10
to #1 R&B/#4 pop. King and his gilt-
edged producers kept the rhythms
spicy and the orchestrations lush on
his followup hits
Amor, Don’t Play That
Song (You Lied)
, and
I (Who Have
Nothing).
Ben E. racked up plenty
more chart entries for Atco into 1969
before leaving the label. Then he
entered into a half decade’s
commercial slump.
Atlantic boss Ahmet Ertegun caught
his oldmoneymaker in concert inMiami
and marveled at his updated sound,
complete with higher range. Ben E.
signed anew to Atlantic, working
with Bert ‘Super Charts’ DeCoteaux
and The Main Ingredient’s Tony
‘Champagne’ Silvester as his
producers. Arranger DeCoteaux
conjured up a slinky groove for
Supernatural Thing
, penned by
trombonist/bassist Haras Fyre (aka
Patrick Grant) and his then-
girlfriend, singer Gwen Guthrie, and
waxed at Media Sound Studios in
New York. It was long enough to
necessitate splitting the single into
two halves,
Part 1
being the hit.
King was back like he’d never been
gone.
Do It In The Name Of Love
made it two major hits in a row for
him that summer. In 1977, King
duetted with Average White Band.
He’s a mainstay on the oldies circuit
today.
3. The Blackbyrds
Walking In Rhythm
(Barney Perry)
Fantasy F-736
More than a world-class jazz trumpeter, Donald Byrd was also a respected
educator. He mentored a group of his music students at Howard University
in Washington, D.C. as they developed into a popular jazz-funk outfit
named after their Detroit-born teacher: The Blackbyrds.
