Norman Ray Harris (October 14, 1947 – March 20, 1987) was an American guitarist, producer, music arranger and songwriter, closely associated with Philly soul. He was a founding member of

MFSB MFSB, officially standing for "Mother Father Sister Brother", was a pool of more than 30 studio musicians based at Philadelphia's Sigma Sound Studios. They worked closely with the production team of Gamble and Huff and producer/arranger Thom B ...

, the Philadelphia studio band, and one of the

Baker A baker is a tradesperson who bakes and sometimes sells breads and other products made of flour by using an oven or other concentrated heat source. The place where a baker works is called a bakery. History Ancient history Since grains ...

-Harris- Young record production trio.

Career

Harris was a leading arranger for Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff's Philadelphia International Records label in its early years during the 1970s and played guitar on many recording sessions. He also played with Vince Montana's

Salsoul Orchestra The Salsoul Orchestra was the backing band of session musicians for many acts on the New York City label Salsoul Records and, under its own name, recorded several hit singles and albums between 1975 and 1982. History The orchestra was formed i ...

when several members of MFSB left after financial disagreements with Gamble-Huff in 1974. He later founded his own production company in the mid-1970s called The Harris Machine. In 1980, he released his only solo album, ''The Harris Machine'', on Philadelphia International. Harris started teaching himself guitar in his teens and began his career in local clubs, often with bassist Ronnie Baker and later drummer Earl Young, and in the

house band A house band is a group of musicians, often centrally organized by a band leader, who regularly play at an establishment. It is widely used to refer both to the bands who work on entertainment programs on television or radio, and to bands which ...

at the Uptown Theatre in Philadelphia. He then became a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

as the Philadelphia recording scene expanded. He later arranged and produced

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 '':wikt:soul, soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The ea ...

and R&B acts during the late 1960s, 1970s and 1980s, including Blue Magic (with whom he had his biggest success, "Sideshow", a No. 1 R&B hit),

The Trammps The Trammps are an American disco and soul band, who were based in Philadelphia and were one of the first disco bands. The band's first major success was their 1972 cover version of " Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart", while the first disc ...

, First Choice, The Dells,

The Four Tops ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in ...

The Temptations The Temptations are an American vocal group from Detroit, Michigan, who released a series of successful singles and albums with Motown Records during the 1960s and 1970s. The group's work with producer Norman Whitfield, beginning with the Top ...

The Whispers The Whispers is an American group from Los Angeles, California, who have scored hit records since the late 1960s. They are best known for their two number one R&B singles, " And the Beat Goes On" in 1980 and " Rock Steady" in 1987. The Whispe ...

, Eddie Kendricks, Barbara Mason,

Curtis Mayfield Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music.

Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Sigler (March 27, 1941 – October 6, 2017) was an American R&B singer, songwriter, multi-instrumentalist and record producer who did extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and was instrumental in creating th ...

Joe Simon Joseph Henry Simon (October 11, 1913 – December 14, 2011) was an American comic book writer, artist, editor, and publisher. Simon created or co-created many important characters in the 1930s–1940s Golden Age of Comic Books and served as the ...

, South Shore Commission, Executive Suite, and his cousin, Major Harris, a former member of The Delfonics. He also produced several acts, including: Loleatta Holloway, Eddie Holman,

Double Exposure In photography and cinematography, a multiple exposure is the superimposition of two or more exposures to create a single image, and double exposure has a corresponding meaning in respect of two images. The exposure values may or may not be id ...

and Love Committee, for

Salsoul Records Salsoul Records is an American New York City based record label, founded by three brothers, Joseph Cayre, Kenneth Cayre, and Stanley Cayre (the Cayre brothers). Salsoul issued about 300 singles, including many disco/post-disco 12-inch release ...

, who distributed his subsidiary label, Gold Mind Records. He died of

cardiovascular disease Cardiovascular disease (CVD) is a class of diseases that involve the heart or blood vessels. CVD includes coronary artery diseases (CAD) such as angina and myocardial infarction (commonly known as a heart attack). Other CVDs include stroke, ...

at the age of 39. In 2016, Harris was inducted into the

Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum The Musicians Hall of Fame and Museum (MHOF) in Nashville honors all musicians regardless of genre or instrument. The MHOF timeline starts with the beginning of recorded music and inductees are nominated by current members of the American Feder ...

As Composer (selected)

*"Zing! Went the Strings of My Heart" -

(1972) *Pray All You Sinners -

(1973) *Armed and Extremely Dangerous - First Choice (1973) *

Stop to Start "Stop to Start" is a 1973 song by Blue Magic from their eponymous debut album. The single peaked at No. 74 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, #14 on the R&B chart The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the ...

- Blue Magic (1973) *Side Show - Blue Magic (1974) *Hold Back the Night -

(1975) *Penguin at the Big Apple -

(1975) *Scruboard -

(1975) *Rubber Band - The Trammps (1975) *Tom's Song - The Trammps (1975) *Dreamin' - Loleatta Holloway (1976) *Hit and Run - Loleatta Holloway (1976) *We're Getting Stronger - Loleatta Holloway (1977) *Doctor Love - First Choice (1977) *Catch me on Rebound - Loleatta Holloway (1978)

References

External links

* * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Harris, Norman 1947 births 1987 deaths Record producers from Pennsylvania American soul guitarists American male guitarists 20th-century American businesspeople 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Philadelphia People from Danville, Virginia 20th-century American male musicians MFSB members Salsoul Orchestra members The Trammps members

Career

As Composer (selected)

See also

References

External links