One of the most underrated r &b groups of all-time is
the Ojays. they began in the late 50's...they were a 5 man
outfit when they had a regional hit in 1963.
"lonely drifter"...did some late 60's hits on NepTune
Records that are nearly forgotten:

you're the best thing since candy.
deeper in love with you & looky look at me
(all early gamble & huff productions)

and in the 70's they hit da bIG time. as a trio.


40 plus years later...
eddie levert & walter williams still get down as the primary
lead singers ,even with some various changes in their lineup
since the passing of original member tenor William Powell.

eddie's boys sean & gerald are chips off the old blocks...
but eddie's the master!

so what's your favorite ojays cuts?

i'll just throw out 3 classics:
1.used to be my girl :walt's superb lead vocal and the
guitar intro gets me every time

"if i had a chance i take her back!")

2.living for the weekend: the bluesy tempo change in the middle is partay down music! and eddie & walt's gospel
call & response vocals is from da pulpit,for sho'!

3.time to get down: another walt williams cool ass vocal.
and the guitar figure throughout is the attraction for me.

so ojays people where are yA...?

youngca
"its time to get down..."

Backstabbers is my jam I love Angie Stone but she done messed that up.

I love the O'Jays, or as Don Cornelius would say THOSE MIGHTY O'JAYS!!!

That Backstabbers album{released in 1972} is one of the greatest and strongest albums of all time. Every track on that one is great. Truth be told the O'Jays didn't run out of gas {on the charts}until around 1989/1990. They had an amazing run of R&B hit singles.

the so full of love album wuz my first introduction to the o'jays...

Harlepolis said:

U sho´is right on that!Who am I is a really
great track from the Backstabbers album.
/peace Manki

My favorite O'Jays songs:


Forever Mine
Work On Me
I Want You Here With Me
Brandy

I saw them years ago. I even had a crush on William Powell (Sammy Strain replaced him); I must've been, like, five!
I've always thought "Stairway to Heaven" was dedicated to him. It's one of my favorite O'Jay cuts. I also love "Work On Me", "Love Train", "For the Love of Money"...

"Love Train"

One of my all time favourites! That song can be played continously and I would never get ired of it!

Philly Soul, Philly Soul!!!

I dig a lot of the OJays' songs, but there's one that always gets little mention, and even less airplay:

"Now That We Found Love"

Which was later covered by reggae group Third World, and Heavy D & The Boys, among others.

Unfortunately I don't have a shred of OJays music in my collection. But this too shall be rectified soon.

Supernova said:

whew!



they eeeeedit in your faaaaace...
[This message was edited Wed Aug 27 21:50:10 PDT 2003 by Handclapsfingasnapz]

Supernova said:

get outta that box!

Just yesterday,I was listening to the 'Ship Ahoy' album and I was tempted to start a thread about it.Thanks Youngca, for saving me the trouble...lol...as a child in the 70s,I always heard the O'Jays.Their music is intensely soulful,uplifting with amazing production by Gamble and Huff.When you talk about 70s soul,you can never leave out the O'Jays.I'm surprised that there isn't a multi-disc O'Jays box set by now.In the mid-90s,I heard rumors that they were preparing one,but it never materialized.


My favorite O'Jays album is 1978's 'So Full Of Love',which remains in my CD player.I just love that album so much.Songs like "Brandy" and "Cry Together" kill me everytime.Soul music doesn't get any better than that.

i have every Ojay's album on vinyl from Philli International to the subsidiary switch to TSOP.
"Family Reunion" is the cut in my opinion.i mean Love train backstabbers,all are great tracks.cuts like Stairway to heaven,forever mine,the extended i love music,brandy,hell they even covered wildflower by Skylark.


the Mighty O'jays will always be an instrumental part of the Philly sound. sadly they werent the 1st to be signed to Gamble and Huff's "Gamble records" they already were with Neptune, and the Intruders were the 1st group to release a single on that Label.




[This message was edited Thu Aug 28 3:50:31 PDT 2003 by Finess]

Finess said:

I really dig that Philly InternationalRecords logo...one of my favorite of record label logos!!!
[This message was edited Thu Aug 28 4:02:24 PDT 2003 by BRO915]

Supernova said:

EXCELLENT TRACK!! You can find it on their landmark 1973 album 'Ship Ahoy',which has just been remastered btw.It now contains a bonus track,a live version of "Put Your Hands Together".I was just listening to this CD yesterday.

DavidEye said:

david...one single i can't find anyplace (or on any early
NEPTUNE compilation) is 'looky look at me.'
have you ever seen the 45?

man that was a great tune.

do you guys remember it?

"Looky Looky" is a 1969 single taken from their early album 'The O'Jays in Philadelphia'.This rare album was out of print for many many years,until it was finally released on CD in 1994.Here is the full tracklist...


'The O'Jays In Philadelphia' (released in 1969)

"One Night Affair"
"You're The Best Thing Since Candy"
"Branded Bad"
"I Should Be Your Lover"
"Looky Looky (Look At Me Girl)"
"Deeper (In Love With You)"
"Let Me In Your World"
"Just Can't Get Enough"
"I've Got The Groove"
"Medley: Little Green Apples/Something"
"It's Too Strong"


Many people are totally unfamiliar with this album,since it was not as successful as the albums that followed.But if you're an O'Jays fan,it's a must-have.Produced by Gamble and Huff and released on their Neptune label in '69,it's a wonderful,soulful and very underrated masterpiece.

DavidEye said:

thanks david. now if i can find the album!

[color=green]Money money money money, money

youngca said:

You should be able to find it.It was released on Epic/Legacy in 94.

Anyone know what happened to the light skinned guy in the group I think his name was Sammy He had been with the group since the late 70's and then all of a sudden sometime in the 90's he was replaced by a younger guy in the group. Anyone know?

DavidEye said:

I was fiddling around in my closet where I have a box of old cassettes when I accidentally knocked one out of the box. It was "Ship Ahoy!" OMG! Is William Powell trying to speak to me?

Frederick96 said:

sammy strain was a member of Little Anthony & the imperials
from the early 60's till he left to join the OJAys after
William Powell's death.

in the 90's he went back to little anthony's group.

i've seem him the past few years on pbs tv with little anthony's group.

he left the ojays with their blessings.

Nobody better say anything bad about The Ojays!

as an aside I remeber long long tie ago my parents came back for th e store and had The Ojays record album in the bag..of groceries go figure. I was very little and read it as and said "The Black Strawberries"...and one of my brothers laughed an said "no...it says the BACKSTABBERS"

rdhull said:

Cuuute

Damn, my father loved him some "Backstabers" album he would play that record over and over and over and over,,I'm like "Please stop!"

Looking back it now, I can def tell why he does keep playing the LP over and over. This LP brings alot of memories 2 me!

Harlepolis said:

[This message was edited Sun Aug 31 13:44:33 PDT 2003 by rdhull]

Huge Huge Fan of them."Ship Ahoy" Alone moves me.a tight Concept Album that wasn't afraid to deal with Issues.there "Family Reunion" Album was always a Must for my family get togethers especially in the Summer time.that Song alone always hit the spot with Ice Tea&corn on the Cobb."I Love Music" is one of the reasons why Cats back in the day Got it right the first time without Long Versions.that is the One thing that the O'jays had over just about anybody they had Long Tight Jams that worked&you wanted even more."use to be my girl" is my cut along with "Brandy" by them.