Edwin Starr was born in Nashville in 1942 but grew up in Cleveland, Ohio. His first steps into a career in music came in 1957, when he formed a Doo-Wop vocal group that was named the Future Tones. After he completed his military service, he joined Bill Doggett’s group. He came to Ric-Tic in 1965 to make his first recordings as a solo artist, beginning with “Agent Double-O Soul”, which gave him immediate chart success, peaking at number twenty-one on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number eight on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart. He had written the song with Bill Sharpley, with Starr credited as Charles Hatcher, his real name. Sonny Sanders arranged the song.
The same team worked on the follow-up, “Back Street”, with production in the capable hands of Solid Hitbound Productions, otherwise known as Don Davis and LeBaron Taylor, who formed Revilot Records around that time. It made the charts, but was outshone by Starr’s third Ric-Tic release in January 1966, “Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)”, which reached numbers forty-eight and nine on the respective Billboard charts. The song also gave Starr his first UK hit, as the single reached number thirty-five on the Official UK Pop Singles chart.
Three more Ric-Tic singles followed in 1966 and 1967, with only one entering the charts. Towards the end of 1967, Ed Wingate started the sale of Ric-Tic to Berry Gordy. Edwin Starr was touring in Europe as the sale was agreed. When he returned to the USA, his contract had been taken over by Motown.
Starr joined Gordy Records. His first release at Motown was “I Want My Baby Back”, co-written by Cornelius Grant, Eddie Kendricks, and Norman Whitfield, with Whitfield producing. It sold less well than Starr’s earlier Ric-Tic singles, only reaching number one hundred and twenty on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, but it is a good up-tempo dance tune that showed Starr’s promise.
Starr was obviously hoping that Motown’s global profile would relaunch his career. He had had some big successes at Ric-Tic Records and the news of the company’s sale had come as a shock, but his move to the Gordy label was a clear opportunity. His first full year with Motown saw the release of an album and a single, but neither made a chart entry.
The album “Soul Master” offers twelve tracks, of which seven are songs written by Motown songwriters and five are Ric-Tic releases. The inclusion of five old songs, albeit good ones, probably explains the lack of sales. The single released by Gordy was “Way Over There”, written by Smokey Robinson and produced by Norman Whitfield, backed by “If My Heart Could Tell The Story”, composed and produced by Dean and Weatherspoon. It is a good Northern Soul double-sider, which deserved better.
Fortunately, the Motown fans in the UK came to the rescue. As part of Motown’s plan to relaunch the old Ric-Tic songs, “Stop Her On Sight (S.O.S.)” was reissued in the UK. It rose to number eleven on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart, having only made it to number thirty-five on its Ric-Tic release. In addition, Tamla Motown released “25 Miles”/ “Mighty Good Lovin’” across Europe (instead of “Way Over There”, which followed in 1969). Edwin Starr’s second UK single of 1968 charted at number thirty-six on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart. It was a sign of better things to come!
Edwin Starr started 1969 with the single “25 Miles” riding high in the charts. It peaked at number six on both the Billboard Hot 100 and the Billboard R&B Singles Charts. He had another song from 1968’s “25 Miles” album issued by Gordy Records in June of 1969. “I’m Still A Struggling Man”, co-written by Doris McNeil and Johnny Bristol and produced by Bristol, also charted, reaching number eighty on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number twenty-seven on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart.
Motown then came up with an idea. Given the success of Marvin Gaye and Tammi Terrell, why not pair Edwin Starr with one of Motown’s female solo singers? They chose Blinky, who had no solo releases in 1969.
Edwin Starr and Blinky started work on an album with Frank Wilson. “Just We Two” was released in September but failed to impress. A single from the album, “Oh How Happy” written by Charles Hatcher (Edwin Starr’s real name), had been issued in July but hadn’t drummed up much interest, reaching number ninety-two on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart. The album contains several well-known Motown hits and some good romantic ballads. The best of these is ”Sweet Joys Of Life”, with Blinky leading the vocals. Starr and Blinky both have powerful, dramatic voices that are best-suited to up-tempo, funky songs. There are two on the album, that probably should have been chosen for single release. “I’m Glad You Belong To Me” was co-written by Cornelius Grant, Richard Morris and Roger Penzabene. It drives with a typical Motown beat. “We’ll Find A Way” is even better. The Beatrice Verdi/ Ivy Jo Hunter song is made for Starr and Blinky!
Edwin Starr probably started 1970 anxious to improve on the success of his number six R&B hit “25 Miles”. He was working on his new album, building up an interesting collection of songs, mostly from Motown songwriters but also including some odd non-Motown covers, as had become the norm! (Why would Edwin Starr want to cover “Raindrops Keep Falling On My Head”?).
It was decided to put out a single on the Gordy label, featuring two songs from the album sessions, “Time” on the A-side, backed by “Running Back And Forth”, with Wade Marcus writing the arrangements and Starr himself producing. Both songs were co-written by Edwin Starr and Richard “Popcorn” Wylie. “Time” is a dramatic Northern Soul dance number, with punchy backing vocals. It was no doubt popular on the dance floor, but it only charted to number one hundred and seventeen on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart and number thirty-nine on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart.
Starr then became aware of discussions at Motown concerning the Temptations album track “War”. Should it be a single? Would its strong anti-war sentiment be unpopular? Starr stepped forward and offered to re-record the track, so that the song could be issued as a single without threatening the Temptations’ popularity. It was a sensible solution, that appealed to Norman Whitfield, who set about writing a new arrangement of the Temptations’ track that would allow Starr to display a level of power and emotion that wouldn’t have suited the Temptations. Whitfield also decided to ramp up the production with guitars and clavinet to the fore, while also doubling the backing vocals by adding a new group, the Undisputed Truth, to the Originals. Edwin Starr plus seven backing vocalists plus a strong horn section and a blunt message would surely attract attention!
“War” was issued by Gordy in June and raced to the number one position on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, which it held for three weeks, until displaced by Diana Ross. It also reached number three on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart and number three on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart, as well as charting in eight other countries, including Canada where it hit number one. The single went on to sell over three million (unaccredited) copies, earned silver certification in the UK from the BPI, and also received a nomination for a Grammy Award for Best R&B Male Vocal Performance. Starr didn’t win in 1971, but the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1999.
Gordy Records issued the parent album “War & Peace” in August. Sales were good enough to take the album to number fifty-two on the Billboard 200 Albums Chart and to number nine on the Billboard R&B Albums Chart. The collection of songs is for the most part very good, with a punchy cover of Ashford & Simpson’s “California Soul”, a confident cover of Marvin Gaye’s “At Last (I Found A Love)”, and a Bluesy version of Titus Turner’s “All Around The World”. Starr also sings impressively on the album’s final track, “She Should Have Been Home”, co-written by producer Johnny Bristol and Doris McNeil.
Given the success of the “War” single, Norman Whitfield and Barrett followed the common Motown policy by writing a clone. The result was “Stop The War Now”, with an arrangement by David Van DePitte that reproduced the dramatic impact of the earlier single. The follow-up was issued before the end of the year, reaching number twenty-six on the Billboard Hot 100 Singles Chart, number five on the Billboard R&B Singles Chart, and number thirty-three on the Official UK Pop Singles Chart. Everybody now knew Edwin Starr!
