Ray, Goodman & Brown

Ray, Goodman & Brown, are an American R&B vocal group. The group originated as The Moments, who formed in the late 1960s and whose greatest successes came in the early 1970s with hits including "Love On A Two Way Street", "Girls", and "Look At Me (I’m In Love)". In 1979, for contractual reasons, they changed their name to Ray, Goodman & Brown, and had further hits including "Special Lady". A line-up of The Moments, featuring original member Mark Greene, also tours. The first single under their new name, "Special Lady", became one of their biggest hits, reaching #1 on the R&B chart and #5 on the pop chart in early 1980. They followed it up with a succession of further hits, including "Inside Of You" (#14 R&B, 1980). In 1982, following the release of their fourth and final album for Polydor, Ray left the group for a solo career. He rejoined Sylvia and Joe Robinson at their new venture, Sugar Hill Records, but after one album and a minor hit, Sweet Baby, he returned to the group for its comeback on EMI with the ballad "Take It To the Limit" which put them back on the charts in a big way (#8 R&B, 1987). Ray died suddenly from a stroke in 1992. He was replaced in the group by Kevin "Ray" Owens, who had previously been a backing vocalist for Luther Vandross and had taken Harry Ray's place when he had split from the group in the 80s. Occasionally, solo artist Greg Willis joined with Harry, Billy and Al in performances and later, on records, but never became a full-time member. Vocalist Wade 'Smokey' Elliot also did a stint with the group before signing a solo contract with CBS Records in the 1990's. With the return of Kevin 'Ray' Owens, the trio continues to perform and tour as Ray, Goodman & Brown and released two albums in 2002/3, one with new material and the other featuring excellent re-workings of classic soul songs by other male vocal groups. These re-united them with former All-Platinum producer George Kerr. They also sang backup vocals on Alicia Key's song "You Don't Know My Name," which was a number 1 soul/R&B song in 2003. As of 2008, Kevin 'Ray' Owens, Al Goodman and Billy Brown have continued to record together, and tour(sometimes combined with added vocalist Larry 'Ice' Winfree), performing hits from both periods of their careers as 'The Moments' and as 'Ray, Goodman and Brown.' Al Goodman died from heart failure in 2010.