Don Julian (April 7, 1937 – November 6, 1998)
- accessed September 2011 was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African Americans in the m ...

and

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun ''soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest attes ...

singer, guitarist and songwriter. Most famous for his work as an R&B singer in the 1950s and 1960s, he's also known for composing the soundtrack and songs to the

blaxploitation Blaxploitation is an ethnic subgenre of the exploitation film that emerged in the United States during the early 1970s. The term, a portmanteau of the words "black" and "exploitation", was coined in August 1972 by Junius Griffin, the president o ...

film, ''Savage!''.

Career

Born Donald Ray Julian in

Houston Houston (; ) is the most populous city in Texas, the most populous city in the Southern United States, the fourth-most populous city in the United States, and the sixth-most populous city in North America, with a population of 2,304,580 in ...

Texas Texas (, ; Spanish language, Spanish: ''Texas'', ''Tejas'') is a state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. At 268,596 square miles (695,662 km2), and with more than 29.1 million residents in 2 ...

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 states, a federal district, five major unincorporated territorie ...

, in his teens he moved to

Los Angeles Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the largest city in the state of California and the second most populous city in the United States after New York City, as well as one of the world' ...

California California is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States, located along the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the List of states and territori ...

, where he began performing with local bands.Soulsounds.com
He performed both solo and with backing bands. His most famous backing group was "The Meadowlarks" (later named The Larks), although most of his film music was performed with instrumental funk bands. The Meadowlarks is considered the first integrated

doo-wop Doo-wop (also spelled doowop and doo wop) is a genre of rhythm and blues music that originated in African-American communities during the 1940s, mainly in the large cities of the United States, including New York, Philadelphia, Pittsburgh, Chica ...

group. In 1954, Don Julian and the Meadowlarks' debut single "Heaven and Paradise", became popular with R&B fans. In 1964, the

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "The Jerk" was released under the band name, The Larks. The single, released on the Money label, was Julian's only chart hit. It went to number one on both the ''

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 the ''

Cash Box ''Cashbox'', also known as ''Cash Box'', was an American music industry trade magazine, originally published weekly from July 1942 to November 1996. Ten years after its dissolution, it was revived and continues as ''Cashbox Magazine'', an online ...

'' R&B chart and peaked at number seven on the ''Billboard''

Hot 100 The ''Billboard'' Hot 100 is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), radio play, and online streaming ...

chart. Julian recorded several solo albums for a variety of

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

s in the 1970s. Julian died in November 1998 from

pneumonia Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung primarily affecting the small air sacs known as alveoli. Symptoms typically include some combination of productive or dry cough, chest pain, fever, and difficulty breathing. The severity ...

, aged 61.

Discography

Solo (incomplete)

* ''Savage! (1973)'' (soundtrack to the film '' Savage!'')

With the Meadowlarks or the Larks

* ''Heaven and Paradise'' (1955) * ''The Jerk'' (1964) * ''Shorty the Pimp'' (1973) (soundtrack to limited release film starring the band) * ''Golden Classics'' (1990)

Influence

A song from the album ''Savage!'' titled "Janitizo" was sampled by

Warren G Warren Griffin III (born November 10, 1970) is an American rapper and producer known for his role in West Coast rap's 1990s ascent.Steve Huey"Warren G: Biography" ''AllMusic.com'', Netaktion LLC, visited May 8, 2020. Along with Snoop Dogg and N ...

, on his song "And Ya Don't Stop" on his debut album, '' Regulate...G Funk Era''. The title track "Shorty the Pimp" was sampled by

Too Short Todd Anthony Shaw (born April 28, 1966), better known by the stage name Too Short (stylized as Too $hort), is an American rapper and record producer. He became famous in the West Coast hip hop scene in the late 1980s, with lyrics often based on ...

as the intro track for his 1992 album ''

Shorty the Pimp ''Shorty the Pimp'' is the seventh studio album by American rapper Too Short, released on July 14, 1992, by Jive Records. Five songs were produced by Ant Banks, four by Too Short himself and one song by D'wayne Wiggins. The album title is from ...

''.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Julian, Don 1937 births 1998 deaths American rhythm and blues singers American rhythm and blues guitarists American male guitarists Songwriters from Texas Musicians from Houston Deaths from pneumonia in California 20th-century American guitarists Guitarists from Texas African-American male songwriters African-American guitarists 20th-century African-American male singers