Major Harris, who fronted the Delfonics before going solo and hitting big with Love Won’t Let Me Wait, passed away on Friday from congestive heart and lung failure at the age of 65.
Major Harris
Harris passed through a number of groups, including the Charmers, the Teenagers and the Jarmels before settling in with the Delfonics in 1970, replacing Randy Cain. The group had already scored numerous major hits (La-La (Means I Love You), Ready or Not Here I Come, Didn’t I (Blow Your Mind This Time)) by the time Harris joined, so his four year tenure was while their career was cooling down. Nonetheless, they did have almost a dozen R&B chart hits during the time and remained a popular live act.
In 1974, Harris decided to go solo and signed with Atlantic, scoring six sides that hit the R&B charts including Love Won’t Let Me Wait (1975/#5 Pop/#1 R&B). By 1976, he made the decision to return to the Delfonics and would stay with them for the rest of his career. Interestingly, at any one time, there were two or more groups touring under the name even though they would mix their talents when recording new material.
