ONE OF THE MAJOR INFLUENCES IN POP CULTURE HAS BEEN THE SOULFUL SOUNDS OF THE 1970s, SOMETIMES REFERRED TO AS THE “PHILADELPHIA SOUND”. THE O’JAYS WERE ONE OF IT’S MAJOR PROPONENTS, FILLING THE AIRWAVES WITH A MIX OF URBAN STREET AND SUNDAY GOSPEL, BUT ALSO INFUSING SONGS WITH MESSAGES OF SOCIAL CONSCIOUSNESS, WITH SONGS LIKE “BACKSTABBERS” AND “FOR THE LOVE OF MONEY” MIXING IN WITH UPLIFTING THEMES LIKE “I LOVE MUSIC” AND THE ICONIC “LOVE TRAIN”.
EDDIE LEVERT, ONE OF THE FOUNDING MEMBERS, IS STILL ACTIVE WITH THE BAND. HE TOOK SOME TIME TO SHARE HIS RECOLLECTIONS OF THE EARLY DAYS OF HIS CAREER AS WELL AS BRINGING IN SOME POIGNANT OBSERVATIONS ABOUT THE CURRENT AGE OF MUSIC AND CULTURE.
YOU ARE ASSOCIATED WITH “THE PHILADELPHIA SOUND” BUT YOU WEREN’T ACTUALLY BORN THERE.
I was born in Alabama and moved to Cleveland, but here’s the story…
We were playing at The Apollo in Cleveland with The Intruders, (Kenneth) Gamble and (Leon) Huff came up to see the Intruders, as this is when they had the hit song “Cowboys to Girls.” We opened and they happened to like what they saw, and the Intruders introduced us to Gamble and Huff, who came to Cleveland and told us they would like to sign us to what was then Neptune Records.
We then went to Philly and started recording up there. We would stay 6-7 months of the year there, just to learn the songs and became almost Philadelphia residents, because we were there so much. That’s how we became familiar with the city.
LET’S GO BACK EVEN FURTHER TO YOUR CHURCH DAYS GROWING UP. WHAT DID YOU LEARN ABOUT MUSIC AND LIFE IN YOUR LOCAL CHURCH?
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“You’ve got to start on the first floor, go to the second floor, to the third floor and then through to the roof”
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Oh, wow-at that time I was growing up I was in the Junior Choir and Walter’s (get name) father, Mr. Williams was the choir director. In order for us to even live in the neighborhood or be part of the church we had to be in the choir.
He was the one who taught me how to address a song. He would say, ”You’ve got to start on the first floor, go to the second floor, to the third floor and then through to the roof.” I use that form even now.
He taught us how to sing and be soulful at the same time. That’s something that’s been with me my whole career.
My third grade school teacher, Miss Marshall, was a stickler for singing from your diaphragm. If you didn’t do it she would punch you in the stomach all the time (laughs). You learn fast! She was German, and she along with Mr. Williams had the biggest influence on me on how to sing and put your heart and soul into a song. She taught me the mechanics, he taught me the soul of it.
WHAT DID YOU LEARN AT CHURCH AS FAR AS BEING A MAN OF GOD?
I’d have to put the “blame” on my stepmother. She was a very religious person; she believed in God. She instilled that in me also. She made sure that I went to church and that I would count my blessings and gave God all of the praises. I’ve kept that with me throughout my whole life. That’s still with me now; I believe it and I’m firmly set in that.
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“Miss Marshall, was a stickler for singing from your diaphragm. If you didn’t do it she would punch you in the stomach all the time (laughs). You learn fast!”
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DO YOU STILL GO TO CHURCH AND READ THE BIBLE?
I still read the Bible. I have it on cd and whenever I get a moment I get a cd of it and play it over and over.
A lot of people think that you read the Bible once and you’ve got it. No, you’ve got to read it all the time; you’ve got to keep putting it in your soul. It’s something you’ve got to keep doing every day and keep going back to the beginning, start all over again and again. Each time you do that you learn something a little big more on how to it in your everyday life.
AND YOU’VE HAD A LIFE THAT HAD YOUR FAITH TESTED WITH SOME MAJOR TRAUMAS AND TRIALS
Oh yeah. Well, you always question “Why?” or “Why couldn’t I have done something to change this or that?” It happens that you can’t go back and change things. You don’t have much to say about what goes on in your life. We’d like to think that we have a lot to do with it, but we don’t. All we can do is to go forward.
