History

Formed in 1967, the Natural Four first signed with a local Oakland

Oakland, California

Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...

 label, Boola Boola Records. The first 45 release was "I Thought you were mine" A side b/w "You Did This for Me". "I Thought you were mine" sold 30,000 locally as it was played on KDIA where it rose to #7 on the chart. "Why Should We Stop Now", was the next 45 which also had the "You Did This for Me" b side. ABC Records saw potential in The Natural Four, due to their local charting, and picked up the group. "Why Should We Stop Now" was rereleased and, ABC then released "The Same Thing in Mind", a remake of their first hit "I Thought You Were Mine", and a cover of [The Temptations]' "Message From a Black Man", but none of them were as successful as the Boola Boola "I Thought you were mine" and ABC dropped the group.

Chess Records

Chess Records

Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....

 released their single "Give a Little Love" in 1971, and following this lead singer Chris James replaced the rest of the band with an entirely new crew. In 1972, they signed with Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...

's label, Curtom Records

Curtom Records

Curtom Records was a record label started by Curtis Mayfield of The Impressions along with Impressions associate Eddie Thomas in 1968 although the name was used as early as 1963. The labels name was a combination of Mayfields first name and Thomas' surname...

, and proceeded to release a string of US R&B hits, including one Top 40 breakthrough, 1974's "Can This Be Real". Their three Curtom LPs were produced by Leroy Hutson

Leroy Hutson

Leroy Hutson is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of the R&B band, which came to fame vocal group, The Impressions....

 of The Impressions, but after their third release failed to chart, the group called it quits.

The Curtom releases were re-released in 1999 as a 2-CD package by Sequel.

Members

1967-1972

• Chris James
• Allen Richardson
• John January
• Al Bowden

1972-1976

• Chris James
• Darryl Cannady
• Steve Sriplin
• Delmos Whitley

Discography

• Good Vibes
  Good Vibes (The Natural Four album)
  Good Vibes is the debut album by the Oakland, California group The Natural Four. Released in 1970 on ABC Records, this would be their only release with the label before moving on to Curtis Mayfield's Curtom Records imprint.-Track listing:...
  
  (ABC Records
  ABC Records
  ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
  
  , 1970)
• The Natural Four
  The Natural Four (album)
  The Natural Four is the second album by the Oakland, California group The Natural Four, released in 1974 on Curtom Records.-Track listing:#Can This Be Real 3:28 #You Bring Out the Best in Me 4:37 #Try Love Again 4:28...
  
  (Curtom Records
  Curtom Records
  Curtom Records was a record label started by Curtis Mayfield of The Impressions along with Impressions associate Eddie Thomas in 1968 although the name was used as early as 1963. The labels name was a combination of Mayfields first name and Thomas' surname...
  
  , 1974) US Black Albums #36
• Heaven Right Here On Earth (Curtom, 1974) US #182, US Black Albums #49
• Nightchaser (The Natural Four album)Nightchaser (Curtom, 1976)
• Can This Be Real? (re-release of the three Curtom LPs on 2 CD
  Compact Disc
  The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
  
  , Sequel Records, 1999)

Singles

Year	Title	Chart Positions
		US Pop Singles Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...	US Black Singles
1969	"Why Should We Stop Now"	-	31
1974	"Can This Be Real"	31	10
	"Love That Really Counts"	98	23
	"You Bring Out the Best in Me"	-	20
1975	"Heaven Right Here on Earth"	-	68
	"Love's So Wonderful"	-	87
1976	"Free"	-	71
	"It's the Music"	-	82