The Main Ingredient was an American soul and R&B group which had a run of hits in the 1970s, including their 1972 million-selling song "Everybody Plays the Fool".
Early history
The group was formed in Harlem, New York City in 1964 as a trio called the Poets, composed of lead singer Donald McPherson (July 9, 1941 – July 3, 1971), They made their first recordings for Leiber & Stoller's Red Bird label, but soon changed their name to the Insiders and signed with RCA Records. In 1968, after a couple of singles, they changed their name once again, this time permanently, to The Main Ingredient.
and also reached number ten on the Billboard Hot 100. The track peaked at number twenty-seven in the UK Singles Chart in July 1974, although it was their only chart presence in the UK. In 1975, the group recorded several songs co-written by Leon Ware, including the R&B Top Ten "Rolling Down a Mountainside". By this point, however, Tony Silvester was harboring other ambitions; he released a solo album called Magic Touch that year, and left the group to form a production team with DeCoteaux. The two of them scored a Top 10 Pop and R&B smash with their production of Ben E. King's hit "Supernatural Thing" in 1975.
In 1975 they were the opening act for The Jackson 5 at the Theatre at Westbury (known as The Westbury Music Fair at that time) on Long Island, New York, for the six shows from August 26 until 31. The Doobie Brothers were originally scheduled to perform, it's unknown why this change was made.
Later years
thumb|left|The Main Ingredient in 2008. The group at that time consisted of Cuba Gooding Sr., Jerome Jackson and Stanley Alston.
Silvester was replaced by Carl Tompkins, and Gooding departed for a solo career on Motown in 1977, Cuba Gooding Sr. was found dead in his car on April 20, 2017.
! width="35"| US<br>R&B<br>
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1970
| align="left"| L.T.D.
| 200
| 38
| —
| rowspan="11"| RCA Records
|-
| align="left"| Tasteful Soul
| 146
| 26
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1971
| align="left"| Black Seeds
| 176
| 35
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1972
| align="left"| Bitter Sweet
| 79
| 10
| 30
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1973
| align="left"| Afrodisiac
| 132
| 16
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1974
| align="left"| Euphrates River
| 52
| 8
| 48
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1975
| align="left"| Rolling Down a Mountainside
| 90
| 3
| —
|-
| align="left"| Shame on the World
| 158
| 27
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1977
| align="left"| Music Maximus
| 177
| 32
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1980
| align="left"| Ready for Love
| —
| 69
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1981
| align="left"| I Only Have Eyes for You
| —
| —
| —
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1989
| align="left"| I Just Wanna Love You
| —
| 59
| —
| rowspan="1"| Polydor
|-
| rowspan="1"| 2001
| align="left"| Pure Magic
| —
| —
| —
| rowspan="1"| Magnatar
|-
| colspan="15" style="font-size:90%" | "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory.
|}
Compilation albums
{| class="wikitable" style="text-align:center;"
|-
! rowspan="2"| Year
! rowspan="2"| Album
! colspan="2"| Peak chart positions
! rowspan="2"| Record label
|- style="font-size:smaller;"
! width="35"| US<br>
! width="35"| CAN<br>
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1965
| align="left"|"I'm Stuck on You"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| align=left rowspan="4"
|-
| rowspan="1"| 1966
| align="left"|"Chapel Bells Are Calling"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1967
| align="left"|"I'm Better Off Without You"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| align="left"|"If You Had a Heart"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1969
| align="left"|"I Was Born to Lose You"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| rowspan="4" align="left"| L.T.D.
|-
| align="left"|"Brotherly Love"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="4"| 1970
| align="left"|"Can't Stand Your Love"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| align="left"|"You've Been My Inspiration"
| 64
| 25
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| align="left"|"I'm Better Off Without You" <small>(re-recorded version)</small>
| 91
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| rowspan="3" align="left"| Tasteful Soul
|-
| align="left"|"I'm So Proud"
| 49
| 13
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1971
| align="left"| "Spinning Around (I Must Be Falling in Love)"
| 52
| 7
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| align="left"|"Black Seeds Keep on Growing"
| 97
| 15
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| rowspan="2" align="left"| Black Seeds
|-
| align="left"|"Another Day Has Come"
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1972
| align="left"|"Everybody Plays the Fool"
| 3
| 2
| 25
| 44
| 6
| 54
|
- RIAA: Gold
| rowspan="2" align="left"| Bitter Sweet
|-
| align="left"|"You've Got to Take It (If You Want It)"
| 46
| 18
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="2"| 1973
| align="left"|"You Can Call Me Rover"
| 101
| 34
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
| rowspan="2" align="left"| Afrodisiac
|-
| align="left"|"Girl Blue"
| 119
| 51
| —
| —
| —
| —
|
|-
| rowspan="3"| 1974
| align="left"|"Just Don't Want to Be Lonely"
| 10
| 8
| 42
| —
| 7
| 27
|
- RIAA: Gold