(March 22, 2024) Last month Henry Fambrough, the last original member of the iconic Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act, The Spinners, passed. But for the group’s millions of fans, the Spinners’ music lives on. And sometimes those fans get a pleasant surprise, as happened today with the release of Another Leap Year Extra, a three-song EP of previously unreleased Spinners tracks, produced by legendary producer Preston Glass, who also produced the group’s excellent 2021 comeback album (the last with Fambrough), ‘Round The Block and Back Again.
(March 22, 2024) Last month Henry Fambrough, the last original member of the iconic Rock & Roll Hall of Fame act, The Spinners, passed. But for the group’s millions of fans, the Spinners’ music lives on. And sometimes those fans get a pleasant surprise, as happened today with the release of Another Leap Year Extra, a three-song EP of previously unreleased Spinners tracks, produced by legendary producer Preston Glass, who also produced the group’s excellent 2021 comeback album (the last with Fambrough), ‘Round The Block and Back Again.
Preston tells of the project, “These 3 songs were part of a six song session I did in Detroit (United Sound) back in 1991. Some songs they found, some songs I wrote just for them (the other 3 songs were already released back 4 years ago in 2020 - the last leap year we had). John, Billy, Bobby, Henry and Pervis were great to work with and very professional; since we both had with the great Thom Bell, we traded Thom Bell stories together. They were looking for a new label at the time, but that never materialized.”
The three tracks – “Lady You Are,” “Does He Thrill You,” and “We Stayed Together” - run the gamut of paces, from love ballads to scorching dance numbers, and all bear the overall sound of time in which they were recorded, with drum machines and more of an electronic R&B sound than the group’s 70s heyday. And the Spinners’ vocals sound as strong as ever, with John Edwards deftly handling most of the leads, but also with pleasant vocal interludes from Fambrough and Pervis Jackson on “Lady You Are.”
Another Leap Year Extra is out now on Platinum Garage/Soul Music Records, and should be a smile-inducing surprise for Spinners fans everywhere. Check it out below.
By Chris Rizik