A Detroit group that spent years carrying other people's bags

In 1954, five friends from Detroit’s Herman Gardens housing project formed a group called the Domingoes: Billy Henderson, Henry Fambrough, Pervis Jackson, C. P. Spencer and James Edwards. Bobby Smith soon replaced Edwards and sang lead on most of the early records. After Spencer left and George Dixon replaced him, the group renamed itself the Spinners in 1961.

Their first single, “That’s What Girls Are Made For”, appeared on Harvey Fuqua’s Tri-Phi Records and peaked at number 27 in August 1961. When Fuqua’s brother-in-law Berry Gordy bought Tri-Phi, the group joined Motown. They debuted at the Apollo Theater in 1964 and “I’ll Always Love You” reached number 35 in 1965, but then came one single a year with little success. Motown even put them to work as road managers, chaperones and chauffeurs for other groups, and as shipping clerks.

A brief lift arrived in 1970 when G.C. Cameron led “It’s a Shame”, a Stevie Wonder composition co-written with Syreeta Wright, to number 14 on the Billboard Hot 100. Then Aretha Franklin suggested that they leave Motown for Atlantic. Cameron was bound to Motown, so he stayed behind and urged his cousin Philippé Wynne to take his place alongside Bobby Smith. When the Spinners signed with Atlantic in 1972, they were a commercially unremarkable group.

What came next was their peak, working with producer Thom Bell. “I’ll Be Around” and “Then Came You” belong to that Atlantic era. The group received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame on June 30, 1976, and went into the National Rhythm & Blues Hall of Fame in 2015 and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 2023. In the UK they were billed as the Motown Spinners and later the Detroit Spinners, to avoid confusion with a British folk group. Henry Fambrough retired in 2023, and the group now tours without any original members.