Talking 50 Years of the Ohio Players’ ‘Fire’ With Drummer James ‘Diamond’ Williams (Exclusive)
When the Ohio Players released their number one hit song “Fire” in November 1974, they didn’t imagine that people would still be dancing to it 50 years later. In fact, they didn’t think people would even still know the song 50 years later. “Heck, 2024 was so far away,” said drummer James “Diamond” Williams. “You thought about what was going on next week, where you’re going next month and where’s the tour going. But never once did I imagine that ‘Fire’ would be around.”
He certainly didn’t imagine that the song would become so enmeshed in American popular culture that it would become the theme song to 16 seasons of the reality show Hell’s Kitchen, or that whole new generations would learn about the band from encountering their tunes in places like an ad for buffalo chicken pizza, or in covers by the Red Hot Chili Peppers or D’Angelo.
To celebrate the 50th anniversary of “Fire,” Williams spoke to ReMIND about Stevie Wonder’s role in naming the hit, his favorite Ohio Players song and getting his big break in the band via someone else’s hospital stay.
Photo by Soul Train via Getty Images.
Stevie Wonder Knew ‘Fire’ Would Be a Hit
James Williams: We thought we had a good song when Stevie Wonder was staying next to us when we were recording in L.A. I happened to play the rhythm tracks to Stevie — I think he was working on Innervisions. I said, “You like it, Stevie?” and he said, “You can call this song anything. This song is so hot. The rhythm tracks are so hot. You could call and sing anything.”
And when he said it was so hot, it inspired us to write the song called “Fire.” And we knew the rhythm track would make your body shake and move, but we didn’t think it’d be shaking 50 years from that point. So it’s an amazement.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
On Joining The Ohio Players
The Ohio Players had existed in various permutations for over a decade before “Fire” and even had an early hit in 1973 with “Funky Worm.” But its most famous lineup cohered in 1973/4, when Williams and keyboardist Billy Beck joined the band.
I’ve been playing all my life. Started playing when I was 7 years old. But I really didn’t know nothing about the Ohio Players and the city called Dayton, Ohio. My dad was a musician and he got me off into jazz. So I was at the jazz [club] on the weekend, rather than being in these other little clubs where Ohio Players was playing. I had never seen them.
The local band I was in at the time, called the Overnight Low, traveled in the tristate area. And people would say, “You’re a good band. But there’s one band that’s better than you all.” And I’d say, “Who was that?” They say, “The Ohio Players.”
So one time, we had occasion to play with them. And I told my wife, who was my girlfriend at that time, “We getting ready to play with them. We’re just going to kill them. I’ve never seen them. We just going to wear them out. We are the best band.”
So we played and we had an alright gig.
And when Ohio Players came on, the place went crazy. People was throwing stuff, screaming, passing out. They came out with these hot pants on, with daggone velvet robes, fur boots and all this junk that looked like they were out of some kind of Star Wars movie. And the place went crazy. I had to eat all my crow that I was giving out that day.
Photo by Michael Ochs Archives/Getty Images
But I said to myself, “The drummer played a shuffle with that band all night long. If I ever get a chance to play with this band, I’m going to take his job.”
Lo and behold, a year and a half, two later, my friend Marvin [who had joined the Ohio Players] called me and said … “Jimmy, [Greg, the Ohio Players drummer] has gotten sick. He’s in the hospital. You all playing this week?” I said, “No, we’re not playing.” He said, “Well, can you sit in? Can you play with us?” I said, “Yeah.” So I went to practice. I played with them that weekend.
Then, they went to the hospital. Greg was the leader of the band. [Ohio Players members] Satch and Pee Wee and Sugarfoot went to the hospital and told Greg, “You can stay in the hospital. We done found a drummer. You’re out of here.” Okay? So I got a reputation of taking jobs.
On Why the Ohio Players Have Remained Popular for Over 50 Years
I used to listen to Dick Clark all the time, and people would say, “I like the beat.” I’d say, “Oh. They like the beat. The beat’s important.” It’s not about the words. [Did they say] “I like the guitar”? Never too much. “I liked the trumpet. I liked the horns”? No.
And that stuck with me. I’d say, “Huh. I like to write some good beats when I start writing songs. That’s important.” And so when I got with the band … there was an ingenious person in the band named Sugarfoot, Leroy Bonner, who played lead guitar. [He was] an incredible lyricist, an exceptional musician. It’s like iron sharpening iron. When Billy Beck and myself and Sugarfoot got together, we wrote three platinum albums and five gold albums in a row. And that’s no easy feat to do. I admire myself sometimes when I go to bed at night. I say, “Son, you rest easy. You’ve done well. You have some things on this earth that are still around and it’s okay. Life has been good.”
Favorite Ohio Players song?
That’s like you asking me to pick a favorite child
The Ohio Players are still playing live — check their website for late 2024 and early 2025 tour dates.
1974 (50 Years Ago)
January 2024
In this time capsule issue of ReMIND Magazine we look back 50 years ago to 1974!
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