Earl Gaines, Jr. (August 19, 1935 – December 31, 2009) was an American soul blues and electric blues singer. Born in Decatur, Alabama, he sang lead vocals on the

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' ...

It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day) "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)" is a song written by Ted Jarrett. The song was a number two R&B hit for Louis Brooks and His Hi-Toppers, with vocals performed by Earl Gaines, a friend of Jarrett's. The song, which also charted in 1955 for Hank B ...

", credited to

Louis Brooks Louis Brooks, born Louie O'Neal Brooks (March 19, 1911 – May 5, 1993) was an American R&B saxophonist and bandleader, whose recording of "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", featuring vocalist Earl Gaines, reached no.2 on the US ''Billboard' ...

and his Hi-Toppers, before undertaking a low-key solo career. In the latter capacity he had minor success with "The Best of Luck to You" (1966) and "Hymn Number 5" (1973). Noted as the best R&B singer from

Nashville Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the seat of Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the most populous city in the state, 21st most-populous city in the U.S., and the ...

, Gaines was also known for his lengthy career.

Biography

Gaines was born in Decatur, Alabama, in 1935. After moving from his hometown in his teenage years, and relocating to Nashville, Tennessee, he found employment as both a singer and occasional drummer. Via work he did for local songwriter Ted Jarrett, Gaines moved from singing in clubs to meeting Louis Brooks. Brooks led the instrumental Hi-Toppers group, who had a

recording contract A recording contract (commonly called a record contract or record deal) is a legal agreement between a record label and a recording artist (or group), where the artist makes a record (or series of records) for the label to sell and promote. Artists ...

with the Excello label. Their subsequent joint recording, "

," peaked at No. 2 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 ...

in 1955. It was Gaines' biggest hit, but his name was not credited on the

record A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

. Breaking away from the confines of the group, Gaines became part of the 1955 R&B Caravan of Stars, with Bo Diddley,

Big Joe Turner Joseph Vernon "Big Joe" Turner Jr. (May 18, 1911 – November 24, 1985) was an American singer from Kansas City, Missouri. According to songwriter Doc Pomus, "Rock and roll would have never happened without him." His greatest fame was due to ...

, and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer who performed in various genres, including gospel, blues, jazz, R&B, rock and roll, and soul. Starting her career in 1954, sh ...

. Their tour culminated with an appearance at

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States New York may also refer to: Film and television * '' ...

Carnegie Hall Carnegie Hall ( ) is a concert venue in Midtown Manhattan in New York City. It is at 881 Seventh Avenue (Manhattan), Seventh Avenue, occupying the east side of Seventh Avenue between West 56th Street (Manhattan), 56th and 57th Street (Manhatta ...

. Without any tangible success, Gaines recorded for the Champion and Poncello labels for another few years, as well as joining Bill Doggett's band as lead vocalist. In 1963, he joined Bill "Hoss" Allen's repertoire of artists, and by 1966 had issued the album ''The Best of Luck to You'', seeing the title track reach the Top 40 in the US R&B chart. He appeared on the television program ''

The !!!! Beat ''The !!!! Beat'' is an American television program that aired in syndication for 26 episodes in 1966. It was hosted by the Nashville, Tennessee based disc jockey Bill "Hoss" Allen, and featured a house band led by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown. T ...

'', and later released material for King and

Sound Stage 7 Sound Stage 7 was an American, Nashville, Tennessee based record label of the 1960s and 1970s, noted mainly for its soul music releases. The label's biggest star was Joe Simon, who placed numerous singles on the US R&B and pop charts during his ...

, including his cover version of "Hymn Number 5". Recordings made between 1967 and 1973 for De Luxe were reissued in 1998. On many of his De Luxe recordings in the late 1960s and early 1970s, Gaines was backed by

Freddy Robinson Abu Talib (born Fred Leroy Robinson; February 24, 1939 – October 8, 2009) was an American blues and R&B guitarist. Career Born in Memphis, Tennessee, he was raised in the state of Arkansas and moved to Chicago, Illinois, in 1956. Inspired as ...

's orchestra. In 1975, Gaines recorded "Drowning On Dry Land" for Ace, before leaving the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

for almost a decade and a half, to work as a truck driver. He finally re-emerged in 1989 with the album ''House Party''. In the 1990s Gaines worked with

Roscoe Shelton Roscoe Shelton (August 22, 1931 – July 27, 2002) was an American electric blues and R&B singer. He is best remembered for his 1965 hit single "Strain on My Heart" and for his working relationships with the Fairfield Four and with Bobby He ...

and Clifford Curry. On Appaloosa Records, Gaines issued ''I Believe in Your Love'' (1995), and in 1997 he reunited with Curry and Shelton for a collaborative

live album An album is a collection of audio recordings issued on compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl, audio tape, or another medium such as Digital distribution#Music, digital distribution. Albums of recorded sound were developed in the early ...

. He released ''Everything’s Gonna Be Alright'' in 1998. Gaines work was on the 2005 Grammy Award-winning '' Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues, 1945–1970'', an exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum. His own albums ''The Different Feelings of Blues and Soul'' (2005) and ''Nothin’ But the Blues'' (2008) followed, the latter released on the Ecko label. In late 2009 Gaines had to cancel a concert tour of Europe due to ill health, and he died in Nashville on the last day of that year, at the age of 74.

Discography

Albums

*''The Best of Luck to You'' (1966) - HBR Records *''Lovin' Blues'' (1970) -

De Luxe Records De Luxe Records (later DeLuxe Records) was a record company and label formed in 1944 by brothers David Braun (1908–1985) and Julius "Jules" Braun (1911–2002), the sons of Hungarian Jewish immigrants, in Linden, New Jersey. The label ...

*''That's How Strong My Love Is'' (1979) - Vivid Sound Records *''Yearning and Burning'' (1986) - Charly Records *''House Party'' (1989) - Meltone Records *''I Believe in Your Love'' (1995) - Appaloosa Records *''Tennessee R&B Live'' (1997) - Appaloosa Records (with

and Clifford Curry) *''Everything's Gonna Be Alright'' (1998) - Black Top Records *''24 Hours a Day'' (1999) - Black Magic Records *''Let's Work Together'' (2000) - Cannonball Records (with Roscoe Shelton) *''The Different Feelings of Blues and Soul'' (2005) - Blue Fye Records *''The Lost Soul Tapes'' (2006) - Aim Records *''Crankshaft Blues'' (2007) - SPV Records *''Nothin' But the Blues'' (2008) - Ecko Records *''Good To Me'' (2010) - Ecko Records - Released posthumously

Chart singles

*"The Best of Luck to You" (1966) - HBR Records - US R&B #28

References

External links