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R&B and Soul Kings The O'Jays to Bring Farewell Tour to Cincinnati

Catch the "Last Stop On The Love Train Tour" at the Andrew J Brady Music Center this fall.

Sep 25, 2023 at 1:20 pm

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Photo: RaymondBoyd51/Wikimedia Commons

The O'Jays perform at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago in 2010.

R&B and soul kings The O’Jays have been electrifying fans all over the world for more than 60 years. Now, they’re bringing their final tour to Cincinnati.

The O’Jays, featuring original members Eddie Levert Sr. and Walter Williams Sr., will perform at the Andrew J Brady Music Center on Sunday, Nov. 19 as part of the "Last Stop On The Love Train Tour."

The group behind hits like “Love Train,” “Put Your Hands Together” and “Darlin’ Darlin’ Baby (Sweet, Tender, Love)" first formed in Canton, Ohio in 1958. In 1972, Gamble & Huff, a team of producers and songwriters The O’Jays had been working with, signed them to their label, Philadelphia International. After that, the group scored their first No. 1 and million-selling song, “Backstabbers.” The success led The O’Jays to become the first Black vocal group to perform in arenas across the country during the ‘70s and ‘80s.

Throughout their multi-decade career, The O’Jays have garnered 10 Gold albums, nine Platinum albums and 10 No. 1 hits. In 2005, they were inducted into both the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame and the Vocal Group Hall of Fame, and they were awarded BET’s Lifetime Achievement Award in 2013 and inducted into The Official R&B Music Hall of Fame in 2013.

You can buy tickets to their Cincinnati show starting at 10 a.m. Friday, Sept. 29 at ticketmaster.com or bradymusiccenter.com.

Andrew J Brady Music Center, 25 Race St., The Banks. Find more information on the tour at mightyojays.com.

Slideshow

Meet All the Cincinnati Black Music Walk of Fame Inductees So Far

Bootsy CollinsLegendary funkateer Bootsy Collins was one of the Black Music Walk of Fame’s inaugural inductees in 2021. Born in Cincinnati, Bootsy is one of the best representatives of the Queen City’s music scene, especially in the heyday of King Records. He’s largely heralded as the greatest bassist in the funk and R&B genres and is recognized by Rolling Stone magazine as the fourth-greatest bassist of all time.Throughout his 50-year career, Bootsy has played bass with James Brown, George Clinton and the Parliament-Funkadelic and a host of other musical icons. His signature funky bass-driven songwriting style is the foundation of G-funk, an early ’90s subgenre of gangster rap perfected by Dr. Dre, Snoop Dogg, Nate Dogg and Warren G.

Louise ShropshireShropshire composed “If My Jesus Wills,” sometime between 1932 and 1942 and had it copyrighted in Cincinnati in 1954. The lyrics – "I'll overcome, I'll overcome, I'll overcome someday. Oh yes, if my Jesus wills, I do believe I'll overcome someday." – played a critical part in the formation of “We Shall Overcome,” called “the most powerful song of the 20th Century” by the Library of Congress. However, the folk musicians, like Pete Seeger, who copyrighted “We Shall Overcome” copyrighted it as a derivative work and never named Shropshire as the original composer. It wouldn’t be until Shropshire’s grandson, Robert A. Goins Shropshire, asked his former bandmate and music producer Isaias Gamboa to help prove his grandmother’s claim. Gamboa said he was skeptical at first, but it became apparent that Louise Shropshire’s famous hymn was the origin of “We Shall Overcome.” “The melodies are different because her song was a choral arrangement. … The song ‘If My Jesus Wills’ was very popular and was sung all over the country at the time, and there were cities that had different iterations of the song,” Gamboa told UC Magazine. Gamboa also wrote a book called We Shall Overcome – Sacred Song on the Devil’s Tongue that traces the choral history of “If My Jesus Wills."Beyond her musical influence during the Civil Rights movement, Shropshire was also an activist during the era. Her husband, Robert Shropshire Sr., ran a successful bail bonds business, which Louise would use to help raise funds to bail out other activists. Her legacy for helping others now lives on in her grandchildren’s nonprofit, the Louise Shropshire Foundation, and Gamboa’s We Shall Overcome Foundation. A mural, called A Song of Freedom, dedicated to Shropshire and her work can be found at 3630 Reading Road in Avondale, and the University of Cincinnati’s Archives and Rare Books Library is home to a collection of documents from Shropshire’s life, including her original compositions.Information gathered from weshallovercomefoundation.org and aaregistery.org

