Richard Lewis Spencer

Richard Lewis Spencer is an American musician and teacher. He played tenor saxophone in Otis Redding's band, behind Curtis Mayfield and The Impressions with The Winstons. He was awarded the Grammy Award (R&B Songwriter Of The Year 1969) for his composition "Color Him Father".[1] Spencer wrote "Color Him Father" and Richard was the singer of the mega-hit with The Winstons on Metromedia Records.[2][3]

Biography

Spencer is a Wadesboro, North Carolina native who, at the ages of 11 and 12, studied classical piano at the famed Beckwith Piano School in Charlotte, North Carolina. At the age of 13, he became the organist and pianist for the late Bishop J.H. Sherman of The Church Of God In Christ.

In 1962, Spencer moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked with various bar bands including recording with Leroy Taylor and The 4k's as one of the first acts to sign with historic Shrine Records.

In 1969, Spencer was bandleader for the Winstons, an R&B group from Washington, D.C., whose song "Color Him Father" became a hit. The recording reached No. 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and No. 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. For the B-side, the Winstons recorded "Amen, Brother", an instrumental interpretation of the gospel standard "Amen".[4] From the 1980s onwards, the drum break was widely sampled. Spencer has never received royalties for its use and condemned its sampling as plagiarism.[5] However, in 2015, he said: "It's not the worst thing that can happen to you. I'm a black man in America and the fact that someone wants to use something I created - that's flattering."[6] In 2015, a GoFundMe campaign set up by British DJs Martyn Webster and Steve Theobald raised £24,000 (US$37,000) to compensate Spencer for the lack of royalties.[7]

Spencer left the music business in 1970. He returned to college to study at the University of the District of Columbia where he received a B.A. in political science and a M.S. in labor management relations. He studied for a M.Ed. at the University of Phoenix and the University of North Carolina, and completed the course work for a Ph.D. at Howard University.[1] Spencer retired from the Washington Metro system in 2000, and is currently a licensed Baptist Minister and high school teacher (U.S. history, psychology, civics) in Anson and Montgomery County,North Carolina In March 2015, Spencer was selected and received the prestigious "North Carolina Music Hall Of Fame" and "DC Legendary Musicians Award".

He is separated from Angela Boatright, who co-authored "The Heir" (Xlibris). Spencer published his first novel, The Molasses Tree: A Southern Love Story, in 2003 (Lulu). Richard has one son Richard L. Spencer, III.

References

1. Harrington, Richard (30 June 2006). "A Celebration of Home-Grown Soul". The Washington Post. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
2. Payne, Jim; Weinger, Harry (2007). The Great Drummers of R&B Funk & Soul. Mel Bay Publications. p. 45. ISBN 978-0-7866-7303-2. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
3. Rufo, Tony (2006). The Complete Book of Pop Music Wit & Wisdom. Tyndale House Publishers, Inc. p. 76. ISBN 978-1-4143-0731-2. Retrieved 30 March 2011.
4. "Seven seconds of fire". The Economist. 17 December 2011. ISSN 0013-0613. Retrieved 20 March 2019.
5. "Seven seconds of fire". The Economist. Retrieved 14 October 2018.
6. Otzen, Ellen (29 March 2015). "Six seconds that shaped 1,500 songs". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 'It's not the worst thing that can happen to you. I'm a black man in America and the fact that someone wants to use something I created — that's flattering,' he says.
7. Otzen, Ellen (29 March 2015). "Six seconds that shaped 1,500 songs". BBC News. Retrieved 29 March 2015. 'It's not the worst thing that can happen to you. I'm a black man in America and the fact that someone wants to use something I created — that's flattering,' he says.