The Flaming Ember was an American blue-eyed soulband from Detroit, Michigan, United States, who found commercial success starting in the late 1960s.[1]
The group originally formed in Detroit in 1964.[1] At that time they were known as The Flaming Embers,[1] named for a local Detroit restaurant. They recorded for Ed Wingate's Ric-Tic label in 1967, scoring an R&B hit written by George Clinton, "Hey Mama Whatcha Got Good For Daddy."[2] When Berry Gordy, Jr.'s Motown Records purchased Golden World Records/Ric-Tic from Wingate, the Flaming Ember chose not to sign with Motown.[1] In 1969, they signed with Hot Wax Records, (the label founded by Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Edward Holland, Jr.), after the band had recorded for a number of smaller Detroit-area labels since 1965.[1] Said Dozier years later, "Their drummer Jerry Plunk was a fantastic, emotional singer."[3]
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.
Reviewing the 1999 compilation Westbound No. 9: The Hot Wax Sessions in AllMusic, Stephen Thomas Erlewine wrote of the band, "At their best, they were a fiery, inspired soul band, taking inspiration from classic Southern soul, Motown, psychedelia, and album rock, resulting in a heady rush of sound where gritty vocals sit next to paisley-colored electric sitars."[6]
Members
Joe Sladich, guitar (replaced by Mark McCoy in 1972, and in recent reunion), died from throat cancer[citation needed]