Mel and Tim were an American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. It has its roots in African-American gospel music and rhythm and blues. Soul music became ...

duo active from 1969 to 1974. They are best known for the

hit song A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

s "Backfield in Motion", " Starting All Over Again" and "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies".

Career

Melvin McArthur Hardin and Hubert Timothy McPherson were cousins from Holly Springs,

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, who traveled to

Chicago (''City in a Garden''); I Will , image_map = , map_caption = Interactive Map of Chicago , coordinates = , coordinates_footnotes = , subdivision_type = Country , subdivision_name ...

, where they were discovered by

Gene Chandler Gene Chandler (born Eugene Drake Dixon; July 6, 1937) is an American singer, songwriter, music producer, and record-label executive. Chandler is nicknamed "the Duke of Earl" or, simply, "the Duke." He is best known for his most successful son ...

. Yolanda Hardin (who was Mel Hardin's mother and McPherson's aunt) along with their cousins Walita, Catha, Donny and Darris Maxwell, helped the duo with songwriting and publicity. Yolanda, formerly a singer, signed them to a recording contract with her Bamboo Records, and they recorded their own song, "Backfield in Motion". The record was immediately successful, reaching number 3 on '' Billboard'' magazine's R&B chart and number 10 on its

pop chart A record chart, in the music industry, also called a music chart, is a ranking of recorded music according to certain criteria during a given period. Many different criteria are used in worldwide charts, often in combination. These include re ...

in 1969. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Their follow-up record was "Good Guys Only Win in the Movies", which was also the title of their first album. Hardin and McPherson subsequently moved to

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

, for which they recorded a second top 5 R&B hit, the

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads derive from the medieval French ''chanson balladée'' or ''ballade'', which were originally "dance songs". Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and ...

"Starting All Over Again", released in the United States in June 1972. The record climbed to number 19 on the ''Billboard'' pop chart and stayed on the chart for 20 weeks. Five months after its release, it was their second million seller. It was also the title track of their second album, released in 1972, recorded in

Muscle Shoals Muscle Shoals is the largest city in Colbert County, Alabama, United States. It is located along the Tennessee River in the northern part of the state and, as of the 2010 census, the population of Muscle Shoals was 13,146. The estimated popu ...

and produced by Phillip Mitchell. Mel and Tim performed at the

Wattstax ''Wattstax'' was a benefit concert organized by Stax Records to commemorate the seventh anniversary of the 1965 riots in the African-American community of Watts, Los Angeles. The concert took place at the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum on August 20, ...

charity Charity may refer to: Giving * Charitable organization or charity, a non-profit organization whose primary objectives are philanthropy and social well-being of persons * Charity (practice), the practice of being benevolent, giving and sharing * C ...

concert that year, but later recordings could not repeat their earlier successes. Tim McPherson died in 1986. Tim McPherson at Discogs
"Starting All Over Again" was covered by

Hall and Oates Daryl Hall and John Oates, commonly known as Hall & Oates, are an American pop rock duo formed in Philadelphia in 1970. Daryl Hall is generally the lead vocalist; John Oates primarily plays electric guitar and provides backing vocals. The two w ...

in 1990 for their album '' Change of Season''.

Discography

Charted singles

References

External links

Backfield in Motion lyricsAllMusic
{{Authority control African-American musical groups American musical duos Family musical groups Rhythm and blues duos Male musical duos People from Holly Springs, Mississippi Musical groups from Mississippi Musical groups from Chicago Stax Records artists American soul musical groups American rhythm and blues musical groups Musical groups established in 1969 Musical groups disestablished in 1974