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Chairmen of the Board

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For other uses, see Chairman of the Board (disambiguation).

Chairmen of the Board
Chairmen of the Board's General Norman Johnson in 2007
Chairmen of the Board's General Norman Johnson in 2007
Background information
OriginDetroit, Michigan, United States
GenresSoul
Years active1967–present
LabelsInvictus, Surfside Records, MoPhilly
MembersKen Knox
Thomas Hunter
Patrick McGuire
Past membersGeneral Johnson
Eddie Custis
Harrison Kennedy
Danny Woods
Darryl Johnson
Brandon Stevens
Websitethechairmenoftheboard.com

Chairmen of the Board is an American-Canadian, Detroit, Michigan-based soul music group, who saw their greatest commercial success in the 1970s.[1]

Recording career

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General Johnson (1941–2010)[2] had a hit as the lead singer of The Showmen in the early 1960s,[3] with the New Orleans rock and roll anthem "It Will Stand" and Carolina Beach classic "39-21-40 Shape".

When Holland-Dozier-Holland left Motown in 1967 to establish their own Invictus/Hot Wax group of record labels, they teamed Johnson up with Eddie Custis, Danny Woods and Canadian-born Harrison Kennedy as the new company's flagship act, under the name Chairmen of the Board.[3] Custis left the group after their second album.

Although they all had a turn at lead vocals, it was Johnson's quirky hiccup-laden style and his songwriting that became increasingly showcased, with the group selling a million plus copies of their single, "Give Me Just a Little More Time".[3] The disc was released in December 1969, reached number three on the US Billboard Hot 100, with one million sales confirmed in May 1970, when the group were presented with a Gold record by the RIAA.[4] Chairmen of the Board also charted with "(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String", "Everything's Tuesday", "Pay to the Piper", "Finders Keepers" and (in the UK) "Working on a Building of Love" and "Elmo James".[3] They also recorded the original version of "Patches", co-written by Johnson, which became a 1970 hit for Clarence Carter.[3] The song received a Grammy Award in 1971.

Kennedy, Woods and Johnson all went on to record solo albums, whilst Johnson wrote and produced (with Greg Perry) for other Invictus/Hot Wax acts, notably Honey Cone.[3] Kennedy having left, Johnson and Woods toured the UK in 1976 with six musicians as Chairmen of the Board.[3] The final night of the tour was at Middleton Civic Hall on March 11, 1976. The act was broken up immediately afterwards, Johnson having signed for Arista Records as a solo artist.[3]

In 1978, Johnson reformed the Chairmen of the Board along with Danny Woods and Ken Knox.[3] In 1980, the new Chairmen founded Surfside Records and began recording beach music.[3] The group remained popular on the beach scene, and Surfside Records released material as an independent record label based in Charlotte, North Carolina, through the 1990s.

The Chairmen of the Board (General Johnson, Danny Woods and Ken Knox) were inducted into the North Carolina Music Hall of Fame in 1999.[5] General Johnson continued to perform with Woods and Knox as the Chairmen of the Board until Johnson's death from lung cancer in 2010.[6]

In 2012, Chairmen of the Board released a single, "You", which was written and produced by Knox. In 2013, former member Harrison Kennedy was nominated for a Blues Music Award in the Acoustic Artist category.[7]

Danny Woods (born Daniel Woods Jr. on March 27, 1942 in Atlanta, Georgia) died on January 12, 2018, at the age of 75.[8][9]

In 2021, Chairmen of the Board partnered with producer Wheeler del Torro to bring a new, modern edge to their sound. Del Torro assembled group of remixers, including Severino Panzetta (Horse Meat Disco, Beating Cells) and Doug Gomez to remix a new single, "Reach Out".[10][11]

Discography

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Albums

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Year Album Peak chart positions
US Top 200
[12] 		US R&B
[12]
1970 The Chairmen of the Board 1 133 27
1970 In Session 117 16
1972 Bittersweet 178 —
1973 Greatest Hits 2 — —
1974 Skin I'm In — 52
1980 Success — —
1983 A Gift of Beach Music — —
1987 The Music — —
1990 Alive and Kickin' — —
1993 What Goes Around Comes Around — —
2006 Beach Music Anthology — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.
Notes:
  1. Reissued as Give Me Just a Little More Time
  1. UK only release

