Lou Rawls - Finally Discography

Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 – January 6, 2006) was an American baritone singer.^[1] He released 61 albums, sold more than 40 million records,^[2] and had numerous charting singles, most notably the song "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine". He also worked as a film, television, and voice actor. He was a three-time winner of the Best Male R&B Vocal Performance Grammy Award.

After graduating from Dunbar Vocational High School, he sang briefly with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a gospel group, and then with the Holy Wonders. In 1951, he replaced Cooke in the Highway QC's after Cooke departed to join The Soul Stirrers in Los Angeles. Rawls was hired by the Chosen Gospel Singers and moved to Los Angeles, where he joined the Pilgrim Travelers.

In 1955, Rawls enlisted in the United States Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He served in B Co 2/505th Parachute Infantry and made 26 jumps. He left the Army three years later as a Sergeant and rejoined the Pilgrim Travelers (then known as the Travelers). In 1958, while touring the South with the Travelers and Sam Cooke, Rawls was in a car crash. He was pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital, where he stayed in a coma for five and a half days. He spent a year recuperating, and it was several months before his memory returned. He considered the crash a life-changing event.

With Dick Clark as master of ceremonies, Rawls was able to perform at the Hollywood Bowl in 1959. His first two singles were "Love, Love, Love" and "Walkin' (For Miles)" for Shar-Dee Records, a label owned by Herb Alpert. "In My Little Black Book" and "80 Ways" were released a year later by Candix Records. In 1962 he signed a contract with Capitol Records and sang backing vocals on "Bring It On Home to Me" and "That's Where It's At", both written by Cooke.^{[5][better source needed]} Rawls charted with a cover of "Bring It On Home to Me" in 1970 (with the title shortened to "Bring It On Home").

 

Stormy Monday, a jazz album with Les McCann, was released in 1962. The next two Capitol albums (Black and Blue, Tobacco Road) sold well and employed Onzy Matthews as musical director and a 17-piece big band. Both albums reached the Billboard magazine charts and propelled his career.

Although his 1966 album Live! was certified gold, Rawls would not have a star-making hit until he made a soul album, named Soulin' , later that year. The album contained "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing", his first R&B No.1 single. In 1967, he won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance for the single "Dead End Street". In 1967, he performed at the first evening of the Monterey International Pop Music Festival.

In 1969, Rawls was co-host of NBC's summer replacement series for the Dean Martin Show with Martin's daughter, singer Gail Martin. Capitol Records dropped Rawls in 1970. Comedian Sandy Baron and singer Bobby Hebb had a song called "Natural Man" that they wanted the newly unsigned Rawls to sign and convinced Michael Lloyd at MGM to sign Rawls; the song would be a hit for Rawls and briefly revive his career.^[8] For Bell Records in 1974 he recorded a cover version of "She's Gone" by Hall & Oates. Two years later with his new manager Martin Pichinson, he signed with Philadelphia International and recorded All Things in Time, which sold a million copies. "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" became his biggest selling single, selling a million copies, topping the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts, and reaching No. 2 on the pop chart. The hit single "Lady Love" followed, from the 1977 album When You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All.

In December 2005, it was announced that Rawls was being treated for lung cancer that metastasized to his brain. He died from this illness on January 6, 2006, at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.^[15][16] Little Richard and David Hasselhoff attended his funeral.^[17] He is entombed at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).^[10]

Lou Rawls's final television performance occurred during the 2005–2006 edition of his telethon, honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. He performed "You Are the Sunshine of My Life" and "It Was a Very Good Year" as a tribute to Frank Sinatra.

 

Marcus Miller - Much Too Much (The Studio Albums Collection)

William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. (born June 14, 1959) is an American musician, songwriter and record producer. He has worked with trumpeter Miles Davis, pianist Herbie Hancock, singer Luther Vandross, and saxophonists Wayne Shorter and David Sanborn, among others.^[1][2][3] He was the main songwriter and producer on three of Davis's albums: Tutu (1986), Music from Siesta (1987), and Amandla (1989). His collaboration with Vandross was especially close; he co-produced and served as the arranger for most of Vandross's albums, and he and Vandross co-wrote many songs, including the hits "I Really Didn't Mean It", "Any Love", "Power of Love/Love Power" and "Don't Want to Be a Fool". Miller also co-wrote the 1988 single "Da Butt" for Experience Unlimited.

William Henry Marcus Miller Jr. was born in the Brooklyn borough of New York City on June 14, 1959.^[4] He grew up in a musical family; his father, William Miller, was a church organist and choir director. Through his father, he is a cousin of jazz pianist Wynton Kelly.^[5] He became classically trained as a clarinetist and later learned to play keyboards, saxophone, and guitar in addition to bass.

