Major Harris - A Profile

Major Harris was born in Richmond, VA, on 9 Feb 1947 and died 9 Nov 2012 so would have been 76 today. He will be forever remembered for his biggest selling solo single "Love Won't Let Me Wait" which has been covered by Luther Vandross and many others. 

The song was co-written by Bobby Eli, who also played guitar and produced the session, with Gwendolyn Woolfolk under her pen name Vinnie Barrett and featured the Sweethearts of Sigma (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benton and Evette Benson) on backing vocals. It was his only Top 10 single which topped the R&B chart in 1975 spending twenty weeks on the chart and crossed over to reach #5 Hot 100. The record also made Top 40 on the UK pop chart peaking at #37 which is no mean feat for a virtually unknown singer at the time.

 

Harris was from a musical background, his grandparents performed vaudeville, his father was a guitarist and his mother a church choir leader. He sang with several groups early in his career such as Charmers, Frankie Lyman's Teenagers (briefly), the Jarmels (also from Richmond of "A Little Bit of Soap." fame) and then joined his brother Joe (Joseph) Jefferson in Nat Turner's Rebellion. Jefferson went on to write for many high profile artists such as Johnny Mathis, The Stylistics, Three Degrees, Bunny Sigler, New York City but had most success with The Spinners ("Mighty Love," "Love Don't Love Nobody," and "One of a Kind Love Affair").

They were cousins of Norman Harris who was a founding member of MFSB and a cornerstone of The Philly Sound for Gamble & Huff as a member of the trio (Ron) Baker, Harris & (Earl) Young.

Nat Turner's Rebellion broke up acrimoniously in 1972 and Major joined The Delfonics replacing Randy Cain who left and later introduced WMOT to Shades Of Love who would become Blue Magic. Harris featured on their 1972 album "Tell Me This Is A Dream" and then "Alive & Kicking" in 1974 before re-launching his solo career. He had already recorded two singles for Okeh "Just Love Me" / "Loving You More" in 1968 and a cover of Bob Dylan's  "Like A Rolling Stone" / "Call Me Tomorrow" in 1969, the latter getting spins on the Northern Soul Scene. One of Nat Turner's songs, "Ruby Lee" written by Norman Harris and Ron Baker, would later feature on his second album.

The Delfonics split up in 1975 splintering into two groups using the name. Harris, Wilbert Hart, and new member Frank Washington, formerly of the Futures, formed one and William 'Poogie' Hart formed another but it was like musical chairs with members swapping between the two groups. Garfield Fleming ("Don't Send Me Away") was a member of one of the incarnations which included William 'Poogie' Hart and the returning Randy Cain in the 80s. Wilbert Hart is now the only living original member.

Harris was signed to Atlantic and released his first single for them in Oct 1974 ("Each Morning I Wake Up" / "Just A Thing I Do") which scraped into the R&B chart at #98 but is another that was picked up on by the UK rare soul scene along with the flip side to his biggest hit, "After Loving You", "Loving You Is Mellow", "Jealousy" from his singles and "Walkin' In The Footsteps" from his second solo album "Jealousy". He recorded four albums and continued to record into the 80s up to 1986 with limited success.

Harris died on 9 Feb 2021 age 65 of congestive heart and lung failure.

Album Discography

Year	Title	Cat.No
1975	My Way	Atlantic #SD 18119
1976	Jealousy	Atlantic #SD 18160
1976	Live!	WMOT #WM2-5000
1978	How Do You Take Your Love	RCA Victor #APL1-2803
1984	I Believe In Love	Streetwave (UK) #MKL 3

Singles Discography

Year	Title	Cat.No
1968-07	Just Love Me / Loving You More	OKeh # 4-7314
1969-03	Like A Rolling Stone / Call Me Tomorrow	OKeh #4-7327
1974-10	Each Morning I Wake Up / Just A Thing I Do	Atlantic #45-3217
1975-02	Love Won't Let Me Wait / After Loving You	Atlantic #45-3248
1975-11	I Got Over Love / Loving You Is Mellow	Atlantic #45-3303
1976-??	It's Got To Be Magic / Just A Thing That I Do	Atlantic #45-3336
1976-03	Jealousy / Tynisa (Goddess Of Love)	Atlantic #45-3321
1976-10	Laid Back Love / This Is What You Mean To Me	WMOT #WM-4002
1981-05	Here We Are / Living's Easy Now	WMOT #WS8 02091
1983-??	All My Life // (Short Version) / (Dub Mix)	Pop Art #PA 1401
1983-??	Beside Me / Beside Me (Instrumental)	PopArt #P-4915
1983-??	I Want Your Love // (Radio Edit) / (Dub Mix)	Pop Art #PA-1402
1984-??	Girl Of My Dreams / Rediscovered	D.A.L. International #D.A.L. 101
1984-??	Gotta Make Up Your Mind / (Inst)	Society Hill #SH001
1984-??	I Believe In Love // (Radio Edit) / What Ever Happened	Streetwave (UK) #MKHAN 35
1985-??	The Game / Oh Girl, I Love You	Renaissance #RRI-00527
1986-??	Love Is Everything / I Want Your Love	Nicetown #NT-012

The playlist below spans his full recording career from 1968 thru 1986.

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