Song:Get On Up
Album:The Soul Story Vol. 2
I'm sure many music fans think Get On Up is a long lost Impressions song. But it was a top twenty hit in 1967 for The Esquires. Not to be confused with the Canadian group the Esquires, this Esquires were from Milwaukee. They started out in 1957 led by Gilbert Moorer with his brother Alvis and sister Betty. Betty left in 1961 and was replaced by Sam Pace. Shawn Taylor joined later. They auditioned for Curtis Mayfield and were turned down. They signed with producer Bill "Bunky" Shepherd, owner of Constellation Records. He really liked Get On Up but he added one thing to The Esquires, bass singer Millard Edwards. He was already signed to Constellation. Get On Up was distributed nationally by Scepter Records. It reached #11 on the Billboard Hot 100. As I said, I'm sure fans thought the song was by The Impressions. You can get it on this 2CD Time Life various artists comp. Some of The Esquires other songs charted but nothing matched the success of Get On Up. They left Shepherd for Scepter's Wand label in 1968. They also recorded for Capitol. By the mid-70s The Esquires were touring the oldies circuit and they did that for many years. Gilbert Moorer died in 2008 and Alvis Moorer died in 2011. Here's a video for Get On Up by The Esquires.
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