Post by Emerald City on Oct 23, 2004 15:50:33 GMT -5
C.P. Spencer dies at 65, was tenor for the Originals
By Susan Whitall / The Detroit News
C.P. Spencer, whose soaring tenor voice led the hit song “Baby I’m For Real,” by Motown group the Originals, died Wednesday of a heart attack. The Oak Park resident was 65.
Born Crathman P. Spencer, the Detroiter started singing with the Voicemasters, a group that also included David Ruffin and Melvin Franklin.
Along with Freddie Gorman, Hank Dixon and Walter Gaines, Spencer was signed to Motown in 1964 by producer Lamont Dozier. While cutting some sides on their own, they sang backup on sessions from 1965 to 1969.
The Originals scored their first big hit on their own with “Baby, I’m For Real,” in 1969, a song written and produced by Marvin Gaye.
It was Ed Love, then a disc jockey on jazz station WCHD, who first played “Baby I’m For Real” in Detroit at the request of Gorman, who worked with Love at the post office.
It wasn’t intended to be the single, but the group liked it, and listeners went crazy for the song, and Spencer’s lead vocal.
“He was a wonderful singer. Beautiful voice. A natural first tenor,” Gorman said.
Viewing is from 2-8 p.m. Monday at the Pye Funeral Home in Detroit. The funeral is at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Word of Faith Church, in Southfield.
C.P. Spencer, whose soaring tenor voice led the hit song “Baby I’m For Real,” by Motown group the Originals, died Wednesday of a heart attack. The Oak Park resident was 65.
Born Crathman P. Spencer, the Detroiter started singing with the Voicemasters, a group that also included David Ruffin and Melvin Franklin.
Along with Freddie Gorman, Hank Dixon and Walter Gaines, Spencer was signed to Motown in 1964 by producer Lamont Dozier. While cutting some sides on their own, they sang backup on sessions from 1965 to 1969.
The Originals scored their first big hit on their own with “Baby, I’m For Real,” in 1969, a song written and produced by Marvin Gaye.
It was Ed Love, then a disc jockey on jazz station WCHD, who first played “Baby I’m For Real” in Detroit at the request of Gorman, who worked with Love at the post office.
It wasn’t intended to be the single, but the group liked it, and listeners went crazy for the song, and Spencer’s lead vocal.
“He was a wonderful singer. Beautiful voice. A natural first tenor,” Gorman said.
Viewing is from 2-8 p.m. Monday at the Pye Funeral Home in Detroit. The funeral is at 11 a.m. Tuesday at the Word of Faith Church, in Southfield.
