The Intruders

The Intruders is a former American soul music group most popular in the 1960s and 1970s. As one of the first groups to have hit songs under the direction of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, they had a major influence on the development of Philadelphia soul.

Biography

Formed around 1960, the group originally consisted of Sam "Little Sonny" Brown, Eugene "Bird" Daughtry, Phillip "Phil" Terry and Robert "Big Sonny" Edwards. In 1969, Sam Brown was replaced as lead singer by Bobby Starr, only to rejoin the group in 1973.

In 1965, when legendary songwriters and record producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff first contemplated leaving the Cameo-Parkway record label to risk launching their own recording label, the vocalists on which they pinned all their hopes and venture capital were The Intruders. Like many other subsequent acts the duo produced, which includes the popular Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes and The O'Jays, The Intruders had already developed a vocal sound that was both theirs and uniquely "Philadelphian".

Sam "Little Sonny" Brown, Eugene "Bird" Daughtry, Phillip "Phil" Terry and Robert "Big Sonny" Edwards had been recording and performing one-off singles together since 1961, blending Philly's street corner doo-wop tradition with black gospel fervor. The result was neither as pop-infected as Motown, nor as funky and blues-inflected as Stax, but had an appeal all its own. The sound which The Intruders refined for the Excel, Gamble and Philadelphia International imprints reflected a different attitude than either Stax or Motown.

Gamble and Huff's success with The Intruders helped convince Columbia Records to grant them the money to launch Philadelphia International, which became the most successful soul label in the 1970s. Gamble and Huff acknowledged that their work with The Intruders was the very foundation of what they called "The Sound Of Philadelphia".

The Intruders, meanwhile, were undergoing some internal turmoil. When the group resurfaced on the 1970 Gamble LP, "When We Get Married", lead singer Sam "Little Sonny" Brown was replaced by nightclub singer, Bobby Starr (born Robert Ferguson). The title song, "When We Get Married" (R&B #8, Pop #45), a Dreamlovers cover, became a hit on the charts, as was the follow-up "(Win, Place Or Show) She's A Winner". Starr's tenure with the group was short-lived; Little Sonny returned to the group in 1973 for the album "Save The Children", which spawned The Intruders' last two big hits, "I'll Always Love My Mama" (R&B #6, Pop #36) and "I Wanna Know Your Name" (R&B #9, Pop #60). But "Cowboys To Girls" (R&B #1, Pop #6) will remain as the only chart topping single of their career. It was recently covered by the Hacienda Brothers.

During the late 1970s and early 1980s, in the West Coast, their music was very popular among Latino, specifically Chicano, youth. Tragically, Eugene "Bird" Daughtry died of cancer in 1994, and Sam "Little Sonny" Brown committed suicide in 1995.

Discography

ingles

*"Gonna Be Strong" (1965)
*"(We'll Be) United" (1966)
*"Together" (1967)
*"A Love That's Real" (1967)
*"Cowboys To Girls" (1968)
*"Love Is Like A Baseball Game" (1968)
*"Slow Drag" (1968)
*"Sad Girl" (1969)
*"Me Tarzan, You Jane" (1969)
*"When We Get Married" (1970)
*"Save The Children" (1973)
*"I'll Always Love My Mama" (1973)
*"I Wanna Know Your Name" (1973)
*" (Win Place Or Show) She's a winner" (1974)
*"Hang On In There" (1974)
*"Energy of Love" (1974)
*"A Nice Girl Like You" (1974)

References

A House On Fire: The Rise and Fall of Philadelphia Soul by John A. Jackson, ISBN 0195149726 (Publication: New York Oxford University Press (U.S.), 2004)