It’s always been easy to get lost in the shuffle of a competitive art form such as music, which explains why a lot of artists/producers/songs/albums/sounds go unheard for years.
A Youngstown, Ohio-bred family singing act called The McCrarys were no different as they moved between spiritual and secular music for most of the 70s and the early 80s.
By 1982, one of the founding family members, Howard McCrary (whose son Darius is known to a generation of Xers and Millennials as Eddie Winslow from Family Matters) was out of the group and their last Capitol Records album, All Night Music, failed to chart.
A hidden gem resides on All Night however, and it’s a perfect song for as we enter the second half of the summer season.
“Love On A Summer Night,” co-written by Crusaders founding trumpeter Wayne Henderson and Elaine Runner, is a lively but mellow mid-tempo groove about the pleasures of intimate companionship on a hot night.
The guitar play stands out as does Henderson’s trombone solo while sisters Linda and Charity McCrary harmonize on the verses while brothers Alfred and Sam join in on the chorus that implores the object of their affections “Don’t hesitate…I just can’t wait…to make you mine.”
If you like a little two-step during your June, July and August evening adventures, “Love On A Summer Night” is the ticket. I use it for my nighttime walking playlist and it’s always a pleasant surprise when this song pops up.
So while the McCrarys didn’t achieve the success of other family groups or R&B groups of the time, a deep cut off of their final R&B album was proof that they had potential.
Listen to “Love On A Summer Night” by The McCrarys:
