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Bettye Crutcher
Bettye Jean Crutcher (September 16, 1939 – October 20, 2022) was an American songwriter. She was a staff writer for Stax Records.Peter Barker"Bettye Crutcher, Stax Records contributor and pioneering songwriter, dies at 83" ''Tennessee News'', October 21, 2022]. Retrieved October 21, 2022. Crutcher teamed with Homer Banks and Raymond Jackson as We Three, and co-wrote "Who's Making Love" for Johnnie Taylor, which earned a nomination for the Grammy Award for Best R&B Song. Crutcher also wrote music for the Staple Singers, Sam & Dave, and Albert King. Early life and career Crutcher was born in Memphis, Tennessee on September 16, 1939, and started writing poems as a child. She became a nurse and was a single parent of three children when she applied to work for various record labels. After being rejected by other labels, she joined Stax Records as a songwriter in 1967, becoming their only female staffer. In 2019, she said: "Being the only female songwriter for Stax was quite an ev ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Memphis, Tennessee
Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-most populous city in Tennessee, after Nashville. Memphis is the fifth-most populous city in the Southeast, the nation's 28th-largest overall, as well as the largest city bordering the Mississippi River. The Memphis metropolitan area includes West Tennessee and the greater Mid-South region, which includes portions of neighboring Arkansas, Mississippi and the Missouri Bootheel. One of the more historic and culturally significant cities of the Southern United States, Memphis has a wide variety of landscapes and distinct neighborhoods. The first European explorer to visit the area of present-day Memphis was Spanish conquistador Hernando de Soto in 1541. The high Chickasaw Bluffs protecting the location from the waters of the Mississipp ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Mack Rice
Bonny "Mack" Rice (November 10, 1933 – June 27, 2016), sometimes credited as Sir Mack Rice, was an American songwriter and singer. His best-known composition and biggest hit as a solo performer was " Mustang Sally". He also wrote " Respect Yourself" with Luther Ingram. Life and career Rice was born in Clarksdale, Mississippi. In 1950, his family moved to Detroit, Michigan, where he began his work in the R&B field, performing with the Five Scalders in 1956. From 1957–63, he performed with the Falcons, a group whose members included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs. He performed as a solo vocalist in the years to follow, but his biggest successes were as songwriter for other artists on labels like Stax and others in the 1960s and following decades. He began his solo vocalist career at Stax in 1967, recording on Atco Records beginning in 1968. Rice is one of the few musicians whose career touched both Motown and Stax Records. As a solo recording artist, he had ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Wu-Tang Clan
Wu-Tang Clan is an American hip hop group formed in Staten Island, New York City, in 1992. Its original members include RZA, GZA, Ol' Dirty Bastard, Method Man, Raekwon, Ghostface Killah, Inspectah Deck, U-God, and Masta Killa. Close affiliate Cappadonna later became an official member. Wu-Tang Clan are regarded as a highly influential group in hip hop, helping to popularize and develop the East Coast hip hop and hardcore hip hop styles. After signing to Steve Rifkind's label Loud Records in 1992, Wu-Tang Clan released their debut album ''Enter the Wu-Tang (36 Chambers)'' in 1993; initially receiving positive reviews, it has since garnered widespread critical acclaim and is widely considered to be one of the greatest hip hop albums of all time. Members of the group released solo albums between 1994 and 1996. In 1997, the group released their second album, ''Wu-Tang Forever''. It debuted atop the ''Billboard'' 200 and was nominated for Best Rap Album at the 1998 Grammy Awa ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Sammy Davis Jr
Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, dancer, actor, comedian, film producer and television director. At age three, Davis began his career in vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which toured nationally, and his film career began in 1933. After military service, Davis returned to the trio and became an overnight sensation following a nightclub performance at Ciro's (in West Hollywood) after the 1951 Academy Awards. With the trio, he became a recording artist. In 1954, at the age of 29, he lost his left eye in a car accident. Several years later, he converted to Judaism, finding commonalities between the oppression experienced by African-American and Jewish communities.Sammy Davis Jr. Biography Biography.com. Retrieved June 6, 2013.< ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Paul Weller
Paul John Weller (born John William Weller; 25 May 1958) is an English singer-songwriter and musician. Weller achieved fame with the punk rock/ new wave/mod revival band the Jam (1972–1982). He had further success with the blue-eyed soul music of the Style Council (1983–1989), before establishing himself as a solo artist with his eponymous 1992 album. Despite widespread critical recognition as a singer, lyricist, and guitarist, Weller has remained a national, rather than international, star and much of his songwriting is rooted in English society. Many of his songs with the Jam had lyrics about working class life. He was the principal figure of the 1970s and 1980s mod revival, often referred to as "The Modfather", and an influence on Britpop bands such as Oasis. Early life (1958–1975) Weller was born on 25 May 1958 in Woking, Surrey, England, to John and Ann Weller (née Craddock). Although born John William Weller, he became known as Paul by his parents. His fathe ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Buddy Guy
George "Buddy" Guy (born July 30, 1936) is an American blues guitarist and singer. He is an exponent of Chicago blues who has influenced generations of guitarists including Eric Clapton, Jimi Hendrix, Jimmy Page, Keith Richards, Stevie Ray Vaughan, Jeff Beck, Gary Clark Jr. and John Mayer. In the 1960s, Guy played with Muddy Waters as a session guitarist at Chess Records and began a musical partnership with blues harp virtuoso Junior Wells. Guy has won eight Grammy Awards and a Lifetime Achievement Award, the National Medal of Arts, and the Kennedy Center Honors. Guy was ranked 23rd in ''Rolling Stone'' magazine's " 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time". His song "Stone Crazy" was ranked 78th in the ''Rolling Stone'' list of the "100 Greatest Guitar Songs of All Time". Clapton once described him as "the best guitar player alive". In 1999, Guy wrote the book ''Damn Right I've Got the Blues'', with Donald Wilcock. His autobiography, ''When I Left Home: My Story'', was publ ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Joan Baez
