Great song, and a much-needed reminder of it, Kevin! Did you know it was written by Motown hit-meisters, Holland-Dozier-Holland and fellow Motown producer/songwriter, Ron Dunbar? By this time, all four had split Motown, and due to ongoing litigation on their split from the label, H-D-H were credited on the record's label under the pseudonym, Edythe Wayne!
One more: General Johnson was signed to Clive Davis's Arista label for a one-off 1976 solo album.
Sep 15, 2023·edited Sep 15, 2023Liked by Kevin Alexander
The Chairmen were a great group. General Johnson, Danny Woods and Harrison Kennedy (a Canadian still active in the nation's blues scene) were talented singers who gave every track considerable power.
They easily could have had a much longer career if Invictus had had better management and not made stupid decisions, like trying to have the singers have solo careers in parallel with the group's, that killed their golden egg laying goose.
Johnson had previously fronted the New Orleans vocal group The Showmen, and wrote their most famous tune, a passionate defense of rock and roll titled "It Will Stand".
This is a great, great song and resides in my “Ultimate Seventies” playlist on Spotify. It’s nostalgic for me: my almost 10-year old self was obsessed with my transistor radio (I didn’t have a record player, yet) and I jogged its dial between the two Top 40 AM stations in Providence. The week that “Give Me Just a Little More Time” peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 (March 1970), the Top 10 was jammed with great records: “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” at #1; “The Rapper” at #2; “Instant Karma” at #4; “Let It Be” debuted at #6; “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” at #7; “Evil Ways” at #8 and the also fantastic “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” by the DelFonics at #10. Great stuff, of which earworms are made.
I’ve always loved this song. That only grew when health issues left me slurring my words. This was my #1 go to for informal speech therapy due to the over enunciation in the vocals. I’ve sung along many many times in the last few years and my slur only seems to be noticeable to me. So all props to The Chairmen!
Great song, and a much-needed reminder of it, Kevin! Did you know it was written by Motown hit-meisters, Holland-Dozier-Holland and fellow Motown producer/songwriter, Ron Dunbar? By this time, all four had split Motown, and due to ongoing litigation on their split from the label, H-D-H were credited on the record's label under the pseudonym, Edythe Wayne!
One more: General Johnson was signed to Clive Davis's Arista label for a one-off 1976 solo album.
Total ear worm... it's now stuck in my head. Not a bad way to spend a Friday.
The Chairmen were a great group. General Johnson, Danny Woods and Harrison Kennedy (a Canadian still active in the nation's blues scene) were talented singers who gave every track considerable power.
They easily could have had a much longer career if Invictus had had better management and not made stupid decisions, like trying to have the singers have solo careers in parallel with the group's, that killed their golden egg laying goose.
Johnson had previously fronted the New Orleans vocal group The Showmen, and wrote their most famous tune, a passionate defense of rock and roll titled "It Will Stand".
This is a great, great song and resides in my “Ultimate Seventies” playlist on Spotify. It’s nostalgic for me: my almost 10-year old self was obsessed with my transistor radio (I didn’t have a record player, yet) and I jogged its dial between the two Top 40 AM stations in Providence. The week that “Give Me Just a Little More Time” peaked at #3 on the Hot 100 (March 1970), the Top 10 was jammed with great records: “Bridge Over Troubled Waters” at #1; “The Rapper” at #2; “Instant Karma” at #4; “Let It Be” debuted at #6; “He Ain’t Heavy, He’s My Brother” at #7; “Evil Ways” at #8 and the also fantastic “Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)” by the DelFonics at #10. Great stuff, of which earworms are made.
I’ve always loved this song. That only grew when health issues left me slurring my words. This was my #1 go to for informal speech therapy due to the over enunciation in the vocals. I’ve sung along many many times in the last few years and my slur only seems to be noticeable to me. So all props to The Chairmen!
This is a fantastic song, haven’t heard it in so long! I never would’ve known the artist though, never heard of them.
He does more than sing this song; he *acts* it. You can really feel that he wants more time. Good stuff!
Oh yeah, that song... « a-brrrrrrrrrr-upp! »