Mark it down in your calendar! On Friday, February 20, 11 pm - 1 am EST, one of the most famous and successful Soul acts of the 1970s will be joining us live on our radio show Midnight Soulstice - The New Birth!
The group was formed in Detroit in 1970 out of the instrumental Funk group The Nite-Liters by former Motown songwriters and producers Vernon Bullock, Harvey Fuqua and music industry veteran Tony Churchill. They are mostly known for their hits I Can Understand It, It's Been a Long Time, Wildflower and Dream Merchant, which featured the Wilson brothers Melvin and Leslie, who sung lead on the group's most famed material.

Both Melvin and Leslie will appear on Midnight Soulstice for our two-hour-special on The New Birth to discuss their music and legacy. For every Soul fan, this rare appearance is an absolute must - so get your streamers ready and download this show! Listen on 97.3 fm (Richmond) or the world wide live stream on www. wrir. org

But now this: If there are any questions you have always wanted to ask The New Birth, post them here by tomorrow night (Sunday) and we'll ask them for you!



The New Birth - Wildflower


The New Birth - Until it's time for you to go


The New Birth - Dream Merchant


The New Birth - It's been a long time


The New Birth - Forever

[Edited 2/21/09 7:05am]

Leslie: Gotta get a knutt is one of my favorite tracks from Birthday. my question is. was this track spur of the moment or were y'all just drankin and carryin' on

Another question In the label transition from RCA to Buddha. y'all managed to keep that "Live sound" How did you manage to switch labels and yet keep that live sound. same studio or same engineer.

Man,this takes me back to my childhood! I remember in the early 70s,my mother had their 1971 album 'Ain't No Big Thing But It's Growing'.She absolutely LOVED their version of "It's Impossible" She wore that record out! I have since found this album on vinyl.I love the song "How Good It Feels".

IAintTheOne said:

Good one. But I might have to re-phrase it a bit.

IAintTheOne said:

Another good one. Dutifully noted.

SoulAlive said:

New Birth is a group that easily makes you feel comfortable to buy every single album they have released. Especially the first six or seven albums are all full of great material. They just seem to have pulled it off every time.

What?? No more New Birth fans on this site? I find that hard to believe ..

Someone asked me about the drummer in NB and I couldn't come up with a name. You got any personnel listings handy? I'm not sure about which era either.

I want to know what inspired the song Wildflower.

Vendetta1 said:

I can actually answer that for them Vendetta. Wildflower was done previously by a group called "Skylark" if memory serves me Skylark's version was released in '71 or '2. New birth's version was a cover


Here is the original

I'll have to check this out in March when I'm moved into my new place.

IAintTheOne said:

Wow, I thought New Birth made the original.

So what's the story behind it?

Vendetta1 said:

No idea but this song makes me cry. Because it reminds me of my sister

IAintTheOne said:

My former best friend used to say that song reminded him of me.

Vendetta1 said:

And before you ask Dream Merchant was also a cover originally done by Jerry Butler. but you knew that right?

IAintTheOne said:

That one I knew.

MrSoulpower said:

Oh yes indeed I plan to find all of their albums.

PFunkjazz said:

I think the original Nite-Liters drummer was Nathaniel Neblitt, he played on the first New Bith albums. Their second drummer was a guy of the name Jim Hill (who was taught drums by his sister's boyfriend Tiki Fulwood, whom you surely know ). But Hill's stint with the group was rather shortlived.
The next drummer was Robin Russell, who had played with Johnny Guitar Watson and Little Richard before. He came in when the group recorded Birth Day.

IAintTheOne said:

Yeah, Skylark was a group from Vancouver, Canada. Melvin was a big fan of the song, which is why they recorded it. We'll definitely talk about that session on the show.

Another cover New Birth is famous for is "I Can Understand It", originally recorded and written by Bobby Womack sans the horns and a slower, bluesy, church-like rootsy version.

Womack's end of the version to his song is actually very addictive compared to the non-stop horn drop and comeback in New Birth's.

MrSoulpower said:

It may be Hill. Socialibrium (Bernie Worrell Blackbyrd McKnight & TM Stevens)is looking for a new drummer and a search for New Birth's drummer came up, but I didn't pick up on the name.

PFunkjazz said:

Well, yeah ... that kinda sounds like it would be Hill.

Show is on tomorrow night! 11 pm - 1 am Eastern. On www.wrir.org

There's one I almost bought for the front and back cover alone. They're all nekkid.

LET THEM KNOW THAT EVERY COVER THEY'VE DONE.....THEY'VE OWNED IT AFTER THAT!!!! THAT'S MUSICIANSHIP!!!!!
WHEN THEY DID "WILDFLOWER", U FORGOT ALL ABOUT SKYLARK!!!!!
WHEN THEY DID "IT'S IMPOSSIBLE", THEY RUFFLED PERRY COMO'S CARDIGAN!!!!!
WHEN THEY DID "DREAM MERCHANT", YOU DIDN'T WANNA HEAR JERRY BUTLER'S VERSION NO MO'!!!!!
WHEN THEY DID "I CAN UNDERSTAND IT", IT WASN'T MR. WOMACK'S NO MO'!!!!!
AND I HOPE THEY GOT ROYALTIES FOR THE WORLD CLASS WRECKIN CRU'S "TURN OFF THE LIGHTS"!!!!!

...Granddaddy



And get some Nite-Liters up in this mutha!




...Afro-Strut




...Damn




...Tanga Boo Gonk




...Pee-Foul




...I've Got Dreams To Remember





...Do The Granny





...K-Jee



tA

Tribal Disorder

http://www.soundclick.com...dID=182431

vainandy said:

You mean Love Potion?

theAudience said:

Seems like you dig the Nities more then The New Birth.

Btw, Tommy called me last weekend. We talked for like three hours. Just like good ole times. Thanks for helping us re-connect.

Yeah, that's it. You would have to see the actual vinyl cover to see what I'm talking about. On one of the guys, you can see all of his pubic hair.