For a few too many years, most of the same musicians could be found on the Minnesota State Fair Grandstand stage on the first Monday of the Fair: The “Happy Together” tour of late-’60s pop acts. As the same songs and stage banter came and went every year, I’m sure I wasn’t alone in wishing for more of the soulful side of what was coming out of the radio back in the day.
I’ve heard older African Americans refer to it as “grown folks’ music,” and a lot of it was simply exquisite pop songcraft. Well, I got my wish on Monday when ’70s R&B hit makers the Spinners topped a three-act bill that was enthusiastically embraced by a modest crowd of 2,436. Mind you, it’s something of a ghost band, as only one original Spinner remains from a group that had a reputation as a terrific live act at its peak. But it was an enjoyable throwback, enhanced by the presence of another legendary R&B act, Little Anthony and the Imperials.
The Spinners’ 75-minute set was at its best when the five members traded phrases on “They Just Can’t Stop It (Games People Play)” and sent the crowd bouncing on “The Rubberband Man.” It’s a pity that they chose to spend so much time on abbreviated covers of Prince’s “Kiss” and Marvin Gaye’s “Let’s Get It On” when they could have offered more of their own hits (such as “Love Don’t Love Nobody”). But it was nice to catch strong live versions of “I’ll Be Around” and “Mighty Love.”
There was only one band on the bill currently ensconced in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame (although the Spinners certainly deserve it more than many an inductee), and that was Little Anthony and the Imperials. Performing their first show in 17 months, these descendants of the doo-wop tradition are best known for sad ballads that soared up the pop charts between 1958 and ’65.
What a pleasure it was to experience 80-year-old Jerome “Little Anthony” Gourdine bringing his durable, distinctive high tenor voice to vintage fare like “Tears on My Pillow,” “I’m on the Outside (Looking In)” and “Goin’ Out of My Head.” It’s a shame that the rest of the Imperials chose to yuck it up during an otherwise very affecting “Hurt So Bad,” but at least the first-rate nine-piece backing band was given an opportunity to have a high-energy rave-up on Little Richard’s “Lucille,” a tribute to that recently fallen rock and roll pioneer that I didn’t realize how much I needed.
A holdover from the “Happy Together” tour was opener the Grass Roots. Sure, the group doesn’t have any members from its heyday of 1966 to ’71, but it delivered solid versions of one-time AM radio staples like “Temptation Eyes” and “Midnight Confessions.”
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August 31, 2021 at 10:58AM
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The Spinners bring some retro groove to Minnesota State Fair Grandstand - TwinCities.com-Pioneer Press
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