When Cuba Gooding, Sr. passed away in April 2017, it marked the true end of an era for the venerable soul group The Main Ingredient.  The Harlem-founded group had endured tragedy, personnel shifts, and the changing sound of music to prosper for decades, but the heart of the Main Ingredient remains in the group's RCA recordings.  The recent 2-CD collection from Cherry Red's SoulMusic Records imprint, Brotherly Love: The RCA Anthology, brings together 41 tracks originally issued between 1970 and 1981 on the venerable label.

Friends Donald McPherson, Luther Simmons, and Tony Silvester got their first recording deal with Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller's Red Bird label, releasing one single as The Poets and another as The Insiders in 1965 and 1966.  As The Insiders, the trio moved to RCA Victor to further hone their smooth, mellow, and sophisticated harmony soul sound.  Though their first two singles for their new label weren't met with much success, they pressed on.  A name change to The Main Ingredient led to a new deal with RCA, then in the midst of beefing up its R&B roster with artists like Jon Lucien, Carolyn Franklin, and Willie Hutch.  Brotherly Love begins with the group's first chart entry, "You've Been My Inspiration," and features tracks from all eleven of their RCA albums.  That dreamy ballad epitomized the lush sound with which the Main Ingredient would become associated, close to the silky sound of Philly soul.  The group members knew what their style was; they even titled their sophomore album Tasteful Soul in 1970.

Not that the group didn't diversify; their third album, Black Seeds, was named for lead singer McPherson's funky African-inspired political statement, "Black Seeds Keep on Growing."  Sadly, though, McPherson didn't live long enough to see the release of the album.  Leukemia had claimed his life just days before his 30th birthday.  Silvester and Simmons recruited another friend from the old neighborhood who had first stepped in to sing while McPherson was ill: Cuba Gooding.  The younger singer couldn't have been more different than his predecessor, possessing a rough, husky voice rather than a high, ethereal one.  The title of The Main Ingredient's fourth album was a truthful one: Bitter Sweet.  The sweet soul sound would continue, but the group had been forever changed.

Happily, the new iteration of the group had a success right out of the gate.  "Everybody Plays the Fool" became their biggest hit ever, and actually brought them full circle.  One of the bouncy tune's co-writers was Rudy Clark, who penned The Poets' very first Red Bird single!  Gooding's resonant voice sat comfortably atop longtime associate Bert DeCoteaux's brassy pop-soul arrangement for the song which earned No. 3 Pop/No. 2 R&B chart placements.  Perhaps to counter assertions that Bitter Sweet had gone too far in a pop direction, RCA encouraged the group to tap into its roots for 1973's Afrodisiac.  The album featured six songs by Stevie Wonder, three of which ("Girl Blue," "Superwoman," and "Where Were You When I Needed You") are reprised on this anthology.

The Main Ingredient continued to balance pop and soul through the duration of their time at RCA on such songs as the Philly soul staple "Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" (previously recorded by Ronnie Dyson with producer Thom Bell, and by Blue Magic), Willie Hutch's "California My Way," and Seals and Crofts' "Summer Breeze" by way of The Isley Brothers.  In 1975, Tony Silvester departed the group he had founded, pursuing a behind-the-scenes role as a producer for artists such as Sister Sledge and Ben E. King.  Another old school friend, Carl Tompkins, joined the roster in time for the album Rolling Down a Mountainside.  Its Leon Ware-penned title track earned the group another top ten R&B hit.  But the follow-up album Shame of the World was a non-starter, and Gooding felt the time was right for him to go solo.  He was contractually obligated to finish one more album, and Music Maximus (featuring another Leon Ware single, "Instant Love") was released in 1977 credited to "The Main Ingredient Featuring Cuba Gooding."  The group then split up as Gooding headed to Motown to launch a solo career.

After his two Motown LPs failed to establish him as a solo star, Gooding regrouped with Simmons and Silvester to bring back The Main Ingredient for two more LPs released on RCA in 1980 and 1981.  Among the tracks from these two lesser-known albums are 12-inch mixes of "Think Positive" and the Luther Vandross-written jam, "Party People."  These albums marked the final RCA recordings of the group, though periodic revivals with different lineups would occur through 2001.  Tony Silvester died in 2006; Luther Simmons is retired today.

Brotherly Love features a 24-page color booklet with a lengthy essay by Charles Waring, and all tracks have been remastered by Nick Robbins.  The anthology is a compelling journey with one of the best harmony-soul groups of the 1970s.  It's available now from SoulMusic Records and Cherry Red at the links below!

The Main Ingredient, Brotherly Love: The RCA Anthology (SoulMusic/Cherry Red SMCR 5167D, 2018) (Amazon U.S. / Amazon U.K. / Amazon Canada)

CD 1

1. You've Been My Inspiration
2. Can't Stand Your Love
3. I Was Born to Lose You
4. Brotherly Love
5. Life Won't Be the Same (Without You)
6. I'm Better Off Without You
7. I'm So Proud
8. Make It with You
9. Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)
10. I'm Leaving This Time
11. Baby Change Your Mind
12. Movin' On
13. Black Seeds Keep on Growing
14. Why Can't We All Unite
15. Everybody Plays the Fool
16. You've Got to Take It (If You Want It)
17. Superwoman
18. Where Were You When I Needed You
19. Girl Blue
20. Goodbye My Love
21. You Can Call Me Rover
22. Have You Ever Tried It
23. Summer Breeze

CD 2

1. California My Way
2. Happiness is Just Around the Bend
3. Looks Like Rain
4. Don't You Worry 'Bout a Thing
5. Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
6. Rolling Down a Mountainside
7. The Good Old Days
8. I Want to Make You Glad
9. You and Me - Me and You
10. Family Man
11. Shame on the World
12. Lillian
13. Let Me Prove My Love to You
14. Instant Love
15. Think Positive (12-Inch Single Version)
16. Spoiled
17. What a Miracle Can Do
18. Party People (12-Inch Single Version)

CD 1, Tracks 1-5 from L.T.D., RCA LSP-4253, 1970
CD 1, Tracks 6-9 from Tasteful Soul, RCA LSP-4412, 1970
CD 1, Tracks 10-14 from Black Seeds, RCA LSP-4483, 1971
CD 1, Tracks 15-16 from Bitter Sweet, RCA LSP-4677, 1972
CD 1, Tracks 17-21 from Afrodisiac, RCA LSP-4834, 1973
CD 1, Tracks 22-23 & CD 2, Tracks 1-5 from Euphrates River, RCA APLI 1-0335, 1974
CD 2, Tracks 6-10 from Rolling Down a Mountainside, RCA APLI 1-0644, 1975
CD 2, Tracks 11-13 from Shame on the World, RCA APLI 1-1003, 1975
CD 2, Track 14 from Music Maximus, RCA APLI 1-1558, 1977
CD 2, Tracks 15-17 from Ready for Love, RCA AFL1-3641, 1980
CD 2, Track 18 from I Only Have Eyes for You, RCA AFL1-3963, 1981