose on the charts, the next decade is the result of capitalist Berry Gordy. For this complex and ambitious entrepreneur who, like Caesar on the eve of war in Gaul, was distressed to thirty years have not yet made a fortune, the supreme symbol of success is Hollywood, bearing alone the American dream. To approximate this Babylon he covets, Gordy takes advantage of the emergence of the Jackson 5, a group shaped moving to Los Angeles, California the headquarters of his company by bringing in aides like Smokey Robinson and Suzanne Depasse. This voluntary exile allows him to hang contact with the world of cinema that closed very quick to use his money to produce films like Lady Sings the Blues and Mahogany, two productions with varying success showcasing his muse, Diana Ross .
For Gordy, the mere fact of finding his place in Hollywood is a personal victory, but it is not the same for Motown who gradually loses some of its biggest stars as and as its whitens coaching: The Four Tops in 1972, the Jacksons 5 three years later, followed by Marvin Gaye and Diana Ross at the beginning of next decade. This shift is even more disturbing that the film quickly reveals itself a dubious investment; Motown fortunately can count on to develop the production of television programs, support of the faithful few (Stevie Wonder, and to a lesser measure the Temptations) and happily on the arrival of new recruits as the Commodores (which will emerge eventually the personality of Lionel Ritchie), and then Rick James and Teena Marie.
When Motown festival with great fanfare its twenty-five years in 1983 with a show TV spectacular entitled Motown 25 , financial success is no doubt but the flame of the beginning is hardly a gleam, as evidenced by the recruitment of highly opportunistic actor Bruce Willis, singer questionable that his passion for soul has pushed into the arms of Berry Gordy. By selling his record company to MCA for $ 61 million while retaining his interests in music publishing, film and television, he has demonstrated in 1988 that his goal was economic, not artistic. Gordy's departure from Motown deprived much of its capacity innovations, its president Jheryl Busby merely giving an example the Four Tops to Today, as he sees in the Boys and Good Girls 5 and the Jacksons new Supremes. Today, the page is turned once, whereas Motown continues to evolve within the Universal group with new recruits (Boyz II Men, Erykah Badu, Profyle, India Arie ...), the building's original Hitsville Detroit has turned into a museum, freezing in the history of one of the essential chapters of soul music.
Group formed in 1958 in Canton, Ohio Eddie LeVert (Canton, Ohio, June 16, 1942), Walter Williams (Canton, Ohio, August 25, 1942) William Powell (Canton, Ohio, 1941-1926 May 1977) - Powell replaced by Sammy Strain (9 December 1940) in 1976 - Strain replaced by Nathaniel Best in 1993, Bill Isles, Bobby Massey (Vocal Group) - Out of Isles in 1965 and in 1971 Massey
When his son Gerald and Sean wanted to get into music in the early 1980s, Eddie Levert advised them to write their own songs and take in producing their albums studio, a board that gives an idea of changes in the business of disk space than a quarter of a century. At the beginning of their journey, the O'Jays Eddie Levert suffered from being bounced from record labels in artistic director without the opportunity to express their opinion, which forced them to wait a decade before we see the success settle permanently, and even with the success of authoritarianism in the studio with producers Gamble & Huff were forced to focus their repertoire around the protest song, an area they would sometimes abandon allowed to record ballads and texts lighter. A term, the board of Levert and his son had the merit of opening the doors to the fortune of the trio LeVert, Gerald and Sean who are eager to invite the O'Jays to support themselves in the studio get their own bestsellers they no longer hoped.
In four decades of continuous presence on the charts, the charts of the O'Jays is unique, with a total of fifty nine hits nearly half have accessed the Top 10 African-American, ten of them settling in the first place. But while the public was interested in them during the first half of their career, believe the Hot 100 (Love Train in 1973 was even Number One Pop), their hearing fell on the black community from the 1980s, indicating a certain radicalization of gaze focused on external soul. When they made the remark, the O'Jays merely shrug their shoulders saying that the artistic success does not only gauge to read the charts. In a series of concerts by the hundreds every year, even the most difficult periods in their history, they have given clear evidence.
