Lou Rawls | |
|---|---|
.jpg) Rawls in 1984 | |
| Born | Louis Allen Rawls (1933-12-01)December 1, 1933 Chicago, Illinois, U.S. |
| Died | January 6, 2006(2006-01-06) (aged 72) Los Angeles, California, U.S. |
| Resting place | Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) |
| Occupations |
|
| Years active | 1941–2005 |
| Musical career | |
| Genres | |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Labels | |
Musical artist | |
| Website | lourawls |
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 theBest Male R&B Vocal PerformanceGrammy Award.
Rawls was born in Chicago on December 1, 1933, and raised by his grandmother in theIda B. Wellsprojects on the city'sSouth Side. He began singing in the Greater Mount Olive Baptist Church choir at the age of seven and later sang with local groups through which he metSam Cooke, who was nearly three years older, andCurtis Mayfield.[3][4]
After graduating fromDunbar 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 theHighway QC's after Cooke departed to joinThe Soul Stirrers in Los Angeles. Rawls was hired by the Chosen Gospel Singers and moved to Los Angeles, where he joined thePilgrim Travelers.
In 1955, Rawls enlisted in theUnited States Army as a paratrooper in the82nd 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.
WithDick Clark as master of ceremonies, Rawls was able to perform at theHollywood Bowl in 1959. His first two singles were "Love, Love, Love" and "Walkin' (For Miles)" for Shar-Dee Records, a label owned byHerb Alpert. "In My Little Black Book" and "80 Ways" were released a year later by Candix Records. In 1962 he signed a contract withCapitol 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 acover of "Bring It On Home to Me" in 1970 (with the title shortened to "Bring It On Home").
Soul is truth...no matter where it comes from, no matter how it is presented
Stormy Monday, a jazz album withLes McCann, was released in 1962. The next two Capitol albums (Black and Blue,Tobacco Road) sold well and employedOnzy Matthews as musical director and a 17-piecebig band. Both albums reached theBillboard magazine charts and propelled his career.
Although his 1966 albumLive! was certifiedgold, Rawls would not have a star-making hit until he made a soul album, namedSoulin', later that year. The album contained "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing", his first R&B No.1 single. In 1967, he won aGrammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance for the single "Dead End Street". In 1967, he performed at the first evening of theMonterey International Pop Music Festival.[7]
In 1969, Rawls was co-host of NBC's summer replacement series for theDean Martin Show with Martin's daughter, singer Gail Martin. Capitol Records dropped Rawls in 1970. ComedianSandy Baron and singerBobby Hebb had a song called "Natural Man" that they wanted the newly unsigned Rawls to sign and convincedMichael Lloyd atMGM 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 withPhiladelphia International and recordedAll 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 albumWhen You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All.
In 1980, Rawls began theLou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, which benefited theUnited Negro College Fund. The annual event, known since 1998 as "An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence", consists of stories of successful Black students who have benefited from and/or graduated from one of the manyhistorically Black colleges and universities that receive support from the UNCF, along with musical performances from various recording artists in support of the UNCF's and Rawls' efforts.[9] The event had raised more than US$250 million for the fund at the time of Rawls' death in 2006.[10]
Rawls appeared in a segment aired during the first season ofSesame Street to sing the alphabet. He dismissed the suggestion to use cue cards for the performance but reversed his decision when he forgot the order of the letters.[11] He was a guest during the second season ofThe Muppet Show.[12]
His first acting credit was in theWestern television seriesThe Big Valley (starringBarbara Stanwyck, along withLee Majors andLinda Evans). He was also in the season 5 episode "Lifeline" of the television showMannix and the season 6 episode "Return to the Cotton Club" of the showFantasy Island. He appeared in the filmsLeaving Las Vegas;Blues Brothers 2000; andAngel, Angel, Down We Go. He had a role and sang inLookin' Italian (1994), an independent film about the mafia. He had a supporting role inBaywatch Nights. He was a guest host onJazz Central, a television program that was broadcast on the BET channel.
For many years, he was a spokesperson for theColonial Penn Life Insurance Company. He appeared in television and radio commercials in the mid-to-late 1960s for Spur Malt Liquor, aRainier Brewing Company product in Seattle.[13] He appeared in a number ofBudweiser advertisements, which was also a sponsor of the Rawls telethon and UNCF. There was no attempt to avoid the similarity between the title of the 1977 albumWhen You've Heard Lou, You've Heard It All and his corporate sponsor's slogan "When You Say Bud, You've Said It All". A track on the 1978 albumLou Rawls Live features him singing the commercial slogan.Anheuser-Busch, the brewers of Budweiser, suggested his telethon work to him.
Rawls lent his rich baritone to cartoons, includingHey Arnold!,Garfield,Captain Planet and the Planeteers andThe Proud Family. For many of theFilm RomanGarfield specials, Rawls would often compose songs, which he would then sing usually doing a duet withDesiree Goyette, as well as the singing voice of the title character himself.
