SPYDER TURNER

Biography by Ed Hogan
Born Dwight Turner in 1947 in Beckley, WV, he grew up in Detroit, MI. As a teenager, Turner sang in doo wop groups and in glee clubs. Producer/engineer Clay McMurray submitted a demo of Turner performing "guess-timating" imitations of Jackie Wilson, David Ruffin, Billy Stewart, Smokey Robinson, and Chuck Jackson singing "Stand By Me" to MGM Records. MGM issued the demo as a record. Spyder Turner's cover of "Stand By Me went to number three R&B, number 12 pop on Billboard's charts in February 1967. MGM released a 1967 album, Stand By Me, which reached number 14 R&B/number 158 pop in spring 1967. The follow-up single, "I Can't Make It Anymore," charted number 95 pop that same year. In 1996, the Collectables label reissued the album as Golden Classics Edition: Stand By Me. Turner stayed active in the business, doing concerts and working behind the scenes. The singer/songwriter's "Do the Dance" was a number four R&B/number 39 pop smash for Rose Royce on former Motown producer Norman Whitfield's (the Temptations' 70s hits) Warner Bros.-distributed label Whitfield Records. In 1998, Detroit-based Turner had a regional hit on an independent release.

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