The O’Jays – Now That I Found You
Old school O’Jays!
Listen/Download – The O’Jays – Now That I Found You
Greetings all.
Welcome to the end of yet another week.
Please make a note in your datebook that this Friday – as all others – sees the return of the Funky16Corners Radio Show on Viva Radio. We take to the air at 9PM on the East Coast (and in ensuing time zones) and can also be found in MP3 form here at the blog over the weekend.
It’s not often that I can say that I’m pleasantly surprised by anything I see on TV, but this was definitely the case when I happened upon the series ‘Unsung’ on TVOne.
Devoted to a wide variety of 60s, 70s and 80s era soul and R&B performers, ‘Unsung’ is composed of hour long documentary style features, many on artists I know only in passing. The first episode I saw was about Roger Troutman and Zapp (stay tuned for more on them) and after that I started watching the listings for episodes that interested me.
One of the better known groups they featured was the O’Jays.
Though the group’s 1970s hits were a big part of my AM radio consciousness as a kid, it was only as an adult soul collector that I had any inkling of their early, pre-Gamble/Huff work.
The first such record I encountered was their 1965 R&B Top 40 hit cover of Benny Spellman’s ‘Lipstick Traces (On a Cigarette)’. I had tuned into their Unsung episode in the hopes that it would include a vintage clip of the group performing this song and I was not disappointed.
Since I scored that 45, I have always been on the lookout for their Imperial and Bell label recordings, which included today’s selection, ‘Now That I’ve Found You’.
Released in 1968, and one of the few 45s the group recorded for Bell that didn’t chart at all (three of their records for the label made it into the R&B Top 40 as well as the Pop Top 100), ‘Now That I’ve Found You’ is a fantastic bit of sweet harmony soul.
It features lead vocals by both Walter Williams (who co-wrote the song) and Eddie Levert, and the arrangement by Richard Tee is outstanding. The way it alternates between a basic rhythm section (dig the great guitar work) and the addition of strings and horns is great, and the O’Jay’s harmonies are wonderful.
During their tenure with the label the O’Jays released five singles, with one other (of similar, mid-60s vintage) being released in 1973 to capitalize on their success with Philadelphia International.
I hope you dig the tune, and I’ll be back on Monday with something groovy.
Peace
Larry
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Themocracy
I agree. The Unsung series is fantastic, and the episode about The O’Jays is one of my fav’s. I realized that Walter Williams actually has been under-appreciated all along, while Eddie got most of the attention … Nevertheless, the O’Jays are one of the truly great groups the 60’s and 70’s brought forth.