‘You’re gonna ruin my career! I won’t be able to sing anything after this!’ They were reminding me of a time when I was very young. She then moved into a more secular style of. Betty is a former member of her family gospel group, the Echoes Of Joy (whom she joined at the age of three years old), Wright's first recordings were as a backing singer. Betty Wright hails from Miami in Florida. “You had to be in good shape to do these songs.” “They had me reaching for things I didn’t even know I could do,” adds the O’Jays’ Walter Williams. Bessie Regina Norris, 21st December 1953, Miami, Florida, U.S.A. “They reminded me of a time when I was a young man and I would be in the studio with Bunny Sigler and he would be stretching my neck, every note was a high note,” Levert says.

“So I changed a couple things.”ĭespite the pitch-perfect reference points, the O’Jays didn’t cruise through the recording sessions. “Something a young boy might say, an older guy might be like, ‘nah,'” she explains. The guitar in “I Got You” suggests the Spinners’ “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” while “Start Stoppin'” unavoidably evokes another Philadelphia classic, “Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now.” “Enjoy Yourself” is co-written by Bruno Mars, but Wright worried that a few of the original lyrics weren’t precisely suited to the O’Jays. The horn voicings and throbbing strings are pitched much as they would have been by Gamble & Huff. One of only a few singers who could be called both a powerhouse. That barely indicates the breadth and depth of the lifelong Miami natives six-decade career. This exacting approach helped ensure that The Last Word never strays far from the style of Seventies Philadelphia. Betty Wright is known most for the Top Ten pop and soul hit 'Clean Up Woman' (1971) and the Grammy-winning 'Where Is the Love' (1975), two of the most memorable crossover hits of the 70s. I wanted this to feel like the lost record of the era. “We spent lots of time trying to figure out their melodic tendencies, but nothing pandering. “Sitting down and trying to tackle writing something for them is like an archaeological dig,” Hollander says. So Hollander joined the O’Jays and Wright in the studio along with Steve Greenberg and Michael Mangini, veteran record men who enjoyed success producing the first two Joss Stone albums. So I called up their manager and said, ‘who’s making the farewell record?’ He said, ‘you are.'” “I thought to myself, there has to be a farewell record. “ This piece referenced the fact that they were going to call it quits in the next year after a 60-year run,” Hollander recalls. Sam Hollander - a writer mostly known for penning a slew of rock hits, including Panic! At the Disco’s “High Hopes” - was among those watching that day. Onstage, the O’Jays still had plenty of old hits that moved crowds.Įarly in 2018, however, the group appeared on a CBS Sunday Morning segment to look back on their career. As the R&B landscape shifted and hip-hop became prominent, new hits were hard to come by. “And they would do seven days a week, 10 hours a day they didn’t take off even Sundays to rehearse.” But like many of their peers who recorded through the Sixties and Seventies, the O’Jays spent less and less time in the studio after the Eighties. “T hey would go out to Las Vegas every year and do a nine-week rehearsal for their upcoming new show,” says Toby Ludwig, who manages the O’Jays. Morton, Sr.The group’s commitment to live performance has barely wavered with time. Hold On The Williams Brothers, Betty Wright, Bishop Paul S. Jones / You Are My Sunshine / Let's Get Married TodayĪre You Gonna Stand By Me - Or Fall For Her VideoĪll I Do Betty Wright, Clepto-Maniacs, Bryan Chambers and Darren Christian Melody / Midnight At The Oasis / Me And Mrs. It's Hard To Stop (Doing Something When It's GoodĬlean up Woman Medley: Clean Up Woman / Pillow Talk / You Got The Love / Mr.

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