It has been reported on US soul sites that George White of 60s/70s Detroit group The Dynamics has died. Details are scant and not a great amount of
information on him is available. However, much of The Dynamics' music
is well known on these shores, particularly their mid/late 60s Pied
Piper produced RCA Victor release, and Northern Soul classic, "I Need Your Love" which is a sure-fire floor filler whenever the needle is
dropped on it.
They only released two singles for the label, but Kent
unearthed a few previously unreleased tracks by the
group which appeared on a pair of compilation CDs in 1997 i.e.
"Love Sick" on "Rare Collectable And Soulful" and "The Girl's Got Soul" on "Rare Collectable And Soulful Volume 2" and in 2014 "My Life Is No Better" was released on a Kent Select 7".
The group started life as the Monarchs and took their name The
Dynamics from the General Motors new Oldsmobile Dynamic 88 in
1958. Their first hit arrived in 1963 titled "Misery" recorded at United Sound for Fox Records but the masters were
sold to Big Top who released it in Oct 1963. Coincidentally Fox
Records was owned by George Braxton who also owned Brax on which
Johnnie Mae Matthews first single as a member of Five Dapps was
released. The backing track to "Misery" was performed by a white
group from Dearborn called The Royal Playboys who were also
credited on their first single "So Fine"/ "Delsinia" on Dynamic in 1963 and gained national distribution on
Reprise. The early Dynamics members included Fred 'Sonny' Baker, George White, Samuel Stevenson, Starling
Schafer and Lorenzo Campbell.
In 1964 The Who, going under the moniker
The High Numbers, used the instrumental for their first single and overlaid new lyrics
titled "Zoot Suit" which was credited to their manager at the
time Peter Meadoe. The flip "I'm The Face" also
'borrowed from Slim Harpo's "I Got Love Of You Want It".
The new temporary name and both songs were specifically
designed to appeal to a Mod audience (Zoot Suits were fancied by
the Mods and 'Faces' and 'Numbers' were slang terms used by them
and both songs later featured in the Mod movie Quadrophenia in
1979 and hence got reissued in 1980 reaching #49 on the UK pop
chart.
The Dynamics original peaked at #44 R&B. They released
another single on Big Top followed by a couple on both Top Ten (owned by Richard 'Popcorn' Wylie) and RCA Victor between 1964-67 before signing to Cotillion where
they had their next, and biggest hit. It was their second single
for the label following a cover of the Norman Whitfield song "Ain't No Sun (Since You've Been Gone)" (initially recorded by Gladys Knight & The Pips and then
The Temptations) which failed to register, "Ice Cream Song", peaking at #11 R&B and #59 Hot 100 in 1969. They followed
it with a minor hit for the label "Dum-De-Dum" the same year
before switching to Black Gold in 1972 where they released six singles with only three reaching the R&B chart up to 1974. One
more single materialised on Columbia in 1977 which didn't dent
the chart but "We Found Love" is a pleasant mid-tempo 70s number with the flip "You Can Make It If You Try" Philly style 70s dance tune.
In the late 60s the group was managed by Ted White, the first
husband and former manager of Aretha Franklin, who also co-wrote
several songs with her including "Dr Feelgood", "Don't Let Me
Lose This Dream" and "Think" amongst others. He took them to
American Studios in Memphis to record their debut album "First Landing" on Cotillion in 1969. The members at this time were Fred
'Sonny' Baker, George White, Isaac 'Zeke' Harris and Samuel
Stevenson. The album was produced by Chips Moman and Tommy Cogbill.
Their second, and final, album "What A Shame" came in 1973 on
Black Gold. White co-wrote "Woe Is Me" (incorrectly titled "Who
Is Me" in the playlist below) with Ronnie Shannon and sang lead
on "What Would I Do". The line-up for this album was Fred Baker,
George White, Thomas "Skip" Winburn and Zerben Hicks.
As he did with many Detroit groups, Ian Levine, tracked them
down in the late 90s to re-record songs for his epic 'The Strange
World Of Northern Soul' video and they re-recorded "Yes, I Love
You Baby" (below). The line-up had changed but I believe that
it is White singing lead as he was renown for having an Eddie
Kendricks style falsetto voice.
