Magnificent Men (For Tone)

[Edie Antoinette]

From the Blog of SHADY DEL KNIGHT

Central Pennsylvania's own blue-eyed soul brothers, the Magnificent Men,
brought "Peace of Mind" to the Shady Dell at the start of 1966.

On the flip side was the high energy dancer "All Your Lovin's Gone to My
Head," a killer bee that became the consensus A side of the record in
the northern soul clubs of Great Britain.

Autumn nights brought "Stormy Weather' to the Dell along with another superb Capitol release "Maybe, Maybe Baby."

The Magnificent Men returned to the Dell jukebox in July of 1967 with another amazing 2-sider.

Just as they had done the year before with "Peace of Mind," the Mag Men once
again knocked us out with their majestic harmony and powerful
instrumental backing. Their new one was entitled “I Could Be So Happy,”
a blue-eyed soul ballad that was destined to become solid gold at the
Dell.



Amazingly, this sensational soul classic spent just one week on the Billboard
chart, stalling at #93. Up on Violet Hill the record was a stone smash.
"I Could Be So Happy" weighs in at #21 on my list of the 200 Greatest Hits of the Shady Dell. Like Mag Men 45s that came before it, this one was carrying a killer bee on its back.

"You Changed My Life” became an up-tempo dance favorite among rat packers and wound up at #47 on the Dell's Greatest Hits survey.



The most successful single released by the Magnificent Men was lifted from their Live album, recorded at Philadelphia’s Uptown.

“Sweet Soul Medley-Part 1 & 2,” a Mag Men tribute to their favorite Motown
and Chitown groups, made a slight dent in the Billboard chart in
September of 1967 lasting only two weeks before dying on the vine at
#90.



During that hippy trippy summer of 1967 I found it reassuring to have the
traditional sweet soul of the Magnificent Men back on WSBA radio and
back inside the Dell’s jukebox.

Those Mag Men songs were the perfect antidote for those of us feeling overdosed on heavier music and ambivalent about its take a walk on the wild side message.

Looking back, I can see that it was too little too late.

1967 was a pivotal year at the Shady Dell. As wailing guitars and defiant
'tudes replaced simple street corner harmonies and virtuous themes, I
got the distinct impression that the Shady Dell’s golden era was
drawing to a close. I sensed that the greatest music and the best of
times were behind me. In a couple of months I would be leaving town to
attend college. Soon I would be living away from home for the first
time in a town hours away from York. I was beginning to realize how
much I was going to miss my parents, my friends, Helen and John, and
the seductive charms of the Shady Dell.





In the summer of 1967,
the Summer of Love,
the sun was slowly setting
on the glory days of my
youth, never to rise again.







The Magnificent Men next shared The World of Soulwith their devoted fans, but the soul on that third album was mixed
with material that signaled a strategic shift away from their roots.
Before long the Men were asking us to march to the beat of a different
drum. Some long time fans were reluctant to follow.

The Magnificent Men released 9 singles on the Capitol label and 2 on Mercury. It's difficult for fans to fathom, but only
3 of those 11 singles made the Billboard chart and one of those, "Stormy Weather," got locked in the Bubbling Under basement. Shady's Law, which states that the greater the song the lower its chart position
tends to be, was created with our Mag Men in mind! Remember too that
this is the Bilboard Pop chart that we're talking about. It's
disappointing to realize that a talented group of guys who had a
passion for soul and waxed some of the 60s best never registered a
single one of their songs on the Billboard black music chart!

In December of 1967 another Mag Men doublesider found favor with the Dell
gentry. “Babe, I’m Crazy ‘Bout You” was chosen to be the push side for radio stations.



Penned by Billy Butler and produced by Carl Davis, two architects of the
Chicago soul sound who were friends of Bupp and the boys since the
Del-Chords days, "Babe" is a song that's easy to go crazy 'bout.

However, I like the fab flip just as much if not more. It's another Carl Davis
produced soul nugget entitled “Forever Together.”



As 1967 came to a close, fans of the Magnificent Men were noticing a
subtle change in the group's output. The two songs on their latest
single were good, but they were not quite in the same league with
"Peace of Mind." The days of back-to-back Dell megahits by the Mag Men
were over. Beginning with their next single in 1968 there would be no
more soulful double-siders coming from Bupp and company. The
Magnificent Men were about to change direction.

Two more Mag Men sides were released on 45 around March of 1968. “By the
Time I Get to Phoenix” and “Tired of Pushing” were taken from the
group's third Capitol album The World of Soul. To me the
name was somewhat misleading. Instead of serving up a heaping helping
of sweet soul music the long play was diluted with pop standards and
crossover country. “Phoenix,” “September Song,” and “Alfie” were given
a soulful treatment with pleasing results, yet those selections
signaled a fundamental change. The Magnificent Men began to stray from
their traditional Chi-town influenced soul and dabble in other musical
styles. Ironically, a white group that had built a reputation and a fan
following performing authentic interpretations of black music was doing
what certain black artists had done in an effort to win commercial
acceptance. They were starting to sound whiter.

I was spoiled, I suppose. The first studio album released by the Magnificent Men was wall-to-wall soul nirvana. "Peace of Mind" set the bar so high that it would be very hard to match and impossible to beat. Maybe that's why The World of Soul was more of an acquired taste. Material that deviated too much from
"Peace of Mind" and the other gems on that first LP was bound to be
somewhat of a let down.

