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His early idols were Sam Cooke, BB King, Bobby Bland and Ray Charles, and he and
Percy would get to as many shows in Memphis as possible, whilst dreaming of being

recording artistes themselves. The school they attended, Booker T. Washington High
School was a hot bed of musical talent, including Booker T. Jones, William Bell, David
Porter, and later members of the Barkays. Their history teacher, Nat Williams, was
very keen on nurturing young musicians, and started a talent night in Beale Street.

He was also the first dj on the famous Memphis WDIA radio station, so was
responsible for breaking many black singers.

The Wiggins family formed a gospel group, which performed for 5 years, firstly at
local churches, and latterly at venues as much as 100 miles away. They also
commenced a weekly 15 minute spot on WDIA.

Whilst still at school, Spencer and his brother formed a band including David Porter,
with a backing group featuring Booker T. Jones, Maurice White (later of Earth Wind
and Fire) and Andrew Love (of Memphis Horns fame). Not bad for a school band!

Having graduated from school in 1961, Spencer opted against college in order to
have a shot at a career in music, whilst Percy went to college in Nashville. He worked

regularly around the city with a band including Isaac Hayes on keyboards, often
working at clubs holding 500-600 people, and at times appeared on shows with such
as Elvis Presley and Al Green.

One of their regular gigs was The Flamingo Club, where one night he was approached
by a man called Quinton Claunch (who later worked with both OV Wright and Willie
Hightower), and it was through him that he signed for the Goldwax label.

Claunch closely monitored both the songs he brought to Spencer, and the recording
process, much of which was done at Sam Phillip’s studio in Memphis. His first release
was ‘Lover’s Crime’, in 1964, on the Bandstand label. Subsequent recordings

included backing musicians Reggie Young on guitar, Bobby Emmons on keyboards,
Wayne Jackson and Floyd Newman on horns, all of whom were either, at that time,
or later, staples of the Southern Soul sound. In 1966/67 he travelled to Muscle Shoals

to record at the Fame studios, where he met Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, who
provided him with two songs that became Goldwax singles - ‘Take Me Just As I Am’
and ‘Uptight Good Woman’. Spencer recounted that his final session featured
‘Skyman’ on guitar.

This was actually Duane Allman, who was also frequently referred to as ‘Skydog’,and
it produced a great cover of ‘I Never Loved A Woman (The Way I Love You)’, which
had also been recorded by Aretha Franklyn - with the sex changed, of course!

He released seven Goldwax singles between 1966 and 1969, and was constantly on
the road, with the 4 piece band he put together in 1966. Money was tight, especially

when keeping other musicians on a salary, and he felt that Goldwax offered