The Dynamics

by Andrew HamiltonIsaac Zeke Harris, George White, Fred Baker, and Samuel Stevenson were the Dynamics. (Zerben R. Hicks also sang with them but left shortly after their first album release.) All Detroit natives, the group was managed by Ted White, who was married to the Queen of Soul, Aretha Franklin.Their first Cotillion release, the metaphoric Ice Cream Song, did quite well on R&B charts. Following the lead of Atlantic recording Aretha in the South, White took the Dynamics to Memphis to record, which is why Ice Cream Song sounds like something the Mad Lads would have recorded at Stax. The Dynamics, however, were more versatile than the Mad Lads, and the material was better too. They had three lead voices, one being an outstanding falsetto. Chips Morman and Tommy Cogbill produced their early sides; the rhythm section consisted of Memphis stalwarts Reggie Young (guitar), Bobby Emmons (organ), Bobby Wood (piano), Mick Leach (bass), and Gene Chrisman (drums). They recorded two albums: First Landing on Cotillion and What a Shame on Black Gold.