Ray, Goodman & Brown
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Ray, Goodman & Brown, are an American R&B vocal group. The group originated as The Moments, who formed in the late 1960s and whose greatest successes came in the early 1970s with hits including "Love On A Two Way Street", "Girls", and "Look At Me (I’m In Love)". In 1979, for contractual reasons, they changed their name to Ray, Goodman & Brown, and had further hits including "Special Lady". A line-up of The Moments, featuring original member Mark Greene, also tours.
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[edit] The original group
The original members of The Moments were Mark Greene, Eric Olfus, Sr., Richard Gross, and John Morgan. The group formed in Washington, D.C. in the mid 1960s, and were signed to the newly established Stang Records label set up by Sylvia Robinson at All Platinum Studios in Englewood, New Jersey, run by Sylvia and her husband, Joe Robinson. The group had their first hit almost immediately with "Not On The Outside", which reached #13 on the R&B chart and #57 on the Billboard Hot 100 pop chart.
Greene, Horsley, and Gross left All Platinum in 1969, and were replaced by baritone Al Goodman (born 31 March 1947, Jackson, Mississippi) and tenor William "Billy" Brown (born 30 June 1946, Perth Amboy, New Jersey). Brown had previously been a member of The Broadways, who had recorded on the MGM label. All Platinum released a single record with Mark Greene, titled "My Confession of Love," and on the flip side, "I'm so Lost" on the Stang Label.
Before the original members of The Moments left All Platinum, they recorded their big breakthrough song "Love On A Two Way Street", which reached #1 on the R&B chart and #3 on the pop chart in the spring of 1970. The song had originally been recorded by Stang artist Lezli Valentine, and The Moments' version, produced by Sylvia Robinson, was originally included as a filler on their first LP titled Not On The Outside before being issued as a single.
Following The Moments' big hit, Morgan was replaced by Harry Ray (15 December 1946, Long Branch - 1 October 1992). Ray was the lead singer on many of their subsequent hits, including the follow-up "If I Didn’t Care" (#7 R&B, #44 pop, 1970), "Sexy Mama" (#3 R&B, #17 pop, 1973), and "Look At Me (I'm In Love)" (#1 R&B, #39 pop, 1975). Ray also recorded a duet with Sylvia Robinson, "Sho Nuff Boogie" (billed as Sylvia and the Moments) in 1973. The Moments were also co-credited with labelmates The Whatnauts on their hit "Girls (Part 1)", which only made #25 on the U.S. R&B charts, but became one of their biggest international successes, reaching #3 on the UK Singles Chart in 1975. Harry Ray and Al Goodman were strongly involved in writing and producing much of their material from the mid-70s as well as performing production and writing duties for All-Platinum's other artists.
By 1979 the group had had a total of 27 R&B chart hits, and decided to leave Stang to join the larger Polydor Records. However, a dispute arose that meant that they could not legally use the name "The Moments" on their new label, so they renamed the group using their last names: "Ray, Goodman & Brown."
[edit] Ray, Goodman & Brown
The first single under their new name, "Special Lady", became one of their biggest hits, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the pop chart in early 1980. They followed it up with a succession of further hits, including "Inside Of You" (#14 R&B, 1980). In 1982, following the release of their fourth and final album for Polydor, Ray left the group for a solo career. He rejoined Sylvia and Joe Robinson at their new venture, Sugar Hill Records, but after one album and a minor hit, Sweet Baby, he returned to the group for its comeback on EMI with the ballad "Take It To the Limit" which put them back on the charts in a big way (#8 R&B, 1987).
Ray died suddenly from a stroke in 1992. He was replaced in the group by Kevin "Ray" Owens, who had previously been a backing vocalist for Luther Vandross and had taken Harry Ray's place when he had split from the group in the 80s. The trio continue to perform and tour as Ray, Goodman & Brown and released two albums in 2002/3, one with new material and the other featuring excellent re-workings of classic soul songs by other male vocal groups. These re-united them with former All-Platinum producer George Kerr. They also sang backup vocals on Alicia Key's song "You Don't Know My Name," which was a number 1 soul/R&B song in 2003.
[edit] The Moments featuring Mark Greene
Mark Greene was called back to join the renamed group of Ray, Goodman & Brown; however, he declined, claiming that no royalties were ever paid to him. Greene later acquired the official legal trademark of "The Moments." Now known as "The Moments featuring Mark Greene", they continue to record, perform and tour. New members of the group are Solomon Cunningham and Loren Brown. [1]