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“A lot of people think that you read the Bible once and you’ve got it. No, you’ve got to read it all the time; you’ve got to keep putting it in your soul”
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ALL YOU CAN AFFECT IS YOUR RESPONSE TO IT.
Absolutely.
YOU COULD HAVE ABANDONED YOUR EARLY FAITH, AS MANY SINGERS HAVE STARTED IN THE CHURCH BUT THEN MADE A SIDE TURN. SOME CAME BACK BUT MANY DIDN’T. YOUR SONGS HAVE HAD A MIX OF POSITIVE MESSAGES WITH CHALLENGES FROM THE PULPIT. 902
It’s easy to be swayed, especially in the business that we’re in. There are a lot of opportunities to go the wrong way. But you must keep the faith, and the faith is in believing in something that you can’t see, but still know that it will come out in a positive manner. You’ve got to keep that faith that it is going to be all right.
LET’S GO BACK TO WHEN YOU MET (KENNY GAMBLE AND LEON HUFF) HOW DID HE SELL YOU TO BE THE VOICE OF HIS MESSAGE?
It was the songs that sold me. I never met anyone that was as prolific as Kenny Gamble, nor anyone who could play the piano like Leon Huff. Being in the same room with them was almost spiritual in itself; the music hit your heart, and you were able to really put your heart and soul into the music, when they played you a “Family Reunion” or a “Love Train” a “Back Stabbers” or when they’d play any of the greats, like “ I Love Music” you could feel it, because when he’d play the piano it was Like an orchestra was playing.. He had a back beat while he was hitting the keys and you could hear what the bass was going to do, what the guitar was going to do, and I could build on all of those things. They didn’t have to sell me, they automatically had it going on; they had what I wanted and I could feel it.
THERE ARE DIFFERENT WAYS TO DELIVER A MESSAGE, AND IT IS DIFFICULT TO DELIVER IT IN A POSITIVE WAY.
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“(“Love Train”) is what the world needs to hear and this is my reason for being here. I am the person that God is using to deliver this message”
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Absolutely; when they would come up with one of the “message” songs like “Love Train” or “Back Stabbers,” when you heard that message, you felt like you needed to sing it and want people to hear it. This is what the world needs to hear and this is my reason for being here. I am the person that God is using to deliver this message.
BEFORE THE O’JAYS CAME ALONG, THERE WERE BASICALLY ONLY TWO SOUNDS, THE DETROIT “MOTOWN” SOUND AND THE MEMPHIS GRITTY “STAX” SOUND. DID YOU GUYS CONSCIOUSLY DECIDE TO MAKE A NEW SOUND, OR DID IT COME ABOUT ORGANICALLY?
It just evolved. They were doing things like “Expressway To My Heart” and “Cowboys to Girls.” When we showed up, what we brought to them was the gospel thing, the church thing. They were able to take that and bring it into things and here comes Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes. Here comes TeddY Pendergrass. Here comes Billy Paul. Hear comes the O’Jays.
You have to remember that before we got there they weren’t doing that type of church music. When we arrived, the whole thing got more soulful, with more gospel and strings and horns.
THE SINGERS AND GROUPS BEFORE YOU TENDED TO BE “PRETTY”.
Right. We brought the church into the music, and that brought out something else in each band.
WHEN YOU GREW UP IN THE CHURCH, WERE THERE GOSPEL BANDS OR SINGERS LIKE BROTHER JOE MAY THAT INFLUENCED YOUR SINGING STYLE?
At that time, the only people that influenced me were the music minister and the preacher. It was just the music from the Sanctified Church that I went to that influenced me. The way they played music. They had a band in the church that would play the music, and the people would jump up and dance, be happy. That’s where I came from.
When we got up to Philadelphia, that’s what we brought to the game. Our influence was Sunday God.(laughs)
THE O’JAYS HAVE PLAYED THROUGH MANY DIFFERENT MUSICAL STYLES, FROM “SOUL” TO “DISCO” AND THROUGH “RAP” AND “HIP HOP”. DID YOU EVER FEEL THAT YOU NEEDED TO ALTER YOUR SOUND TO THE CHANGING TIMES?
