Major Harris (singer)

Major Harris
Birth name	Major Harris III
Born	February 9, 1947 (1947-02-09) (age 64) Richmond, Virginia, United States
Genres	R&B
Occupations	Musician
Instruments	Vocals, guitar

Major Harris (born Major Harris III, February 9, 1947, Richmond, Virginia) is an American R&B singer, associated with the Philadelphia soul sound.

Career

In his early career, Harris sang with groups such as The Charmers, The Teenagers, The Jarmels, and Nat Turner's Rebellion, which also featured his songwriting brother, Joseph B. Jefferson, and recorded a few solo 7" records on the Laurie and Okeh labels. In the early 1970s he took over from Randy Cain as a member of The Delfonics; he quit the group to go solo in 1974. Signing with Atlantic Records, Harris scored a string of R&B hits in the US, including the Top Ten single "Love Won't Let Me Wait", which peaked at #5 in the US Billboard Hot 100 chart and #37 in the UK Top 50. Written by Bobby Eli and Vinnie Barrett, "Love Won't Let Me Wait" was awarded a gold disc by the R.I.A.A. on 25 June 1975.^[1]

When his success as a soloist subsided, Harris returned to the Delfonics, and continued to tour with one of two touring ensembles that used the name in the 1990s and 2000s. Major was a cousin to the late Philadelphia record producer and arranger, Norman Harris.

Solo discography

Albums

• My Way (Atlantic Records, 1975) US #28, US Black Albums #12^[2]
• Blue Magic Live Featuring Artist Major Harris, Margie Joseph (1975)
• Jealousy (Atlantic, 1976) US #153, US Black Albums #33^[2]
• How Do You Take Your Love (RCA Records, 1978)
• The Best Of Now and Then (Hot Productions, 1994)
• I Believe in Love (Hot Productions, 1995)
• The Best Of Major Harris (Unidisc, 1996)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions[3]
		US Pop Singles	US Black Singles	US Disco Singles
1974	"Each Morning I Wake Up"	-	98	3
1975	"Love Won't Let Me Wait"	5	1	-
1976	"I Got Over Love"	-	24	-
1976	"It's Got to Be Magic"	-	91	-
1976	"Jealousy"	73	46	-
1976	"Laid Back Love"	91	57	-

See also

• List of artists who reached number one on the Billboard R&B chart
• List of current Atlantic Records artists
• List of 1970s one-hit wonders in the United States

References

1. ^ Murrells, Joseph (1978). The Book of Golden Discs (2nd ed.). London: Barrie and Jenkins Ltd. p. 114. ISBN 0-214-20512-6. 
2. ^ ^{a b} Billboard, Allmusic.com
3. ^ Billboard Singles. Allmusic.com.

Persondata
Name	Harris, Major
Alternative names
Short description
Date of birth	1947-02-09
Place of birth
Date of death
Place of death