Soulful Detroit issued an unreleased 1964 recording "Last Train To Soulville" in 2005. Larry Banks produced the group after their deal with Pied Piper ended. They recorded "My Life Is No Better" (written by group members Fred Baker & Zerben Hicks) for GWP Productions in New York in 1967 which remained unreleased until issued on 7" by Kent in 2014. Banks liked the song so much that he also recorded it with his partner Jaibi which also remained unreleased until appearing on a 100 Club 30th Anniversary single in 2009.
As a footnote, there were several groups in the 60s using the name The Dynamics. A notable one was The Dramatics who used the name for their first single on Wingate in 1966, "Bingo" (later released billed as The Dramatics) which they followed on the label with "Inky Dinky Wang Dang Do".
Surprisingly, both their albums are available on Spotify and all of their singles, except one non-album B side, are available on YouTube, links on titles below or a via full YouTube playlist. The missing track ("Show The World(We Can Do It)") is available in the Spotify playlist as it was included as a bonus track on a reissued, expanded, edition of their second album.
Discography
Albums
1969 - First Landing [Cotillion #9009]
1973 - What A Shame [Black Gold #BG-5001]
Singles
The Dynamics and The Royal Playboys
The Dynamics
1963-10 - Misery / I'm The Man [Bigtop #45-3161]
1964-04 - And That's A Natural Fact / I Wanna Know [Bigtop #45-516]
1965-05 - Whenever I'm Without You / Love To A Guy [Top Ten #927M-9409]
1966-02 - Soul Sloopy / Yes, I Love You Baby [Top Ten #TT 100]
1967-01 - I Need Your Love / Love Me [RCA Victor #47-9084]
Zerben R. Hicks And The Dynamics / The Dynamics
1967-08 - Lights Out / You Make Me Feel Good [RCA Victor #47-9278]
The Dynamics
1968-08 - Ain't No Sun (Since You've Been Gone) / Murder In The First Degree [Cotillion #45-44004]
1969-01 - Ice Cream Song / The Love That I Need [Cotillion #45-44021
1969-06 - Ain't No Love At All / What Would I Do [Cotillion #45-44038]
1969-10 - Dum-De-Dum / I Want To Thank You [Cotillion #45-44045]
1972-?? - Voyage Thru The Mind / Let Me Be Your Friend [Black Gold #WWS-5]
1972-?? - Voyage Thru The Mind / Let Me Be Your Friend [Black Gold #WWS-6]
1973-05 - What A Shame / Shucks, I Love You [Black Gold #BG WWS 8]
1973-08 - Funkey Key / Count Your Chips [Black Gold #BG WWS 9]
1974-01 - She's For Real (Bless You) / Voyage Through The Mind [Black Gold #WWS-11]
1974-08 - You're The Only One / Woe Is Me [Black Gold #WWS-12]
1974-10 - We're Gonna Be Together / Show The World (We Can Do It) [Black Gold
#WWS-113]
1977-12 - We Found Love / You Can Make It If You Try [Columbia #3-10666]
2005-?? - The Train To Soulville / The Train To Soulville (Instrumental) [Soulful Detroit
#SD1]
UK Only
Kenny Carter / The Dynamics
2014 - You'd Better Get Hip Girl / My Life Is No Better [Kent Select #CITY 038]
Compilation Only
1997 -
Love Sick
(The Girl's Got Soul Rare Collectable And Soulful) [Kent
Dance #CDKEND 141]
1997 -
The Girl's Got Soul (Rare Collectable And Soulful Volume 2) [Kent Dance
#CDKEND 156]
Copyright © 2009-2023 SoulStrutter All Rights Reserved
2 comments:
All these deaths frighten me a little because it also brings me closer to mine. But let's live the present moment with this beautiful artist from a good band from Detroit who rocked my youth. Their discography is excellent with their 2 LPs in particular. Note in the groups called The Dynamics, a white band LP (Soul, Rhythm & Blues, Garage Rock) released in 1964 (Bolo 8001) not bad.
RIP George
Yves
Forever in my heart, RIP George
Post a Comment