In 1970 the group disbanded, however Fears and Robinson both mounted solo careers, while the remaining members again decamped to Dayton, eventually re-forming with keyboardist, vocalist, and songwriter Walter 'Junie' Morrison, trumpeter Bruce Napier, and trombonist Marvin Pierce. (Their early Compass sides were later packaged as First Impressions.) The Players then landed on Capitol, where 1969's 'Here Today, Gone Tomorrow' was a minor hit an LP, Observations in Time, soon followed, with covers of 'Summertime' and 'Over the Rainbow' offering a strong hint of the stylistic detours to follow. In any case, by 1967, with the subsequent addition of singers Bobby Lee Fears and Dutch Robinson, the newly rechristened Ohio Players were signed as the house band for the New York-based Compass Records, backing singer Helena Ferguson on her lone hit 'Where Is the Party' before issuing their solo debut, 'Trespassin',' which hit the R&B charts in early 1968.ДЄlthough the Players' trademark bottom-heavy, horn-driven sound was already blossoming, their follow-up, 'It's a Cryin' Shame,' flopped, and as Compass teetered on the brink of bankruptcy they exited the label. In late 1961, a relative of Ward's founded the Detroit-based Lupine Records, and the group traveled north to the Motor City to back the Falcons on their hit 'I Found a Love' the Ohio Untouchables soon made their headlining debut with 'Love Is Amazing,' but when Ward subsequently exited for a solo career, the group essentially disbanded.ДЄt that point, the nucleus of Middlebrooks, Jones, and newly added guitarist Leroy 'Sugarfoot' Bonner returned to Dayton, where they recruited saxophonist Andrew Noland and drummer Gary Webster, the latter a somewhat elusive figure whose true involvement in the group's convoluted history has never been definitively answered - some sources credit him as a founding Untouchable, others even as the band's early leader.

Emerging from the musical hotbed of Dayton in 1959, the group was originally dubbed the Ohio Untouchables, and initially comprised singer/guitarist Robert Ward, bassist Marshall 'Rock' Jones, saxophonist/guitarist Clarence 'Satch' Satchell, drummer Cornelius Johnson, and trumpeter/trombonist Ralph 'Pee Wee' Middlebrooks. With their slinky, horn-powered grooves, impeccable musicianship, and eye-popping album covers, the Ohio Players were among the top funk bands of the mid-'70s.

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