Speaker 1: This is the seventy seven w ABC Mini Cast.
Speaker 2: So we have a very interesting guest tonight. This fellow
Speaker 2: here was the original based vocalist of a terrific group,
Speaker 2: R and B group, a duo op group, and really
Speaker 2: I think they had gospel in them too. Listening to
Speaker 2: some of their music there very very versatile. His name
Speaker 2: is Ron Gathers, and I believe Ron is in the
Speaker 2: Philadelphia area, Is that correct? Ron? All right, Hiya, welcome
Speaker 2: you to our show. I'm so happy to talk to you.
Speaker 2: I've loved your music for a long time. So Ron,
Speaker 2: what is happening with you?
Speaker 3: Now?
Speaker 2: What's going on with the group? Now? Well, first of all,
Speaker 2: let me tell everybody it was the Majors. Last night
Speaker 2: I had a wonderful dream about you. I tried to
Speaker 2: sing it, but I guess I don't leave that to you, guys,
Speaker 2: really leave it to you. Tell me about the group.
Speaker 2: How did you form? Originally? Were you Philadelphia's? A couple
Speaker 2: of born in New York.
Speaker 1: Yeah, back in nineteen fifty four, my brother was debate
Speaker 1: to the group, but they didn't have no name.
Speaker 2: Then.
Speaker 1: It was like a street corned d up, like nineteen
Speaker 1: Holland Street in North Philadelphia. My brother and the other
Speaker 1: guys was staying in and I used to come up
Speaker 1: there after school and try to sing with them, and
Speaker 1: they would shoot me away and I couldn't sing. I
Speaker 1: had no voice. So I used to go home and crying,
Speaker 1: and I'm telling the radio, I'm thinking, my brother, Love,
Speaker 1: my brothers, come out to give your base. I would
Speaker 1: take all the groups, you know, the the moon Blow
Speaker 1: and Famingium. Ever try the base with all the groups
Speaker 1: back then, you know. And that's how I developed my voice.
Speaker 1: So right now, my brother God went into the Air
Speaker 1: Force and they were looking for a base uh thing.
Speaker 1: So by that time I had developed myself my voice
Speaker 1: into the base, and they set me into the group.
Speaker 2: Ah. So they finally accepted the baby brother. That's that's good,
Speaker 2: That is good and uh and then then the group
Speaker 2: of course went on. What was the original name of
Speaker 2: the group of wrong. It wasn't Majors, wasn't.
Speaker 1: We we we we uh took the name of Vertatile,
Speaker 1: but that uh we recorded on that sounded lunday dundee there.
Speaker 1: But we found out there was another group already on
Speaker 1: the contract for that that name, so we had to
Speaker 1: change it. So we all had started to come up
Speaker 1: with a song and a name for a new name
Speaker 1: for the group, and I think it Dean Grass came
Speaker 1: up with the Majors. We call them the general that
Speaker 1: had to hashole all kinds of different names from then
Speaker 1: everybody liked the majors, so we took that out.
Speaker 2: So where where did that come from? So where did
Speaker 2: the name major? I mean, it's kind of military.
Speaker 1: We just took that. Like I said, we were calling
Speaker 1: all different kinds of names. We call our something majors.
Speaker 1: That's how it came about.
Speaker 2: That's it as simple as that. Somebody yelled out shouted
Speaker 2: out majors. Excellent, and uh so what happens next? So
Speaker 2: the group of forms and uh, what was the first
Speaker 2: song you recorded? Who would you record for?
Speaker 1: Well, we were we were with a guy named Buddy Carr.
Speaker 1: Well he had a real estate on this and they
Speaker 1: a bar down the center city and we were we
Speaker 1: were right around the corner from israela estate buen the
Speaker 1: song good you Avenue right there four or five blocks
Speaker 1: and he heard about us, and uh he said, well, okay,
Speaker 1: you gotta manager, said no, I about me managing you.
Speaker 1: So we need we needed somebody, you know, the new
Speaker 1: new people. Sure know he having the new people. So
Speaker 1: he uh ended up singing the bar and mostly got
Speaker 1: a comment from the city hall in Senate City. And
Speaker 1: that's so then he introduced us to UH that guy
Speaker 1: UH named uh with predictions. In fact, he's the one
Speaker 1: that did Timmy Hunt Chuck Jackson's John Mona Cry Human.