Miller began to work regularly in New York City, eventually playing bass and writing music for jazz flautist Bobbi Humphrey and keyboardist Lonnie Liston Smith. Miller's earliest influences include James Jamerson and Larry Graham.^[6] He spent approximately 15 years performing as a session musician. During that time he also arranged and produced frequently. He was a member of the Saturday Night Live band between 1979 and 1981.^[7][8] He co-wrote Aretha Franklin's "Jump To It" along with Luther Vandross,^[7] and sang alongside Vandross on the 1986 David Bowie single "Underground" from the movie Labyrinth.^[9] Miller has played bass on more than 500 recordings, appearing on albums by such artists as Michael Jackson, Beyoncé, Herbie Hancock, Mariah Carey, Eric Clapton, The Crusaders, Wayne Shorter, McCoy Tyner, Frank Sinatra, George Benson, Dr. John, Aretha Franklin, Elton John, Joe Walsh, Jean-Michel Jarre, Grover Washington Jr., Donald Fagen, Bill Withers, Bernard Wright, Kazumi Watanabe, Chaka Khan, LL Cool J and Flavio Sala.^[2][10][11] Miller won the "Most Valuable Player" award (given by NARAS to recognize studio musicians) three years in a row and was subsequently awarded "player emeritus" status and retired from eligibility.

In the mid-1980s, Miller began a solo career as a funk/R&B singer, with the albums Suddenly (1983) and Marcus Miller (1984). He was the main songwriter, producer and instrumentalist on these albums. He has since then released ten more solo albums, although he has only occasionally sung on these subsequent albums.^{[citation needed]}

Between 1988 and 1990, Miller was the musical director and house band bass player (in the "Sunday Night Band") during two seasons of the late-night TV show Sunday Night (also known as Night Music) on NBC, hosted by David Sanborn and Jools Holland.^[12][13]

As a composer, Miller co-wrote and produced several songs on the Miles Davis album Tutu, including the title track.^[14][15] He also composed "Chicago Song" for David Sanborn and co-wrote "'Til My Baby Comes Home", "It's Over Now", "For You to Love", and "Power of Love" for Luther Vandross. Miller also wrote "Da Butt", which was featured in Spike Lee's School Daze.^[2][10] In addition, he composed and provided spoken vocals on "Burn it Up", which was featured on Najee's 1992 album Just An Illusion.

In 1997, Miller played bass guitar and bass clarinet in the supergroup Legends, featuring Eric Clapton (guitars and vocals), Joe Sample (piano), David Sanborn (alto sax) and Steve Gadd (drums).^[2] It was an 11-date tour of major jazz festivals in Europe. In 2008 Miller formed another supergroup, SMV, with fellow bassists Stanley Clarke and Victor Wooten, for a world tour lasting 18 months.^[16] He produced SMV's first release, Thunder.^[17] In the summer of 2011, Miller toured alongside Herbie Hancock and Wayne Shorter celebrating Miles Davis on the 20th anniversary of his death.

In 2017, Miller, along with Common, headlined the Playboy Jazz Festival.^[18]

Miller hosts a jazz history and influences show called Miller Time with Marcus Miller on the Real Jazz channel of Sirius XM Holdings satellite radio system.^[19] In addition to his recording and performance career, Miller has established a parallel career as a film score composer. He has written numerous scores for films, including films directed by Reginald Hudlin and Chris Rock.^[20][21]

Miller speaks French and Spanish, which he started learning in his late 40s. He has been known to speak it fluently during interviews, and has introduced songs such as "Preacher's Kid" – a story about his father, in concerts.

 Miller has been nominated for numerous Grammy Awards as a producer for Miles Davis, Luther Vandross, David Sanborn, Bob James, Chaka Khan and Wayne Shorter, and has won two Grammys. He won a Grammy Award for Best R&B Song in 1992, for Luther Vandross' "Power of Love" and in 2001 he won for Best Contemporary Jazz Album for his seventh solo instrumental album, M².^[23] His 2015 album Afrodeezia earned a Grammy Award nomination for Best Contemporary Instrumental Album.

