Gettin’ Funky with James “Diamond Williams of the Ohio Players
Gettin’ Funky with James “Diamond Williams of the Ohio Players
Interviewed by Aaron Robinson, Editor
& Tocarra Eldridge-Robinson
@iamcomprehend | @TocarraMusikWorld
One of the greatest bands in history, Ohio Players, funk pioneers shaped modern music and their powerful and electrifying music defined a generation. The group has 17 Top 40 hits such as “Skin Tight”, “Fire” and “Love Rollercoaster” and also 3 Platinum and 5 Gold albums. Over the decades, artist such as Ice-T, 2Pac, The Notorious B.I.G., Snoop Dogg, Ice Cube, Dr. Dre, Mary J. Blige, just to name several has sampled the legendary bands music.
Today the group is back in the spotlight. Members of the band, fans and artists alike are asking for recognition for the band to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, suggesting that it’s long overdue.
Recently the band placed a clip of “I Want to Be Free” on Instagram from a Midnight Special concert and received over 280,000 views in one day. It received massive comments and drew engagement from many prolific artists of many cultures.
Consciousness Magazine had the opportunity to chat with James “Diamond” Williams, the famed drummer of the band. Rolling Stone magazine rated the legendary band member as one of the 72 Top 100 Greatest Drummers of All Time.
Here is what James “Diamond” Williams has to share.
Aaron Robinson: Ohio Players have three platinum and five gold albums and 17 top 40 hits. Having accomplished these milestones, did you ever anticipate you and the band having this much success in your career?
James “Diamond” Williams: You know, I'm a boy from what they call the ghetto - from just moderate means. My mother and father both worked, but I didn't come up with a silver spoon or anything like that. To have that much success was quite exhilarating and quite surprising. We were a band, of course, and I got with the band in 1972. The first platinum record was written in 1974, so a couple of years after I'd gotten in the band, I'd left college. When we first wrote the platinum album Skin Tight it was just amazing! And sure enough, Billy Beck and I, who were the primary writers, we sat in my front room and we said, “You know, if we write three platinum albums, we should be on easy street.” We actually set out to write three platinum albums. I wish I had said 15 [laugh]. It was great! It was great! It's wonderful, actually!
Aaron: Nice. Nice.
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Diamond sits cool and is laid back while wearing his sunglasses:
Diamond: You know, at that point, we were just writing songs. One thing that Ohio Players did a little bit different from other bands, I would imagine, was that we wrote songs of different topics and different music genres, to a point. We wrote songs called “Little Lady Maria”, “Contradiction”, “Angel” and “I Want to Be Free.” We wrote songs that dealt with things that were going on in the world with Black people at that time, like “Streakin’ Cheek to Cheek”, “Skin Tight”, those are street songs. And "I Want to Be Free", you can take it a couple ways. Ohio Players always wrote about women, okay. Let that be known! We had them on our covers; we loved them immensely. So "I Want to Be Free", you always get within a relationship where you just need a little bit of freedom; a little bit of space. And Sugarfoot took it all the way where he said, ‘Gone, gone! I don't need you no more I Want to Be Free.’ There's a thin line between love and hate. Those are two strong words. So in that, sometimes you just want to be free.
Aaron: Yeah, that's what's up. I started listening to music more so in the 80s; I'm a hip hop head. When I heard hip hop music, I always wanted to know where artist sampled their music from. So I would go to my mother and my father's records collection to find the original music. So I'm saying that to say, what is it like for you when you watch TV, hear the radio, and you hear artists sample Ohio Players music?
Diamond: You know, let's say flattery. It's the highest form of flattery for somebody to imitate you. Again, during that period of time when they started to write a lot of samples and do a lot of sampling - I, in particular, had to be very careful giving the leeway and the say-so that people could do it because I didn't want them to switch so much from the idea that we had in our original songs. Some of these rappers, some of these hip hoppers had a way in their language and in some of their demeanour that was not likened to what our idea was when we wrote the original songs. I mean, no time did I want to be saying this and that and whatever; shooting and banging to a song like "I Want to Be Free", or any other song that we wrote. That wasn't the theory of how we wrote it. So we had to be very careful as to how people sampled our songs. In most cases, they did a great job of it. Music goes on, and the idea of music continues. It was more of the mechanical things that were being done, of course, with sampling than people playing it. So it was all good.
Aaron: Absolutely.
Diamond: As long as they paying… I will say that as long as they paying, it's all good! That's the most important part, okay? Don't forget that Aaron [laugh].
Aaron: Alright [laugh].
Tocarra: So, of course, you guys left a legacy with your music. Can you tell us what's the secret of why people still listen to your music, like regarding the chemistry or what goes on in the background that people may not know or see?
