THE DETROIT EMERALDS

The Detroit Emeralds had a pair of top forty pop hits in the early '70s. Their biggest was "Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)."

They came about as the Emeralds in Little Rock, Arkansas, and originally comprised four brothers: Ivory, Abrim, Cleophus, and Raymond Tilmon. After the latter two quit the group, Ivory and Abrim were joined by their childhood friend, James Mitchell. They relocated to the Motor City and expanded their name to the Detroit Emeralds. There, they signed with Ric-Tic Records and enjoyed their first charted single, “Show Time,” in 1968.

By 1970, the trio was on another Detroit label, Westbound. Their labelmates included Funkadelic, Teegarden & Van Winkle, Alvin Cash & The Registers, and (later) Denise LaSalle. While touring in Memphis, the group made some demo recordings at the studios of Hi Records. Back in Detroit, they mixed in violins and background vocals. This resulted in their second charted single, “If I Lose Your Love.” The follow-up, “I Can’t See Myself Doing Without You,” failed to set the world on fire, but the Emeralds rebounded with four major Soul hits: “Do Me Right,” “Wear This Ring (With Love),” “You Want It, You Got It,” and “Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms).” The latter two cracked the pop top forty as well.

In 1973, they made the British top five with “Feel the Need in Me,” though it was not a major US hit. Four years later, they re-recorded the song as “Feel the Need,” and it became a UK hit all over again. For good measure, it also made #14 on Billboard magazine’s Disco chart.

By 1974, the Detroit Emeralds were disintegrating. At one point, two different groups were using the name. One was Abe Tillmon’s while the other featured James Mitchell, Ivory Tillman, and Marvin Willis. The latter line-up toured the oldies and cabaret circuits for many years.

Abe Tillmon wrote, arranged and produced all of the Detroit Emeralds’ recordings. He died on July 6, 1982, of a heart attack at age 37.

In 2019, James Mitchell formed a new group of Detroit Emeralds. That year, they released a new single, “Victory.” Their next single, “Face 2 Face,” came out in November 2021.

Charted singles:

“Show Time” (1968) R&B #22, Pop #89
“If I Lose Your Love” (1970) R&B #32
“I Can’t See Myself Doing Without You” (1970) R&B #41
“Do Me Right” (1971) R&B #7, Pop #43
“Wear This Ring (With Love)” (1971) R&B #18, Pop #91
“You Want It, You Got It” (1971) R&B #5, Pop #36, UK #12 (1973)
“Baby Let Me Take You (In My Arms)” (1972) R&B #4, Pop #24
“Feel the Need in Me” (1972) R&B #22, Pop #110, UK #4
“You’re Gettin’ a Little Too Smart” (1973) R&B #10, Pop #101
“I Think of You” (1973) UK #27
“Lee” (1973) R&B #79
“Feel the Need (re-recording)” (1977) R&B #73, Pop #90, Disco #14, UK #12
“Let’s Get Together” (1978) Disco #11