 Miller plays a transparent blonde finish 1977 Fender Jazz Bass that was modified by luthier Roger Sadowsky with the addition of a Stars Guitar and later a Bartolini TCT preamp^[29] so he could control his sound in the studio.^[30] Fender started to produce a Marcus Miller signature Fender Jazz Bass in four-string (made in Japan) and five-string (made in U.S) versions.^[31] Later, Fender moved the production of the four-string to their Mexico factory^[32] and discontinued both four- and five-string models in 2015. DR Strings also produced a series of Marcus Miller signature stainless-steel strings known as "Fat Beams", which come in a variety of sizes.^[33] In 2015, the Korean company Sire Guitars began the production and sale of the Marcus Miller V7, a signature model based on Miller’s previous Fender Jazz bass. They have since expanded their range to include a wider array of body shapes, styles, and price points. Also in 2015, Dunlop began producing Marcus Miller Super Bright bass strings which Miller switched to.

 

Edwin Starr - I Just Wanna Do My Thing (The Studio Albums)

Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003),^[2] known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-one hit "War".^[3]

Born in Nashville and raised in Cleveland, he later lived in Detroit while singing for Ric-Tic and Motown Records.^[4] He was backed by the band that became known as "Black Merda". Hawkins and Veasey of the group played on most of his early hits on the Ric Tic Label. Starr's songs "Twenty-Five Miles" and "Stop the War Now" were also major successes, in 1969 and 1971 respectively. In the 1970s Starr moved to England, where he continued to produce music and resided until his death.

 

Charles Edwin Hatcher was born in Nashville, Tennessee, on January 21, 1942.^[2] He and his cousins, soul singers Roger and Willie Hatcher, moved to Cleveland, Ohio, where they were raised.

In 1957, Hatcher formed a doo-wop group, the Future Tones, and began his singing career.^[2][4] However, after just one single he was called up for military service in the United States Army for three years, where he was posted to Europe. Following the end of his service he decided to make music his career, and joined the musical group of Bill Doggett. Hatcher adopted the name Edwin Starr at the suggestion of Doggett's manager Don Briggs, and made his solo recording debut in 1965 for the Detroit record company Ric-Tic.

 

The song that launched his career was "Agent Double-O-Soul" (1965), a reference to the James Bond films, already popular at the time. Other early hits included "Headline News", "Back Street", and "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)". (These first four hits were all co-written by Starr as "C. Hatcher".) While at Ric-Tic, as Edwin Starr he wrote the song "Oh, How Happy", a number 12 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1966 for The Shades of Blue (he would go on to release a version of the song with Blinky in 1969) and sang lead for the Holidays on their number 12 R&B hit, "I'll Love You Forever". At Motown he recorded a string of singles before enjoying international success with "Twenty-Five Miles", which he co-wrote with producers Johnny Bristol and Harvey Fuqua. It peaked at number 6 in both the Hot 100 and R&B Charts in 1969.^[3]

It was when Motown's Berry Gordy became frustrated with smaller labels like Ric-Tic stealing some of the success of his company that he bought out the label. Many of Starr's Ric-Tic songs (subsequently owned by Motown) like "Back Street" and "Headline News" became favored northern soul classics. His early Ric-Tic hit "Stop Her on Sight (S.O.S.)", was reissued in Britain (with "Headline News" as its B-side) in 1968, and it performed better than the original release on the UK chart, surpassing the original number 35 and peaking at number 11.^[6] His 1970 song "Time" also helped to establish him as a prominent artist on the northern soul scene.

The biggest hit of Starr's career, which cemented his reputation, was the Vietnam War protest song "War" (1970).^[1] Starr's intense vocals transformed a Temptations album track into a number one chart success, which spent three weeks in the top position on the U.S. Billboard charts, an anthem for the antiwar movement and a cultural milestone that continues to resound in movie soundtracks and hip-hop music samples. It sold over three million copies, and was awarded a gold disc.^[7] "War" appeared on both Starr's War & Peace album and its follow-up, Involved, produced by Norman Whitfield. Involved also featured another song of similar construction titled "Stop the War Now", which was a minor hit in its own right. Music critic Robert Christgau called the latter album "Norman Whitfield's peak production".^[8] His backing singers during this time were Total Concept Unlimited, who later became Rose Royce.

 

Starr continued to record, most notably the song "Hell Up in Harlem" for the 1974 film Hell Up in Harlem, which was the sequel to Black Caesar, an earlier hit with a soundtrack by James Brown. In 1979, Starr reappeared on the charts with a pair of disco hits, "(Eye-to-Eye) Contact" and "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio". "Contact" was the more successful of the two, peaking at number 65 on the US pop chart, number 13 on the R&B chart, number 1 on the dance chart, and number 6 on the UK singles chart.^[6] "H.A.P.P.Y. Radio" was also a top ten hit in the UK, reaching number 9 on the chart in mid-1979.^[6] By now, he had joined the well-established disco boom and had further singles on 20th Century Records. Over the years, he released tracks on a variety of labels, including Avatar, Calibre, 10 Records, Motown (a return to his former label for a 1989 remix of "25 Miles"), Streetwave (where he recorded 1984's "Marvin", a tribute to Marvin Gaye) and Hippodrome (a division of Peter Stringfellow's Hippodrome nightclub). His Starr café empire still enjoys success in and around Essex.^{[citation needed]}

