Artist:The Sandpebbles
Song:Love Power
Album:The Woodstock Generation: All the Love in the World
Love Power was a top 20 R&B hit and a top 30 pop hit for the vocal group The Sandpebbles in 1967. It was their only big hit. Some of their other songs charted so they were not one hit wonders. And Love Power became much better known when Luther Vandross covered it in 1991. The leader of The Sandpebbles was Calvin White. He comes from gospel music. He was in The Gospel Wonders and White wrote the song As Long As I've Got Jesus which was covered by James Cleveland and Vickie Winans. The other two members of The Sandpebbles were Andrea Bolden and Lonzine Wright but White was the lead singer. The Sandpebbles signed with Calla Records. They were owned by Roulette Records owner Morris Levy's bodyguard Nate McCalla. So that means they were mob owned. Of course the artists didn't know that but we know that now. J.J. Jackson and Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams were among those who recorded for Calla. The Sandpebbles recorded six singles for Calla. The first single Forget It reached #10 on the R&B Singles chart. Love Power was the second single. It reached #14 on the R&B Singles chart and #22 on the Billboard Hot 100. The Sandpebbles music was written and produced by Teddy Vann who was closely associated with Roulette. He produced Johnny Thunder's 1963 top five hit Loop de Loop. When The Sandpebbles switched to Cotillion, they didn't own the Sandpebbles name. So the group name was changed to C & The Shells. After singles for Cotillion and Zanzee, they split up. You can get Love Power on this various artists CD. Love Power would get a second life when Luther Vandross covered it in 1991. From what I can tell, Calvin White returned to gospel music as a songwriter and producer. He died in 2007. Here's a video for Love Power by The Sandpebbles.
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