Diamond: I think what goes on in our music is good musicianship. When I grew up, I started playing drums when I was three or four, or five years old. I took 10 years of private lessons. I went to the all-city orchestra, all-city band. I went to Miami University for five years in the summer for two weeks at that program. I got a full scholarship to Kentucky State University. Have you ever seen the movie Drumline? That was me. I got in so many fights in my college years; you wouldn't believe it, because I was the drum captain when I was a freshman. There were 180 members in the band. When I got there, there were juniors and seniors that just knew they were going to be the drum captain. No, you're not; no, you're not; I'm the drum captain [laugh].
Aaron and Tocarra: [Laugh!]
Diamond: I've been a drum captain with Drum and Bugle Corps since I was 14 years old. I've been marching all over. Are you kidding me right now? This crown belongs to me. That was a problem in college.
Diamond becomes excited:
Billy Beck was a sound player and very astute in playing keyboards. And I mentioned him because there was a transition between the Ecstasy album, which was my first album with Junie Morrison. Junie did the part for “Funky Worm”. He was a genius. When Billy Beck replaced him with his musicianship, his musicality and his knowledge of music, the two of us linked up with a guy that was already there named Sugarfoot. Leroy Bonner, an absolute genius, not only on guitar, but talking about lyrics who could make rhyme words that didn't even rhyme by the way he would sing it. So the musicianship that we applied within the music that's been played 50 years from that day, somewhat is the reason why it's still being played.
Aaron: That's beautiful. Currently, you guys are fighting for recognition to be inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame. What are your thoughts of why you are not receiving this recognition?
Diamond: Aaron, I've always said, and I will continue. When the museum opened up, it was called Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, and they had rock and roll artists that were being inaugurated and brought in. It's called Rock & Roll, I'm R&B. I'm funk. I'm a lot of things, but not Rock & Roll. When they started to bring in other people of other music genres, I said, ‘well, come on now.’ I'm not discrediting anybody. Whoever's gotten in, I would imagine, is deserving of getting in, for whatever qualifications they are to get in. But to ring the Ohio Players' bell, I think we are deserving. I'll also say this, regardless of getting in the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame; you are looking at one blessed individual. I am so blessed every day that I live my life, that if it never, ever happens, it'll be okay for me. I got so many things to thank the Lord for. And if the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame is not on that list, that's just one thing that I won't have to mention. It's a great museum. All the people that are in there deserve it. I hope they are happy about being inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, as I will be when I get inducted, but otherwise, I'm a blessed individual.
Aaron: Absolutely.
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Tocarra: That's for sure. Let's talk about the group's name for a moment. Now, where did the name originate?
Diamond: Well, the original name, when the group got started in 1959, was The Ohio Untouchables. When Sugarfoot got in the band, around 63 or 64, they named the band The Ohio Players. The concept of the name back then, from what I was told, of course I didn't get in the group until 72, was being the best musicians in Ohio – Players meaning players… musicians. We're the Ohio Players, the best musicians in Ohio.
Aaron: For individuals looking to have your success as a musician, do you have any advice or words of encouragement that you would like to share with them?
Diamond: Listen, there's no exception. There's no way around loving what you do, practicing what you do, staying on top of your craft, knowing that it's not always going to go easy. Things don't always go up. That's why we call it love rollercoaster. You love it, but there are some ups and downs on them, hills that you're going to ride in life. This business, as any other business that you'll get into, it's not easy. You have to have that ‘stay with it, that stick to it.’ And do your due diligence. Be prepared. Don't go somewhere because opportunities come up all the time. Are you prepared for that opportunity? And if you're not, you just blew one.
Tocarra: Would you like to add anything else in closing that we may not have discussed?
Diamond: I have two beautiful
daughters. My first daughter is a Broadway director. The first black female
Broadway director that set Broadway plays in 30 years. One of her plays that
she did was called The Wiz, the national tour. She was the associate director for
a play called The Notebook that was on Broadway last summer. She co-directed
with Thomas Schumacher. My other daughter is the H.R. director of a medical
facility. I'm very proud of my girls. I have five grandkids, two beautiful
daughters in New York and three grandsons that won't get any of this money
unless they finish college! They won't get a dime [laugh]. They all know that.
I've told them many times. I think of myself as being very blessed. I'm
grounded. I pray that things work out for us in this country and everybody
involved because there's no right side to war. There's no right side to
killing. All of the stuff that's going on today is just absolutely insane. I
wish it would stop. I pray that it will stop. Otherwise, everybody just keep on
going. Keep believing. Keep the faith.
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