The Moments
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1965) - Richard Gross (aka Richard Horsely) -- baritone - Johnny Morgan -- tenor - Eric Olfus Sr. -- vocals
line up 2 (1965-69) NEW - Mark Greene -- lead vocals - Richard Gross (aka Richard Horsely) -- baritone - Johnny Morgan -- tenor - Eric Olfus Sr. -- vocals
line up 3 (1969-70) NEW - William Billy Brown -- lead vocals (replaced Mark Greene) NEW - Al Goodman (RIP 2010) -- lead and baritone vocals - Johnny Morgan -- tenor
line up 4 (1970) - William Billy Brown -- lead vocals (replaced Mark Greene) - Al Goodmann (RIP 2010) -- lead and baritone vocals NEW - Johnny Moore -- tenor vocals (replaced Johnny Morgan
line up 5 (1970-79) - William Billy Brown -- lead vocals - Al Goodmann (RIP 2010) -- lead and baritone vocals - Harry Ray (RIP 1992) - lead and tenor vocals
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- The Black Satins (Mark Greene) - The Broadways (Billy Brown) - The Carvettes (Al Goodman) - Mark Greene (solo efforts) - Ray, Goodman & Brown - The Uniques (Billy Brown) - The Valtairs (Harry Ray) - The Vipers (Al Goodman)
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Genre: soul Rating: 4 stars *** Title: Moments with You Company: Stang Catalog: ST-1023 Year: 1974 Country/State: Hackensack, New Jersey Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 2811 Price: $20.00
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If you were interested in hearing or buying 1974's "Those Sexy Moments" you already knew what to expect. Produced by Al Goodman, Harry Ray, and Tommy Keith (for some reason the liner notes consistently misspelled his name as T. Kieth), this was an above average addition to the group's catalog of classic, ballad-heavy '70s soul. Unlike most '70s soul outfits, The Moments had the luxury of writing much of their own material. While there wasn't anything particularly original, or striking here, there were no blatant missteps either. As on earlier releases William Billy Brown, Al Goodman, and Harry Ray offered up some of the smoothest vocals being recorded at the time. The reliance on slow jams meant the album was somewhat one dimensional, but exemplified by tracks like 'Sweet Sweet Lady', 'Seven Days', 'Look At Me', and 'How Can I Love You'' their harmonies were simply wonderful. And that made atypical performances like the almost funky 'Give Me Some More' all the more enjoyable. Nice additional to their catalog.
Interestingly, the European release featured different artwork. I'm guessing it was considered too risque for US audiences.
"Those
Sexy Moments" track listing: 1.) Yogi's There (Introduction) (Yogi Horton - Al Goodman - Harry Ray) - 2:00 rating: ** stars Got to admit I've never understood the strange spoken word introduction - the late drummer Yogi Horton asking the group members what their favorite song on the album was ... I'm guessing Horton played on the album (no performance credits shown). 2.) Sweet Sweet Lady (T. Kieth (aka Tommy Keith) - Sylvia Robinson) - 4:47 rating; **** stars 'Sweet Sweet Lady' was one of those songs that took a little while to register. Initially it came off as a pedestrian ballad - nice enough, but something any soul fan has heard dozens of times before. What made this one special for me were the wonderful backing vocals and above all the squawking lead guitar that pops in and out throughout the song. An abbreviated version was tapped as a single:
