Dean F. wrote:
The Falcons certainly spun off their share of talent. Wilson
Pickett and
Eddie Floyd both got their starts with the group. The Falcons'
lead, Joe
Stubbs, was brother to Levi Stubbs of the Four Tops. And group
alumnus Mack
Rice did the original version of "Mustang Sally."
The Falcons' story begins in 1955 Detroit. The original group
comprised
Eddie Floyd, Bob Mandaro, Tom Shelter, Arnett Robinson, and Willie
Schofield. The first Falcons were integrated as Mandaro and Shelter
were
white. But Mandaro soon was drafted and Shelter enlisted.
Floyd's uncle, Robert West, owned and operated the LuPine record
label in
Detroit, and recorded and managed the group. It was West who
brought Joe
Stubbs in to replace Bob Mandaro as the Falcons' lead and also
brought
guitarist Lance Finnie into the group. Arnett Robinson then
departed and was
replaced by Mack Rice. The "classic" Falcons line-up was
now in place.
They recorded numerous singles for Robert West and finally struck
gold with
one of the first true soul records, "You're So Fine."
West leased the master
to United Artists, whose promotional machine pushed the single to
#17 pop
and #2 R&B in 1959.
In the summer of 1960, lead singer Joe Stubbs was gradually phased
out of
the group and was replaced by nineteen-year-old Wilson Pickett.
Stubbs was
in and out of the Falcons for the next three years, and went on to
sing with
the the Contours and the Originals. Pickett's first single with the
group,
the less-than-memorable "Pow! You're In Love," came out
on United Artists in
September of 1960.
It was in 1962 that the Pickett-led Falcons reached their pinnacle
with the
awe-inspiring "I Found A Love." Nothing more (or less)
than a gospel song
with secular lyrics, Pickett's testifying propelled the ballad to
#6 R&B
that spring. Not surprisingly, on the pop charts "I Found A
Love" stiffed at
#75. It was just too black for a year whose #1 pop hits included
songs by
Neil Sedaka, Bobby Vinton and Shelley Fabares.
By the spring of 1963, the Falcons' record sales had plummeted, so
Eddie
Floyd and Wilson Pickett embarked on their respective solo careers.
After
that, the Falcons essentially broke up. Robert West, however,
wanted to keep
the name alive, so he advised another group he managed, the
Playboys, that
they were now the Falcons.
This new line-up waxed some very low-tech soul, the polar opposite
of what
Motown was doing in the very same city. The Falcons' last charted
single,
"Standing On Guard," reached #29 R&B in 1967.
Fascinating history, thanks.
This is a response to the post seen at:
http://www.jlaforums.com/viewtopic.php?p=14805643#14805643
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