Gwen Oliver (July 21, 1949 – November 27, 2020) – People Need Each Other (1971)
The future Ritchie Family member sang on this powerful anthem when she was with Honey & the Bees, produced by Jimmy Bishop & arranged by Bobby Martin.
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Gwen Oliver was a singer best known as one of the original members of The Ritchie Family, and who also sang backing vocals on William DeVaughn’s 1974 classic “Be Thankful For What You Got.” She later became Mrs. Fred Wesley.
Born in South Carolina, her family moved to Philadelphia when she was a child. Oliver and her grade school friend Cassandra Wooten were asked to join a neighborhood vocal group in the early sixties called the Yum Yums. Another member was Jean Davis, whose brother was singer Tyrone Davis.
They auditioned for producer Jerry Ross and cut one single in 1965, the upbeat Ashford-Simpson-Armstead-penned “Looky Looky (What I Got)” b/w the phenomenal “Gonna Be A Big Thing,” which Ross co-wrote with songwriter Neil Brian Goldberg and Cameo Records guitarist Joe Renzetti. Its B-side was destined to become a Northern Soul anthem. Original promo copies today sell for $2500 on average on Discogs.
Legendary WDAS DJ and local label owner Jimmy Bishop became their manager and added Nadine Felder to the group, the sister of future Philly soul songwriting genius Allan Felder. They first changed their name to Sugar and Spice, then Bishop renamed them Honey & the Bees. From 1966-72, they released over a dozen singles and one full-length album, mostly on Bishop’s Arctic Records label and the New York City-based Jubilee subsidiary Josie Records.
One of their final releases was the powerful, Sly & the Family Stone-influenced message song “People Need Each Other” (1971). Produced by Bishop, it was arranged by the unsung Philly Sound architect Bobby Martin (who a few years earlier had learned how to arrange from Motown Funk Brother Mike Terry, who taught him the techniques he developed alongside Jack Ashford for Pied Piper Productions).
After Honey & the Bees broke up in 1972, Oliver sang backing vocals on William DeVaughn’s 1974 debut album Be Thankful For What You Got, including its hit title track and socially conscious closing cut “Something’s Being Done.”
The following year, she and her former bandmate Cassandra Wooten became two-thirds of the disco trio The Ritchie Family along with Cheryl Mason Jacks. The group was put together by French producer Jacques Morali (who would later create the Village People) and took its name from Philadelphia International Records staff songwriter and producer Richie Rome (who coincidentally died barely two weeks after Oliver on December 15, 2020, at age 90).
At first it was a non-existent studio group, with the Sweethearts of Sigma (Barbara Ingram, Carla Benson, and Evette Benton) providing all the vocals for The Ritchie Family’s 1975 debut album Brazil. Oliver, Wooten, and Jacks were hired by Morali after the LP became a hit, and quickly recorded the follow up album Arabian Nights (1976) featuring the classic disco medley “The Best Disco In Town,” which went to #1 on dance charts and #17 on the Billboard Hot 100.
They spent three years in the group before Rome fired all three original members in 1978 and replaced them with a totally new lineup.
Oliver later married trombonist legend and James Brown bandleader Fred Wesley. She retired from the music business and sang only at her church for many years, but during the 2010s occasionally took the stage alongside a reunited Ritchie Family featuring the group’s other two original members.
Happy 75th Heavenly Birthday to the great Gwen Oliver.
Further info:
“Respect 2020: Gwen Oliver,” Soulwalking.co.uk.
#soul #funk #disco #YumYums #TheRitchieFamily #GwenOliver