Speaker 1: So we uh he we recorded the song he came
Speaker 1: up with Dundee Dundee. We had to say songs he
Speaker 1: wrote and we recalled underdiversatile because after the town we
Speaker 1: selected the name the Versatiles and uh we didn't know
Speaker 1: at the time that somebody else had the name. So
Speaker 1: so we recorded the rogue cow record UH and uh
Speaker 1: Don Greenberg. But the gown up in New York and.
Speaker 2: Then that's uh you you were on the way, You're
Speaker 2: on the way. So when did the majors get ahold
Speaker 2: of last night? I had a wonderful dream about.
Speaker 1: After that, the same guy UH money Cobra sold it
Speaker 1: to the UH contract to a guy called Bill Fox.
Speaker 1: He was bigger real this guy old Oivy bar frow
Speaker 1: it up there almost and uh he was he looked
Speaker 1: at the time. He looks went up with this ddiction
Speaker 1: really and uh that's up and took us up to
Speaker 1: New York's trhis up to New York and uh we
Speaker 1: he had these songs, uh uh uh and one of
Speaker 1: them when done, I mean it was wonderful dreams. We
Speaker 1: never sung that high in our life.
Speaker 3: Boy.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and uh so.
Speaker 2: That was a treasure to give someone gave you a
Speaker 2: fresh Now tell me about the lead wednesdayed Rick Cordo.
Speaker 1: Cardo Cargo saying, we've uh in Philadelphia. We were likely
Speaker 1: looking for a real good lead singer, like I said,
Speaker 1: and uh he happened to happen to be like we're
Speaker 1: on the same block, comisty. They were deterbed. There was
Speaker 1: the tutors.
Speaker 3: Around there and and us from the.
Speaker 1: Start Legs and then the New Magic. They weren't too
Speaker 1: far away. All of us came from the same area.
Speaker 2: That's that's quite a neighborhood. I guess it was. It
Speaker 2: must have been Philadelphia Eraphoia.
Speaker 1: Yeah, and so uh he look came to wheearst he
Speaker 1: came heard about us looking for and he came over
Speaker 1: and I were member rehearsal, and I he started singing,
Speaker 1: and he said, I say, you know, with the high
Speaker 1: pal Feather like uh Thompson from the Hysted it was
Speaker 1: just as good, it's not better for me and and
Speaker 1: uh that's how we shot out with him.
Speaker 3: Yeah.
Speaker 1: Yeah, so then then we repented. Uh Della Mars she
Speaker 1: was in a girl group and they broke up and
Speaker 1: we said, we said there were well her mother used
Speaker 1: to have her parties and buy us the same and
Speaker 1: all the all the parties and when that and that's
Speaker 1: how we hooked up with her. So we said, well,
Speaker 1: come on, we come o you know Steve, Well come
Speaker 1: on from she did, and she hit right in.
Speaker 2: But well, obviously obviously the fit was absolutely perfect. How
Speaker 2: would you describe the major so you know, R and B.
Speaker 2: I hear a little gospel every once in a while.
Speaker 2: Tell me how you described.
Speaker 3: The school came up in the church. All of us
Speaker 3: came up, so I was right.
Speaker 1: So yeah, so uh, all that background with Baptist y'all
Speaker 1: came up to the Baptist church. But uh, we we
Speaker 1: didn't do any penny gospels house. They always did you
Speaker 1: walk here, We're action and all after the other groups
Speaker 1: and what not. The Famingo's favorite favorite groups of loonlow. Yeah,
Speaker 1: but all the top groups you know back in the day.
Speaker 1: So we uh started, you know like that and uh so,
Speaker 1: like I said, when we recorded Rubbers the Dream, Uh,
Speaker 1: we wanted really we wanted to uh you uh time Hochel.
Speaker 1: We wanted that as a stay shy, but he said, no,
Speaker 1: We're going to go with a wonderful dream. And it's
Speaker 1: the call.
Speaker 2: Well it's a great tune very and that was good.
Speaker 2: Somebody gave you a treasure. Now what's happening with the
Speaker 2: major zilla? What do you want to do? What are
Speaker 2: you booking? Are your booking concerts room?
Speaker 1: No, we look at but well I took a new group,
Speaker 1: you know, every bottom the last of the you know, well,
Speaker 1: Frank child Jr. Frank Chiut, they want to be second
Speaker 1: tenor and my and my risenal group. His son Frank
Speaker 1: Cayle Jr. Had been singing out songs because he was
Speaker 1: three years old.
Speaker 3: Come through.
Speaker 1: I reheards so every reheard and he would never met rehearsal.
Speaker 1: So guess up, he wound up down and just like
Speaker 1: Ricky Cardo, it's not better, I'm saying he so I
Speaker 1: got here he him and uh Johanna Crump and uh
Speaker 1: and uh uh uh.
