The Tams in Kingsport Oct. 29

Godfather of Soul James Brown watched the young group sing. They were and are The Tams, and they sang fine, too. But something caught the eye of Brown.

“James Brown said, ‘Y’all can sing, but you’ve got to get it together. You’ve got to dance! You’ve got to move!’ ” said Albert “Little Redd” Cottle, longtime member of The Tams. “He said put it out there, and people would respond.”

So The Tams started to dance and to move, and people certainly have responded to The Tams for a half-century.

See The Tams on Oct. 29 during the Arts Nights/City Lights concert series at the Renaissance Center in Kingsport, Tenn.

Way back when Brown heard them, The Tams were Southern equivalents to The Temptations, a rhythm and blues group.

Since then, The Tams’ sound hasn’t really changed. However, descriptions as to what they sing vary as greatly as their spiffy stage attire.

“They call it shag in the Carolinas,” Cottle said by phone from his home in Atlanta, Ga. “It’s good rhythm and blues. It’s good, soothing music. In our shows, it’s uptempo and energetic.”

When in doubt or simply to sum them up, call the music of The Tams feel-good music.

“Jimmy Buffett says that,” Cottle said. “It’s just feel-good music. It’s music that makes people feel good.”

Formed in 1959 by brothers Charles and Joe Pope, The Tams initially performed shows for little more than pocket change. That changed in 1962. Signed to Arlen Records with whom they scored the hit “Untie Me” and then beginning in 1963 with ABC Records, The Tams notched smashes with such singles as “Be Young, Be Foolish, Be Happy” and “What Kind of Fool.”

In those days and until his death 14 years ago, Joe Pope led the group with his powerful presence and voice.

“My uncle’s voice was unique and had a gravel to it,” Cottle said. “His voice was like a Rod Stewart kind of thing that people loved.”

Then as now, The Tams’ look carries on as an important facet of their identity. Named after Tam o’shanter, a style of hat that they wear on stage, the group dresses in captivating outfits that match – crisp white pants and shorts, bright vests and ties, for example.

“It’s that clean-cut look. Everything matters,” Cottle said. “Nowadays, you get the rappers with the baggy pants, and I wouldn’t want to be going down that road.”

Dating to the earliest era of rhythm and blues, an act’s appearance mattered nearly as much as its sound.

“We might be on a show with James Brown or the Temptations, and you knew you had to look sharp,” Cottle said. “It was like a competition.”

As with the Temptations, The Tams’ sound needed to be precise, too. Short songs, lyrics with a point that got quickly to the point, melodies with a hook, taut vocal harmonies – those were and remain the benchmarks of a Tams song.

“It’s happy,” Cottle said. “My dad is 73 now, and he’s [getting feeble]. But he’s still getting out there and singing. For him, it’s like heaven when he’s on stage. It’s happy music.”

IF YOU GO
Who: The Tams
When: Oct. 29, 7:30 p.m.
Where: Kingsport Renaissance Center, 1200 E. Center St., Kingsport, Tenn.
Admission: $20 for adults, $18 for seniors and students
Info: (423) 392-8414
Web and audio: http://www.thetams.com
Web and video: http://www.kingsportarts.org

TOM NETHERLAND is a freelance writer. He can be reached at .