The Unifics
Band members Related acts
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line up 1 (1966-67) - Marvin Brown (RIP 1990) -- vocals - Tom Fauntleroy -- vocals) - Bob Hayes -- vocals - Al Johnson (RIP 2013) -- lead tenor - George Roland -- vocals
line up 2 (1967-70) NEW - Greg Cook - first tenor - Al Johnson (RIP 2013) -- lead tenor NEW - Michael Ward -- lead and second tenor NEW - Hal Worthington -- baritone vocals (replaced Marvin Brown)
line up 3 (1970-72) - Marvin Brown (RIP 1990) -- vocals - Tom Fauntleroy -- vocals - Al Johnson (RIP 2013) -- lead tenor
line up 4 (2004) - Tom Fauntleroy -- vocals NEW - Garrett Hall -- vocals - Al Johnson (RIP 2013) -- lead tenor NEW - Charlie Lockhart -- vocals
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- Al Johnson (solo efforts) - Positive Change (Al Johnson) - The Soft Tones (Marvin Brown) - Special Delivery (Al Johnson)
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Genre: soul Rating: 3 stars *** Title: Sittin' In At the Court of Love Company: Kapp Catalog: KS
3582 Country/State: Washington, D.C Grade (cover/record): VG+/VG+ Comments: -- Available: 1 Catalog ID: 5441 Price: $25.00
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Marvin Brown, Tom Fauntleroy, Bob Hayes, Al Johnson, and George Roland met and started their musical partnership in 1966 while attending Washington, D.C.'s Howard University. Originally known as Al & the Vikings, the group morphed into The Unique Five, quickly followed by a decision to adopt The Unifics nameplate. Playing at dances and local clubs won the band a local audience, but within a year they underwent a series of personnel changes. Fauntlleroy was drafted and Hayes and Roland also left the group, replaced by Greg Cook and Michael Ward. A second personnel spasm saw Brown replaced by Harold Worthington.
In spite of the shifting line up the group managed to attract a mentor in the form of manager Guy Draper who quickly signed the group with Kapp as well as starting to write and produce material for the group.
Written and produced by Draper, group made their debut with 1968's 'Court of Love' b/w 'Which One Should I Choose' (Kapp catalog number K-935). Even though it was a cheesy, gimmicky ballad, the 45 provided the group with a top-40 pop and top-10 R&B hit. As was standard marketing procedure Kapp management wasted no time trying to capitalize on their unexpected success, rushing the group into the studio to record a supporting album. Produced by Draper, "Sittin' In At the Court of Love" offered up a mixture of Draper-penned numbers and popular covers. As you'd expect the results were rather uneven. Drapped penned tracks like 'Which One Should I Chose', the sweet ballad 'Tables Turned' and 'It's All Over' were top-notch soul that showcased the group's first-rate vocal harmonies on some of the year's most commercial material. Unfortunately Draper and company apparently did have much time to come up with an album's worth of original material, forcing them to fill in the gaps with top-40 pop and soul covers. Exemplified by 'Harper Valley PTA' and 'This Guy's In Love with You' (the latter sounding like the 5th Dimension on sleeping pills) the cover tunes were pretty horrible.
"Sittin'
In At the Court of Love" track listing: 1.) Court of Love (Guy Draper) - 2:49 rating: **** stars 'Court of Law' was their commercial breakthrough and depending on what mood you happened to be in, was either a classic slice of late-1960s soul, or one of the lamest gimmick tunes you'd ever heard. While the track certainly had a cheese factor, in my book you couldn't help but smile at the concept and the performance. 2.) Which One Should I Chose (Guy Draper) - 2:03 rating: **** stars Dropping the gimmicks, 'Which One Should I Chose' was a straightforward soul number that showcased all of the group's strengths including Al Johnson's fantastic tenor, their world class harmony vocals and a simply killer hook. This should have been a massive hit for the group. 3.) Tables Turned (Guy Draper) - 3:10 . rating: *** stars 'Tables Turned; was a breezy ballad that would have been better had the register been dropped a couple of notes - these guys simply didn't sound all that comfortable hitting those high notes 4.) Harper Valley PTA (Tom T. Hall) - 4:11 rating: * star Their cover of ' Harper Valley PTA' was probably something that looked better on paper than in implementation. Almost comically inept, it sounded like Flip Wilson stoned out of his mind. Bad as in not good. 5.) This Guy's In Love with You (Burt Bacharach) - 4:30 rating: * star Any time a soul group covers a Burt Bacharach song you know their record label is trying to ensure their album includes at least one MOR track that had at least some top-40 pop potential. That was the case with this horrible track. As I said above, very 5th Dimension and that wasn't meant as a compliment.
