Alex Henderson

Michael Henderson
Goin' Places

In the 20^th Century, Detroit, Michigan, was not only famous for the auto industry—it was also famous for being one of the most musical cities in the United States. Detroit was a major provider of rock talent (Alice Cooper, MC5, Bob Seger, Bill Haley, Mitch Ryder, Ted Nugent & the Amboy Dukes, Suzi Quatro, the Romantics) as well as world-class jazz improvisers (Barry Harris, Tommy Flanagan, Donald Byrd, Sir Roland Hanna and brothers Elvin, Hank & Thad Jones). And the Motor City was where Mississippi native John Lee Hooker, Sr. (one of the most influential bluesmen of all time) made his mark. But no discussion of Detroit’s music scene would be complete without mentioning Detroit soul, which was very good to Michael Henderson during the 1960s and 1970s.

Henderson was not a native of the Motor City: the multi-faceted singer, bassist, songwriter and producer was born in Yazoo City, Mississippi on July 7, 1951 and relocated to Detroit as a pre-teen in the early 1960s. Detroit, of course, was where Berry Gordy founded Motown Records in 1959—and Henderson became an important session bassist for Motown, appearing on recordings by Marvin Gaye, the Fantastic Four, the Detroit Emeralds and others before Gordy moved the company west to Los Angeles in 1972. Henderson also played his electric bass for Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder (one of Motown’s top stars), and it was during a 1969/1970 tour with Wonder that Henderson met one of the most influential jazz musicians of all time: trumpeter Miles Davis.

When Davis hired Henderson, the trumpeter was generating a considerable amount of controversy in the jazz world by playing fusion (an innovative blend of jazz, rock and funk). Davis was never afraid to shake things up or push the envelope—he had helped usher in cool jazz with his seminal Birth of the Cool sessions of 1949/1950 and modal jazz with his equally groundbreaking Kind of Blue album of 1959—and the jazz purists of the 1970s didn’t think much of the fusion he was playing. But Davis could have cared less what purists or bop snobs thought; he was determined to keep forging ahead. And Henderson became a valuable part of his band, playing his electric bass on a long list of Davis albums that included A Tribute to Jack Johnson and Live-Evil in 1970, On the Corner in 1972 and Agharta and Pangaea in 1975.

Henderson would have gone down in history as an important musician even if he had never done any singing whatsoever. But as it turned out, Henderson was not only a skillful, broad-minded bassist who had no problem playing with the Dramatics one minute and Miles Davis the next—he was also an expressive vocalist, and in 1975, Philadelphia jazz drummer Norman Connors gave him a chance to prove that when he featured him on his classic quiet storm hit “Valentine Love” (which Henderson wrote). A romantic, Wonder-influenced male/female vocal duet with singer Jean Carn, “Valentine Love” was a turning point for both Connors and Henderson: that single marked Connors’ transition from instrumental jazz to vocal-oriented R&B, and it established Henderson as a major-league soul singer. Henderson’s popularity as a vocalist continued to grow in 1976 when Connors featured him on the haunting ballad “You Are My Starship,” which became Connors’ biggest hit ever and soared to #4 on Billboard’s R&B singles chart.

Given the success of “Valentine Love” and “You Are My Starship,” a solo career was inevitable for Henderson. Buddah Records released Henderson’s first solo album, Solid, in 1976, and he followed it up with his second solo album, Goin’ Places, in 1977. Goin’ Places performed relatively well, reaching #18 on Billboard’s R&B albums chart and #11 on its jazz albums chart. Whether or not Goin’ Places belonged on the jazz charts is open to debate. Jazz great Herbie Hancock appears on keyboards, and parts of the album are jazz-influenced—including the torchy ballad “I’ll Be Understanding” and the quiet storm pearl “At the Concert” (a male/female vocal duet with Roberta Flack). But Goin’ Places is clearly an R&B album first and foremost, and Henderson excels on the infectious funk of “Whip It” and the single “I Can’t Help It” as well as romantic ballads and slow jams that include “Won’t You Be Mine,” “Let Me Love You” and the title song. Henderson favors a very hands-on approach on Goin’ Places: in addition to producing the album and playing electric bass and guitar, he wrote or co-wrote all of the songs except “Won’t You Be Mine” (which was written by Ken Peterson and became a minor hit). Henderson co-wrote “Let Me Love You” with Detroit native Ray Parker, Jr., who appears on guitar and hit big as a singer in 1978 with his band Raydio and their smash hit “Jack and Jill.” FunkyTownGrooves’ expanded 2014 edition of Goin’ Places contains three bonus tracks: the 7” single versions of “I Can’t Help It,” “Won’t You Be Mine” and “Let Me Love You.”

In 1977, Henderson had a reputation for being a romantic singer—and he lives up to that reputation on much of Goin’ Places. But it’s important to remember that in the 1970s and 1980s, he was also an excellent funkster. “I Can’t Help It” and “Whip It” are seriously funky, and in 1980, Henderson’s quirky, p-funk-minded “Wide Receiver” (which was greatly influenced by Parliament/Funkadelic and Bootsy Collins) became one of his biggest solo hits.

After Goin’ Places, Henderson continued to record for Buddah in 1978 with his third solo album, In the Night Time, which contained the major hit “Take Me, I’m Yours” (a male/female duet with singer Rena Scott) and was followed by Do It All in 1979, Wide Receiver in 1980, Slingshot in 1981 and Fickle (his last album for Buddah) in 1983. Henderson resurfaced on EMI Records in 1986 with his eighth solo album, Bedtime Stories, which turned out to be his only album for that label. Henderson (who is now 62) hasn’t recorded any studio albums since Bedtime Stories, although he continues to perform live.

From fusion to funk to romantic soul, Henderson has much to be proud of—and as this reissue demonstrates, Goin’ Places is a gem of a solo album.

—Alex Henderson, January 2014

Alex Henderson’s work has appeared in Billboard, Spin, Creem, The L.A. Weekly, JazzTimes, Jazziz, Salon.com, AlterNet, Cash Box, HITS, CD Review, Skin Two, Black Beat, The Pasadena Weekly, Black Radio Exclusive (BRE), Music Connection, Latin Style, The New York City Jazz Record, Jazz Inside Magazine and many other well-known publications. Henderson (alexvhenderson.com) also contributed several thousand CD reviews to The All Music Guide’s popular website and series of music reference books.