Artist: G.C. Cameron
Profile:
Soul singer G.C. Cameron is a veteran of more than 30 years in the music business and is still ticking. In 2000, he returned to the group he left in 1971 for a solo career, the Spinners, to fill in for an ill John Edwards. Cameron is famous for his high-energy lead on the Spinners’ “It’s a Shame.”
He was born in a small township in Franklin Country, MS, but his family moved to Detroit in 1955 when he was young. The Camerons were a large brood; Cameron had nine siblings, but there was always room for more, as Philippe Wynne (Cameron’ s cousin) grew up in the household (he being a little older than Cam-eron). The two ran Detroit’s mean streets together but never formed a singing group.
After a Marine stint, which included servitude in Vietnam, Cameron was chosen by the Spinners to replace Edgar “Chico” Edwards, adding a new lead voice to the group. (Chico was strictly a background singer.) With Cameron in the fold, Motown’s producers found the Spinners more interesting and heavy-weights like Stevie Wonder started writing and producing for them. A remake of the standard “In My Diary” (1969), made popular to R&B fans by the Moonglows, was their first with Cameron. The flip side was “(She’s Gonna Love Me) At Sun-down,” which features Bobby Smith. What should have been a two-sided smash wasn’t due to Motown’s lackadaisical attitude toward the Spinners. When Harvey Fuqua and Gwen Gordy sold their Tri-Phi setup to Motown, the Spinners became basement dwellers. Stevie Wonder cut “It’s a Shame,” only to have it put on ice by Motown for a whole year after it was recorded. A remake of the Temptations’ popular album cut “Message to the Blackman” (1970) was their second single featuring Cameron. The Spinners’ version was good, albeit shorter, but it stiffed from lack of support.
Motown finally released “It’s a Shame” on June 6, 1970, and watched it scale the charts to number 14 pop and become the Spinners’ biggest hit to date. But the group was fed up with Motown’s treatment; the frustrations came to a head when the follow-up, “We Got It Made,” didn’t come close to duplicating its pre-decessor. It was apparent Motown wasn’t ever going to take them seriously and they made plans to leave. Cameron, however, had become romantically involved with Gwen Gordy (Berry Gordy’s sister) and stayed with Motown; but he didn’t leave the Spinners in a lurch. His cousin, Philippe Wynne, who had been rehearsing with the group, was brought in to take his place. The master improviser had previously worked with the Pacesetters, a band that included Bootsy and Catfish Collins, in the Cincinnati area. Philippe “Soul” Wynne stayed five years and was as responsible as producer/arranger/writer Thom Bell for the group’s chart-busting success on Atlantic Records, which was second only to the mighty O’Jays ’70s explosion.
But Cameron wasn’t concerned; Motown was going to make him a star, or so he thought. The company placed him on its Mowest label for a series of singles that went nowhere: “Act Like a Shotgun” (1971); a tentative follow-up, “I’m Gonna Get You Parts 1 & 2,” was scheduled for release but pulled in the 12th hour — instead, Mowest dropped “What It Is, What It Is” (1972) with scarcely any promotion. Going for broke, they tried a duet with Willie Hutch, entitled “Come Get This Thing,” but shelved it in favor of Cameron’s interesting “Don’t Wanna Play Pajama Games,” written and produced by Smokey Robinson, in which Cameron mimics Robinson to a T.
Uneasiness reared: The Spinners with Wynne were making an unprecedented run with Top Ten hits and good-selling albums, yet Cameron couldn’t make the charts. He was switched to the Motown label for his other recordings, including “No Matter Where” (1973) and “Let Me Down Easy” (1973), neither of which sold well. His first solo LP, Love Songs and Other Tragedies (1974), followed; a second LP, the self-titled G.C. Cameron (1976), was preceded by “If You’re Ever Gonna Love Me” (1975). The next single, “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday,” (1975) was perfect, but for Boyz II Men, not Cameron. “Dream Lady” (1976) and “You’re What’s Missing In My Life” (1977), which was also the title of his third album, issued in 1977 and which followed the same dismal road as previous efforts.
Motown issued Rich Love, Poor Love by G.C. & Syreeta in 1977 and put out one single from the album, “Let’s Make a Deal.” Two years later, Syreeta scored with Billy Preston on “With You I’m Born Again.” Cameron left the company after the pair with Syreeta failed and his romance with Gwen Gordy soured. When “I’ve Got My Second Wind,” a duet with Tata Vega off her Givin’ All My Love album (1981), came out, Cameron was long gone.
The talented, multi-voice singer (every producer who worked with him found a different sound) recorded off and on for a bunch of little labels from 1977 on; his most significant recording was Give Me Your Love (1983) for Malaco Records in Jackson, MS (sort of a homecoming for Cameron). It’s a great album with many riveting tracks, including the heart-wrenching “A Night Like This in Georgia.”
A year later, Ian Levine included Cameron in his Motorcity project as a singer, writer, and producer. The association with Levine may have been creatively lu-crative, but not financially, as Cameron claims he has yet to receive a loyalty check from any recording company he was ever involved with. And that includes the single he cut with the Tams, entitled “Walking Dr. Bill,” in the late ’90s. The “shag” hit did secure him some dates on the Carolinas’ beach music set with the Tams and his own group, the G.C. Cameron Band.