- 1974's 'Sweet Sweet Lady' b/w 'The Next Time I See You' (Stang catalog number ST 5054-A/B) 3.) You've Come a Long Way (Al Goodman - Harry Ray - Walter Morris) - 3:49 rating: *** stars Maybe it's just me, but I've always found "childhood crush" lyrics disturbing. Add in the cheesy spoken word segment (which was even more disconcerting), and I guess that explains why 'You've Come A Long Way' never did much for me. 4.) Give Me Some More (T. Kieth (aka Tommy Keith) - Craig Derry - Harry Ray - Al Goodman) - 4:55 rating; **** stars 'Give Me Some More' was a nice mid-tempo tune that displayed the trio's trademarked sweet harmonies (check out the way they hit the title refrain), but was also a touch more rugged (not quite funky), than your standard performance. Add in some excellent horn charts and this was easily one of the album standout performances. 5.) Seven Days (T. Kieth (aka Tommy Keith) - Al Goodman) - 3:07 rating; **** stars Wonderful slow jam that would make Eddie Kendricks smile ... Complete with electric sitar, this was a slow jam for economists and business majors. LOL Always wondered if the female vocal was Stang owner Sylvia Robinson. 6.) Baby I Don't Like You (Sammy Lowe - B. Lowe) - 3:42 rating; ** stars The
album's first disappointment ... a bit too sweet and corny for their
own good. (side
2) One of Ray's nicest Smokey Robinson impressions ... Always loved the electric sitar/guitar solos - very mid-'70s effect. 2.) Music In Your Eyes (T. Kieth (aka Tommy Keith) - Craig. Derry) - 3:30 rating: *** stars The upbeat 'Music In Your Eyes' has always reminded me of something off the Philadelphia International production line. Not bad, but kind of anonymous. 3.) Look at Me (Al Goodman - Harry Ray - Walter Morris) - 3:10 rating; **** stars Usually hyper-romantic ballads just irritate me. This is one of the rare exceptions. 'Look At Me' was one of their sweetest ballads and deserves to have been played at thousands of weddings. With Ray on lead vocals, this one sounded and awful amount like Smokey and the Miracles. Curiously, when tapped as a single the title was modified to 'Look at me (I'm In Love)':
- 1975's 'Look At me (I'm In Love') b/w 'You've Come a Long Way' (Stang catalog number ST-5060) 4.) Sexy Mama (Harry Ray - Al Goodman - Sylvia Robinson) - 3:10 rating: *** stars Slinky, but kind of pedestrian bedtime romp ... 'Sexy mama' sounded like a throwaway Curtis Mayfield number. Best part of the song was the jazz lead guitar that popped up during the fadeout.
- 1973's 'Sexy Mama' b/w 'Where Can I Find Her' (Stang catalog number ST-5052) 5.) Next Time I See You (Harry Ray - Al Goodman - Sylvia Robinson - Walter Morris) - 2:35 rating; **** stars Another ballad where Ray bore more than a passing resemblance to Smokey Robinson - there was just something in his delivery ... Always liked the bubbly arrangement on this one. 6.) Yogi Says Goodbye (instrumental) (Yogi Horton) - Al Goodman - Harry Ray) - 1:25 'Yogi Says Goodbye' closed out the album with a brief adult contemporary jazzy instrumental arrangement. To say it sounded out of place was an understatement. Given Horton committed suicide by jumping out of a New York City hotel room in 1987, the title was certainly disconcerting.
Sadly both Goodman and Ray have passed on. After undergoing heart surgery, Goodman died in 2010. Ray died after suffering a 1992 stroke.
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Genre: soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Moments with You Company: Stang Catalog: ST-1030 Year: 1976 Country/State: Hackensack, New Jersey Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: still in shrink (opened); gatefold sleeve; small cut out notch along spine Available: 1 Catalog ID: 4990 Price: $10.00
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If I'd bothered to read the liner notes on 1976's "Moments with You" there's a good chance I wouldn't have bought this album. Mind you, it isn't anything against The Moments, rather the fact I'm not a big Carol Sager (aka Carol Bayer Sager) fan and she's was responsible for writing, or co-writing about half of the album.
