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The Main Ingredient
The Main Ingredient
	; The Main Ingredient in 2008.
Background information
Origin	Harlem, New York
Genres	Soul, R&B, funk
Years active	1964–present
Labels	Red Bird Records (1964); RCA Records (1970 - present); Polydor Records (1989); Magnatar (2001); Kent Soul (2007 - present)
Members
	George Staley, Sr.; Larry Moore; Cuba Gooding, Sr.
Former members
	Luther Simmons; Donald McPherson (deceased); Carl Tompkins; Tony "Panama" Silvester (deceased); Jerome Jackson

This article is about music group The Main Ingredient. For the Hip-Hop album by Pete Rock & CL Smooth, see The Main Ingredient (album).

The Main Ingredient is an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song, "Everybody Plays the Fool".

[edit] Early history

The group was formed in Harlem, New York in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons, Jr., and Panama-born Tony Silvester. They made their first recordings for Leiber & Stoller's Red Bird label, but soon changed their name to the Insiders and signed with RCA. After a couple of singles, they changed their name once again in 1966, this time permanently to the Main Ingredient, taking the name from a Coke bottle.

The Main Ingredient then teamed up with record producer Bert DeCoteaux, who had a sense of the lush, orchestrated direction soul music would take in the early 1970s. 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. They scored again with the McPherson-penned black power anthem "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," but tragedy struck in 1971: McPherson, who had suddenly taken ill with leukemia, died unexpectedly. Stunned, Silvester and Simmons regrouped 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 enough 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. 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^[1] and also reached number ten on the pop chart, and the disco flavored "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend," which did not. 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, 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 Bert DeCoteaux.

[edit] Later years

Silvester was replaced by Carl Tompkins, and Gooding departed for a solo career on Motown in 1977, which produced two albums; Simmons, meanwhile, left the music industry to work as a stockbroker. Gooding, Silvester and Simmons reunited as the Main Ingredient in 1979, and recorded two more albums, 1980's Ready for Love and 1981's I Only Have Eyes for You (the latter featured a minor hit in "Evening of Love"). The trio reunited for a second time in 1986, but their Zakia single "Do Me Right" flopped, and Simmons returned to his day job. He was replaced by Jerome Jackson on the 1989 Polydor album I Just Wanna Love You. In the wake of Aaron Neville's Top Ten revival of "Everybody Plays the Fool," Gooding resumed his solo career and issued his third album in 1993. Silvester and Simmons re-formed the Main Ingredient in 1999 with new lead singer Carlton Blount; this line-up recorded Pure Magic in 2001. Gooding's son is Cuba Gooding, Jr., the actor best known for his Oscar-winning performance in Jerry Maguire.

Silvester died after a six-year struggle with multiple myeloma on November 27, 2006, at the age of 65.

[edit] Discography

[edit] Albums

1970: The Main Ingredient L.T.D. (RCA)
1970: Tasteful Soul (RCA) - US Pop #146, US R&B #26
1971: Black Seeds (RCA) - US US #176, US R&B #35
1972: Bitter Sweet (RCA) - US Pop #79, US R&B #10
1973: Afrodisiac (RCA) - US Pop #132, US R&B #16
1974: Euphrates River (RCA) - US Pop #52, US R&B #8
1975: Rolling Down a Mountainside (RCA) - US Pop #90, US R&B #3
1975: Shame on the World (RCA) - US Pop #158, US R&B #27
1977: Music Maximus (RCA) - US Pop #177
1980: Ready for Love (RCA) - US R&B #69
1981: I Only Have Eyes for You (RCA)
1989: I Just Wanna Love You (Polydor) - US R&B #59
2001: Pure Magic (Magnatar)

[edit] Compilation albums

1974: Greatest Hits (RCA) - US R&B #32
1976: Super Hits (RCA) - US R&B #46
2005: Everybody Plays the Fool: The Best of the Main Ingredient (RCA)
2007: The Spinning Around: Singles 1967-1975 (Kent Soul)

[edit] Singles

1970: "You've Been My Inspiration" - US Pop #64, US R&B #25
1970: "I'm Better off Without You" - US Pop #91
1970: "I'm So Proud" - US Pop #49, US R&B #13
1971: "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)" - US Pop #52, US R&B #7
1971: "Black Seeds Keep on Growing" - US Pop #97, US R&B #15
1972: "Everybody Plays the Fool" - US Pop #3, US R&B #2
1972: "You've Got to Take It (If You Want It)" - US US #46, US R&B #18
1973: "You Can Call Me Rover" - US R&B #34
1973: "Girl Blue" - US R&B #51
1974: "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" - US Pop #10, US R&B #8, UK #27
1974: "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend" - US Pop #35, US R&B #7
1974: "California My Way" - US Pop #75, US R&B #48
1975: "Rolling Down a Mountainside" - US Pop #92, US R&B #7, US Dance #7
1975: "The Good Old Days" - US R&B #45
1976: "Shame on the World" - US R&B #20
1976: "Instant Love" - US R&B #96
1986: "Do Me Right" - US R&B #75
1989: "I Just Wanna Love" - US R&B #15
1990: "Nothing's Too Good for My Baby" - US R&B #29

[edit] References

^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 347. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.

[edit] External links

[The_Book_of_Golden_Discs-0] Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. pp. 347. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.

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