The Motorcity recordings, which included a duet with Martha Reeves, were com-piled on Right or Wrong (Motorcity 1991) and later The Very Best of G.C. Cam-eron (1996) on Hot Productions. He now has a production/recording company, Daggerjacc, and is writing a tell-all book detailing his tumultuous experiences. He cut ties with most of his music biz cronies and relocated to Meadville, MS (near his birthplace), remarried, and is raising a second family; a son by a previous union is well past 30. Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
G.C. Cameron’s second Motown album was as disappointing sales wise as his first, Love Songs and Other Tragedies, but listening to it is no disappointment. On a mission to please, Cameron gives it up on this selection of remakes, originals, and self-penned love songs. “It’s So Hard to Say Goodbye to Yesterday” got some recognition as the first single to bounce off the set, but it didn’t set the world on fire. A second single the whimsical “Dream Lady” bombed. Nothing else surfaced despite quality tunes like “Include Me in Your Life,” originally by Diana Ross and Marvin Gaye; Elgie and Kenny Stovers’ “Share Your Life”; and Cameron’s “Strong Love” — the song Motown should have put the “cheese” behind. Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide
Strong work from GC – really making a mark here on his own, working in that smooth mid 70s Motown mode that was the legacy of Eddie Kendricks, and which Kendricks himself wasn’t even doing as well by this point. Arrangements are by James Carmichael, Paul Riser, Wade Marcus, Gene Page, and other smooth soul talents – and GC’s got this edgey vocal approach that strikes out from the backings very strongly, with a hip dope sound on the best cuts, almost in a blacksploitation soundtrack mode. Includes a great version of “If I Ever Lose This Heaven”, plus the cuts “Me & My Life”, “It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday”, “Strong Love”, “Share Your Life”, “Truly Blue”, and “Don’t Want To Give It Up”.
Review By RDTEN1:
I’ve been a G.C. Cameron fan since his 1960s/early-1970s heyday with The Spinners. When the rest of the group signed with Atlantic and went on to enjoy mega-fame working with Thom Bell and others, engaged to Berry Gordy’s sister Gwen, Cameron remained with Motown where he found himself stuck with a low-keyed solo career before eventually jumping ship in the late-1970s.
I’ll be perfectly upfront and tell you that 1976’s cleverly-titled “G.C. Cameron” was a middling effort. Working with a slew of producers (Cameron produced one track himself and co-produced a number of other tracks), the set was all over the musical genre roadmap, never really finding a consistent groove to showcase Cameron’s considerable talents – something that would plague his entire Motown tenure. As a songwriter Cameron was a hit or miss commodity; the album including three originals which served to showcase his good and bad sides: the good exemplified by Strong Love’ and the bad being the hideous down and dirty ‘Don’t You Want To Give It Up’. The album also served to underscore Cameron’s strengths and weaknesses as a singer. At his best when he simply laid back and didn’t push it, on way too many tracks Cameron felt the need to underscore his talents by trying to turn up the power. The results were seldom very impressive.
– With an instantly memorable melody and a killer refrain, the opener ‘Dream Lady’ was probably the album’s most commercial track. The up-tempo track also served as a nice showcase for Cameron’s rugged, gospel-tinged vocals. The most Spinner-like song on the album, it was easy to see why Motown tapped it as a single. rating: **** stars
– ‘Not necessarily a bad song, but Me and My Life’ was simply too disco-tinged for my ears. The chirpy female backing vocalists were particularly irritating. rating: ** stars
– Originally ‘If I Ever Lose This Heaven’ didn’t do a great deal for me, but I’ll admit that the track’s seductive groove has grown on me. rating: *** stars
– While I’ve always liked Cameron’s voice, he can be guilty of over-singing and ‘Include Me In Your Life’ served as a perfect example of that weakness. Horribly over-orchestrated, kicked along by some painfully screechy falsettos, this ballad just reeked of ‘trying-too-hard’. rating: ** stars
– Complete with moaning female sound effects, ‘Don’t You Want To Give It Up’ found Cameron trying to get down and funky. The result wasn’t particularly endearing, though the song sported a great fuzz guitar solo … Dennis Coffey? rating: ** stars
– Side two opened with another Spinners-esque number in ‘Truly Blue’. I can’t really articulate it, but for some reason Cameron sounded way better when he laid back and simply didn’t try to hard. That talent was spotlighted on this classic slice of old school soul. One of the album’s highlights. rating: **** stars
– The second Cameron composition, ‘The Joy You Bring’ could have been a great track except for the lackadasical lyric – essentially Cameron repeating the title time after time … it got old quickly. rating: ** stars
– ‘Share Your Life (Let Me In)’ was a pretty ballad, but Cameron sounded very uncomfortable trying to handle it in an extremely high register … Shame since it could have been a standout performance had he sounded more comfortable. rating: ** stars
– The third and best Cameron composition, ‘Strong Love’ sported a nice melody and found Cameron using his most rugged delivery to good effect. This one would have made a better single than the two tracks Motown tapped as 45s. rating: **** stars
– ‘It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday’ was included on the soundtrack to the film “Cooley High” and tapped as the album’s first single. Curious choice since the song itself was a plodding and largely anonymous ballad. rating: ** stars
Motown tapped the album for a pair of quickly forgotten singles:
– 1975’s ‘It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday’ b/w ”Haulin, Cold Blooded’ (Motown catalog number M 1364F)
– 1975’s ‘Dream Lady’ b/w ‘Tippin’ (Motown catalog number M 1397F)
Album: G.C. Cameron
Release date: 1976
Tracklist:
01. Dream Lady
02. Me And My Life
03. If I Ever Lose This Heaven
04. Include Me In Your Life
05. Don’t You Want To Give It Up
06. Truly Blue
07. The Joy You Bring
08. Share Your Life (Let Me In)
09. Strong Love
10. It’s So Hard To Say Goodbye To Yesterday
‘If I Ever Lose This Heaven’ On YouTube
Vinyl Covers & Labels (Click On The Thumbnails)
