The “Golden Hits Of The 70s”
Main MenuConcept Refinement The Author..Wayne JancikGolden Age Of The 50sGolden Age Of The 60s1970s and There After
MAJOR HARRIS
“LOVE WON’T LET ME WAIT”
(Bobbie Eli, Vinnie Barrett)
Atlantic 3248
No. 5 June 21, 1975
.
.
.
Major’s brother is famed tunesmith Joe Jefferson, known for the Spinners’ “Mighty Love,” “One of a Kind
(Love Affair),” and standard “Love Don’t Know Nobody”; his cousin, Norm Harris, “the Philly Guitar,”
was a member of MFSB and recorded with the LARKS, FIRST CHOICE, BUNNY SIGLER …
.
Harris-christened Major as his father and his father before him–was born in Richmond, Virginia, on
February 9, 1947. His grandparents were vaudevillians, his father was a professional guitarist, and his
mother was leader of the church choir. During the late ’50s, Major recorded with the Charmers and
claims that he was a member of Frankie Lymon’s Teenagers. In the early ’60s, he joined the JARMELS.
Both acts had peaked, but Harris says that he recorded with the latter group and later cut some solo
singles for the Jarmels’ label, Laurie Records. Later in the decade, Major was called upon to front the
Philly Groove act Nat Turner’s Rebellion, which resulted in a few unsuccessful 45s. Between 1971 and
1974, Harris was a member of the Delfonics, and with his assistance, the group had their last pop
chartings, “Tell Me This Is a Dream” (#86; R&B:#15, 1972) and “I Don’t Want to Make You Wait” (#91;
R&B: #22, 1973).
.
In 1974, Major passed an audition as a solo act for W.M.O.T. Productions. He made an album for Atlantic
Records, and while his first single (issued as by the Major Harris Boogie Blues Band), “Each Day I Wake
Up,” flopped, “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” fared much better (R&B: #1, 1975). Several other smooth-talkin’
singles did well on the R & B charts. Two years later, even these R & B hits stopped.
.