Celebrating the Spirit of Carr’s Beach
aka
Caldwell Onayemi McMillan
Former pianist, and arranger for The Delfonics, Billy Paul,
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
aka
Caldwell McMillan
Former pianist, and arranger for The Delfonics, Billy Paul,
Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes
In his kitchen, an intimidating trap door descended to the abyss – a dug basement with dirt walls and a coal burning stove. Against the wall was an old upright piano. It sat on boards but had a decent sound for being in a “cave”; an alto saxophone hung beside it on the wall. Robert, my best friend, could play rock ‘n’ roll piano. I would go over to his house and learn to play songs by James Brown, Fats Domino, and others. We were just kids.
Hampton was typical of many Black colleges in the 60’s. Conversations about Civil Rights, The Black Arts Movement, and Sports, permeated the buzz around campus. I majored in music – alto saxophone.
Sunday afternoon , September 1969, the Delfonics arrived to perform at Hampton. I asked lead singer, William Hart, if they wanted to augment their band with horns. “Yes but we left our music in Philadelphia; can you write music?”, “Yes, I can.”
I arranged four or five of their songs. The Hart brothers, William and Wilbert, liked what they heard and hired me. Having a saxophonist in the band was a bonus ; having an arranger in the band was a blessing. We toured the USA, Germany, England, and Bermuda.
During my tenure with The Delfonics, the piano became my primary instrument. Once we did a series of concerts with Nancy Wilson. Listening to and absorbing her big band arrangements was a Master Class. Seeing is Believing.
Thom Bell was the Delfonic’s arranger and producer. After he left Philly Groove Records, I became one of their studio arrangers. I arranged songs for their albums “”Tell Me This A Dream and “Alive and Kicking”. It was Symphonic Soul.
After the release of Harold Melvin and the Blue Notes “I Miss You”, Harold asked me to put a band together for him. I toured the USA with the Blue Notes and performed at the Copacabana in NYC, SOUL television show in NYC, Club Harlem in Atlantic City, The 20 Grand in Detroit, a Wilson Pickett tour, and concerts in Brazil.
Billy Paul’s long time pianist and music director, Eddie Green, was a Philadelphia jazz icon. Eddie’s group, Catalyst, became a fulltime thing. Billy hired me to fill Eddie’s chair – What an honor and humbling experience. A gig like this will move you up a notch.
Besides touring the USA, Bermuda, and the Bahamas, we went to Brazil twice and toured Europe with the O’Jays and The Intruders. Billy and I arranged the “Billy Paul Live in Europe” album (Philadelphia International Records 1973).
I replaced keyboardist, Ricky West, of Kool and the Gang while he was on sabbatical. They were who they said they were – “Scientists of Sound.” The album “Love and Understanding” was released during my time with them.
Starting in the late 90s I “pianode” at several Washington DC hotels, notably The Washington Fairmont for six years.