Bootsy CollinsWhile Bootsy’s musical legacy is nationally renowned, he’s never forgotten his roots in Cincinnati. Considered one of the “Three Kings,” he’s been involved with efforts to preserve King Records’ legacy as an essential component in modern music history, and he’s performed half-time shows at Paycor Stadium during Bengals games, as well as released the song "Fear Da Tiger" ahead of the Bengals’ run at the Super Bowl in 2022.And the starry-eyed musician isn’t slowing down anytime soon. For his 71st birthday, Bootsy released his latest album, Funk Not Fight, an anti-violence and bullying message that encourages art instead of conflict. In conjunction, Collins also launched a new radio show through Apple Music, and he’ll forever be immortalized thanks to a new Bootsy Collins action figure.

Otis WilliamsLegendary doo-wop singer Otis Williams was part of the founding members and first class of inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame in 2021. Williams was also crucial in maintaining the legacy of King Records.Williams was born in Cincinnati in 1936 and started his career in music while attending Withrow High School in the ‘50s when he joined a singing group, featuring tenors Bob Smith and Rolland Bradley, baritone/tenor Joe Penn and bass Richard Parker on campus as a fill-in. They later became known as The Charms.When Williams and the Charms were singing at a show in 1954, they caught the attention of Syd Nathan, the owner of King Records. Nathan only wanted to sign Williams at first, but Williams insisted the others be signed as well, leading them to be signed with King Records subsidiary Rockin’ Records in Florida.

Otis WilliamsThe Charms released their first record “Heaven Only Knows,” but didn’t see success until 1954 when they released “Heart of Stone” under the new King Records subsidiary, De Luxe Records. “Heart of Stone" topped the R&B charts, staying at No. 1 for nine weeks and selling over a million copies. It also made it to No. 15 on the pop charts.The group had other R&B charters throughout the ‘50s and toured with big names like The Clovers and Big Joe Turner. But the group split in 1955 when De Luxe owner Henry Stone convinced the other members of the Charms that they could succeed without Williams, joining Stone’s new label Chart.Williams continued singing with De Luxe, now credited as Otis Williams and His Charms, releasing another hit in 1956 called “Ivory Tower.” However, the group split up after Williams was drafted to the Army. Williams would record sporadically during leave. He retired from music in 1963, but returned two years later to record soul music for the label Okeh.After another break from music in which Williams became a barber and moved to Nashville, he met Pete Drake, a producer for Stop Records, who bet Williams he couldn’t make a country album that would sell, giving rise to the 1971 album Otis Williams and the Midnight Cowboys.In the ‘90s, Williams went back to his roots as a harmony singer and began touring with a new group of Charms. He was inducted to the United in Group Harmony Association Hall of Fame in 2001, and in 2018 received a Lifetime Achievement award at the 'Celebrate the King: The Gala' at Memorial Hall in Over-the-Rhine.Information gathered from uncamarvy.com and allmusic.com

The Isley BrothersOne of the founding members and first inductees into the Black Music Walk of Fame is the band The Isley Brothers. Cincinnati-born brothers O’Kelly, Rudolph, Ronald and Veron Isley first formed the band as a teenage gospel quartet in the mid-’50s but quit performing after Vernon, 13 at the time, was hit and killed by a car while riding his bike. But in 1957, the three remaining brothers moved to New York City at the encouragement of their parents and hit it big as a rock and roll group, with their 1959 single and album “Shout!” becoming a massive success.The Isley Brothers found success in rock and roll throughout the ‘60s and worked with and influenced some of music’s biggest names, like Jimi Hendrix, who toured with the Isley Brothers as a backing guitarist, and The Beatles (Paul McCartney once said, “If it were not for the Isley Brothers, the Beatles would still be in Liverpool.”). The group worked with Berry Gordy of Motown Records on two albums before forming their own label, T-Neck Records, and releasing their music independently, redefining the R&B genre forever.

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About The Author

Katherine Barrier

Katherine Barrier is a graduate of the University of Cincinnati’s journalism program and has nearly 10 years of experience reporting local and national news as a digital journalist. At CityBeat, she oversees the digital and social media strategies, edits web and print content and writes for the dining and arts...