Singles

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Year A-side / B-side Album Peak chart positions
US Hot 100
[12] 		US R&B
[12] 		AUS
[13] 		UK
[14]
1970 "Give Me Just a Little More Time"/
"Since the Days of Pigtails" 		The Chairmen of the Board 3 8 90 3
"(You've Got Me) Dangling on a String"/
"I'll Come Crawling" 		38 19 — 5
"Everything's Tuesday"/
"Patches" 		In Session 38 14 — 12
1971 "Pay to the Piper"/
"Bless You" 		13 4 67 34
"Chairman of the Board"/
"When Will She Tell Me She Needs Me" 		42 10 — 48
"Hanging On to a Memory"/
"Tricked and Trapped" 		— 28 — —
"Try On My Love for Size"/
"Working on a Building of Love" 		— — 48
— 		— 20
"Men Are Getting Scarce"/
"Bravo, Hooray" 		Bittersweet — 33 — —
1972 "Everybody's Got a Song to Sing"/
"Working on a Building of Love" 		— — 30
— 		— —
"Elmo James"/
"Bittersweet" 		Bittersweet — — — 21
"I'm On My Way to a Better Place"/
"So Glad You're Mine" 		Fresh — — — 30
1973 "Finders Keepers"/
"Finders Keepers" (Instrumental) 		Skin I'm In 59 7 — 21
1974 "Everybody Party All Night"/
"Morning Glory" (Instrumental) 		— 80 — —
1976 "You've Got Extra Added Power in Your Love"/
"Someone Just Like You"
(credited as Chairmen of the Board featuring Prince Harold) 		— — — — —
1980 "Carolina Girls"
(credited as General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board) 		Success — — — —
1986 "Lover Boy"
(credited as General Johnson and the Chairmen of the Board) 		The Music — — — 56
2012 "You" (as Chairmen of the Board) — — — — —
"—" denotes releases that did not chart.

Bibliography

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  • The Illustrated Encyclopaedia of Black Music - Salamandar Books - ISBN 0-86101-145-7

References

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  1. ^ Erlewine, Stephen Thomas. "Artist Biography". AllMusic. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  2. ^ Wilson, Deryck (2010). "Beach music icon General Johnson dies". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  3. ^ a b c d e f g h i j Colin Larkin, ed. (1993). The Guinness Who's Who of Soul Music (First ed.). Guinness Publishing. pp. 38/9. ISBN 0-85112-733-9.
  4. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 255. ISBN 0-214-20512-6.
  5. ^ "1999 Inductees". North Carolina Music Hall of Fame. Retrieved September 10, 2012.
  6. ^ Brown, Steven (October 14, 2010). "Beach music icon General Johnson dies". The Charlotte Observer. Archived from the original on January 19, 2013. Retrieved October 14, 2010.
  7. ^ "Blues Music Awards Nominees - 2013 - 34th Blues Music Awards". Blues.org. Retrieved March 20, 2013.
  8. ^ "Daniel Woods Jr. March 27, 1942 ~ January 12, 2018 (age 75)". Archived from the original on July 20, 2018. Retrieved July 20, 2018.
  9. ^ "Passings: Danny Woods, Co-Founder of Chairmen of the Board (1944 - 2018)". Vintagevinylnews.com. Retrieved January 16, 2018.
  10. ^ "Wheeler del Torro Presents Reach Out (Beating Cells Remix) - Chairmen Of The Board, Wheeler del Torro". Traxsource.com. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  11. ^ "Reach Out (Doug Gomez Remix) - Chairmen Of The Board, Wheeler del Torro". Traxsource.com. Retrieved May 29, 2021.
  12. ^ a b c d "Chairmen of the Board - Awards". AllMusic. Archived from the original on August 15, 2012. Retrieved January 22, 2022.
  13. ^ Kent, David (1993). Australian Chart Book 1970–1992 (illustrated ed.). St Ives, N.S.W.: Australian Chart Book. p. 59. ISBN 0-646-11917-6.
  14. ^ Roberts, David (2006). British Hit Singles & Albums (19th ed.). London: Guinness World Records Limited. p. 99. ISBN 1-904994-10-5.
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