In the fifties, with two hundred thousand inhabitants, Guangzhou is one of those who make steel city Ohio one of the main suppliers of the automotive industry in Detroit, an industrial status which explains the presence of many African American families, like that of Levert. Eddie Levert to seven years when he met with Walter Williams Elementary School, became best friends, they realized a few years later their fraternity by becoming green LeVert Brothers, a duo that performs spirituals Sunday on a local radio station. In 1958, the doo-woop takes precedence over the gospel with the arrival of William Powell, Bobby Massey and Bill Ilse, and the quintet became known as the Triumphs.
the instigation of a Canton promoter who has put on their fame for his songs, Triumphs get a first audition for Decca in New York and then at King Syd Nathan in Cincinnati where they made a studio recording a few songs he says he wants to publish the names of mascots, not keep his promise at first. Disappointed, the five singers moved to Cleveland where the disc jockey Eddie O'Jays takes them under his wing, introducing them to Don Davis to Detroit in 1960 which produced an initial 45-t published on Apollo, Miracles. This partnership will ultimately rise to their identity, that of the O'Jays.
While Syd Nathan finally decides to leave some on King faces he had in reserve, O'Jays sends his proteges in Los Angeles from HB Barnum, a former member of the doo-woop Dootones, became patron of discs Little Star. While finding their commitments as vocalists sessions Nat King Cole and Lou Rawls, Barnum negotiates on behalf of a contract with Imperial for whom an O'Jays record their first four hits: Lonely Drifter in 1963, a Replay Lipstick Traces (on a cigarette) of the Neo-orléannais Benny Spellman and Let It All Out in 1965, and especially Stand In for Love that touches the top 100 in fall 1966.
Just when success occurs, the redemption Imperial of Liberty grows from the O'Jays Minit but their careers stalled and they return to Cleveland where Bill Isles announces their intention to leave. For several months, the four remaining singers are considering a move to give up but the Apollo in Harlem brings together the producer Richard King who gets them a commitment to Bell, the company of Larry Uttall. Edited by George Kerr, a former member of the Imperials, the O'Jays get to the end of 1967 their first bestseller with a ballad called I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow (Than I Was Today) followed by Look Over Your Shoulder but it so happens that Bell be redeemed in turn and make a second O'Jays Once the costs of the situation. Their
arrived at Neptune in 1969 carried through the Intruders who recommend the O'Jays Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. In the space of a little over a year, the sponsors of its Philadelphia, assisted by Thom Bell and Bobby Martin, starting with shaping a more contemporary image for the O'Jays, with titles like One Night Affair Looky Looky and (Look at Me Girl) who move easily in the Top 20. Third time luck changes before the quartet has had time to assert themselves when Neptune, whose distribution is ensured by Chess Records in Chicago, must close its doors a few months after the death of Leonard Chess. HB Barnum offers its services but the singles released at the time on Saru and Little Star does the O'Jays lead nowhere.
The wheel turns at last in 1971 when three proposals occur simultaneously; addition Motown and Invictus trio Holland-Dozier-Holland who are interested, the new company formed by Gamble and Huff with funding from CBS, Philadelphia International, is Offer Eddie Levert insists that involve his classmates. Only Bobby Massey, convinced that Gamble and Huff does not grant any autonomy to creatively O'Jays, throw in the towel at this crucial moment in the history of the group, became a producer, he will before the end of the year Success Ponderosa Twins + One.
The time will give reason for Massey since Gamble & Huff closely guide the O'Jays record production of three for fifteen years, while at the same time ensuring their success. The influence of these producers is even greater for the trio in 1972 it became the flagship of the fleet at Philadelphia International, which he gave his first Number One, Back Stabbers. Until the end of the decade, nothing seems to stop the machine of O'Jays who publish under their name nine albums, all gold records and platinum. With two number one whose second Soul, Love Train, also installed at the top of the Hot 100, Back Stabbers inaugurates a series that continues with Ship Ahoy, dedicated by platinum in 1973, followed next year by The O'Jays Live in London and Survival Family Reunion (new platinum ) in 1975, Message in the Music in 1976, Travelin 'at the Speed of on thought in 1977, ending with two new collections of platinum in 1978 and 1979, So Full of Love and Identify Yourself.
In this period of U.S. history, marked by the end of the Vietnam War and the resignation of President Nixon, one of the constants of the O'Jays directory is the recurrent use of texts that combative denounce slavery (Ship Ahoy) hypocrisy (Back Stabbers and Do not Call Me Brother in 1972 and 1973) and the power of money (For the Love of Money in 1974 and Rich Get Richer next season), advocate social awareness and political (Give the People What They Want and Message in Our Music, Number One in both 1975 and 1976), and defend environmental values (This Air I Breathe 1973). Probably because they know their Gamble and Huff need to overcome this image bound gradually appear among the top bestsellers O'Jays less loaded as I Love Music (Part 1), Livin 'for and the Weekend Darlin 'Darlin' Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love), respectively number one in all 1975, 1976 and 1977 and is also a composition with unpretentious, Use Ta Be My Girl, the trio will get the most solid hit, five weeks at the top of the charts Soul in 1978.
