The Spinning Around: Singles 1967-1975

by The Main Ingredient

Overview

True to its title, this CD includes 22 tracks taken from singles the Main Ingredient released between 1967 and 1975 (including three pre-1969 cuts that they released when they were called the Insiders). Whether or not it's the intention, it ends up being a best-of CD, the Main Ingredient certainly being a singles-oriented soul group. While the 2005 collection Everybody Plays the Fool: The Best of the Main Ingredient has all of the well-known hits, as well as some songs that didn't make it onto Spinning Around, this U.K. import is nonetheless a superior compilation in several important respects. It has six more songs and more comprehensive liner notes, and the inclusion of more late-'60s material (starting with the tracks from 1967 Insiders 45s) gives listeners a deeper appreciation of the group's roots. And it still has all the key hits, largely ones that exemplify the Main Ingredient's status as one of the slickest sweet soul harmony groups. One of those hits is the 1971 Top 20 R&B single "Black Seeds Keep on Growing," which remains a tantalizing glimpse of an African-American pride-oriented lyrical direction that the group didn't follow up on, perhaps because songwriter (and bandmember) Don McPherson died shortly after it was recorded. While the CD might be a little harder to find in the U.S. than other Main Ingredient best-ofs, it's worth the slight extra effort and expense if you want the best anthology of their work available. ~ Richie Unterberger

Product Details

Release Date:	10/30/2007
Label:	Kent
UPC:	0029667227421
Rank:	105168

Tracks

1. I'm Better Off Without You
2. If You Had a Heart
3. I'm Just a Man
4. I Was Born to Love You
5. Brotherly Love
6. The Girl I Left Behind
7. You've Been My Inspiration
8. I'm So Proud
9. Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)
10. Magic Shoes
11. Black Seeds Keep on Growing
12. I'm Leaving This Time
13. Everybody Plays the Fool
14. You've Got to Take It (If You Want It)
15. You Can Call Me Rover
16. Girl Blue
17. Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
18. Happiness Is Just Around the Bend
19. California My Way
20. Rolling Down a Mountainside
21. The Good Old Days (Do You Remember)
22. Shame on the World

Album Credits

Performance Credits

The Main Ingredient   Primary Artist

Technical Credits

Tony Rounce   Liner Notes,Memorabilia
Ed Townsend   Composer
John Freeman   Composer
Leon Ware   Composer
Joseph Hill   Composer
Rudy Clark   Composer
Peter Gibbon   Memorabilia
Nick Robbins   Mastering
James Bailey   Composer
Stevie Wonder   Composer
Brian Auger   Composer
Jacqueline Hilliard   Composer
Vinnie Barrett   Composer
Yvonne Wright   Composer
Enrique Antonio "Tony" Silvester   Composer
Luther Simmons Jr.   Composer
Ugene Dozier   Composer
Melvin Kent   Composer
Matthew White   Composer
Bobby Eli   Composer