Early years The group formerly known as The Charlemagnes took on the name "The Blue Notes" in 1954, with a line-up consisting of lead singer Franklin Peaker, Bernard Williams, Roosevelt Brodie, Jesse Gillis, Jr., and
Harold Melvin. The group recorded for a number of labels without success from its inception into the 1960s. The 1960 single "My Hero" was a minor hit for Val-ue Records, as the drummer for their backing band. "Bad Luck" holds the record for the longest-running number-one hit on the
Hot Dance Music/Club Play chart: 11 weeks. A fourth number 1 R&B hit for the group was 1975's "Hope That We Can Be Together Soon" which featured female vocalist Sharon Paige. In 1976 Gamble and Huff's "
Don't Leave Me This Way" (soon to be covered by
Motown artist
Thelma Houston) was a number-one hit on the US pop chart. The Blue Notes' version on the album,
Wake Up Everybody, was not released as a single in the US at the time, but proved to be the group's biggest hit in the UK (number 5) when released there as a single in 1977. and was laid to rest at the
Ivy Hill Cemetery in Philadelphia. Lawrence Brown died of a respiratory condition on April 6, 2008, at age 63. In addition, three former members of the group would die during the year 2010. First, Teddy Pendergrass died of
respiratory failure on January 13, 2010, at age 59, after having previously dealt with
colon cancer. Six months later, original member Roosevelt Brodie, who was the second tenor for the original Blue Notes, died July 13, 2010, at age 75 due to complications of diabetes. Just five months later, Bernard Wilson died on December 26, 2010, at age 64 from complications of a stroke and heart attack. Pendergrass' predecessor, John Atkins, died of an aneurysm in 1998. David Ebo, who succeeded Pendergrass, died of bone cancer on November 30, 1993, at age 43. The death of Sharon Paige was reported on July 5, 2020. Gil Saunders died on February 4, 2021. Lloyd Parks, Jerry Cummings, and Bobby Cook are the sole survivors of the Blue Notes.
Legacy Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes hits have been re-recorded by other artists, including
David Ruffin,
Simply Red,
Jimmy Somerville,
Sybil,
the Three Degrees and
John Legend, while dance music DJ
Danny Rampling cites "Wake Up Everybody" as his favorite song of all time. Gil Saunders continued to perform as a solo artist, and performed all the hits of the past as well as his own material. Several members of various incarnations of the Blue Notes continue to tour as "Harold Melvin's Blue Notes". Melvin's widow, Ovelia currently manages Harold Melvin's Blue Notes, featuring lead singer Donnell "Big Daddy" Gillespie, Anthony Brooks, Rufus Thorne and John Morris. For his album ''
This Note's for You'', singer
Neil Young named his back-up band, the Blue Notes, without permission from name rights holder Harold Melvin. Melvin took legal action against Young over use of the Blue Notes name, forcing the singer to change the name of the back-up band to "Ten Men Workin'" during the balance of the tour that promoted the ''This Note's for You'' album. The band is mentioned on
Snoop Dogg's 1993 album
Doggystyle. In the intro for "
Doggy Dogg World" Snoop says "Bitch, you without me is like Harold Melvin without the Blue Notes, you'll never go platinum!" Former member Jerry Cummings is an ordained minister and has been asked to form Jerry Cummings' Blue Notes but has turned down the offer. As of May 2014 Jerry Cummings became the Music Life Coach and producer of the X Factor superstar Lillie McCloud and Lillie has recorded one of Cummings' songs "The Other Part of Me". Rapper
Big Boi uses a sample of "I Miss You" on his song "Shine Blockas" feat. Gucci Mane. "I Miss You" was also sampled by
Kanye West on
Jay-Z's song "This Can't Be Life", featuring
Beanie Sigel and
Scarface. Also the R&B singer
Pleasure P used a sample of "I Miss You" on his song "Letter to My Ex" recorded in 2013. Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes were inducted into the
Vocal Group Hall of Fame in 2007.
Neil Young named his
This Note's for You backing band The Bluenotes. However, Harold Melvin took legal action, and the album subsequently was credited as a Young solo album, with the backing band's credits removed. ==Discography==