INTERESTED IN THE EMBERS?
ARTIST BIO
In 1958, a couple of enterprising high school boys in Raleigh, North Carolina answered the Soviet challenge of Sputnik by forming a band called The Satellites. They played for school dances and parties, and on a good night could pocket as much as $60 for their efforts. The name soon changed to The Embers, but the timeless Rhythm and Blues music they still play remains as popular now as it was back in the late fifties and early sixties.
Rhythm and Blues laid the foundation for Soul and the Motown sound, but throughout The Carolinas, Virginia, Georgia, Florida and Alabama, Rhythm and Blues means Beach Music, and that means The Embers. Bobby Tomlinson, the group's co-founder, elaborates on the genre, explaining:" One week of the year you go to the beach, meet a girl, take her dancing, and you hear this music. When you hear those songs again you think of the girl and the fun you had at the beach."
Don't just picture The Embers playing on a beach, however. With numerous albums, 45 years, and a busy tour schedule, The Embers are one of the most popular and active groups in the country. The Embers boast an average of three hundred dates a year, travelling form Toronto to Florida to Hawaii and back again. Although forty years ago they arrived at jobs in a car with a trailer hooked behind them, they now have a full-time productions staff, a sixty foot tractor-trailer rig carrying comprehensive sound and lighting equipment, instruments, costumes, and other necessities that may be required for shows, indoor and out. The group itself travels in a bright red Florida Custom Coach tour bus, making short and long trips comfortable and allowing them at times to be able to perform three shows a day.
VIDEO GALLERY
PHOTO GALLERY
SONG LIST
Soul R&B and Dance
Ain’t No Stoppin’ Us Now - Barry White
How Sweet It Is - Marvin Gaye
I just Can’t Get You Outta My Mind - The Four Tops
Staggerlee - Lloyd Price
Givin’ it Up for Your Love - Delbert McClinton
My Girl/Just My Imagination Medley - The Temptations
Ain’t Too Proud to Beg - The Temptations
I Can’t Help Myself (Sugar Pie) - The Four Tops
Wall to Wall Back to Back - Johnnie Taylor
I’m Goin’ Back To Louisiana - Delbert McClinton
I’ll Be Around - The Spinners
Ladies Night/Celebration Medley - Kool & The Gang
I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water - Johnnie Taylor
Brown Eyed Girl - Van Morrison
Some Bridges Need Burning - Keisha Brown
Let it Whip - The Dazz Band
Mustang Sally - Wilson Pickett
It’s Too Late to Turn Back Now - The Cornelius Brothers
Ten Ways of Loving You - Lenny Williams
What’s Goin’ On - Marvin Gaye
Meet Me with Your Black Drawers On - Jeannie Cheatham
Signed, Sealed, Delivered - Stevie Wonder
Sweet Caroline - Neil Diamond
Boogie Shoes - K.C. & The Sunshine Band
Hold Back the Night - The Trammps
I’m in Love - O.C. Smith
Cowboys to Girls - The Intruders
You’re the First, My Last, My Everything - O.C. Smith
If You Want Me to Stay - Sly & the Family Stone
Dance to the Music/Thank You/ Higher Medley - Sly
Isn’t She Lovely - Stevie Wonder
Don’t Let the Green Grass Fool You - Wilson Pickett
Before You Accuse Me - CCR
Hard to Handle - Otis Redding
Could it Be I’m Falling in Love - The Spinners
What Does it Take - Junior Walker & the All Stars
The Thrill is Gone - B.B. King
Knock on Wood/Midnight Hour/Hold On I’m Comin’ Med.
I Just Haven’t Met You Yet - Michael Bublé
Evil Ways (up tempo or easy tempo) - Santana
Lipstick, Powder & Paint - Joe Turner
Sweet Home Alabama - Lynrd Skynrd
Let’s Stay Together - Al Green
Build Me Up Buttercup - the Foundations
Move On Up - Curtis Mayfield
Disco Inferno - The Trammps
Big & Hot
Hook, Line and Sinker - Smiley Lewis
Mohair Sam - Charlie Rich
Little Mama - The Clovers
Since I’ve Been Loving You - Arthur Alexander
Blue Boy - John Fogherty
Sweet Soul Music/Land of 1000 Dances/Shake a Tailfeather Meldey
634-5789 - Wilson Pickett
Proud Mary - CCR
Just The Way You Are - Bruno Mars
Wooly Bully - Sam the Sham and the Pharoahs
Pride & Joy - SRV
Johnny B. Goode - Chuck Berry
Forget You - Ce-Lo Green
Ballads
Love Won’t Let Me Wait - Major Harris
Hold Me, Thrill Me - Mel Carter
Lady Soul - The Temptations
Unchained Melody - The Righteous Brothers
If You Don’t Know Me - Harold Melvin & The Bluenotes
God Bless the USA - Lee Greenwood
Unforgettable - Nat King Cole
Stand By Me - Ben E. King
What a Wonderful World - Louis Armstrong
Have I Told You Lately - Rod Stewart
Oh Darlin’ - The Beatles
Never Give Up - The Embers
Celebrate Me Home - Kenny Loggins
You Are the Best Thing - Ray LaMontagne
Beach
39-21-40 Shape - The Showmen
Beach Music - The Embers
We Made Them Dance - The Embers
Get Your Lovin’ While I Can - The Embers
Under the Boardwalk - The Drifters
Long Legs (All the Way Up) - The Embers
Spooky - The Classics IV
Besame Mucho - The Flamingos
Hey, Hey Baby - Embers
Hang on Sloopy - The McCoys
With This Ring - The Platters
Miss Grace - The Tymes
I’ve Been Hurt - The Tams
It Ain’t the Meat - The Swallows
Canadian Sunset - The Embers
Street Corner Serenade - The Embers
The Best Out of Me - O.C. Smith
Stay - Maurice Williams and the Zodiacs
Summertime’s Callin’ Me - The Catalina’s
Be Young, Be Foolish - The Tams
Save the Last Dance for Me - O.C. Smith
Ain’t No Big Thing - The Embers
I’m Gonna Do Beautiful Things for You - The Embers
I Love Beach Music - The Embers
A Quiet Place (aka Johnny Dollar) - The Embers
Brenda - O.C. Smith
The Show Must Go On - The Embers
Carolina Girls - The Chairmen of the Board
Rainy Day Bells - The Globetrotters
Far Away Places - The Embers
More Than a Number in My Little Red Book - The Drifters
Gone Fishin’ - The Chairmen of the Board
Cool Me Out - The Embers
What You Do to Me - The Embers
Sand in My Shoes - The Drifters
Glad I Fell in Love - The Embers