Damon Harris
Encyclopedia
Damon Harris is a three-time Grammy Award
-winning African-American soul
and R&B singer. He is most notable as a member of The Temptations
from 1971 to 1975. Twenty years old when he joined the group, Harris was the youngest member of The Temptations during his tenure in the group. As a teenager Harris had formed a Temptations tribute band
named The Young Tempts (aka The Young Vandals). The group had charted singles released on T-Neck Records
, and later had a few minor hits under the name Impact. Harris is now the founder and CEO of The Damon Harris Cancer Foundation dedicated to promoting the awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate cancer
.
. Patterning himself after Kendricks, Harris and his friends John Quinton Simms, Charles Timmons (actually name was/is Kareem Ali, who went on to perform with Glenn Leonard's Temptations Revue), and Donald Knute Tighman, formed a Temptations-inspired vocal group during his high school
years called The Young Tempts ("Tempts" being a nickname for the Temptations). The Young Tempts recorded covers of two 1966 Temptations' songs, "I've Been Good to You" (a song originally recorded by The Miracles), and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby," for The Isley Brothers
' T-Neck Records
in 1970. Motown Records
filed an injunction
against T-Neck because of the group's name; the 45 was withdrawn and re-issued with the group credited as The Young Vandals, and reached #46 on the R&B charts. At about this time, Billy Griffin
joined the Young Vandals' lineup.
After two more T-Neck singles, " In My Opinion" and "I'm Gonna Wait For You", The Young Vandals broke up, because Harris felt that college
would be a more sensible endeavor than a singing career.
. The group had just replaced Eddie Kendricks with Ricky Owens
from The Vibrations
, who was giving uneven performances, and The Temptations were again looking for a replacement. Harris performed first for Temptations Melvin Franklin
, Richard Street
, and Dennis Edwards
before auditioning for group leader Otis Williams
. Williams was hesitant about taking on the young singer, who was nearly a decade younger than the rest of The Temptations. Franklin, Street, and Edwards voted to accept Harris, however, and he made his onstage debut a few weeks later as first tenor
/falsetto
. Around this time, Billy Griffin replaced Smokey Robinson
in The Miracles
.
When he joined the Temptations, Otis Harris changed his name to Damon Harris, because, in his words, "the group already had an Otis" [].
Harris continued to perform with the Temptations for four years, providing Kendricks-esque lead vocals on hits such as "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
" (1971), "Take a Look Around" (1972), the #1 pop hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
", (1972, a three-time Grammy Award
winner), the #1 R&B hit "Masterpiece" (1973), "Plastic Man" (also 1973), He leads on "Love Woke Me Up This Morning" from the All Directions album (1972) and is featured prominately on hard-to-find The Temptations Live in Japan (1975). According to Otis Williams' book, he Temptations], he was fired from the group in 1975 because of inappropriate statements he made that affected the perception of the group in the eyes of the public.
in 1976. Working with a Philadelphia soul
production team, Impact recorded a number of minor soul and disco
hits, including "Happy Man" and the #5 disco hit "Give a Broken Heart a Break". The group released only one album on Atco, 1976's Impact, before being dropped from the label because of low sales. Impact signed with Fantasy Records
in 1977 and issued the album The Pac is Back, which also suffered from slow sales. The group disbanded and Harris recorded some solo singles of his own including 1978's "It's Music", and the album Silk.
to complete college. In the 1990s, he returned to music and began touring, sometimes billing himself as The Temptations Review Starring Damon Harris. Richard Street
, another ex-Temptation, periodically performed with Harris' Temptations review until he formed his own Temptations group.
At the age of 47, Harris was diagnosed with prostate cancer
, which he learned he had had for five years. After successfully being treated for the disease, Harris founded The Damon Harris Cancer Foundation in 2001. The organization is a non-profit company, designed to heighten awareness of prostate cancer diagnoses and treatments. The organization has a special focus in reaching African-American audiences, as African-American men have an approximately 60% higher chance of contracting prostate cancer than white men, and are twice as likely to die from the disease http://www.dhcancerfoundation.com/articles.htm.
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
-winning African-American soul
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and R&B singer. He is most notable as a member of The Temptations
The Temptations
The Temptations is an American vocal group having achieved fame as one of the most successful acts to record for Motown Records. The group's repertoire has included, at various times during its five-decade career, R&B, doo-wop, funk, disco, soul, and adult contemporary music.Formed in Detroit,...
from 1971 to 1975. Twenty years old when he joined the group, Harris was the youngest member of The Temptations during his tenure in the group. As a teenager Harris had formed a Temptations tribute band
Tribute band
A tribute act is a music group, singer, or musician who specifically plays the music of a well-known music act - sometimes one which has disbanded, ceased touring or is deceased. Probably the largest class of tributes acts are Elvis impersonators, individual performers who mimic the songs and style...
named The Young Tempts (aka The Young Vandals). The group had charted singles released on T-Neck Records
T-Neck Records
T-Neck Records was a record label founded by The Isley Brothers in 1964.It's notable for having the Isleys becoming the first R&B band to form a record label, a rarity in black music. During the label's early years, the Isleys issued the records "Testify" and "Move Over And Let Me Dance", which...
