He was one of the most unique voices of soul music in the 1960s and 70s and later became a minister and Gospel singer. But whatever he sang, there was no mistaking the rich baritone voice of the great Joe Simon. Today we sadly say goodbye to this all-timer who has died at age 78.
The Simmesport, Louisiana born Simon began singing in the church after his family moved to the Bay Area of California, and it was there that he made the transition to become one of the great soul music artists of his time.
Beginning with his release of “Teenager’s Prayer” when he was just 23, Simon recorded a string of R&B hits, many of which crossed over to the pop charts. 1969’s “The Chokin’ Kind” became an across-the-board smash and won for Simon a Grammy Award for Best Male R&B Performance.
As the 70s emerged, Simon teamed with up and coming songwriters/producers Kenny Gamble & Leon Huff (who would go on to form the iconic Philadelphia International Records) and landed back to back smashes in 1972 with the #1 “Drowning In the Sea of Love” and “Power of Love” (which was sampled in OutKast’s “So Fresh, So Clean”). And after a series of powerful ballads and midtempo songs, Simon took the tempo up and hit #1 again with the pre-disco dance smash “Get Down, Get Down” in 1975.
For many R&B fans, Joe Simon is a name that will always be associated with the Golden Age of Soul Music, and he certainly was that. There were few artists who possessed that kind of instantly recognizable powerful voice, and his music and his decades of work of ministry will be remembered long after today’s unhappy news. Rest in peace, Bishop Joe Simon.
CD EDITION 2CD / 27 TRACKS
Kenny Lattimore - Here to Stay (Dec. 3)
Melanie Hunter - Give It Up (December 9)
Naughty By Nature - Naughty By Nature (Vinyl Release) (December 10)
Marvin Gaye - What's Going On 50th Anniversary (January 28)
St. Paul & the Broken Bones - The Alien Coast (January 28)
MF Robots - Break the Wall (January 28)
Amber Mark - Three Dimensions Deep (January 28)
The Temptations - Temptations 60 (January 28)
Motown: A Symphony of Soul (February 18)
Aretha Franklin - Her Ultimate Collection
Ayo - Royal
Earth Wind & Fire - Their Ultimate Collection
Stone Paxton - Kunlalini Awakening
Al Green - Al Green's Greatest Hits
Jaki Graham - 35th Anniversary Collection
Mary Wilson - The Motown Anthology
Tuxedo - Doin' My Best
Average White Band - Shine + 9
Ralph was my first interview ever, as a young music reviewer. I was 18 years old and writing for a small college newspaper, and he kindly agreed to meet with me – at the peak of Tavares’ popularity -- at his hotel before a concert in Detroit. He was incredibly gracious to a novice writer, and even took me backstage before the show to meet with his brothers. It began a friendship that continued throughout my college years, and he never hesitated to talk with me honestly about his career or the music business. Our regular calls led to the surprising conversation in 1983, when he told me he was going to leave the group to spend more time with his young family. But more about that in a minute.
Originally called "Chubby and the Turnpikes," the Tavares brothers spent the late '60s and early '70s in their native New England covering tunes of R&B greats at various clubs, while trying to land a record deal. They finally scored a contract with Capitol Records' then-new black music division and released their first single, "Check It Out," in 1973. It soared to the top 10 on the R&B charts and became the group's first top 40 pop hit. It also became the centerpiece for the their Johnny Bristol-produced debut album, an excellent example of early '70s Soul that also featured the hit "The Sound That Lonely Makes." The Check It Out LP gave the first glimpse of tight brotherly harmonies and alternating lead vocals that would become the Tavares trademark sound.
Capitol teamed the group next with Dennis Lambert and Brian Potter, hot producers/writers who were coming off the hugely successful Keeper of the Castle album for the Four Tops. They led Tavares through two successful LP, and the group's first #1 R&B hit (a cover of Hall & Oates' "She's Gone") and first top 10 pop hit ("It Only Takes A Minute"). Tavares was on a roll.