In 1985, Starr released "It Ain't Fair". Despite garnering the attention of many in the soul and dance clubs, it fell short of becoming a major hit (managing number 56 on the UK Chart).^[6] "It Ain't Fair", along with several other singles released around the same time, appeared on Starr's Through the Grapevine album, which was not released until 1990. Starr appeared on the charity number one single "Let It Be" by Ferry Aid in 1987. Later that year, Starr teamed up with the Stock, Aitken and Waterman (SAW) production company for the club hit, "Whatever Makes Our Love Grow". Starr expressed dissatisfaction with the process of making the record, complaining that the producers treated him as an amateur.^[9]

In 1989, a number 17 UK hit by the Cookie Crew called "Got to Keep On" sampled a portion of "25 Miles".^[10] This track was then featured on a 1990 dance medley made for the BRIT Awards, which made number 2 in the UK Singles Chart.^[11] A club mix of various artists, it included the previous years remix of "25 Miles".

In 1989, Starr also joined Ian Levine's Motorcity Records, releasing six singles and the album Where Is the Sound, as well as co-writing several songs for other artists on the label. Starr resurfaced briefly in 2000 to team up with the UK band Utah Saints to record a new version of "Funky Music Sho' 'Nuff Turns Me On". He appeared again in 2002 to record a song with the British musician Jools Holland, singing "Snowflake Boogie" on Holland's compact disc More Friends; and to record another track with Utah Saints, a so-far-unreleased version of his number one hit "War"—his last recording.

In 1995, Starr featured in Blue Juice, a 1995 British drama film as a soul singer named Ossie Sands. The songs featured were recorded by Starr for the film. The film has the added attraction of being possibly the first film to include northern soul as a sub-plot.^[12]

In late 2002, Edwin Starr appeared with many R&B stars on the "Rhythm, Love, and Soul" edition of the PBS series American Soundtrack. His performance of "25 Miles" was included on the accompanying live album that was released in 2004.

 

Starr remained a hero on England's northern soul circuit and moved to England in 1983, continuing to live there for the remainder of his life. He based himself in the Midlands, living for many years at Pooley Hall at Polesworth, Warwickshire, before moving to Bramcote in Nottinghamshire.^[2][13][14]

Starr died on April 2, 2003, from a heart attack at his Nottinghamshire home. He was 61.^[5] He is buried at Wilford Hill Cemetery in Nottingham.^[13] He was survived by his long-term partner Jean and by his son and daughter from earlier relationships.

Paradise – Love Is The Answer (Expanded Edition) (1983)

 

Welcome To Manhattan 6 / 2013

 

Force M.D.'s - Here We Go Again (The Albums Anthology)

 The Force M.D.s are an American R&B vocal group that was formed in 1981 in Staten Island, New York. Although the group has old school hip hop roots, it is perhaps best known for their soulful R&B tunes such as "Tender Love," "Love Is a House," "Tears," and "Here I Go Again." They are considered major forerunners of the new jack swing movement.

 

The band was originally named The L.D.s, and then became the Force MCs.^[2] Though the group was not quite always as recognizable as other New York R&B acts when it first started, they were among the first R&B vocal groups to intermix doo-wop-affected singing with and sometimes over hip-hop beats.^[2]

The group was composed of brothers Stevie D., Antoine "T.C.D." (February 3, 1963 – January 18, 1998), and Rodney "Khalil" Lundy, and their uncle Jessie Lee Daniels (July 4, 1963 – January 4, 2022).^[3] Later, friends Trisco Pearson (October 23, 1962 – September 16, 2016) and Charles "Mercury" Nelson (December 19, 1964 – March 9, 1995) from the Mariners Harbor housing projects joined the group.

 

The group began performing on Times Square, New York City street corners and during trips on the Staten Island ferry.^[2] After the L.D.s connected with DJ Dr. Rock (Roger Daniels) they then performed as "Dr. Rock & the Force MCs."^[2] The group was discovered by hip hop promoter Vansilk in summer 1981. The three members were Dr. Rock, Stevie D. and Mercury. In collaboration with Dr. Rock, the group continued to perfect their unique sound, which was unusual at the time: a fusion of doo-wop harmonies and hip-hop that involved singing, rapping and group member's "human beatbox" melodies at underground hip hop shows.^[2] They gained even more credibility and respect from local fans after competing in an emcee lyrical battle against the well known Cold Crush Brothers from the Bronx in 1983.