, and later had a few minor hits under the name Impact. Harris is now the founder and CEO of The Damon Harris Cancer Foundation dedicated to promoting the awareness, diagnosis, and treatment of prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
.
The Young Tempts/The Young Vandals
As a teenager growing up in Baltimore, Maryland, Otis Harris, Jr. was a major Temptations fan, and idolized in particular the group's falsetto, Eddie KendricksEddie Kendricks
Eddie Kendricks was an American singer and songwriter. Noted for his distinctive falsetto singing style, Kendricks co-founded the Motown singing group The Temptations, and was one of their lead singers from 1960 until 1971. His was the lead voice on such famous songs as "The Way You Do The Things...
. Patterning himself after Kendricks, Harris and his friends John Quinton Simms, Charles Timmons (actually name was/is Kareem Ali, who went on to perform with Glenn Leonard's Temptations Revue), and Donald Knute Tighman, formed a Temptations-inspired vocal group during his high school
High school
High school is a term used in parts of the English speaking world to describe institutions which provide all or part of secondary education. The term is often incorporated into the name of such institutions....
years called The Young Tempts ("Tempts" being a nickname for the Temptations). The Young Tempts recorded covers of two 1966 Temptations' songs, "I've Been Good to You" (a song originally recorded by The Miracles), and "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby," for The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers
The Isley Brothers are a highly influential, successful and long-running American music group consisting of different line-ups of six brothers, and a brother-in-law, Chris Jasper...
' T-Neck Records
T-Neck Records
T-Neck Records was a record label founded by The Isley Brothers in 1964.It's notable for having the Isleys becoming the first R&B band to form a record label, a rarity in black music. During the label's early years, the Isleys issued the records "Testify" and "Move Over And Let Me Dance", which...
in 1970. Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
filed an injunction
Injunction
An injunction is an equitable remedy in the form of a court order that requires a party to do or refrain from doing certain acts. A party that fails to comply with an injunction faces criminal or civil penalties and may have to pay damages or accept sanctions...
against T-Neck because of the group's name; the 45 was withdrawn and re-issued with the group credited as The Young Vandals, and reached #46 on the R&B charts. At about this time, Billy Griffin
Billy Griffin
Billy Griffin is an American singer and songwriter. He is best known for replacing Smokey Robinson as lead singer of The Miracles in 1972.-Biography:...
joined the Young Vandals' lineup.
After two more T-Neck singles, " In My Opinion" and "I'm Gonna Wait For You", The Young Vandals broke up, because Harris felt that college
College
A college is an educational institution or a constituent part of an educational institution. Usage varies in English-speaking nations...
would be a more sensible endeavor than a singing career.
The Temptations
In April 1971, a friend convinced Harris to audition for The Temptations, who were doing a series of shows in nearby Washington, D.C.Washington, D.C.
Washington, D.C., formally the District of Columbia and commonly referred to as Washington, "the District", or simply D.C., is the capital of the United States. On July 16, 1790, the United States Congress approved the creation of a permanent national capital as permitted by the U.S. Constitution....
. The group had just replaced Eddie Kendricks with Ricky Owens
Ricky Owens
Ricky Owens was an African-American R&B and soul singer better known as the first tenor and lead singer of the doo-wop/R&B group The Vibrations and, briefly, as member of The Temptations, the first replacement of original Temptations founding member Eddie Kendricks...
from The Vibrations
The Vibrations
The Vibrations were an African-American soul vocal group from Los Angeles, California, active from the mid-1950s to 1976. Most notable among the group's hit singles were "My Girl Sloopy" and "Love in Them Thar Hills"...
, who was giving uneven performances, and The Temptations were again looking for a replacement. Harris performed first for Temptations Melvin Franklin
Melvin Franklin
David Melvin English better known by the stage name Melvin Franklin, was an American bass singer. Franklin is best known for his role as a member of Motown singing group The Temptations from 1960 to 1994....
, Richard Street
Richard Street
Richard Allen Street is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993...
, and Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards
Dennis Edwards is a soul and R&B singer, most noted for being one of Motown act The Temptations' lead singers replacing David Ruffin. He is the father of Issa Pointer, whose mother is Ruth Pointer of The Pointer Sisters.-Career:...
before auditioning for group leader Otis Williams
Otis Williams
Otis Williams is an American baritone singer. Nicknamed "Big Daddy", he has also acted as a sporadic songwriter and record producer. Williams co-founded the Motown vocal group The Temptations in early 1960 as The Elgins, a group in which he continues to perform...
. Williams was hesitant about taking on the young singer, who was nearly a decade younger than the rest of The Temptations. Franklin, Street, and Edwards voted to accept Harris, however, and he made his onstage debut a few weeks later as first tenor
Tenor
The tenor is a type of male singing voice and is the highest male voice within the modal register. The typical tenor voice lies between C3, the C one octave below middle C, to the A above middle C in choral music, and up to high C in solo work. The low extreme for tenors is roughly B2...
