“Band of Gold” (Freda Payne)

In our third week of looking at the big hits of the year 1970, a particularly good year for hit singles, we turn our attention ro the world of soul and R&B. With that in mind, today’s classic 1970 song of the day is “Band of Gold” by Freda Payne. This was Ms. Payne’s first big hit; released in April of 1970, it peaked at #3 on the Billboard Hot 100, #2 on the Cash Box Top 100, and #1 on the U.K. Singles chart on July 25 of that year. It ended up selling more than two million copies worldwide.

“Band of Gold” was written and produced by the hit Motown team of Brian Holland, Lamont Dozier, and Eddie Holland (with additional contribution by Ron Dunbar), collectively known as H-D-H—although the single wasn’t released on any of the Motown labels. H-D-H had left Motown in 1967 in a feud over royalties and profit sharing and launched their own competing labels, Invictus Records and Hot Wax Records. Freda Payne was signed to Invictus.

Because of their legal dispute with Berry Gordy, H-D-H were prohibited from using their own names on the songs they wrote post-Motown. For that reason, the trio were (collectively) listed as “Edythe Wayne” on the “Band of Gold” label. So now you know that.

Even though H-D-H had left Motown records a few years prior, they didn’t leave their Motown musician friends behind. Yes, those were the musicians known as the Funk Brothers backing up Ms. Payne on this recording. That included Dennis Coffey on that funky electric sitar, Eddie Willis and Ray Parker Jr. on guitars, Earl Van Dyke on keyboards, Bob Babbitt on bass, Jack Ashford on the ever-present tambourine, and Uriel Jones on drums. The background singers included Telma Hopkins and Joyce Vincent Wilson, who later went on to be the “Dawn” part of Tony Orlando and Dawn.

“Band of Gold” definitely sounds like an H-D-H tune, no matter what label it was on. Just listen for the four-on-the-floor snare drum along with 16th-note tambourine and catchy repetitive bass line, that’s the dead giveaway. It almost sounds like a Four Tops tune, slowed down a tad, but with Ms. Payne’s soulful vocals instead of Levi Stubbs’. It’s got that H-D-H Motown magic, that’s for sure.

To hit the then-expected three-minute running time, the producers had to cut a few lines from the first verse and the bridge. Those lines made it clear that the singer is a young woman, inexperienced at the art of lovemaking, who rejects the groom’s advances on their wedding night. Without those lines, many in the gay community embraced the song as being about a gay man unwilling to consummate his relationship with his new (female) bride. The lines cut from the song were:

And the memories of our wedding day
And the night I turned you away

And:

Each night
I lie awake and I tell myself
The vows we made gave you the right
To have a love each night

Okay, that clears things up a bit.

“Band of Gold” hit a chord with music lovers everywhere and dominated the radio in the spring and early summer of 1970. While Ms. Payne sounds great on the recording, she supposedly was reluctant to tackle this one, as she thought it was written for a younger singer. (Freda was all of 30 at the time—a real old-timer!) Fortunately for all of us, co-writer Ron Dunbar talked her into it. It’s a terrific performance.

Freda Payne grew up in Detroit and got her start singing commercial jingles for local radio stations. She moved to New York City in 1963, worked with a number of famous performers, and released a jazz album on the Impulse! label. While in New York she did some theatrical work, most notably understudying Leslie Uggams in Hallelujah Baby. She signed with her old friends Holland-Dozier-Holland in 1969 and subsequently had her first big hit with “Band of Gold.”

Ms. Payne had another hit the next year with “Bring the Boys Home,” which peaked at #12 on the Hot 100 and #3 on R&B chart. She kept recording through the end of the ’70s, took a hiatus from recording for a few decades, then went back into the studio in 2001 for her Come See About Me album. She also put on a show with fellow singer Darlene Love, called Love & Payne. She continues recording and performing today, 80 years young.

I happen to have a not-quite-seven degrees of separation thing going with Ms. Payne, through my old friend Clif Payne (no relation to Freda). Clif got to do some recording with Freda a few years back, starting with the duet “No Payne, No Gain” frm Clif’s 2016 album Welcome to My World. It’s really good and it got a bit of radio play, especially in the UK.

“No Payne, No Gain” did well enough that Clif and Freda recorded a sequel, called “Yesterday’s Payne, Tomorrow’s Joy,” on Clif’s 2018 follow-up album, Too. Clif’s a terrific singer and all-around musician, and probably the nicest guy in the business, so you should check out Clif and his recordings and throw some royalties his way. From all accounts, he had a blast recording with Freda—and the results prove it.