New Birth (band)
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New Birth | |
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| Also known as | The Nite-Liters, Love, Peace & Happiness, The New Birth |
| Origin | Hollywood, California, U.S. |
| Genres | R&B, soul, funk |
| Years active | 1963–present |
| Labels | RCA, Buddah, Warner Bros., Ariola |
| Members |
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| Past members |
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| Website | www |
New Birth (also known as The New Birth) is an American funk and R&B group. It was originally conceived in Detroit, Michigan, by former Motown songwriter/producer Vernon Bullock and co-founded in Louisville, Kentucky, by him with former singer and Motown songwriter/producer Harvey Fuqua and musicians Tony Churchill, James Baker, Robin Russell, Austin Lander, Robert "Lurch" Jackson, Leroy Taylor, Charlie Hearndon, Bruce Marshall and Nathaniel "Nebs" Neblett (1946–2016).
History
The history of the group began with the instrumental outfit, The Nite-Liters, which was originally formed in 1963 in Louisville, Kentucky by Tony Churchill and Harvey Fuqua.[1] In its heyday, besides Churchill on tenor sax and vibes, the band featured Charlie Hearndon on guitar, James Baker on keyboards, Robin Russell on drums, Robert "Lurch" Jackson on trumpet, Austin Lander on baritone sax, Leroy Taylor on bass, and, later, Carl McDaniel on guitar. Earlier members included Johnny Graham, later of Earth, Wind & Fire and Jerry Bell lead and background vocals was also members. Some sources identify The Nite-Liters as the band that played as "The Crawlers" with Chicago artist Alvin Cash on his R&B No. 1 1964 hit, "Twine Time".
The Nite-Liters had a few hits before the formation of New Birth proper, including "K-Jee" (No. 17 R&B & No. 39 Pop), in 1971.[1] In 1969, Vernon Bullock had thought of creating an ensemble of groups for a touring company and Harvey Fuqua and Tony Churchill soon took an interest. After discovering a male vocal group, The Now Sound, which featured Bobby Downs, Ron Coleman, Gary Young (deceased 2018) and George "Slim" House and also a female vocal group, known as Mint Julep, which featured Londee Loren, Tanita Gaines, Janice Carter and Pam Swent, they brought them together with The Nite-Liters plus additional vocalist, Alan Frye, calling the newly formed ensemble, New Birth. The band came together in 1970 with their self-titled debut on RCA. Their second album, Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing, yielded a minor hit with their cover of Perry Como's "It's Impossible", in 1971.
Later that year, Bullock discovered a group from Detroit, Michigan called Love, Peace & Happiness, which featured former Marvelettes singer Ann Bogan and brothers Leslie and Melvin Wilson. Finding that they had the spark that was missing from the New Birth ensemble, he paired them with the Nite-Liters and original members of New Birth, Londee Loren, Bobby Downs and Alan Frye.
In 1972, the reorganized group (as a 17-piece ensemble) reached the Billboard R&B top 10 (No. 4 R&B & No. 35 Pop)
In 1974, the group issued their album, It's Been a Long Time, which featured hits including the title track (No. 9 R&B)[2] and their cover of the Skylark song "Wildflower". After the release of their sixth RCA album, Comin' From All Ends, the group split from RCA, Fuqua and their management company and signed with Buddah.[4]
New Birth's Buddah debut, Blind Baby, featured the group's only number-one R&B single, a cover of the
The group including Baker, Churchill and Lander returned on
The Wilsons resumed touring with a new quartet ensemble adding two new female vocalists: Barbara Wilson and Danette Williams in 1994, and released an album. Drummer Robin Russell released a solo CD entitled Drum Beats in 2004.
New Birth's lead vocalist Leslie Wilson was a chief influence on soul artist
James Baker died on October 24, 1993,[5] and Leroy Taylor died on January 17, 2012.[6] Robin Russell died in 2021. Melvin Wilson died on March 31, 2023, from pancreatic cancer.
Discography
Albums
| Year | Album | Peak chart positions | Label | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US [7] |
US R&B [7] | ||||||
| As The Nite-Liters | |||||||
| 1970 | The Nite-Liters | — | — | RCA | |||
| 1971 | Morning, Noon & the Nite-Liters | 167 | 31 | ||||
| 1972 | Instrumental Directions | 198 | 41 | ||||
| Different Strokes | — | — | |||||
| 1973 | A-Nal-Y-Sis | — | — | ||||
| As Love, Peace & Happiness | |||||||
| 1971 | Love Is Stronger | — | — | RCA | |||
| 1972 | Here 'Tis | — | — | ||||
| As New Birth | |||||||
| 1970 | The New Birth | — | — | RCA | |||
| 1971 | Ain't No Big Thing, But It's Growing | 189 | 50 | ||||
| 1972 | Coming Together | — | 40 | ||||
| Birth Day | 31 | 1 | |||||
| 1973 | It's Been a Long Time | 50 | 7 | ||||
| 1974 | Comin' from All Ends | 56 | 20 | ||||
| 1975 | Blind Baby | 57 | 17 | Buddah | |||
| 1976 | Love Potion | 168 | 22 | Warner Bros. | |||
| Reincarnation | — | — | RCA | ||||
| 1977 | The New Birth Disco | — | — | ||||
| Behold the Mighty Army | 164 | 28 | Warner Bros. | ||||
| 1979 | Platinum City | — | — | Ariola
| |||
| 1982 | I'm Back | — | — | RCA | |||
| 1998 | God's Children | — | — | PNEC Records | |||
| 2005 | Lifetime | — | — | Orpheus Records
| |||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart. | |||||||
Singles
| Year | Title | Chart positions | |||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [2] |
US R&B [2] | ||||
| 1971 | "It's Impossible" | 52 | 12 | ||
| "K-Jee" | 39 | 17 | |||
| 1972 | "(We've Got to) Pull Together" | — | 27 | ||
| "Afro-Strut" | 49 | 24 | |||
| "I Don't Want to Do Wrong" | — | 41 | |||
| 1973 | "I Can Understand It" | 35 | 4 | ||
| "Until It's Time for You to Go" | 97 | 21 | |||
| 1974 | "I Wash My Hands of the Whole Damn Deal, Part I" | 88 | 46 | ||
| "It's Been a Long Time" | 66 | 9 | |||
| "Wildflower" | 45 | 17 | |||
| 1975 | "Comin' from All Ends" | — | 76 | ||
| "Dream Merchant" | 36 | 1 | |||
| "Grandaddy (Part I)" | 95 | 28 | |||
| 1976 | "The Long and Winding Road" | — | 91 | ||
| 1978 | "The Mighty Army" | — | 49 | ||
| "—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not released in that territory. | |||||
References
- ^ a b Wynn, Ron. "The Nite-Liters - Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b c d "New Birth Top Songs / Chart Singles Discography". Music VF. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ Lytle, Craig. "New Birth - Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "New Birth July 1975 Interview". SoulMusic.info. Retrieved July 15, 2019.
- ^ "New Birth Page". Soulwalking.co.uk. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ "Leroy Taylor Obituary (2012)". The Roanoke Times. Roanoke Valley, VA. January 21, 2012. Retrieved October 24, 2021.
- ^ a b "New Birth - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on October 31, 2013. Retrieved January 28, 2022.
External links
- Official website
- New Birth discography at Discogs
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