The Fabulous Counts

American funk and soul group, founded in Detroit, MI in 1964, later on as The Counts

The founding members of the group were Mose Davis (organ), Leroy Emmanuel (guitar), and Demo Cates (alto saxophone & vocals). Jam sessions with their neighbors Raoul Keith Mangrum (congas) and Jim White (tenor sax) attracted Andrew Gibson (drums). The group never had a full-time bass player, since Davis handled the bass parts with organ foot pedals. Performing mostly instrumentals, the group often backed up various local singers, most notably Spyder Turner, and with the addition of Funk Brothers bassist Bob Babbitt, recorded the demo that became Turner's 1968 hit version of "Stand By Me." The band then hooked up with producer Richard "Popcorn" Wylie, recording the R&B hit "Jan Jan" for Ollie McLaughlin's Detroit-based Moira Records in 1969. The song was such a big hit in Detroit that Moira's distributor Cotillion rush-released a full-length album "Jan Jan". The band dropped the 'Fabulous' from their name for their self-produced 1972 album, What's Up Front That-Counts, for Detroit-based Westbound Records.