Even at the height of their fame in the 1970s, the O'Jays are not exempt from the pitfalls of life. The cancer afflicting Williams Powell is a constant concern for them, since January 1976, Powell continues to participate in the recordings of the group but is being replaced on stage by Sammy Strain, long associated with Little Anthony & the Imperials, member complete the trio of Powell's death May 26, 1977. But it was with the next decade as the top 10 occur permanently in the wake of the success of Girl, Dont Let It Get You Down, third position in no way blacks during the summer of 1980. Upon publication of The Year 200 in 1980 and My Favorite Person Two years later, their sales decreased significantly to reach the bottom in 1984 with Love and More. On the front of the singles, none of the ten titles they drive on the charts exceeds the thirteenth place, a record which many artists would have been satisfied but is clearly behind the habits of O'Jays.
Several factors help explain this in the wilderness. If they have succeeded to escape competition disco, Gamble & Huff who had the intelligence to adapt their repertoire to the ambient atmosphere with compositions well in tune with the times as I Love Music, the sudden evolution of modes in early Air Reagan did not play for them, but above all, Eddie Levert attributed the disaffection of the black community in the tour they are doing in South Africa at the beginning of the decade. Accused of having betrayed the cause of opponents of apartheid, stigmatized by the United Nations has included in the list of artists refractory cultural boycott officially placed against Pretoria, the O'Jays are faint some of the credibility they had in the ghettos of America and their ranking suffers lasting, even if the tour continued to be related.
Rebounding they no longer expected to occur in 1987, when Eddie Levert was preparing to abandon the scene. The song Lovin 'You, it's a ballad Gamble and Huff signed ten years old who surprised everyone when she moved from Philadelphia International at the first place no way Black November 7, 1987. "That day, I told myself that we were not finished yet," admits Green. In the wake of Lovin ' You, the song that gave its title to the album Let Me Touch You in turn takes the path of the Top 10 and the O'Jays resume their duties on the world of R & B. Clearly, the time is ripe for change O'Jays separating of Gamble & Huff, relations were often conflicts between the two producers, but never to this point and the trio returned to his freedom by signing with EMI, which assured for some years now the distribution of Philadelphia International.
Within four years, in addition to a collection of Christmas as the Anglo-Saxon love them (Home for Christmas in 1991), the band releases two albums that entered the list Top Seller: Serious Emotionally Yours in 1989, gold album two years later. For the first time in their career, the O'Jays are able to produce their own recordings and they take the opportunity to adapt their image to the evolution of the soul. By appealing to the son of Eddie Levert, Gerald and her accomplice of the group LeVert, Marc Gordon, in tune with the contemporary R & B market, the O'Jays significantly rejuvenate their production and obtain a new series of bestsellers. Have You Had Your Love Today, Black Number One in 1989, offers an interlude of jazz rap while Yours Emotionally transforms a composition of Bob Dylan in gospel hymn two years later, with the complicity of Will Downing of LeVert, Evelyn "Champagne" King and Phyllis Hyman in the chorus. One could also cite Serious Hold on Me in 1989, Do not Let Me Down and Keep On Lovin 'Me in 1991, contributing to boost the image of the trio.
O'Jays For this return to the front of the stage is like a last challenge, a bet that allows them to continue their careers with confidence today. Since 1993, Best Nathaniel came over from Sammy Strain, party regain its place among the Imperials. If the following publications in 1993 Heartbreaker and Love You to Tears, published by Global Soul in 1997, have not been a success comparable to that of previous albums, retirement is far from the concerns of the trio that continues to multiply stage appearances throughout the year and that might be expected to rebound again in the future, as did Eddie Levert in 1995 by co-signing with his father's best-selling Father and Son.