Joan Chandos Baez (; born January 9, 1941) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, and activist. Her contemporary folk music often includes songs of protest and social justice. Baez has performed publicly for over 60 years, releasing more than 30 albums. Fluent in Spanish and English, she has also recorded songs in at least six other languages. Baez is generally regarded as a folk singer, but her music has diversified since the counterculture era of the 1960s and encompasses genres such as folk rock, pop, country, and gospel music. She began her recording career in 1960 and achieved immediate success. Her first three albums, ''Joan Baez'', ''Joan Baez, Vol. 2'' and ''Joan Baez in Concert'', all achieved gold record status. Although a songwriter herself, Baez generally interprets other composers' work, having recorded songs by the Allman Brothers Band, the Beatles, Jackson Browne, Leonard Cohen, Woody Guthrie, Violeta Parra, the Rolling Stones, Pete Seeger, Paul Simon, Ste ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Otis Clay
Otis Lee Clay (February 11, 1942 – January 8, 2016) was an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and Soul music, soul singer, who started in gospel music. In 2013, Clay was inducted to the Blues Hall of Fame. Early life Clay was born in Waxhaw, Mississippi, to a musical family, who moved in 1953 to Muncie, Indiana. After singing with local gospel group, the Voices of Hope, he returned to Mississippi to sing with the Christian Travelers, before settling in Chicago in 1957. There, he joined a series of gospel vocal groups including the Golden Jubilaires, the Famous Blue Jay Singers, the Holy Wonders, and the Pilgrim Harmonizers, before making his first solo secular recordings in 1962. They were unissued, and Clay joined the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded in Nashville in 1964 and who also included Maurice Dollison who sang R&B under the name Cash McCall (musician), Cash McCall, and then the Sensational Nightingales. Career In 1965, Clay signed with One-derful Records, One-derful! Recor ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Ann Peebles
Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947) is an American singer and songwriter who gained celebrity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s for Hi Records. Two of her most popular songs are " I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband Don Bryant and radio broadcaster Bernie Miller, and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down". In 2014, Ann Peebles was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame. Biography She was born in Kinloch, Missouri, the seventh child of eleven. As a child she began singing in the choir of her father's church and with the family's group, the Peebles Choir,Dorian Lynskey"Ann Peebles: the girl with the big voice" ''The Guardian'', February 20, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014. who regularly opened shows for gospel stars including Mahalia Jackson and the Soul Stirrers featuring Sam Cooke. She was also influenced by R&B performers, including Muddy Waters, Mary Wells and Aretha Franklin.Miss FunkyFlyy"Ann Peebles" Retrieved June 30, 2014. She began perf ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Carla Thomas
Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1960), "B-A-B-Y" (1966) and "Tramp" (1967), a duet with Otis Redding. She is the daughter of Rufus Thomas. Biography Childhood Thomas was born and raised in the Foote Homes Projects in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Along with her siblings, Marvell and Vaneese, she was one of three musical children of Rufus and Lorene Thomas. Despite growing up in the projects, the Thomas family lived near the Palace Theater on Beale Street, as Rufus was the theater's Master of Ceremonies (MC) for their amateur shows.Freeland, David. "Carla Thomas – Memphis's Reluctant Soul Queen". ''Ladies of Soul''. University Press of Mississippi, 2001. pp. 56–75. This access not only gave Thomas her first taste of the music world but it also provided a springboar ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Luther Ingram
Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 3 on the Hot 100 in 1972. Life and career Luther Thomas Ingram was born in Jackson, Tennessee on November 30, 1937. His family moved to Alton, Illinois in 1947. Ingram's early interest in music led to formation of a gospel group, the Alton Crusaders, which included his brothers Archie and Richard. They eventually began singing doo-wop, and accompanied by bandleader Ike Turner, they recorded as the Gardenias for Federal Records in 1956. In 1965, Ingram recorded his first solo record. His first three recordings failed to chart but that changed when he signed for KoKo Records in the late 1960s, and his first hit "My Honey And Me" peaked at #55 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 on 14 February 1970. Many of his songs appeared in the pop and R&B ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
Respect Yourself
"Respect Yourself" is a song by American R&B/gospel group the Staple Singers. Released in late 1971 from their album '' Be Altitude: Respect Yourself'', the song became a crossover hit. The Staple Singers' version peaked at No. 12 on the Hot 100, No. 2 on the Hot Soul Singles chart, and is one of the group's most recognizable hits. In 2002, the song was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame, and in 2010 it was ranked #468 on the ''Rolling Stone'' list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, moving down 4 spots from #464 in 2004. Writing and recording The song was written by Stax Records singer Luther Ingram and house songwriter Mack Rice. Ingram, who was frustrated with the state of the world at the time, told Rice "black folk need to learn to respect themselves." Rice liked the comment so much that he built a funk groove around it, prepared a demo record, and suggested to record producer Al Bell that the Staple Singers record it. The group agreed. Bell teamed the group with ... [...More Info...] [...Related Items...] OR: [Wikipedia] [Google] [Baidu] |
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