Epstein Secrets

had just returned from Gershwin's European Tour of Porgy and Bess. The group disbanded again in 1970. After again reforming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce and keyboardist Walter "Jani

returned from Gershwin's European Tour of Porgy and Bess. The group disbanded again in 1970. After again reforming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce and keyboardist Walter "Janie" Morriso

ce Napier, and trombonist Marvin Pierce. Pain influenced by the groundbreaking funk of =ly & the Family Stone -- and with the nasal, cartoon-voiced Bonner assuming vocal duties --=the new Ohio Players lineup made their debut with the single "Pain,&quo=; issued on the small 29 EFTA_R1_02175174 EFTA02

new mater=al was forthcoming, although various lineups continued performing live well into t=e following decades. Despite the deaths of core members Satchell (December 1995), Middlebrooks (November 1997), Ward (December 2008), Johnson (February 2009), and Bonner (January 2013), the ba=d continued to spor

Ward with 21-year-old Leroy "Sugarfoot" Bonner (guitar), who would become the group's front man, and added Gregory Webster (drums). To accommodate Bonner's musical style preferences for the group ("R&B with a little flair to it") and to avoid competing with Ward, the group changed their format. By 196

d from George Gershwin's European Tour of Porgy and Bess. The group disbanded again in 1970. After again re-forming with a line-up including Bonner, Satchell, Middlebrooks, Jones, Webster, trumpeter Bruce Napier, vocalist Charles Dale Allen, trombonist Marvin Pierce, and keyboardist Walter "Junie" Morris