Speaker 3: Another guy Uh yeah, sorry, take it time, take it in.
Speaker 1: Anyway, they had a group period, the three of them
Speaker 1: had a group together and uh before so you've got
Speaker 1: to get together each other. Background.
Speaker 2: Yeah, all right, let me ask you this run ifact.
Speaker 2: Somebody wants to book the majors and the It sounds good.
Speaker 2: I mean, you're telling me somebody is as good as CROWDO. Well,
Speaker 2: that's got to be terrific, because well, what a what
Speaker 2: a false little voice here. I've never heard.
Speaker 3: Anything like that.
Speaker 2: And how do people how do people reach you?
Speaker 1: Ron? Is there a website they can reach me my poems? No?
Speaker 2: No, no, no, no, no, don't don't give out the phone.
Speaker 2: I don't want you to give out your phone.
Speaker 4: No.
Speaker 2: Do you have a website?
Speaker 3: Yeah?
Speaker 2: Yeah, don't give up, Ron, you know better. You know
Speaker 2: better than that. Okay, okay, all right, give me the website.
Speaker 2: That's okay, that's okay.
Speaker 3: Give me the website, the major's website.
Speaker 1: You can go there. Everything about us is on the website.
Speaker 2: Okay, that's the way to do it. Okay, Ron, good,
Speaker 2: I'm glad I stopped you. You're gonna start getting phone
Speaker 2: calls inviting you to two picnics and the to the
Speaker 2: going out shopping. Okay, Ron, you know what I did?
Speaker 4: Ron?
Speaker 2: We put together. By the way, I love your song
Speaker 2: Trala Law that was probably I mean, I loved a
Speaker 2: wonderful dream. I played that all the time, but I
Speaker 2: don't know what they were. There's something that tickles me.
Speaker 3: I love it too, you too.
Speaker 2: We're gonna play a little bit of it, all right. Well, listen,
Speaker 2: we're gonna God bless you, and I hope people will
Speaker 2: call you and very fortunate when they see you guys
Speaker 2: perform together. And I'm glad that you're You're still doing
Speaker 2: it wrong the new group.
Speaker 1: But like I said, I took him to Vegas three times.
Speaker 1: Rocket show up in uh in Vegas three times.
Speaker 2: I'm looking, I'm looking ye all right, all right? So
Speaker 2: your majors dot com w So it's a w w
Speaker 2: W dot majors dot com. Is that the address?
Speaker 3: Oh, my.
Speaker 1: Majors.
Speaker 2: I hope that you you don't what I have a
Speaker 2: right now. I have a medley, medley of your hits
Speaker 2: and alone and Trilo laws in this I want everyone
Speaker 2: to hear it. Ron, thank you so much for your time,
Speaker 2: and I look forward to being on the stage with
Speaker 2: you sometimes you are a major act, a major actor.
Speaker 2: Thank you, buddy, stay well, stay one, stay well, and
Speaker 2: I look forward to being with you. Thank you, Ron,
Speaker 2: Ron gathers Guss.
Speaker 5: Oh you send.
Speaker 2: Listen.
Speaker 5: Oh ma, jeep, key guy, he's back guy if he's
Speaker 5: kill me. She's been sweet and she can be.
Speaker 2: She happy and that's the reason I'm again.
Speaker 1: Me.
Speaker 4: Oh my jeep, lovely lucky guy. When my baby watch
Speaker 4: the creek her fas every mon.
Speaker 5: Turn and that's there.
Speaker 3: I'm here.
Speaker 5: Last night I had one dream about you last night.
Speaker 5: I had dreams last night.
Speaker 2: I wonder dream.
Speaker 5: I dream I helped you and my mom. Can you
Speaker 5: do me with your job? You the wonderful dream she
Speaker 5: was the wonderful.
Speaker 4: Had last time, a wonderful love.
Speaker 5: Were all so s.
Speaker 3: Want me?
Speaker 5: Then last night one you wonderful dream. Last night I
Speaker 5: had wondering about you. Last night I had dream okay.
Speaker 4: World about you?
Speaker 2: Oh nice sah. Oh that's good. So you have the
Speaker 2: majors everybody, and thank you, Ron, were very interesting talking
Speaker 2: to That's really great. There's a real I guess you
Speaker 2: can see a pioneer, really a pioneer of rock and roll.
Speaker 2: That Philadelphia sounded a great mixture. Of too often R
Speaker 2: and B and gospel.
Speaker 3: I was right