Discography
1968 / Back On Top 01. I'll Be Sweeter Tomorrow 02. I'm So Glad I Found You 03. Going Going Gone 04. That's All Right 05. I Dig Your Act 06. Look Over Your Shoulder 07. You're Too Sweet 08. Just Another Guy 09. Four For The Price Of One 10. Love Is Everywhere 11. Now That I've Found You 12. I'll Be Seeing You 13. The Choice 14. I Miss You ( l'album Back On Top )
1969 / The O'Jays In Philadelphia 01. One Night Affair 02. You're The Best Thing Since Candy 03. Branded Bad 04. I Should Be Your Lover 05. Looky Looky (Look At Me Girl) 06. Deeper In Love With You 07. Let Me In Your World 08. Just Can't Get Enough 09. I've Got The Groove 10. Medley (Little Green Apples-Something) 11. It's Too Strong ( l'album The O'Jays In Philadelphia )
1971 / Super Bad 01. Now He's Home 02. Little Brother 03. Crossroads Of Life 04. La De La 05. Peace 06. Shattered Man 07. Your Turn This Time 08. Just To Be With You 09. Gotta Get My Broom Out 10. Never Can Say Good Bye ( l'labum Super Bad )
1972 / Back Stabbers 01. When the World's at Peace 02. Back Stabbers 03. Who Am I 04. (They Call Me) Mr. Lucky 05. Time to Get Down 06. 992 Arguments 07. Listen to the Clock on the Wall 08. Shiftless, Shady, Jealous Kind of People 09. Sunshine 10. Love Train ( l'album Back Stabbers )
1972 / Greatest Hits 01. Lonely Drifter 02. Oh, How You Hurt Me 03. Whip It On Me Baby 04. How Does It Feel 05. Lipstick Traces (On A Cigarette) 06. Stand Tall 07. I Cried My Last Tear 08. Working On Your Case 09. Crack Up Laughing 10. Stand In For Love ( l'album Greatest Hits )
1973 / Ship Ahoy 01. Put Your Hands Together 02. Ship Ahoy 03. This Air I Breath 04. You Got Your Hooks In Me 05. For The Love Of Money 06. Now That We Found Love 07. Don't Call Me Brother 08. People Keep Tellin' Me ( l'album Ship Ahoy )
1974 / Live In London 01. Instrumental Introduction Put You 02. When The World Is at Piece 03. Wildflower 04. Backstabbers 05. Sunshine 06. Love Train
1975 / Survival 01. Give the People What They Want 02. Let Me Make Love to You 03. Survival 04. Where Did We Go Wrong 05. Rich Get Richer 06. How Time Flies 07. What Am I Waiting For 08. Never Break Us Up
1975 / Family Reunion 01. Unity 02. Family Reunion 03. You and Me 04. She's Only a Woman 05. Livin' for the Weekend 06. Stairway to Heaven 07. I Love Music ( l'album Family Reunion )
1976 : Message in the Music 01. Message in Our Music 02. A Prayer 03. Paradise 04. Make a Joyful Noise 05. Desire Me 06. Darlin' Darlin' Baby (Sweet Tender Love) 07. I Swear, I Love No One But You 08. Let Life Flow ( l'album Message in the Music )
1977 : Travelin' at the Speed of Thought 01. Travelin' at the Speed of Thought 02. We're All in This Thing Together 03. So Glad I Got You, Girl 04. Stand Up 05. Those Lies 06. Feelings 07. Work On Me 08. Let's Spend Some Time Together
1977 / Collectors' Items 01. Family Reunion 02. Survival 03. Give The People What They Want 04. Let Me Make Love To You 05. I Love Music 06. Stairway To Heaven 07. Backstabbers 08. For the Love of Money 09. Sunshine 10. You Got Your Hooks In Meme 11. Love Train 12. Livin' For The Weekend 13. Wildflower (Live) 14. Darlin' Darlin' Baby 15. Brand (I Really Miss You) ( l'album Collectors' Items )
1978 : So Full of Love 01. Sing My Heart Out 02. Use Ta Be My Girl 03. Cry Together 04. This Time Baby 05. Brandy (I Really Miss You) 06. Take Me to the Stars 07. Help (Somebody Please) 08. Strokety Stroke ( l'album So Full of Love )
1979 : Identify Yourself 01. Sing a Happy Song 02. Get on Out and Party 03. Identify 04. So Nice I Tried It Twice 05. Hurry up and Come Back 06. Forever Mine 07. I Want You Here With Me 08. One in a Million ( )