It was like “this is who we are.” I couldn’t change who I am; this is the way I feel it, and this is the way I’ve got to do it. They might tell me “Let’s not do too much of that; let’s back it off a little bit” and that’s where Kenny Gamble was great He’d tell me I was giving a bit too much of the gospel feel, and I’d back off a bit.
YOU ALSO HAVE WRITTEN A BOOK. WHAT WAS THE IMPETUS OF THAT?
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“I think that the problem we have today is that there is not enough humanity in the world, and everybody wants to point a finger at someone… it’s not one person, it’s not one political entity, it’s humanity itself. It’s us”
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(laughs) That was something they wanted me to do. I still haven’t written the book I want to write. I don’t know if anyone would want to buy it, because I’ll probably be denouncing everybody.
I think that the problem we have today is that there is not enough humanity in the world, and everybody wants to point a finger at someone, a Republican or Democrat. I think the problem is us humans; humanity is at fault. We’re not human enough to each other. That’s what it is; it’s not one person, it’s not one political entity, it’s humanity itself. It’s us.
GK CHESTERTON SAID IT BEST. THERE’S ONE PERSON’S FAULT-MINE
That’s right! That’s what people don’t want to say, “It’s my fault.” We tell others it’s there fault for the world being like this, but we all need to look in the mirror in order to come together. When you point this out to society, they tend to get angry at you. When you point a finger at society like that, they have a tendency they get angry at you.) Nobody wants to face the fact that they made the ***choice and therefore it’s there fault. You made that choice, so it’s not the fault of your next door neighbor or anyone else. It’s you-you’re the problem.
GOOD ADVICE. WHAT’S THE BEST ADVICE THAT ANYONE GAVE YOUR FOR YOUR LIFE OR CAREER?
Bobby Massey’s father used to tell us “You guys are really good, and you want to be stars, but there are two things in life that you’ve got to do. You’ve got to pay your taxes and leave the girls alone. I wasn’t able to do either one of them. (laughs)
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We tell others it’s there fault for the world being like this, but we all need to look in the mirror in order to come together
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ANY BOOK THAT HAS INFLUENCED YOU?
Nothing has influenced my as much as the Bible.
YOU”RE PUTTING A NEW ALBUM AND TOURING. WHAT MORE DO YOU HAVE TO SAY AFTER ALL OF THESE YEARS?
I’m just re-iterating the same thing I’ve already said. I’m letting people know that nothing has changed; It’s still the same message. As long as I’ve been in this game from when we’ve first started until now it’s the same message. The message is still love and understanding. The message is kindness, and sharing and God and Jesus and giving. Being more humane to one another.
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“As long as I’ve been in this game from when we’ve first started until now it’s the same message. The message is still love and understanding”
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A PROPHET’S MESSAGE NEVER CHANGES
The message doesn’t change at all. That’s what I tell people all the time. It’s still about love, and when you understand that, everything’s gonna be all right. It’s been the same since Jesus.
ANY SO CAL GIGS COMING UP?
We’ve got the Microsoft Theater in December
HOW DO YOU KEEP IN SHAPE NOW THAT YOU’RE SURVIVING THE 70s FOR THE SECOND TIME?
(laughs). I get in the pool every day and I do an hour and a half. That keeps me pretty much in shape. It keeps the blood flowing, If anyone old wants to keep in shape just get in the pool and you’ll be fine.
WHAT DO YOU WANT WRITTEN ON YOUR TOMBSTONE?
“I Tried” (laughs)
SUCCESS IS ACHIEVED WHEN YOU KNOW WHAT YOU ARE SUPPOSED TO DO AND THEN ACCOMPLISH IT. EDDIE LEVERT HEARD HIS CALLING EARLY IN LIFE, AND THROUGH ALL OF HIS TRIALS (AND ERRORS) HAS KEPT FAITHFUL TO HIS INITIAL PATH, INFLUENCING THE WORLD OF MUSIC AND SOCIETY WITH A SIMPLE MESSAGE PASSED ON FROM PROPHETS OF OLD, ‘LOVE THE LORD YOUR GOD, AND YOUR NEIGHBOR AS YOURSELF”. SOMETIMES, LIFE IS THAT SIMPLE.