Cuba Mark Gooding Sr. (April 27, 1944 – April 20, 2017) was an American singer. He was the most successful lead singer of the
soul
In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being".
Etymology
The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...
group
The Main Ingredient
The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song "Everybody Plays the Fool".
Early history
The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Dona ...
, replacing former lead singer Donald McPherson who was diagnosed with leukemia in 1971. According to '' Billboard'', as the lead vocalist he scored five top 10 hits, most notably, "
Everybody Plays the Fool
"Everybody Plays the Fool" is a 1972 song first recorded by American R&B group The Main Ingredient, and written by J. R. Bailey, Rudy Clark and Ken Williams. It was the first single released from the group's album ''Bitter Sweet'', released wi ...
" (1972), peaking at No. 2 for three weeks, and peaking at No. 3 on ''Billboard''′s all-genre Hot-100 list. "
Just Don't Want to Be Lonely
"Just Don't Want to Be Lonely" is a song written by Bobby Eli, John Freeman and Vinnie Barrett, originally recorded in 1973 by Ronnie Dyson and popularized internationally by The Main Ingredient. Dyson's version reached No. 60 in the US Pop char ...
" (1974), "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend" and "Rolling Down a Mountainside" were also top 10 hits on ''Billboard'' charts. He also recorded as a solo artist with hits of his own.
Early life
Born in
Harlem
Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater Ha ...
,
New York City
New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the most densely populated major city in the Un ...
, Gooding was a son of Dudley MacDonald Gooding (1890–1955) and his wife Addie Alston. The elder Gooding was a native of
Barbados
Barbados is an island country in the Lesser Antilles of the West Indies, in the Caribbean region of the Americas, and the most easterly of the Caribbean Islands. It occupies an area of and has a population of about 287,000 (2019 estimate) ...
who fled the island in 1936 to
Cuba
Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...
, and met and married a woman there. When she was murdered because of their affiliation with Pan Africanist leader
Marcus Garvey
Marcus Mosiah Garvey Sr. (17 August 188710 June 1940) was a Jamaican political activist, publisher, journalist, entrepreneur, and orator. He was the founder and first President-General of the Universal Negro Improvement Association and African ...
, Dudley Gooding promised his wife on her deathbed that he would name his first son Cuba. His father died when Cuba was 11 years old. Gooding's father was a taxi driver in
Manhattan
Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...
.
Career
Gooding Sr. joined
The Main Ingredient
The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group best known for their 1972 hit song "Everybody Plays the Fool".
Early history
The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Dona ...
as a back-up vocalist. He became the lead singer after lead singer Donald McPherson died of
leukemia
Leukemia ( also spelled leukaemia and pronounced ) is a group of blood cancers that usually begin in the bone marrow and result in high numbers of abnormal blood cells. These blood cells are not fully developed and are called ''blasts'' or ...
in 1971. The 1973 album ''Afrodisiac'' featured several songs co-written by Stevie Wonder. Gooding left The Main Ingredient in either 1977 or 1978. He had a brief solo career on Motown Records during the late 1970s and early 1980s making two albums; the first was titled ''The 1st Cuba Gooding Album''. His biggest international success was
Brian Auger
Brian Albert Gordon Auger (born 18 July 1939) is an English jazz rock and rock music keyboardist who specialises in the Hammond organ.
Auger has worked with Rod Stewart, Tony Williams, Jimi Hendrix, John McLaughlin, Sonny Boy Williamson, a ...
's "Happiness Is Just Around the Bend" in 1983, which has in recent times been sampled by several R&B artists, as well as hitting the charts again as a remix by UK Hardcore Rave group
Altern-8
Altern 8 is a British electronic music act, comprising Mark Archer and Chris Peat, until Peat left the group in 1994. Best known in the early 1990s, their trademark was electronic rave music with a heavy bass line. Notable Altern 8 tracks inc ...
in 1991. In 1980, Gooding returned to The Main Ingredient and made two more albums for RCA Victor. In 1991, samples from the song also featured prominently in
Bizarre Inc
Bizarre Inc were an English techno group. Formed in 1989 as a duo between English DJs Dean Meredith and Mark "Aaron" Archer (not to be confused with the film producer of the same name), they later re-formed as a trio consisting of Meredith, ...
