The Spinners
The Spinners are an American rhythm and blues vocal group that formed in Ferndale, Michigan, United States, in 1954. They enjoyed a string of hit singles and albums during the 1960s and 1970s, particularly with producer Thom Bell. The group continues to tour, without any original members, after Henry Fambrough retired in 2023.
The group is also listed as the Detroit Spinners and the Motown Spinners, due to their 1960s recordings with the Motown label. These other names were used in the UK to avoid confusion with a British folk group also called the Spinners. On June 30, 1976, they received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. The Spinners were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023.
In 1954, Billy Henderson, Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson, C. P. Spencer, and James Edwards formed The Domingoes in Ferndale, Michigan,[5] a northern suburb of Detroit. The friends resided in Detroit’s Herman Gardens public housing project and came together to make music.
James Edwards remained with the group for a few weeks and was replaced by Bobby Smith, who sang lead on most of the Spinners’ early records and their biggest Atlantic Records hits. Spencer left the group shortly after Edwards and later joined the Voice Masters and the Originals. George Dixon replaced Spencer, and the group renamed themselves the Spinners in 1961.
After their chart career ended, the Spinners continued touring for decades. They are big draws on the oldies and nostalgia concert circuits, playing the music that made them famous.[citation needed] In their box set, The Chrome Collection, the Spinners were lauded by David Bowie and Elvis Costello. They were inducted into The Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 1999. On July 27, 2006, the Spinners performed on the Late Show with David Letterman. G. C. Cameron rejoined the group as lead vocalist from 2000 to 2002 (replacing John Edwards, who left due to a stroke), but he left in 2003 to join The Temptations. Frank Washington, formerly of The Futures and The Delfonics, joined for a few years, before being replaced by Charlton Washington (no relation).
In 2004, original member Billy Henderson was dismissed from the group after suing the group’s corporation and business manager to obtain financial records. He was replaced by Harold “Spike” Bonhart. Henderson died due to complications from diabetes on February 2, 2007, at the age of 67. Another early member, C. P. Spencer, had already died from a heart attack on October 20, 2004; and another, George Dixon, died in 1994.
Original member Pervis Jackson, who was still touring as a member of the group, died from cancer on August 18, 2008. The group continued for a short time as a quartet before Jessie Robert Peck (born in Queens, New York, December 17, 1968) was recruited as the group’s new bass vocalist in February 2009. In 2009, Bonhart left the Spinners and was replaced by vocalist Marvin Taylor. The group lost another member from their early days, when Edgar “Chico” Edwards died on December 3, 2011.
The Spinners were put into the limelight again in 2003 when an Elton John track was re-issued featuring them on backing vocals. In 1977, the Spinners recorded two versions of “Are You Ready for Love” at the Philadelphia studios. One had all of the Spinners, the other with only lead singer Philippé Wynne on backing vocals. Elton John was not happy with the mixes and sat on the tapes for a year before asking for them to be remixed, so they would sound easier on the ear.[citation needed] Finally, in 1979, the Wynne version was released as a single, but it only made it to number 42 in the UK. The track was then remixed by Ashley Beedle from Xpress-2 in 2003 after becoming a fixture in the Balearic nightclubs and being used by Sky Sports for an advertisement. It then went to number one on the UK Singles Chart after being released on DJ Fatboy Slim’s Southern Fried Records.
In September 2011, 57 years after forming in Detroit and 50 years after “That’s What Girls Are Made For”, the group was announced as one of 15 final nominees for the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, their first nomination, they were also nominated in 2014, 2015, and 2023. Lead singer Bobby Smith died on March 16, 2013. In 2017, the Spinners were inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame. Charlton Washington left the group in 2020 to pursue a solo career and was replaced by C. J. Jefferson. After years without new music, The Spinners released ‘Round the Block and Back Again on August 27, 2021, the first with the current line-up and the final before Fambrough’s retirement. The album had three singles, “Cliché”, “In Holy Matrimony” and “Vivid Memories”.
In early 2023, Fambrough retired from the group, after almost 70 years as a member. On May 3, 2023, after three previous nominations, the Spinners—with its classic 1970s lineup of Fambrough, Smith, Jackson, Henderson, Edwards, and Wynne—were picked as inductees for the 2023 class of the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, nearly 70 years after the group had first formed.In May 2023, the group donated hundreds of items for their performing and recording history to Motown Museum in Detroit.
Current members
- Jessie Robert Peck – bass (2009–present)
- Marvin Taylor – tenor/baritone (2009–present)
- Ronnie Moss – co-lead tenor (2013–present)
- C.J. Jefferson – lead tenor (2020–present
Former members
- Henry Fambrough– baritone (1954–2023)
- Pervis Jackson – bass (1954–2008; died 2008)
- Billy Henderson – tenor/baritone (1954–2004; died 2007)
- C. P. Spencer– lead tenor (1954–56; died 2004)
- James Edwards – tenor (1954)
- Bobby Smith– co-lead tenor (1954–2013; died 2013)
- George Dixon – lead tenor (1956–63; died 1994)
- Edgar “Chico” Edwards – lead tenor (1963–67; died 2011)
- G. C. Cameron – lead tenor (1967–72, 2000–03)
- Philippé Wynne – lead tenor (1972–77; died 1984)
- John Edwards – lead tenor (1977–2000)
- Frank Washington – lead tenor (2003–07)
- Harold “Spike” Bonhart – tenor/baritone (2004–09)
- Charlton Washington – lead tenor (2007–2020