In the season 2 episode ofMy Wife and Kids entitled "Michael's Garden", Lou Rawls himself sings "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" to Michael Kyle (Damon Wayans) during a colonoscopy.[14]
Rawls was married three times. His third wife, Nina, a former flight attendant, managed his career during his last two years. They had one son, Aiden Rawls. He was also survived by another son, Lou Rawls Jr. (deceased 2023); two daughters, Louanna Rawls and Kendra Smith (both of Los Angeles); and four grandchildren.[10]
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, atCedars-Sinai Medical Center in Los Angeles, California.[15][16]Little Richard andDavid Hasselhoff attended his funeral.[17]He is buried atForest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills).[10]
Lou Rawls's final television performance occurred during the 2005–2006 edition of his telethon, honoringStevie 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 toFrank Sinatra.[18]
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On the night of September 29, 1977, Rawls performed thenational anthem of the United States before theEarnie Shavers-Muhammad Ali title fight atMadison Square Garden. He was invited to sing the anthem many times over the next 28 years. His final performance was in his hometown of Chicago when he was asked to sing the national anthem before the second game of the2005 World Series between theChicago White Sox andHouston Astros atU.S. Cellular Field.
Rawls won the AMA for Favorite Soul/R&B Male Artist in 1979, tied with singerTeddy Pendergrass.
In 1982, Rawls received a star on theHollywood Walk of Fame. On January 19, 1985, he sang "Wind Beneath My Wings" at the nationally televised 50th Presidential Inaugural Gala the day before the second inauguration ofRonald Reagan.[19]
In 2021, Rawls was posthumously inducted into theRhythm & Blues Hall of Fame.
| Year | Nominee / work | Award | Result |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1968 | "Dead End Street" | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | Won |
| 1972 | "A Natural Man" | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | Won |
| 1976 | "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" | Best Male Pop Vocal Performance | Nominated |
| 1978 | Unmistakably Lou | Best Male R&B Vocal Performance | Won |
Guion Bluford, the first African-American astronaut,[20] brought the Lou Rawls albumWhen the Night Comes (Epic/CBS, 1983) into space with him. It contained the song "Wind Beneath My Wings".[21] In 1989, he performed vocals for "The Music and Heroes of America" segment in the animated television miniseriesThis Is America, Charlie Brown.
In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of hosting and performing as he usually did, Rawls was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, includingStevie Wonder,The O'Jays,Gerald Levert, andAshanti.
In 2009, Pathway Entertainment announced its intention to produce abiopic about Rawls's life, tentatively titledLove Is a Hurtin' Thing: The Lou Rawls Story,[22] with Rawls' son, Lou Rawls Jr., writing thescreenplay[22] andIsaiah Washington reportedly playing Rawls.[22]
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop [23] | US R&B [24] | US AC [25] | UK [26] | |||||||||||
| 1965 | "Three O'Clock in the Morning" | 83 | — | 27 | — | |||||||||
| 1966 | "The Shadow of Your Smile" | — | 33 | — | — | |||||||||
| "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" | 13 | 1 | — | — | ||||||||||
| "You Can Bring Me All Your Heartaches" | 55 | 35 | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1967 | "Trouble Down Here Below" | 92 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Dead End Street" | 29 | 3 | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Show Business" | 45 | 25 | — | — | ||||||||||
| "Little Drummer Boy" | — | — | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1968 | "Down Here on the Ground" | 69 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| 1969 | "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)" | 18 | 3 | 35 | — | |||||||||
| "I Can't Make It Alone" | 63 | 33 | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1970 | "You've Made Me So Very Happy" | 95 | 32 | 31 | — | |||||||||
| "Bring It On Home" | 96 | 45 | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1971 | "A Natural Man" | 17 | 17 | 14 | — | |||||||||
| 1972 | "His Song Shall Be Sung" | — | 44 | — | — | |||||||||
| "Walk On In" | — | — | 34 | — | ||||||||||
| 1974 | "She's Gone" | — | 81 | — | — | |||||||||
| 1976 | "You'll Never Find Another Love like Mine" | 2 | 1 | 1 | 10 | |||||||||
| "Groovy People" / "This Song Will Last Forever" | 64 — | 19 74 | 19 | — — | ||||||||||
| 1977 | "See You When I Git There" | 66 | 8 | — | — | |||||||||
| 1978 | "Lady Love" | 24 | 21 | 5 | — | |||||||||
| "One Life to Live" | — | 32 | 10 | — | ||||||||||
| "There Will Be Love" | — | 76 | 33 | — | ||||||||||
| 1979 | "Let Me Be Good to You" | — | 11 | — | — | |||||||||
| "Sit Down and Talk to Me" | — | 26 | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1980 | "You're My Blessing" | 77 | — | — | — | |||||||||
| "Ain't That Loving You (for More Reasons than One)" | — | 57 | — | — | ||||||||||
| "I Go Crazy" | — | 37 | — | — | ||||||||||
| 1982 | "Will You Kiss Me One More Time" | — | 54 | — | — | |||||||||
| 1983 | "Wind Beneath My Wings" | 65 | 60 | 10 | — | |||||||||
| 1984 | "All Time Lover" | — | 67 | — | — | |||||||||
| 1985 | "Learn to Love Again" | — | 71 | — | — | |||||||||
| 1986 | "Stop Me from Starting This Feeling" | — | — | — | 80 | |||||||||
| 1987 | "I Wish You Belonged to Me" | — | 28 | — | — | |||||||||
| "—" denotes a recording that did not chart or was not released in that territory. | ||||||||||||||