If their first three albums set the Tavares brothers up for success, the fourth, Sky High, (produced by Motown veteran writer/producer Freddie Perren) and its international hits, "Heaven Must Be Missing An Angel" and "Don't Take Away the Music," led the group to the "A" list of popular black artists. Perren moved the group to a hotter, crisper beat-heavy sound not hinted at in Tavares' earlier releases and the timing couldn't have been better, as the disco boom was about to explode. Tavares’ emerging popularity in the dance community led to an unexpected pivotal moment in 1977: the group's cover of the Bee Gees' "More Than A Woman" was included on the Saturday Night Fever soundtrack, giving the act its greatest exposure ever (as well as its only Grammy award), but bringing with it a label that Tavares would spend years trying to shake - that of "Disco Group."
The brothers spent the next several years working with a who's who of emerging producers, from David Foster to Kashif to Benjamin Wright, broadening their sound and confounding critics who levied the “disco” label. The group hit the charts several more times with varied styles of songs before changes in the music industry and the normal arc of a career took their toll. By 1983, Tavares’ recording years ended, though the group scored one last Grammy nomination for the ballad, “Penny For Your Thoughts.”
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He continued, “My dear brother Tommy finally made his transition after a lengthy illness. Tommy was a loving, gentle soul and a beloved son, husband, father, grandfather and one of the best brothers anyone could ever ask for. His legacy will live on in the hearts of all those who love him so much and in the beautiful music he created with our brother Bobby, as well as that of his musical peers in the famous R&B group Switch! Both my brothers Bobby and Tommy DeBarge are together now safely in the arms of our Lord Jesus Christ, though our hearts are still heavy as it will require some time to deal with the fact that he is gone and just missing him so much.”
DeBarge, and his brother, Bobby, founded Switch in 1975 and rose to fame with their hits, “I Call Your Name,” “Love Over & Over Again,” “I Wanna Be Closer,” and “There’ll Never Be,” which became a Top 10 R&B hit. It also became the band’s biggest success on the Billboard Hot 10, peaking at No. 36.
Bobby died at age 39 in August 1995 due to AIDS-related complications.
Switch inspired bands like Mint Condition and Tony, Toni, Toné. Tommy and Bobby left Switch to mentor their siblings in the family band, DeBarge, and founding member of Switch, Philip Ingram went on to continue the band with new members.
VIBE sends our deepest condolences to the DeBarge family during this time.
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Wilson formed The Gap Band in the early 1970s in Tulsa, Okla., with his brothers Charlie and Robert Wilson. The name was inspired by three streets in their hometown — Greenwood, Archer and Pine — that had defined the "Black Wall Street" district destroyed in the 1921 Tulsa Race Massacre. The brothers grew up with a love of music, raised by a music teacher mother and a preacher father. Ronnie would develop into an accomplished multi-instrumentalist, contributing keyboards, horns and percussion in addition to vocals on several of the band's albums.
The Gap Band released its debut album, Magicians Holiday, in 1974. But it was in the 1980s that the group's distinctive electro-funk style would come to define the era's increasingly synth-heavy R&B sound. The band produced a number of hit songs, including "You Dropped a Bomb on Me," "Burn Rubber on Me (Why You Wanna Hurt Me)" and "Outstanding."
The genre-melding sound of The Gap Band has continued to inspire countless artists in the generations that followed. In addition to its songs being sampled or covered by artists including Ice Cube, Mary J. Blige and Ashanti, the group earned songwriting credits in 2015 on the Mark Ronson and Bruno Mars smash "Uptown Funk" after noting similarities between the song and its own "Oops Upside Your Head."
The band continued to write and perform after its '80s breakthrough, and Charlie Wilson embarked on a solo career in the 1990s. In 2010, Robert Wilson, the band's bassist, died of a heart attack at 53. In his later years, Ronnie Wilson was involved in the music ministry of San Antonio's Community Bible Church, turning to religion after a long career in music. Speaking to the publication My San Antonio in 2011, the church's minister of music and worship Ray Jones said, "They love to hear Ronnie sing."
