So Hard to Say Goodbye
THE LAST ORIGINAL SPINNER DEPARTS
“The Detroit Spinners was (sic) one of Motown’s early groups,” recalled Berry Gordy in a note the other day. “They were so talented, and Henry’s rich baritone made all of their records even more special.”
Those handwritten words accompanied flowers and condolences sent by the Motown founder to the February 17 funeral in Detroit of Henry Fambrough, co-founder of the Spinners and the last surviving original member. He was 85.
Unfortunately, such departures – and the attendant sorrow – have become increasingly common in recent years, as the hundreds of Motown’s first generation of music makers and backroom believers reach the end of their lives. What was also notable about Fambrough’s passing on February 7 was the wave of obituaries subsequently published.
The Spinners at Motown: Fambrough is front right
Newswire obits from the Press Association and Associated Press figured in that total, transmitted to media outlets worldwide. But there were also detail-rich pieces in the New York Times, Los Angeles Times, USA Today and Washington Post, as well as in Rolling Stone, Billboard, People and, of course, Detroit newspapers. On the other side of the Atlantic, obituaries were published online or in print by Britain’s Guardian, Daily Telegraph, Daily Mail, Independent and Sun, among others. Hey, even readers of Australian regional newspaper the Canberra Times were informed.
Twenty years ago, the death of someone in music like Fambrough would not have generated as much attention. That it does so today is a measure of how popular culture has become so deeply embedded in contemporary mainstream media. This reflects, too, how the post-World War II baby boomers’ heroes and heroines are leaving.
In the Spinners’ case, the fact that they were also in the headlines a few months ago probably helped. The quintet was finally inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame last November, after three previous, unsuccessful nominations in 2012, 2015 and 2016. “I just wish all the other guys were here to see it,” Henry Fambrough told Billboard. “It really is a great honour.” He attended the induction ceremony at Brooklyn’s Barclays Center, as did John Edwards, who joined the quintet in 1977.
The Spinners’ history is too familiar to recap at length here, but a few days before the Hall of Fame event, Fambrough acknowledged the role of three early figures in their career, during an interview with Cleveland.com. “Harvey Fuqua and Cholly Atkins, our choreographer, they taught us,” he said. “Maurice King, he told us, ‘Look, we’re gonna build you guys, so once your hit records stop coming, you’re gonna be able to work. People are gonna want to hire you because of your act.’ We hung on to that, and it was true.”
In his autobiography, Atkins remembered, “Harvey and the Moonglows hired me to put together an eight-minute medley of standard tunes, that they eventually passed on to the Spinners.” The latter joined Motown when it acquired Fuqua’s Tri-Phi label business in 1963, and when he was appointed to run its talent development unit. “Whenever the Temps got last-minute bookings and had to leave,” wrote Atkins, “the Spinners would come into Artist Development and ask if they could use those rehearsal slots. They were managed by Harvey and naturally he’d say, ‘Yeah, let’s take the Spinners and spend two or three hours with them.’ So they were stopping shows even when they didn’t have a hit record, because we worked out a lot of good production things.”
The Spinners return, courtesy of Ace Records
Atkins continued to tutor the group through the 1970s, after Motown had closed its artist development department and moved to California, and after the Spinners had signed with Atlantic Records. At that point, they also acquired a new manager, Buddy Allen, who steered their career for decades thereafter.
Last May, Fambrough visited 2648 West Grand with the group’s current line-up (he himself retired last year) to donate some of their vintage stage outfits to the Motown Museum, and to take part in its annual Founder’s Day, honouring the late Esther Edwards. They performed two of their milestone recordings, “That’s What Girls Are Made For” and “It’s A Shame,” and were photographed in front of Hitsville U.S.A.
There was a twist to one of the pictures taken then, with onetime Spinner G.C. Cameron and Fambrough exchanging smiles and hugs. The irony? That Cameron, the lead voice on “It’s A Shame,” later proved not to be among the members inducted into the Rock & Hall Of Fame on November 3.
According to a contemporary report by Susan Whitall in the Detroit News, Cameron’s publicist was told by a curator at the Hall of Fame’s own museum, “When a group is nominated, the Hall of Fame Foundation works with the founding member(s) of the group to decide which members, past and present, will be included. Sometimes the choices are challenging and not in keeping with all members’ or the fans’ wishes.”
STEVIE’S FIRST PRODUCTION
That Fambrough apparently made such a decision “saddened” Cameron. He told Whitall, “It’s my understanding that Henry Fambrough did not want me going into the Hall of Fame with the Spinners. I don’t know why Henry wants to keep me out.” (Cameron belonged to the quintet from 1967-72, and again from 2000-2003.) His confusion is understandable, given that “It’s A Shame” was the Spinners’ most successful release at Motown: Top 20 on the Billboard Hot 100 during the autumn of ’70, Top 5 on the R&B rankings, and Top 20 in Britain.
Friends or not? Henry (left) and G.C. meet once more in May 2023 (photo: Todd McInturf, Detroit News)
The track was also a milestone for Stevie Wonder and Lee Garrett, the song’s co-writers with Syreeta Wright. “It was Stevie’s first production,” Garrett once told me. “He was doing ‘It’s A Shame’ and ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ at the same time. Actually, ‘It’s A Shame’ came first, but even before I did the lyric for that, he brought me another track, and said, ‘Listen to this.’ Syreeta and I went into the basement, and it was kind of funny, we both started singing ‘Signed, Sealed, Delivered’ at the same time.”
At Fambrough’s funeral on February 17, there was one more irony. According to Brian McCollum in the Detroit Free Press, today’s Spinners harmonised during the service at the city’s St. Stephen A.M.E. Church, and one of the songs was “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday” – which was first recorded by none other than G.C. Cameron, after he had left the group.
At the church, another vocal combo paid tribute to the last original Spinner, just as they had done with a performance at the group’s Rock & Roll Hall of Fame induction. “Their music will continue to serve as the soundtrack of our lives,” declared the six members of New Edition in the funeral programme. About Fambrough, they added, “We’ve lost 85 years of excellence.”
That pink-and-white wreath of flowers from Berry Gordy signalled a similar sentiment. “Henry and the group,” he wrote, “will always be a part of the Motown family.”
Music notes: the Spinners’ Hitsville years have been most thoroughly traversed by Britain’s Ace Records, which licensed two albums’ worth of repertoire – and then some – from Universal Music for release on the Kent label. These CDs were Truly Yours (2012) and While The City Sleeps (2018), including the group’s first and second Motown albums, respectively, plus a total of 25 bonus tracks, many previously unreleased. The content of While The City Sleeps is also available on streaming services, as the 2nd Time Around (Expanded Edition). The Original Spinners can be streamed, too, albeit without any bonus tracks. The quintet’s pre-Motown recordings – that is, their six Tri-Phi 45s – can be located on A Family Affair: Motor City Roots, issued by U.K. outfit Jasmine Records on compact disc in 2013. Moreover, that set is available on streaming services. Finally, a cross-section of the Spinners’ Motown singles make up this latest WGB playlist.