Ben Knight
was to take lead on the final two 45's that Ric released
on Brothers Of Soul. They were 'Candy' on Shock1313 and
'Try it baby' on Shock1314.
Fred remembers things being bleak in
Detroit at this time.
"Things were beginning to slow down. says Fred "The riots hurt us
in '67. Then
a year later King was killed and we had more riots. During
that time we couldn't leave the city for fear for our
families.
Club work was drying up and Ric stopped spending
money, leaving me with no alternative but to find another
way of making a living.
Somebody suggested that I drive a
bus, so I did. I like driving.
They based me at Gilbert Terminal which
covered Woodward, Fenkell, John R and the like. I used to
drive down John R and toot the horn at my kids who'd be
playing outside my house. I used to get a kick out of
that.
But I never stopped my music, it just
took second place behind my main breadwinner."
Music doesn't die easy in
Detroit and another new player soon appeared on Grand River Avenue called Holland/Dozier/Holland
Productions.
The gifted Motown songwriters had
left Gordy under a huge cloud and decided to buy into
an old theater which they converted into a studio.
H/D/H's early
recordings were done at Tera Shirma Studio B however
and The Brothers of Soul found themselves providing
backing on some classic songs, especially 'Band of
Gold' by Freda Payne and 'Give me just a little more
time' by Chairmen of the Board. The Chairmen were
led by General Johnson whom Fred recalls as being "a
skinny dude, reminiscent of David Ruffin. Happy go lucky
and blessed with such a powerful and unique voice."
Chairmen Of The Board
Fred also recalls
working on songs like 'Crumbs off the table', Patches',
'Bring the boys home', all of which were recorded at
Tower.
"With H/D/H, the
groups would be on the road most of the time" says
Fred " so that's
when we'd fit in the backgrounds. The format for
backgrounds was always three guys and three girls, the
girls being The Debonaires or The Adorables. So, using
the Chairmen as an example, Johnson would be on lead
and we'd provide the rest."
In 1970 Fred got married for a
second time, to Claudine. Later, they reared a son and two daughters, Delano, Tammy and Kim. |
