OKAY,
SO YOUR HEART IS BROKEN
YOU SIT AROUND MOPIN'
CRYIN' AND CRYIN'
YOU SAY YOU'RE EVEN
THINKIN' ABOUT DYIN'
WELL, BEFORE YOU DO
ANYTHING RASH
DIG THIS...
The Main Ingredient
was an American
soul and R&B group
which had a run
of hits in the 1970s,
including their
1972
million-selling song
"Everybody Plays the Fool".
Early History
The group was formed in
Harlem, New York City
in 1964
as a trio called
the Poets,
composed of
lead singer
Donald McPherson
(July 9, 1941 – July 3, 1971),
Luther Simmons Jr.
(September 9, 1942 – May 9, 2016),
and
Panama-born
Tony Silvester
(October 7, 1941 – November 26, 2006).
They made their
first recordings
for Leiber & Stoller's
Red Bird label,
but soon
changed their name
to
the Insiders
and signed with
RCA Records.
In 1968,
after a couple of singles,
they changed their name
once again,
this time permanently,
to
The Main Ingredient.
The name came from a
Coca-Cola bottle.
They then teamed up with
record producer/arranger
Bert DeCoteaux.
Under his direction,
The Main Ingredient
reached the R&B Top 30
for the first time in 1970
with
"You've Been My Inspiration".
A cover of The Impressions'
"I'm So Proud"
broke the Top 20,
and
"Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)"
went into the Top 10.
In 1971,
they scored again,
with the
McPherson-penned
black-power anthem
"Black Seeds Keep on Growing,"
but tragedy struck that year.
Don McPherson,
who had been
suddenly taken ill
with leukemia,
died unexpectedly on
July 3, 1971,
at age 29.
Stunned,
Tony Silvester
and Luther Simmons
re-grouped with
new lead singer
Cuba Gooding Sr.,
who had served as a
backing vocalist
on some of their
previous recordings,
and had filled in
on tour during
McPherson's brief illness.
The Gooding era began
auspiciously with
the million-selling smash
"Everybody Plays the Fool",
which hit number two R&B
and number three
pop to become the group's
biggest hit. I
t sold over one million copies
and was awarded a
gold disc by the R.I.A.A.
in September 1972.
The accompanying album,
Bitter Sweet,
became their first
to hit the Top 10
on the R&B album chart;
its follow-up,
1973's Afrodisiac,
featured several songs
written or co-written
by Stevie Wonder,
although it did not
produce any
huge successes
on the singles charts.
They peaked at
number eight
on the R&B chart
in 1974 with
"Just Don't Want to Be Lonely",
which sold over a
million copies,
and also reached
number ten
on the Billboard Hot 100.
The track peaked at
number twenty-seven
in the UK Singles Chart
in July 1974,
although it was their only
chart presence
in the UK.
In 1975,
the group recorded
several songs
co-written by
Leon Ware,
including the
R&B Top Ten
"Rolling Down a Mountainside".
By this point,
however,
Tony Silvester
was harboring
other ambitions;
he released a
solo album called
Magic Touch
that year,
and left the group
to form a
production team with
DeCoteaux.
The two of them
scored a Top 10 Pop
and R&B smash
with their production of
Ben E. King's hit
"Supernatural Thing"
in 1975.
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