It was the spring of 1969 and three young sisters who were making the transition from gospel to R&B (as had other Stax artists before them, notably Johnnie Taylor, a former member of The Soul Stirrers) found themselves with a big hit. Sheila, Wanda and Jeanette Hutchinson had been a part of the family group known as The Heavenly Sunbeams along with their father Joe when they were just about able to walk! The Chicago-born family worked alongside greats like Mahalia Jackson becoming the Hutchinson Sunbeams in their early teens and, mentored by The Staple Singers, the trio began their journey into the secular musical world around 1967 recording initially for a local Chicago label, Twin Stacks.

Funny, but in my own history as a soul music man in the U.K., I had some involvement with the release of one of the trio’s singles for Twin Stacks when, along with my partners in the pioneering British Soul City company – Dave Godin (often referred to as the ‘godfather of R&B’ in Britain) and Robert Blackmore – we put out “Somebody New” on our Deep Soul label! Of course, typical of such releases on the imprint, it probably sold all of 100 copies to the ardent Brit soul brigade and now remains a complete rarity, forty years on…

The trio’s recordings for Twin Stacks may have sold a few more copies in the U.S. but it was after an appearance at The Regal Theater, the chitlin’ circuit venue in the Windy City, that The Emotions landed a contract with Stax, thanks no doubt to an introduction to the label by Pervis Staples. It was supposed to be a one-off single deal but when “So I Can Love You” (written by Sheila and, as she relayed to Rob Bowman in the liner notes for the Complete Stax Singles box set, Vol.2, based on a true story), so deftly produced by Isaac Hayes & David Porter began taking off, The Emotions found themselves with a long-term contract with Volt.

Still in their teens, the trio recorded for Stax for a number of years, although in interviews years later, members of the group expressed concern about having recorded songs (such as Luther Ingram’s “If Loving You Is Wrong,” released on a UK compilation of their work entitled “Songs Of Innocence and Experience”) that they deemed ‘inappropriate’ given their age. The record-buying public seemed unconcerned that the vocal trio coo-ing tunes like “So I Can Love You,”
“I Like It,” “The Best Part Of A Love Affair.” “Stealing Love,” “Show Me How” and “From Toys To Boys” were barely legal at the time and while an Emotions’ album for Volt was entitled “Untouched,” the young women’s seeming discomfort with singing songs that dealt with adult emotions and situations seem to dissipate as they became regular fixtures on the R&B charts from ‘69 to ’74.

In the wake of the demise of Stax, The Emotions hooked up with a man who, while born in Memphis, had made Chicago his home for many years: Maurice White, aware of the group from its early years in the world of gospel, signed the group to his Kalimba Productions in 1976 and a year later, The Emotions had landed a chart-topping single in the form of “The Best Of My Love,” now a tried-and-true classic, used in movie soundtracks, commercials and countless compilations since. While their sound evolved, certainly The Emotions’ early work for Stax provided a solid career foundation for this soulful team…

David Nathan
Aka the British Ambassador Of Soul
Owner, www.soulmusic.com