Today’s classic ’70s R&B song of the day is “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” by the Main Ingredient. Released in January of 1974, this smooth soul track peaked at #10 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #8 on Billboard’s Hot Soul Singles chart.
“Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” was written by Bobby Eli, John Freeman, and Vinnie Barrett. Collectively and individually they were responsible for writing or co-writing “Love Won’t Let Me Wait” for Major Harris, “Sideshow” for Blue Magic, and other R&B singles.
The first artist to record “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” was Ronnie Dyson. His version, released earlier in August of 1973, only hit #60 on the Hot 100 and #29 on the Soul chart. The Main Ingredient’s version did considerably better.
The Main Ingredient’s single is notable not only for its smooth group harmonies but also for the simple-but-catchy guitar lick in the choruses. (To be fair, that lick was present, albeit less prominently, in Dyson’s more heavy handed original.) That guitar lick is echoed in the string accompaniment throughout the rest of the song. It’s got the same kind of silky, sophisticated R&B groove popularized by the Philly Soul music of the day, even if it was recorded in Manhattan.
The Main Ingredient formed in New York City in 1964 as the Poets. The original group consisted of Donald MacPherson, Luther Simmons Jr., and Tony Silvester. They initially signed with Leiber and Stoller’s Red Bird Records but had little success. In 1968 they changed their name to the Main Ingredient, signed with RCA Records, and hooked up with producer/arranger Bert DeCoteaux. That was the winning formula.
Unfortunately, lead singer Don McPherson died unexpectedly (of leukemia) in July of 1971. The group continued, however, with replacement singer Cuba Gooding Sr. (Yes, he’s the father of actor Cuba Gooding Jr.) With Mr. Gooding at the helm, the group scored big with “Everybody Plays the Fool” (#3 in 1972) and “Just Don’t Want to Be Lonely” two years later. They had a few other minor hits (bigger on the soul charts) but that was the end of their mainstream success.
Tony Sylvester left the group in 1975, Cuba Gooding departed two years later, and Luther Simmons exited the music business to become a stockbroker. They reunited (together and with replacement members) several times over the years, but all three members have since passed—Silvester in 2006, Simmons in 2016, and Gooding in 2017.
