Virginia native Major Harris, who made a name for himself as part of the Delfonics but will forever be known as the smooth singer of one of the most popular songs ever to come out of Philadelphia -- the smash ballad "Love Won't Let Me Wait" -- has reportedly died at age 65 from congestive heart failure
The cousin of famous Philly producer/guitarist and Trammps co-founder Norman Harris and the brother of noted songwriter Joe Jefferson ("Mighty Love," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)"), Major Harris performed in Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers after their commercial peak but made his first real mark as a member of the Delfonics, where he stayed a couple years in the early 70s before leaving to embark upon a solo career.
Virginia native Major Harris, who made a name for himself as part of the Delfonics but will forever be known as the smooth singer of one of the most popular songs ever to come out of Philadelphia -- the smash ballad "Love Won't Let Me Wait" -- has reportedly died at age 65 from congestive heart failure
The cousin of famous Philly producer/guitarist and Trammps co-founder Norman Harris and the brother of noted songwriter Joe Jefferson ("Mighty Love," "One of a Kind (Love Affair)"), Major Harris performed in Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers after their commercial peak but made his first real mark as a member of the Delfonics, where he stayed a couple years in the early 70s before leaving to embark upon a solo career.
Signed by Atlantic Records, he brought together a group of newly liberated Philly musicians branching out from the Gamble & Huff cabal, including members of MFSB and guitarist Bobbi Eli, for his 1975 album My Way. The Eli composition, "Love Won't Let Me Wait," was an instant smash, a nearly irresistible combination of all that was good about Philadelphia music of the 70s: Lush orchestration, a great band and a killer hook. It shot to the top of the Pop and Soul charts and became the highlight of Harris's career. He scored a modest hit the following year with the single "I Got Over Love" and the album Jealousy, but never again achieved major success as a solo artist. By the time he moved to RCA in 1978 for How Do You Take Your Love, he was no longer a force in Soul Music.
Harris rejoined the Delfonics several times over the next two decades and appeared on the group's 1999 release, Forever New. More recently, he performed on Phil Hurtt's 2006 Detroit/Philly compilation A Soulful Tale of Two Cities. In 2007, Harris began working on his first new solo album in over a decade, tentatively entitled Always. It has yet to be released.
He is a legendary voice and will be missed.
By Chris Rizik