The Main Ingredient: Bitter-Sweet - 1972


The Main Ingredient were a seventies soul male vocal group who released a fair few albums but never quite made it. 

They were fronted by Cuba Gooding, father of the movie star (Cuba Gooding Jr.). While Gooding had a good, clear voice, this album doesn’t really do it for me - it is too slow and uninspiring for my taste, too lush. They sound a bit like The Delfonics or The Originals. I like my soul a bit more gritty or, if not, more emotional. The fare here is too slow-paced and one-dimensional but I guess it has a sort of late-night background music appeal. 

Regarding the individual songs, the upbeat Traveling, the excellent lush soul of Everybody Plays The Fool and, to a lesser extent the brassy Where Do Broken Hearted Lovers Go? are the best tracks. A shout out too for the rhythmically soulful No Tears (In The End). Overall, not essential listening for me, unfortunately.


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