's single "Playing With Knives". Gooding released a single called "Politics" in September 2007. He was also developing a film project called ''Everybody Plays the Fool: The Cuba Gooding Story''. The film highlights three generations of the Gooding Family: Dudley "Cuba" Gooding, Cuba Gooding Sr., Cuba Gooding Jr. and Omar Gooding.
On the '' Boat Trip'' DVD trivia track, it was stated that he was going to appear in the 2003 romantic-comedy ''
The Fighting Temptations
''The Fighting Temptations'' is a 2003 American musical comedy film directed by Jonathan Lynn, written by Elizabeth Hunter and Saladin K. Patterson, and distributed by Paramount Pictures and MTV Films. The main plot revolves around Darrin Hill ( C ...
'', which stars his son Cuba Gooding Jr., but he is not in the movie.
Gooding appeared on the ''Beach Music Super Collaboration'' CD, performing the Charles Wallert composition, "Meant To Be In Love". This led to the duo's project, “Never Give Up” (Bluewater Recordings), which debuted at the 2009 presidential inauguration.
Personal life and death
Gooding moved from the
Bronx
The Bronx () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Bronx County, in the state of New York. It is south of Westchester County; north and east of the New York City borough of Manhattan, across the Harlem River; and north of the New Y ...
to southern
California
California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the m ...
in the 1970s. Gooding and his wife, singer Shirley Gooding (née Sullivan) had four children: actors
Cuba Gooding Jr.
Cuba Mark Gooding Jr. (born January 2, 1968) is an American actor. He is the recipient of an Academy Award, a Screen Actors Guild Award, and an Emmy nomination.
After his breakthrough role as Tre Styles in ''Boyz n the Hood'' (1991), he appear ...
,
Omar Gooding
Omar Miles Gooding Sr., also known by his stage name, Big ORosarito Beach, Mexico where he performed at least one charity concert. He also had a residence in
Flagler Beach, Florida
Flagler Beach is a city in Flagler County in the U.S. state of Florida. The population was 4,484 at the 2010 census.
Flagler Beach is part of the Deltona–Daytona Beach–Ormond Beach, FL metropolitan statistical area. It is named for oil tyc ...
.
On April 20, 2017, one week before his 73rd birthday, Gooding was found dead in his vehicle while parked on a street in
Woodland Hills, Los Angeles
Woodland Hills is a neighborhood bordering the Santa Monica Mountains in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles, California.
Geography
Woodland Hills is in the southwestern region of the San Fernando Valley, which is located east of Ca ...
.
CPR
Cardiopulmonary resuscitation (CPR) is an emergency procedure consisting of chest compressions often combined with artificial ventilation in an effort to manually preserve intact brain function until further measures are taken to restore sponta ...
was performed by the fire department but they were unable to revive him. An autopsy determined he died of natural causes.
He is interred at the
Trinity Church Cemetery
The parish of Trinity Church has three separate burial grounds associated with it in New York City. The first, Trinity Churchyard, is located in Lower Manhattan at 74 Trinity Place, near Wall Street and Broadway. Alexander Hamilton, Albert Gal ...
in Manhattan.
References
Notes
#
BBC News
BBC News is an operational business division of the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC) responsible for the gathering and broadcasting of news and current affairs in the UK and around the world. The department is the world's largest broad ...
gives the year as 1977.
NPR
National Public Radio (NPR, stylized in all lowercase) is an American privately and state funded nonprofit media organization headquartered in Washington, D.C., with its NPR West headquarters in Culver City, California. It differs from other ...