Spencer Wiggins was a gifted and emotionally powerful vocalist who cut a handful of superb
southern soul singles during the mid-'60s but never scored the hits he genuinely deserved, though years later he would be lionized as one of the lost masters of the form by British and Japanese enthusiasts of
deep soul.
Wiggins was born in Memphis, TN, in 1942; his parents had a strong interest in music, and while in high school
Spencer formed a
gospel vocal group, the New Rival Gospel Singers, which also featured his brother
Percy Wiggins and sister Maxine Wiggins. At the same time,
Spencer and
Percy were members of the glee club at Memphis's Booker T. Washington High School when the student body included
Booker T. Jones,
Maurice White, and
William Bell and the faculty included noted disc jockey and talent scout
Nat D. Williams. In this fertile environment,
Spencer and
Percy first turned professional, formed an
r&b vocal group called
the Four Stars that featured
David Porter, later to become a noted songwriter. In 1961,
Spencer graduated from high school and began making a name for himself on the Memphis club scene; after several years of gigging he caught the attention of
Quinton Claunch, a songwriter and producer who ran the
soul-dominated Goldwax Records label.
Claunch signed
Spencer to a record deal in 1964, and while his first sides were licensed to the Bandstand USA label, he was soon releasing product through Goldwax proper. Despite cutting strong material with
Claunch at the controls and some of the city's best session players backing him up,
Spencer never scored the major breakthrough hit he needed, and after Goldwax went under in 1969, he recorded material for the Fame, Pama, and Vivid Sound labels before he left Memphis for good in 1975. In 1976,
Spencer had a spiritual rebirth and turned his back on secular music in favor of
gospel. After relocating to Florida, he became a deacon of the New Birth Baptist Church in Miami, and was named director of two of the church's choral groups. While a 1977
gospel album cut with the help of
Al Green was never released, in 1999
Spencer released a cassette-only EP, Jump for Jesus, which received significant airplay in the Miami area. A full-length
gospel album, Keys to the Kingdom, was released in 2002 and merged
Spencer's full-bodied vocals and spiritual message with tracks produced and arranged in
contemporary r&b and hip-hop styles. A thorough compilation of
Spencer's work for Goldwax, The Goldwax Years, was released by the British Kent label in 2006. ~ Mark Deming, All Music Guide
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The Goldwax Years