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insufficient support to help his career, in spite of his reasonably successful single
releases, although none were hits.

It didn’t help that he had no manager, and was forced to do all the organising and

promoting himself. His friends Isaac Hayes and David Porter landed on their feet at
Stax, but Spencer was still hustling, and that included working as a driver for a
furniture store to help ends meet.

Leaving Goldwax, he moved to the Fame label, still under the guidance of Quinton
Claunch, where he recorded a few more singles, before finding himself without a
contract for a few years in the early 1970s. In 1973 he quit Memphis, and moved to

Florida, at the same time ending his association with blues and soul music, opting
instead to return to gospel. He recorded some material in Al Green’s studio, but
nothing was released, so he was forced once again to take up truck driving.

He eventually became Deacon (and security guard!) of the Miami New Birth Baptist
Church, where he also directed the choir, and took part in many gospel shows. In
1999 he released a six track cassette, which received significant local airplay, but

did little else. An album entitled ‘Keys To The Kingdom’, aimed at the younger music
listening audience, including elements of hip-hop, was released locally, on the
Tavette label, in 2002. This was his first album! A follow-up, ‘I’m Goin’ On’, was

released in 2009. Although I’ve not heard much of his gospel output, apparently that
Southern Soul voice is in evidence throughout.

Spencer died on 13th February 2023, at the age of 81. He, unlike so many of his
contemporaries, was a clean living man who never smoked, drank or took drugs,
but passed away essentially of old age. You can listen to the wonderful Goldwax
recordings on the Kent/Soul CD ‘The Goldwax Years’. It is a mystery to me why he

never had a hit.

So, three, in my opinion, great vocalists who never achieved the acclaim I believe
they should have. But there are plenty of others, and I might return to some of them

in the future.