/falsetto
Falsetto
Falsetto is the vocal register occupying the frequency range just above the modal voice register and overlapping with it by approximately one octave. It is produced by the vibration of the ligamentous edges of the vocal folds, in whole or in part...
. Around this time, Billy Griffin replaced Smokey Robinson
Smokey Robinson
William "Smokey" Robinson, Jr. is an American R&B singer-songwriter, record producer, and former record executive. Robinson is one of the primary figures associated with Motown, second only to the company's founder, Berry Gordy...
in The Miracles
The Miracles
The Miracles are an American rhythm and blues group from Detroit, Michigan, notable as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy's Motown Record Corporation . Their single "Shop Around" was Motown's first million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's signature...
.
When he joined the Temptations, Otis Harris changed his name to Damon Harris, because, in his words, "the group already had an Otis" [].
Harris continued to perform with the Temptations for four years, providing Kendricks-esque lead vocals on hits such as "Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
Superstar (Remember How You Got Where You Are)
"Superstar " is a 1971 hit single for the Gordy label, recorded by The Temptations and produced by Norman Whitfield...
" (1971), "Take a Look Around" (1972), the #1 pop hit "Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
Papa Was a Rollin' Stone
"Papa Was a Rollin' Stone" is a soul song, written by Motown songwriters Norman Whitfield and Barrett Strong as a single for Motown act The Undisputed Truth in 1971...
", (1972, a three-time Grammy Award
Grammy Award
A Grammy Award — or Grammy — is an accolade by the National Academy of Recording Arts and Sciences of the United States to recognize outstanding achievement in the music industry...
winner), the #1 R&B hit "Masterpiece" (1973), "Plastic Man" (also 1973), He leads on "Love Woke Me Up This Morning" from the All Directions album (1972) and is featured prominately on hard-to-find The Temptations Live in Japan (1975). According to Otis Williams' book, he Temptations], he was fired from the group in 1975 because of inappropriate statements he made that affected the perception of the group in the eyes of the public.
New group
After leaving the group, the dejected Harris decided to reform The Young Vandals with Simms, Timmons (Kareem Ali), and Tighman, renaming the group Impact, and signing a deal with Atco RecordsAtco Records
ATCO Records is an American record label owned by Warner Music Group, currently operating through WMG's Rhino Entertainment.-Beginnings:Atco Records was founded in 1955 as a division of Atlantic Records. It was devised as an outlet for productions by one of Atlantic's founders, Herb Abramson, who...
in 1976. Working with a Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul
Philadelphia soul, sometimes called the Philadelphia Sound or Sweet Philly, is a style of soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featuring sweeping strings and piercing horns. The subtle sound of a glockenspiel can often be heard in the background of...
production team, Impact recorded a number of minor soul and disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
hits, including "Happy Man" and the #5 disco hit "Give a Broken Heart a Break". The group released only one album on Atco, 1976's Impact, before being dropped from the label because of low sales. Impact signed with Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is a United States-based record label that was founded by Max and Sol Weiss in 1949 in San Francisco, California. They had previously operated a record-pressing plant called Circle Record Company before forming the Fantasy label...
in 1977 and issued the album The Pac is Back, which also suffered from slow sales. The group disbanded and Harris recorded some solo singles of his own including 1978's "It's Music", and the album Silk.
Later years
Damon Harris soon retired from music and moved to Reno, NevadaReno, Nevada
Reno is the county seat of Washoe County, Nevada, United States. The city has a population of about 220,500 and is the most populous Nevada city outside of the Las Vegas metropolitan area...
to complete college. In the 1990s, he returned to music and began touring, sometimes billing himself as The Temptations Review Starring Damon Harris. Richard Street
Richard Street
Richard Allen Street is an American soul and R&B singer, most notable as a member of The Temptations from 1971 to 1993...
, another ex-Temptation, periodically performed with Harris' Temptations review until he formed his own Temptations group.
At the age of 47, Harris was diagnosed with prostate cancer
Prostate cancer
Prostate cancer is a form of cancer that develops in the prostate, a gland in the male reproductive system. Most prostate cancers are slow growing; however, there are cases of aggressive prostate cancers. The cancer cells may metastasize from the prostate to other parts of the body, particularly...
, which he learned he had had for five years. After successfully being treated for the disease, Harris founded The Damon Harris Cancer Foundation in 2001. The organization is a non-profit company, designed to heighten awareness of prostate cancer diagnoses and treatments. The organization has a special focus in reaching African-American audiences, as African-American men have an approximately 60% higher chance of contracting prostate cancer than white men, and are twice as likely to die from the disease http://www.dhcancerfoundation.com/articles.htm.
Singles
- 1970: "I've Been Good to You" b/w "Too Busy Thinking About My Baby" (R&B #46)
- 1976: "Give A Broken Heart A Break" (R&B #36, disco #5)
- 1976: "Happy Man [Part 1]" (US #94, R&B #42)
- 1977: "Rainy Days, Stormy Nights [Part I]" (R&B #90)
- 1978: "Sister Fine" (R&B #49)
- 1969: "In My Opinion" Parts 1&2
- 1970: "I'm Gonna Wait For You" Parts 1&2