By 1984, the group signed with Tommy Boy Records. This is the same year the group changed their name to the Force MDs, which stood for “Musical Diversity”. ^[2] They had developed into a quiet storm/contemporary R&B group, with its top-ten R&B hit, "Tears", from the debut album, Love Letters. (With the exception of their first album, the group was the first act on Tommy Boy to have major-label distribution through its then-parent Warner Bros. Records.)

 

The group produced a collection of R&B hits throughout the 1980s, and received overwhelming commercial success from the Jimmy Jam and Terry Lewis-penned love song "Tender Love" from their second album, 1985's Chillin'.^[2] The song was featured in the 1985 feature film and soundtrack Krush Groove, and proved to be a success, peaking at No. 10 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart, becoming an instant R&B classic after it stayed on the chart for 19 weeks.^[4] "Tender Love" was also one of the tracks that helped Jam & Lewis garner a Grammy Award for Producer of the Year. The song "Itchin' for a Scratch" was performed by the group in the 1985 feature film Rappin', and was also part of the soundtrack.^[5]

In 1987 they scored their first R&B number one hit, "Love Is a House," from their third album, Touch and Go.

 By the late 1980s the group's popularity began to wane. A fourth album, Step to Me, was released in 1990, which featured record production by Full Force, Marley Marl, Monte Moir (of the band The Time), and others. Members Pearson and Nelson left soon afterward, replaced by original member Rodney "Khalil" Lundy (who had initially left the band early in their career) and new member Shawn Waters. The group then released the album Moments in Time in 1994, but failed to chart or produce any hits. In 1996 the group appeared on several tracks on the Ghostface Killah album Ironman.

 

Three of the group's members died during the latter half of the 1990s: Nelson suffered a fatal heart attack in 1995; former collaborator DJ Dr. Rock died suddenly of AIDS in 1996; and in 1998, Antoine Lundy died of Lou Gehrig's disease.

Surviving members of the group's classic lineup - Daniels, Pearson, and Stevie D. Lundy - along with Rodney Lundy returned with a comeback album, The Reunion, in 2000, but it failed to chart or register any hits. Damen Heyward, a native of The Bronx and formerly of the mid-/late-1980s group 4 By Four, later joined the group. After leaving the group, Heyward went on to tour with artists such as Joe.

Trisco Pearson died on September 16, 2016,^[6] at age 53, after a battle with stage 4 cancer.^[7] His death was announced by Bow Legged Lou of Full Force. Jessie Daniels died on January 4, 2022, at the age of 58.

Side Effect - Take A Chance 'N' Dance (The Studio Albums)

Side Effect was an American disco and jazz-funk band, that recorded between 1972 and 1982. The group was formed in Los Angeles, California in 1972 by Augie Johnson who became their leader.

Side Effect was formed by Augie Johnson and members, Lometta Johnson, Jim Gilstrap, Gregory Matta and Louis Patton in May 1972.^[1][2] The group played many Los Angeles area clubs and within a few months the group signed their first record deal with a company called Avenue of America-Gas Records with whom they recorded their first album Effective.^[2] The album did not chart. Not discouraged, Side Effect continued to evolve. They changed female lead vocalists, from Lometta Johnson to Sylvia Nabors, and soon joined At-Home Productions, a production company headed by Wayne Henderson of The Crusaders.^[2]

This new association would bear fruit with a new record deal with Fantasy Records. The self-titled Side Effect was released in 1975^[1] but it did not chart. By their third album, What You Need they had switched vocalists from Sylvia Nabors to Helen Lowe,^[1] now gospel superstar Helen Baylor. This was their first charting album going to number 26 on the R&B chart. Two more albums Goin' Bananas and Rainbow Visions were released now featuring vocalist Sylvia St.^[1] James who replaced Lowe but they charted moderately. After these four albums were completed, Side Effect left Fantasy Records and was picked up by Elektra Records.^[2] After the Rain now featuring a 19-year-old Miki Howard replacing St. James on vocals was released in 1980. It did not do well on the charts as well as the next two Elektra albums Portraits and All Aboard.

Howard left the group and began a solo career in 1986.^[3] The group briefly re-united and issued a single entitled "I Love You" in 1987 (Striped Horse record label). They later became known as Augie's Side Effect.

On October 11, 2014, founder Augie Johnson died at age 66.^[4] On June 16, 2020, Louie Patton died at age 71, leaving behind 5 children and 3 grandchildren.