R.I.P. PERVIS JACKSON
Boomp3.com
(*My Note: This was the first 45 I ever bought by The Spinners)
Pervis Jackson - the big man with the smooth bass voice of the soul vocal quintet The Spinners - died peacefully at 2 a.m. on Monday morning, August 18, at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit.
For nearly five decades, Pervis Jackson’s rich, low voice was the glue in the Spinners’ sound, an unmistakable feature on pop, R&B and eventually oldies radio.
Friends and fellow Motown Records musicians are mourning the loss of the Detroit singer, who died “quietly and peacefully” early today at Sinai-Grace Hospital in Detroit, said Claudreen Jackson, his wife of 40 years. He had been diagnosed late last week with brain and liver cancer, just a month after starting to feel ill and bowing out of several Spinners dates. He was 70.
“I don’t know how many people get to live their lives the way they want,” said Claudreen Jackson, “but he was one of them.”
His last onstage appearance was July 19, when the Spinners performed in La Habra, Calif. The group has been a fixture on the casino and festival circuit for years, typically on the road more than 200 days annually.
Surviving him in the group are fellow original members Henry Fambrough and Bobbie Smith. Founding member Billy Henderson died in February 2007.
It’s the second loss this year in the Spinners’ extended family: Longtime manager Buddy Allen died at his New York home in March. His son, Steve Allen, worked as the group’s road manager for several years.
“Pervis was the classiest, nicest, most perfect gentleman,” Steve Allen said. “He never let the fame and the glory years go to his head.”
Known to friends and associates as “Mr. 12:45” -- a nod to his trademark lyric in the hit “They Just Can’t Stop It (Games People Play)” -- Jackson was heralded as a consummate professional, making time to mingle with fans and serving as the group’s de facto spokesman.
“He always said: ‘When the people come to see you, they’ve done their part. It’s up to you to keep them,’.” said Claudreen Jackson.
“What Pervis brought was something nobody else could have brought. It’s going to be hard to find someone who can do what Pervis did,” said Michael Fuqua, who grew up around the group. His father, veteran music executive Harvey Fuqua, helped groom the Ferndale-based Spinners, signing them to his Tri-Phi Records label before bringing them to Motown when he joined the company in 1961.
It was there that Jackson and company cut their teeth, scoring three Top 40 pop hits but failing to achieve the level of Motown peers such as the Four Tops and Temptations. The group’s real success came after leaving in 1972 for Atlantic Records, where they were targeted to the adult market and enjoyed a string of big hits, with Jackson’s expressive baritone underscoring the vocal arrangements: “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “The Rubberband Man.”
Jackson’s distinctive voice was critical to the rise of the group, which stayed in Detroit after its Motown tenure.
“Every Motown group tried to have its own sound to stand out,” said Michael Fuqua. “Pervis was a big part of that for the Spinners. If you listen to his parts, you hear how well his voice carried, how unique it was, without being overbearing.”
Jackson is survived by two sons, Pervis Jackson Jr. and Herbert Briscoe; two daughters, Cindy Holmes and Stephanie Jackson; and eight grandchildren.
Arrangements are incomplete, but services will be Monday. Details will be released later this week by Swanson Funeral Home in Detroit.
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