WILLIAM DEVAUGHN is the classic “one hit wonder”. Though soul connoisseurs have a few of his songs in their collections, it is, of course, ‘Be Thankful (For What You Got)’ for which he will always be remembered . Largely self-financed, he cut the song in 1972 in Philadelphia with John Davis producing and Frank Fioravanti acting as executive producer. Back then Frank was an ambitious Philly businessman. By day he sold Encyclopaedia Britannicas but in his down time he wrote songs and worked as contractor for musicians in the Philadelphia Orchestra who were always looking for extra work which brought him into contact with DeVaughn and Davis. Thus, Frank secured the release of ‘Be Thankful’ on Roxbury Records and the rest is history!
An album followed, built around the mega hit but success was elusive and the singer seemed to lose interest in the music biz and went back to a “civilian career”.
Over the years various William DeVaughn tracks have been “discovered” and released thanks to the efforts of Fioravanti – most notably the lovely ‘Love Ballad Of The Year’ which appeared on a wonderful 2017 ‘Lost Soul Gems’ compilation on Frank’s own ‘Sound Gems’ imprint.
Now were delighted to announce that that Frank has discovered and released another lost DeVaughn track – ‘Thank You, Thank You (For Your Love)’ . Frank tells us that the song was recorded in 1974 for inclusion on the singer’s album but it never made the cut, which sounds odd because it’s a lovely little thing! Bight and optimistic, it echoes the sentiments of William’s big hit and there’s a definite Curtis Mayfield thing going on – and nothing wrong with that. Whatever, this ‘Thank You, Thank You (For Your Love)’ is a most welcome addition to William DeVaughn’s musical legacy.
Thanks to Mark Turner @ Soul Strutter ( https://soulstrutter.blogspot.com/ ) for bringing this to a wider audience and also to Frank Fioravanti for reissuing it. It’s good to go right now from your usual portal!
