The Flaming Ember was an American soul

band Band or BAND may refer to: Places *Bánd, a village in Hungary *Band, Iran, a village in Urmia County, West Azerbaijan Province, Iran * Band, Mureș, a commune in Romania *Band-e Majid Khan, a village in Bukan County, West Azerbaijan Province, I ...

from

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

, United States, who found commercial success starting in the late 1960s. The group originally formed in Detroit in 1964. At that time they were known as The Flaming Embers, named for a local Detroit restaurant. In 1969, they signed with

Hot Wax Records Hot Wax Records was a Detroit, Michigan-based record label, created by producers/songwriters Holland–Dozier–Holland (Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier and Brian Holland) in 1968 when they left Motown. History Until 1967, Holland, Dozier, and Holl ...

, (the label founded by

Brian Holland Brian Holland (born February 15, 1941) is an American songwriter and record producer, best known as a member of Holland–Dozier–Holland, the songwriting and production team that was responsible for much of the Motown sound, and numerous h ...

Lamont Dozier Lamont Herbert Dozier (; June 16, 1941 – August 8, 2022) was an American singer, songwriter, and record producer from Detroit, Michigan. He co-wrote and produced 14 US ''Billboard'' number-one hits and four number ones in the UK. Career Doz ...

, and

Edward Holland, Jr. Edward Holland Jr. (born October 30, 1939) is an American singer, songwriter, and record producer. Holland was born in Detroit, Michigan, United States. Although he was an early Motown artist who recorded minor hit singles such as "Jamie", ...

), after the band had recorded for a number of smaller Detroit-area

labels A label (as distinct from signage) is a piece of paper, plastic film, cloth, metal, or other material affixed to a container or product, on which is written or printed information or symbols about the product or item. Information printed d ...

since 1965. They recorded for Ed Wingate's Ric Tic label in 1967, but when

Berry Gordy, Jr. Berry Gordy III (born November 28, 1929), known professionally as Berry Gordy Jr., is a retired American record executive, record producer, songwriter, film producer and television producer. He is best known as the founder of the Motown record l ...

's Motown Records purchased

Golden Records Golden Records was a Simon & Schuster record label based in New York City. It was conceived and founded in 1948 by the Grammy Award-winning children's music producer, Arthur Shimkin, then a new recruit in the S&S business department. Shimkin ...

/ Ric-Tic from Wingate, the Flaming Ember chose not to sign with Motown. They dropped the "s" from its name and scored a pop and

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

hit Hit means to strike someone or something. Hit or HIT may also refer to: Arts, entertainment and media Fictional entities * Hit, a fictional character from '' Dragon Ball Super'' * Homicide International Trust, or HIT, a fictional organization ...

with " Mind, Body and Soul" in 1969 (number 26 on the US Billboard pop singles chart); they hit charts again with their signature song (and

heartland rock Heartland rock is a genre of rock music characterized by a straightforward, often roots musical style, often with a focus on blue-collar workers, and a conviction that rock music has a social or communal purpose beyond just entertainment. The ge ...

antecedent) "Westbound #9" (number 24 US pop, number 15 US '' Billboard'' R&B chart), and "I'm Not My Brother's Keeper" (number 34 pop, number 12 R&B). The three songs were all released between late 1969 and late 1970. Follow-up efforts such as 1971's "Stop the World and Let Me Off" were not as successful. After changing their name to Mind, Body and Soul they spent the rest of the 1970s playing the Detroit bar circuit. The band was inducted into the

Rockabilly Hall of Fame The Rockabilly Hall of Fame is an organization and website launched on March 21, 1997, to present early rock and roll history and information relating to the artists and personalities involved in rockabilly. Headquartered in Nashville, Tennesse ...

in 1999. The Flaming Embers reunited in 2004, played at the Rockabilly Festival in Tennessee and completed a CD.

Members

* Joe Sladich,

guitar The guitar is a fretted musical instrument that typically has six strings. It is usually held flat against the player's body and played by strumming or plucking the strings with the dominant hand, while simultaneously pressing selected strin ...

(replaced by Mark McCoy in 1972, and in recent reunion), died from throat cancer * Bill Ellis, keyboards * John Goins, keyboard, backup vocals from late 1960s to mid 1970s, died December 26, 2018 from kidney failure * Jim Bugnel,

bass guitar The bass guitar, electric bass or simply bass (), is the lowest-pitched member of the string family. It is a plucked string instrument similar in appearance and construction to an electric or an acoustic guitar, but with a longer neck and ...

(replaced Mike Jackson in 1966) * Jerry Plunk, drums and lead vocals * Dennis Mills, bass guitar (early to mid 1970s), played in the group Mind, Body and Soul (not Flaming Ember) * Larry Gregg, drums, died on 20 April 2010

References

External links

Flaming Ember , Biography, Albums, Streaming LinksInterview with Plunk and Bugnel
{{DEFAULTSORT:Flaming Ember, The American pop music groups American soul musical groups Musical groups from Detroit Ric-Tic Records artists 1964 establishments in Michigan