You may name it a soulful lap of honor, and it went on for years. Jr. Walker & the All Stars had proved themselves to be prime Motown actual property of their first flush of success within the mid-Nineteen Sixties, kicking off with an R&B No.1 and Prime 5 pop crossover within the explosive “Shotgun.” It was the primary of six Prime 10 soul hits out of seven releases, additionally that includes “Shake and Fingerpop” and the enduringly adaptable “(I’m A) Road Runner” and “How Sweet It Is (To Be Loved By You).”
Then got here a slight lull in 1966 and 1967, when the soul hits bought slightly smaller (if no much less spectacular, particularly with “Pucker Up Buttercup”), and the pop crossovers additionally grew to become extra modest. However quickly the massive singles began to return for the group led by the singer-saxophonist from Blythesville, Arkansas.
A brand new run of considerable hits included the outfit’s second and closing R&B No.1, “What Does It Take (To Win Your Love,” one other pop No.4, and one other Prime 3 soul success to spherical out the last decade, “These Eyes,” a pop winner the identical yr for the Guess Who.
As Jr. and the boys headed into the Seventies, there was extra excellent news. On February 28, 1970, they entered Billboard’s Finest Promoting Soul Singles chart at a daring No.30, the very best new entry of the week, with “Gotta Hold On to This Feeling.” The music was co-written, in distinctive type, by the prolific author and later star Johnny Bristol (additionally its producer) with Joe Hinton and Pam Sawyer.
With an association by Willie Shorter, it was one other showcase each for Walker’s gruffly charming lead vocals, and his trademark sax, which he blows on the prime of the monitor, over background voices, for practically a minute.
On that soul chart entry date, Walker & the All Stars have been taking part in two exhibits at New York’s Felt Discussion board on a lovely invoice with the Impressions and Jerry Butler, to profit Coalition Enterprise Group. As Billboard reported, the all-star weekend of exhibits have been to assist Coalition “provide advertising and promotional services to small businesses in ghetto areas at cost to the owners.”
“Gotta Hold On to This Feeling” climbed nearly to the highest of the soul countdown, held at No.2 for 2 weeks solely by the runaway success of the Jackson 5’s “ABC,” which was persevering with its four-week reign. Walker’s single was a reasonable pop entry, peaking at No.21.
When the sax man visited the UK and attended an EMI reception in his identify, he informed the NME’s Roy Carr that he was trying to the long run. “I’m enrolling in a School of Music,” he revealed. “I’m beginning to look to the long run as a result of issues are all the time altering on this enterprise and I need to broaden my musical information.
“Up until now I‘ve been more or less self-taught,” he went on. “I’ve been blowing my sax for close on fourteen years and everything just kinda evolved quite naturally. People are always asking me how I get my sax sound and I have to tell them that’s how I’ve always played.”
Purchase or stream “Gotta Hold On to This Feeling” on the Definitive Assortment album.
