The Main Ingredient

A while back I wrote about the scourge that is melisma. I've had occasion to think about this terrible, terrible blight again lately, as I recently got one of those iPod Shuffles and loaded it up with 260 of my favorite songs. The mix includes a lot of old soul and R&B--Aretha singing "I'll Say a Little Prayer," a bunch of O.V. Wright, a few songs from Ray Charles' Modern Sounds in Country and Western, that sort of stuff. I am most definitely (or mos' def as the young 'uns say) old school.

One of those songs is The Main Ingredient's "Just Don't Want to be Lonely," and last time it came up on the Shuffle it was the source of a minor epiphany. The singer doesn't do a lot of fancy stuff with the song; he basically just sings it, adding a few flourishes where they fit. And yet it's a totally captivating performance. The beauty of it isn't the vocal pyrotechnics, but the simple fact that this guy has a great voice. He doesn't need to show it off; he knows he has a great voice and is perfectly happy to let it serve the song, rather than the other way around. It's a lovely, subdued, and completely stunning performance.

Now, The Main Ingredient are not legends of R&B. Their lead singer--Cuba Gooding Sr. was his name, and yes, he is the father of the Academy Award winning actor--wouldn't make anyone's All-Time Best 50 (or even 100, probably) R&B Singers list. "Just Don't Want to be Lonely" is a record that its producers almost certainly figured no one would ever want to hear again 10 minutes after it left the charts. And yet, in its own small and silly way, "Just Don't Want to be Lonely" is sublime, a record of more value than the entire recorded output of Celine Dion or Mariah Carey. I'd rather hear it for the millionth time than listen to any of their stuff once.

This epiphany comes with an ancillary downer, unfortunately. Those of us who aspire to sing but don't have great voices like Cuba Gooding Sr.'s? We are consigned to the status of 'stylist.' And while we may be capable of many wonderful musical achievements, performing a vocal like the one on "Just Don't Want to be Lonely" simply isn't one of them. We are Baudelaire's albatross, minus the impressive air show.

PS The Main Ingredient's "Everybody Plays the Fool" is pretty spectacular, too. Don't bother with their greatest hits collection, though; there's a very steep drop in quality beyond the two hit singles. Do as I did and get Rhino's can you dig it? The 70's Soul Experience box set instead.