Like so many soul groups, the mid-1970s Moments went on a ballad binge. This set found them in full 'love men' stride. While there wasn't anything wrong with a good ballad, there's always been something particularly cloying about Sager's work and a side full of her sentimental slush didn't bode well for anyone, not matter how talented they may have been. That's a pretty apt description for the first side of the album which featured four Sager penned ballads. While 'With You', 'Don't Cry Out', 'I Don't Want To Go' and 'I Could Have Loved You' (sounding like a Smokey Robinson throwaway) were all released as singles and all were R&B hits, personallly I can live without them. In contrast, featuring self-penned material, the flip side was far more diverse and enjoyable. For anyone who thought all they could handle were sappy ballads -- well check out this side. Highlights included the surprisingly funky 'Come In Girl' and 'Running'. Best of the lot was the insidiously catchy 'Stay'. It should've been a massive hit for the group. About all you can think is what was Sylvia Robinson thinking on this one ?
"Moments
with You" track listing: 1.) Don't Cry Out (Carol Sager - Peter Allen) - 4:15 rating: * star As mentioned above, I've always disliked the Carole Bayer Sager original and The Moments' version did nothing to improve this slice of soggy sentimentality. In fact, their over-singing made the song even worse. Gawd only knows why it was tapped as one of the album's singles.
- 1976's ' Don't Cry Out' b/w 'Come In Girl' (Stang catalog number ST-5071) 2.) With You (Carol Sager - Kenneth Thascher) - 3:50 rating: *** stars Okay, if I had to pick a Sager sing to listen to, I guess I could deal with 'With You', Still way to sappy and sentimental for my tastes, but I can admire the classy arrangement and the nice harmonies. YouTube has a Christmas Day 1976 Soul Train performance of the song at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QmNOOio3BiE
- 1976's 'With You' b/w 'Next Time That I See You' (Stang catalog ST-5068) rating: *** stars 3.) I Could Have Loved You (Carol Sager - Bruce Roberts - Bette Midler) - 3:49 The combination of Ray's falsetto and the orchestration made it easy to mistake this for a Smokey and the Miracles performances. That didn't do anything to improve the song, though I'll admit the Brown-Goodman-Ray harmonies sounded wonderful this time out. Yeah, it was released as a single:
- 1977's 'I Could Have Loved You' b/w 'Jack In the Box' (Stang catalog number ST-5075) 4.) I Don't Want To Go (Carol Sager - Bruce Roberts) - 6:09 rating; ** stars Seriously, anyone who doubted Ray could mimic Smokey needs to check out this ballad. Stretching it out to the breaking point may have made for a nice slow jam dance number, but it also made time slow down. Another Soul Train performance - wonder what it took to convince them to wear the pink outfits ? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I7H7nHFdWHI
- 1977's
'I Don't Want To Go' b/w 'Oh, I Could Have Loved You' (Stang catalog number
ST-5073) (side
2) They were hardly known for their funk excursions, but after a side of schmaltzy ballads, 'Come In Girl' made for a nice change of pace. Nah, you weren't going to mistake them for Funkadelic/Parliament, but it was still a fun tune. Al Goodman on lead vocals ? Here's a link to another Soul Train lip synch performance: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NEMqeKv9WT4 2.) La La La (Al Goodman - Walter Morris - Harry Ray) - 3:21 rating: **** stars And in case you though 'Come In Girl' was a one-off fluke, 'La La La' was even funkier; this time out having more than a little George Clinton in the grooves. Surprisingly enjoyable. 3.) Running (Al Goodman - Walter Morris - Harry Ray) - 5:16 rating: **** stars The groove continued with 'Running' ... This one even had a humorous lyric to go along with it, but the song's best attributes were the call and response title and the burping synthesizers that took over at the end of the song. 4.) Stay (Al Goodman - Walter Morris - Harry Ray) - 2:45 rating: **** stars Admittedly it dipped their toes into disco, but 'Stay' was simply so infectious, you had to forgive them. Kicked along by a bubbly bass line and burping synthesizer, you had to wonder why Stang didn't tap this one as a single. 5.) Clap Your Hands To the Music (Al Goodman - Walter Morris - Harry Ray) - 3:41 rating: **** stars Poppin' bass and a tasty funk groove made 'Clap Your Hands To the Music' another winner that should have seen some airplay for the group.
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