Bobby (Bobbie) Smith - Spinners R I P

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Bobby Smith on lead on an early Spinners cut ...........

 

The Spinners have their own web site & there is no news of Bobby / Bobbie passing noted on that ....

The group have a show in Memphis in 6 days time, so you would think that this 'news' would have been posted up on their site.

Will they be able to fulfill the engagement if the info is indeed correct.

A later track that Bobby was lead singer on .......... "I'll Be Around" ........

The Spinners @ Prestatyn (2008) ...........

The group were due to play a show at Muckleshoot Casino, Auburn (Wa) last Thursday ......

The casino has a Facebook page ....... "https://www.facebook.com/muckleshootcasino"
and there are comments posted up there about the show being disorganised, so it seems that it must have gone ahead & the group went on (though they aren't actually mentioned in the posts).

SEEMS LIKE THE WIKI page ANNOUNCEMENT COULD BE INCORRECT !!!! 
But a few 'insider types' are reporting his passing on their Facebook pages.

........... CONFIRMATION ANYONE ??

Bruce Hawes has posted this on Facebook ............

 I pause this weekend to honor my great friend and the lead singer of the world famous singing group, 'The Spinners,' "Bobby Smith," who has passed away recently... 
 The loss of Bobby has deeply touched me! I have worked with so many artist in my career but, there has never been an recording-act quite like "The Spinners" for me!

 

So it does seem to be correct .......... RIP Bobby

Got to spend time with Bobby at Prestatyn and he was a truly nice guy (I interviewed the group & he just kept saying ... don't ask me all the questions, ask the other guys some as well).

I can't find anything official about Bobby's death other than the wikipage entry.  The Spinners apparently had a show the following week which apparently went ahead??

I've been told Bobby passed away Yesterday ?  .  RIP Bobby Smith .

Very sad news. What a voice !

I've been told Bobby passed away Yesterday ?  .  RIP Bobby Smith .

 

 

Who by, there is nothing anywhere about it apart from the wiki entry.  Nothing even on the Spinners own page nor other news agencies in the US?

Who by, there is nothing anywhere about it apart from the wiki entry.  Nothing even on the Spinners own page nor other news agencies in the US?

 

 

Dillion Gorman ..Freds son From The Originals ..  there plenty of tributes on Facebook  who was Friends with Bobby Smith so sadley it must be true .

I've seen the FB tributes but most just seem to be passing on the news.

Sad news if true.

Also posted on FB by GC Cameron.

Me too on this picked it up via Bobby Cutchins on Facebook, appears to be true

RIP yet another one of the Detroit stalwart singers

Rob

Yep Martha Reeves has stated this on Facebook today and has spoken abiut all the good times

Bobby's Family have confirmed its true ...Bobby sadley passed away the cause of Death Swine Flu .

I'll be around is one of my all time favourite records, thank you Bobby.

 

R.I.P.

 

Jim.

It appears it was the H1N1 viruse that he died off but as of yet still no official statement, just the tributes from fellow artists and friend.

R.I.P. Bobby.

RIP BOBBY A TRUE STAR

Sad news! made some tracks

   

 

 

                                 Richo

https://www.freep.com/article/20130318/ENT04/130318090/Bobbie-Smith-of-the-Spinners-dies

Bobby Smith, longtime lead singer of Detroit group the Spinners, died Saturday in Orlando of complications from pneumonia and the flu, his family said. He was 76.

Smith had been diagnosed with lung cancer in November.

Funeral details are not set, but services are expected to take place next Monday in Detroit, said the group’s Jessie Peck.

Smith’s final performance came in mid-February during the Soul Train Cruise, said Peck. Smith, who had missed several gigs since his cancer diagnosis, was present on the cruise but not expected to perform during the Spinners’ set. Then the group began to perform its 1974 hit “Then Came You.”

“Like something out of a movie, Bobby shoots right out onstage and — showman that he is — grabs a mic and sings right on cue,” Peck recounted. “The audience went bananas.”

The Ferndale High School graduate had joined the group in 1956, when it was known as the Domingoes. Frustrated with frequent misspellings, group members soon sought a new name, and it was the suggestion of Smith — a lifelong car buff — that won the day: “Spinners” was a nickname for high-end hubcaps.

Smith, whose first name was periodically spelled Bobbie, was lead voice on the group’s first hit, 1961’s “That’s What Girls Are Made For,” produced with Harvey Fuqua – a link that led the group to Motown Records two years later.

Smith and the Spinners enjoyed only minimal success during their Motown tenure, but broke big after signing with Atlantic Records in 1971 at the suggestion of Aretha Franklin. A stream of hits followed with Smith’s prominent vocals: “I’ll Be Around,” “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love,” “One of a Kind (Love Affair),” “Then Came You,” “Games People Play.”

As the group maintained a busy touring and recording schedule, Smith left Detroit for New Jersey in the 1980s, later settling in Florida.

Henry Fambrough, the group’s lone surviving original member, warmly remembered his friend and group-mate of more than half a century.

“Bobby was a regular, down-to-earth, good-natured person, the kind of guy who’d give you his shirt,” Fambrough said this afternoon. “And ever since I’ve known him, he was just a natural showman.”

The Associated Press contributed to this report.

The Spinners from a 1983 publicity photo. Former lead singer Bobby Smith, second from left, passed away Saturday at age 76. / Detroit Free Press file photo

What a beautiful voice , 'I'll always love you' is one of my alltime favourite records ... sad news 

Words are so inadequate sometimes. So I won't bother!

A later track that Bobby was lead singer on .......... "I'll Be Around" ........

A fitting epitaph.

 

RIP

Detroit News has an article on the recently held funeral

 

Toward the end of his eulogy, Cousin spoke the lyrics to "I'll Be Around," prompting a spirited call and response with the assembled.

 

"Whenever you call me," Cousin thundered, " I'll be there!" the congregation answered.

 

"Whenever you want me" – " I'll be there!"

 

"Whenever you need me" – " I'll be there!"

 

Then together, " I'll be around!"

 

 

 

From The Detroit News: https://www.detroitnews.com/article/20130326/ENT04/303260307#ixzz2OfNDemBF