(side
2) 'Toshi Sumasi' found the group dipping their collective toes back into gimmicks; in this case a '50s-styled ballad built on a Japanese theme. Cute, but probably too old-fashioned for most folks. 2.) It's All Over (Guy Draper - Al Johnson) - 3:16 rating: **** stars Co-written by Johnson, 'It's All Over' found the group returning to conventional soul which was after all their collective strength. Johnson turned in another great performance that had commercial potential all over the performance. Don't know who handled bass, but they turned in an amazing performance. rating. 3.) People Got To Be Free (Felix Cavaliere - Eddie Brigatti) - 3:46 rating: ** star While their cover of The Rascals' 'People Got T o Be Free' was serviceable, they failed to add anything to the original. Once again, whoever provided the hyperactive bass line was pretty impressive. 4.) Little Green Apples (B. Russell) - 4:46 rating: ** star So you can read what I said about their Burt Bacharach cover and apply if to their cover of 'Little Green Apples'. Wow, hard to get much more MOR than this one was. 5.) A Hard Day's Night (John Lennon - Paul McCartney) - 3:17 rating: ** star I'll give them credit for having the courage to take on a Beatles tune. That wasn't to say their cover of 'A Hard Day's Night' was any good. Trying to toughen it up for a soul audience simply didn't add anything to what was already a classic pop song.
Given their talent it's a shame they weren't allowed additional time to record more Draper-penned material ... the results would have be simply killer. As is, call it a 50% success. Actually not bad when you think about it.
Over the next year the group continued to chart with a series of singles:
- 1968's 'The Beginning of the End' b/w 'Sentimental Man' (Kapp catalog number K-957) # 36 pop; # 9 R&B - 1969's 'It's a Groovy World' b/w 'Memories' (Kapp catalog number K-985) # 97 pop; # 27 R&B - 1969's 'Memories' b/w 'Got To Get You' (Kapp catalog number K-2058) - 1969's 'Toshisumasi' b/w 'It's All Over' (Kapp catalog number) K-2026 # 36 R&B
Unfortunately success brought a major falling out with manager Draper and the a lawsuit between the parties. Adding to the groups' problems, in 1970 Ward and Worthington left, though they were quickly replaced by former members Brown and Fauntleroy. 1970 also saw the group dropped by Kapp, though they were quickly picked up by Jerry Butler's Fountain Records resulting in the release of their final single:
- 1970's 'Dawn of a New Day' b/w 'Funky Thing' (Fountain catalog number F-100).
The group struggled on for another two years before calling it quits.
Only 42, Brown was shot to death in February 1990.
Johnson went into production working with a variety of soul acts including Norman Connors, The Dells, and The Whispers. He also recorded a series of three solo efforts that I'm looking for:
In 2004 Johnson and Fauntleroy decided to give it another shot. Newcomers Garrett Hall and Charlie Lockhart were recruited to round out the act. I haven't been able to track down a copy of it, but their reunion LP (2005's "Unifics Return" on the So Modo label (catalog number VD0027)) attracted strong reviews.
left to right: Charlie Lockhart - Tom Fauntleroy - Garrett Hall - Al Johnson
"Unifics Return" track listing: 1.) I Want You To Have It - 4:30 2.) Anything for My Ev'rything - 4:10 3.) Anyone Can Tell You - 6:01 4.) Gypsy Woman - 3:59 5.) My One and Only - 6:21 6.) Something / Make It with You - 5:52 7.) You Gotta Let Me Know - 4:12 8.) A Lifetime and a Half - 4:35 9.) Long Way To Forever - 5:31 10.) What becomes of the Brokenhearted - 3:56 11.) This Is the Night We Love - 5:18 12.) Just As Your Are - 4:13 13.) Victims of 9/11 - 6:39
There's also at least one 'best of' set, though I don't know if it's a legitimate release -"The Very Best of The Unifics" (Blue Velvet catalog number CD-2046).
"The Very Best of The Unifics" track listing: 1.) Court Of Love
(Guy Draper)
Only 65, in November 2013 Johnson died of a heart attack
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