1980 / The Year 2000 01. The Year 2000 02. To Prove I Love You 03. You'll Never Know (All There Is to Know 'Bout My Love) 04. You're the Girl of My Dreams (Sho Nuff Real) 05. You Won't Fail 06. Girl, Don't Let It Get You Down 07. The Answer's in You 08. Once Is Not Enough ( l'album The Year 2000 )
1982 / My Favorite Person 01. I Just Want to Satisfy You 02. Your Body's Here With Me (But Your Mind's on the Other Side of Town) 03. My Favorite Person 04. One on One 05. I Like to See Us Get Down 06. Your True Heart (And Shining Star) 07. Out in the Real World 08. Don't Walk Away Mad ( l'album My Favorite Person )
1983 / When Will I See You Again 01. I Can't Stand The Pain 02. Betcha Don't Know (What Comes After That) 03. When Will I See You Again 04. House Of Fire 05. A Letter To My Friends 06. Put Our Heads Together 07. Ain'T Nothin' Wrong With Good Lovin' 08. Nice And Easy ( l'album When Will I See You Again )
1984 / Love And More 01. I've Got To Fall In Love 02. Extraordinary Girl 03. I'm The Kind Of Man 04. Everybody's Dance Krazy 05. Summer Fling 06. I Really Need You Now 07. Love You Direct 08. Let Me Show You 09. Give My Love To The Ladies ( l'album Love And More )
1985 / Love Fever 01. Can't Slow Down 02. Dollar Bill 03. All Eyes On America 04. Just Another Lonely Night 05. I Wanna Be With You Tonite 06. Love Fever 07. I Love America 08. What A Woman 09. We're Still Together 10. What Good Are These Arms Of Mine ( l'album Love Fever )
1987 / Let Me Touch You 01. Don't Take Your Love Away 02. Lovin' You 03. True Love Never Dies 04. Still Missing 05. I Just Want Somebody To Love Me 06. Let Me Touch You 07. Undercover Lover 08. No Lies To Cloud My Eyes 09. Don't Let The Dream Get Away 10. Cause I Want You Back Again ( l'album Let Me Touch You )
1989 / Serious 01. Out Of My Mind 02. Leave It Alone 03. Have You Had Your Love Today 04. Serious Hold On Me 05. Friend Of A Friend 06. Never Been Better 07. Rainbow 08. Fading 09. Pot Can't Cal The Kettle Black
1991 / Emotionally Yours 01. Don't Let Me Down 02. Something For Nothing 03. Emotionally Yours (R&B Version) 04. Respect 05. Keep On Loving Me 06. Love & Trust 07. Don't You Know True Love 08. Emotionally Yours (Gospel Version) 09. That's How Love Is 10. Closer To You 11. If I Find Love Again 12. Keep On Pleasin' Me 13. Lies 14. Make It Feel Good ( l'album Emotionally Yours )
1993 / Heartbreaker 01. Cryin' The Blues 02. One Wonderful Girl 03. Somebody Else Will 04. Show Me The Right Way 05. Trouble 06. Can't Let You Go 07. Decisions 08. No Can Do 09. Heartbreaker 10. He Loves You ( l'album Heartbreaker )
2001 / For the Love 01. Long Distance Lover 02. Let's Ride 03. Don't Break My Heart 04. Put Out The Fire 05. Come Over To My House 06. I'm Ready Now 07. Searching For The Love I Lost 08. I Don't Know 09. Latin Lover 10. Baby Making Love 11. Sounds Like Me 12. [Untitled] ( l'album For The Love )
2004 / Imagination 01. Made It Back 02. Repair Man 03. Make Up 04. Imagination 05. Chauvinistic 05. Separate Ways 07. Why You Wanna Settle For Less 08. Busy Tonight 09. One Good Woman 10. I Would Rather Cry 11. The Christmas Song ( l'album Imagination )
2004 : Together We Are One 01. All Eyes On Africa 02. Together We Are One 03. Your Place Or Mine 04. I Know What You're Doing (But I'm Too Scared To Do Something About It) 05. Ruler Of The Universe 06. Pretty Is As Pretty Does (Just Too Pretty For Words) 07. Promises 08. When Sunny Gets Blue 09. Just Don't Seem To Be My Day 10. Packin' My Bags (Movin' On) 11. Hurry Home 12. This Could Be The Last Time
the path to the water chamber and which dominates Pierrefitte Nestalas: the chimney do not smoke anymore. 
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the ford of the creek Isaby 
on the left bank of the creek road Isaby the storm hit Xyntia 
a geyser 
