Calvin Leavy (April 20, 1940 – June 6, 2010) was an American

soul-blues Soul blues is a style of blues music developed in the late 1960s and early 1970s that combines elements of soul music and urban contemporary music. Origin African American singers and musicians who grew up listening to the electric blues by ar ...

and electric blues singer and guitarist. He had a

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

in 1970, when "Cummins Prison Farm" peaked at number 40 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

and stayed on the chart for five weeks. Locally, it was number one on the chart of radio station WDIA, based in Memphis, Tennessee. Later in his life, Leavy became the first person indicted under the 1989 Arkansas "drug kingpin law". He died in prison.

Biography

Calvin James Leavy was born in Scott, Pulaski County, Arkansas, the youngest son of fifteen children. As a child he sang in his church choir. By adolescence, he was singing with various gospel ensembles in Little Rock. He formed the Leavy Brothers Band in 1954, and they were popular locally, before relocating to Fresno, California. By the end of 1968, they had moved back to Little Rock and were playing at local

clubs Club may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * ''Club'' (magazine) * Club, a ''Yie Ar Kung-Fu'' character * Clubs (suit), a suit of playing cards * Club music * "Club", by Kelsea Ballerini from the album ''kelsea'' Brands and enterprises ...

. Through this work, Leavy was offered recording time at E&M Studios in Little Rock. The group recorded a cover version of "

Tennessee Waltz "Tennessee Waltz" is a popular country music song with lyrics by Redd Stewart and music by Pee Wee King written in 1946 and first released in January 1948. The song became a multimillion seller via a 1950 recording – as "The Tennessee Waltz" � ...

" and the song "Cummins Prison Farm", written by Bill Cole. Leavy used the prison experiences of one of his brothers to expand the lyrical content. It was originally issued by Soul Beat Records and was subsequently distributed nationally by Blue Fox Records, that label's first release. "Cummins Prison Farm" reached number 40 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart. Recorded in one take, it was one of 27 blues-based songs that reached the R&B chart in 1970. Leavy recorded further

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

for Aquarian, Soul Beat, Downtown and Messenger Records. These included "Nothing but Your Love", "Give Me a Love (That I Can Feel)" and "Goin’ to the Dogs Pt. 1". The band also made some recordings for the Arkansas Bicentennial Blues Project, which are archived at the

University of Arkansas at Little Rock The University of Arkansas at Little Rock (UA Little Rock) is a public research university in Little Rock, Arkansas. Established as Little Rock Junior College by the Little Rock School District in 1927, the institution became a private four-year ...

. They also appeared in 1977 at the Beale Street Music Festival, before disbanding. Forming Calvin Leavy and the Professionals, he and his new band remained popular locally. They recorded "Is It Worth All (That I'm Going Through)", "Big Four", "What Kind of Love", "Free from Cummins Prison Farm", and "If Life Last Luck Is Bound to Change". Further national chart success eluded him, but he maintained a strong fan base in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or Points of the compass, compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both east and west. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Pro ...

, and his records often appeared on local jukeboxes. CumminsUnitSignArk

In 1991, Leavy was charged with making payments to an undercover police officer and was convicted of multiple drug-related offences in July 1992. He was sentenced to life plus twenty-five years. His imprisonment started at Cummins Prison. By 2004, his sentence was commuted to seventy-five years. Leavy died in June 2010, at the age of 70, in the

Jefferson Regional Medical Center Jefferson may refer to: Names * Jefferson (surname) * Jefferson (given name) People * Thomas Jefferson (1743–1826), third president of the United States * Jefferson (footballer, born 1970), full name Jefferson Tomaz de Souza, Brazilian foo ...

in Pine Bluff, Arkansas. He would have been eligible for parole in eighteen months.

Discography

Compilation albums

References

External links

Discography at Koti.mbnet.fi
{{DEFAULTSORT:Leavy, Calvin 1940 births 2010 deaths American blues singers American blues guitarists American male guitarists Electric blues musicians Soul-blues musicians Singers from Arkansas People from Pulaski County, Arkansas Guitarists from Arkansas 20th-century American guitarists African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers

Biography

Discography

Compilation albums

See also

References

External links