Don't get me wrong. The World of Soul is a great album. The Mag Men are solid senders and deliver the goods much
more often than not. One of my favorite tracks is the seldom heard
"It's Got to Be Love," a Bupp-King original that's right in the pocket!



"It's Got to Be Love" would have made a great single release. If "Love" had
been paired with "Tired of Pushing" the Dell would have been blessed
with yet another Magnificent Men doublesider.

With the release of the "Phoenix"/"Pushing" combination however, it was
clear that a pattern was emerging. Soul was being placed on the back
burner. Whoever was calling the shots chose “Phoenix” as the A side.
“Tired of Pushing,” a much more soulful song, was chosen as the B side.




Mag Men purists began to wonder why Capitol was refusing to promote the
type of material that fans had come to expect from their favorite white
soul group. Why were the group’s handlers trying to fix something that
wasn’t broken?

The trend away from soul continued in the summer of 1968. Ignoring the group's soul roots Capitol execs began to
tinker, tamper and tweak the sound of the Magnificent Men, performing
misguided experiments with new age country fusion. "Almost Persuaded,"
a song that left some Mag Men fans scratching their heads, was selected
as the A side of their next single. “I Found What I Wanted in You,” a
clearly superior song - one that soul survivors at the Dell heavily preferred - and a hit just waiting to happen
- was inexplicably relegated to the B side. The decision makers were
convinced that a countrified cautionary tale about man’s temptation had
a better chance of becoming a commercial success in 1968 than a sweet
soul masterpiece. The plan failed. Radio stations were almost persuaded to play the record and consumers were almost persuaded to buy it - almost
being the operative word. The Magnificent Men weren't winning many new
fans with their new direction and they were in danger of losing some of
their old ones.

“Almost Persuaded” might have been pushed on the public as the designated
“plug” side, but sagacious radio jocks and die hard Mag Men followers
had other ideas. The uplifting “I Found What I Wanted In You,” a
classic Mag Men ballad that picked up where “Peace of Mind” left off,
became the runaway cult favorite.



In the fall of 1968 the Magnificent Men released their last single for
Capitol. Once again, core fans had to flip "Save the Country" if they
wanted to hear the pure, unadulterated Magnificent Men sound that they
had grown to love.

As their affiliation with Capitol records came to an end the Mag Men
finished strong. They came through for their fans with one last soul
saturated killer bee, “So Much Love Waiting.”



Perhaps the grass looked greener when the Magnificent Men left Capitol and signed with Mercury - but it turned out to be crab grass.

In an effort to adapt to the changing times and latch onto that elusive
success formula the Magnificent Men continued to change their image and
explore different types of material including jazz and prog rock, but
their Mercury recordings were uneven and sold poorly.

With continued fan support and encouragement the Magnificent Men returned to
the basics years later and began delighting audiences with an ongoing
series of reunion concerts in Harrisburg and York and a series of
doo-wop/classic soul CD releases as part of The Class of 60-Something.

IN CONCLUSION:

As a white group performing black music in 1960s America, the Magnificent
Men had two strikes against them. It was a sign of the times when some
"white" radio stations declared that the Mag Men sounded too black and
some "black" radio stations who dug the sound refused to play their
records after they found out that the Men were white. As Dave Bupp's
story goes some black deejays even busted up their promo copies of
"Peace of Mind" and shipped them back to Capitol. When you factor in
record label politics and ineptitude and the fact that sweet soul,
the kind of music the Magnificent Men and their fans loved best, was no
longer "cool" by the late 60s, it's easy to understand why our hometown
heroes never attained superstar status.

That said, it's gratifying to realize just how far the Magnificent Men were able to go,
how much they were able to do, and how indelible a mark they made on
American music and on society.

The Magnificent Men were giants among us. They were gods. The Magnificent Men gave us peace of mind and changed our lives for the better. By means of their uplifting music they healed old wounds and broke down
the walls that separated white from black. At a time when other music
acts were polarizing us...the Magnificent Men were unifying us.

In a world filled with problems...
the Magnificent Men were and still are
a part of the solution.

I could be so happy if someday the whole world knows
the extent of their contributions and these men...
these Magnificent Men get the recognition they richly deserve!

One more for the road:

[Edie Antoinette]

Okay...lol! Love you!

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

No Reason to apologize, i like to call it "Great Minds Think Alike"....LOL plus you added more to the mix....SMILE

[Edie Antoinette]

Tone! HAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHAHA!!!!! "...wait better yet....MAGNIFICENT!!!!! " ROFLMBO!!!!

You are the one that's the BOMB!!!!! You inspire me so much!!

[Edie Antoinette]

Sole, I had forgotten about your blog but now that you mention it!!! I apologize---I don't like stepping on other people's stuff like that--but I'm glad you like it... so sorry Baby!

[Tone]

OMG!!!! Edie you are the BOMB this is fabulous..wait better yet....MAGNIFICENT!!!!!

[Shelley "SoleMann" King]

I loveeeeeeeee this, this made me remember the blog i did 2 years ago....LOL. I like this one better, very well done....SMILE