The Spinners in 1965.
Reservoir Media has invested in the music IP of The Spinners by inking catalog deals with the estates of founding members Billie Henderson, Pervis Jackson, and Bobbie Smith as well as Henry Fambrough, the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-nominated act’s last surviving original member.
New York City-headquartered Reservoir (NASDAQ: RSVR) unveiled its agreements with 85-year-old Fambrough and the mentioned vocalists’ estates today, a little over one month after detailing a publishing tie-up with rapper Armani White. Following the early departures of C. P. Spencer (who was replaced by George Dixon) and James Edwards (who was replaced by Smith), the above-noted artists in 1954 emerged as The Domingoes, which would in 1961 become The Spinners.
After recording tracks including “It’s a Shame” – and experiencing other personnel changes – the R&B act went on to sign with Atlantic Records and achieve mainstream commercial success in the 1970s. Among the group’s many popular releases from the decade are “Could It Be I’m Falling in Love?,” “Then Came You” (a collaboration with Dionne Warwick), and “The Rubberband Man,” to name some.
(Songwriters Hall of Fame inductee Thom Bell, who penned and/or produced these and many other works, passed away in late December of last year. Additionally, Henry Fambrough announced his retirement from The Spinners in April of 2023, and the group, continuing on without any original members, has booked a number of live performances for the remainder of the year.)
Back to Reservoir’s acquisition, the company relayed that the just-revealed deals encompass “the master royalty income streams” of Fambrough and the involved estates.
Though higher-ups opted not to disclose the precise financials at hand, Fambrough in a statement emphasized the “significant” investment’s impact on the heirs of Henderson, Jackson, and Smith.
“I am ecstatic that the heirs of Bobbie, Pervis and Billie received the proceeds of what is a significant catalog sale,” said Fambrough, whose group has released albums such as 1973’s Spinners, 1974’s Mighty Love, and 1975’s Pick of the Litter. “With this sale and the timing of this induction into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, I am extremely honored but lamented Bobbie, Pervis, Phillipe and Billie are not here to share the catalog sale and Hall of Fame ceremony, both a wonderful moment in time.”
Now representing “over 150,000 copyrights and 36,000 master recordings,” according to execs, Reservoir has also finalized music-IP agreements with Mannie Fresh, Sonny Rollins, and Dion to this point in 2023. When the market closed today, the company’s stock was worth $5.97 per share, reflecting a nearly 11 percent dip from late June of 2022.