Earl Grant (January 20, 1931 – June 10, 1970) was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.

Career

Grant was born in

Idabel, Oklahoma Idabel is a city in and county seat of McCurtain County, Oklahoma, United States. The population was 7,010 at the 2010 census. It is located in the southeast corner of Oklahoma, a tourist area known as Choctaw Country. History Idabel was estab ...

. Though he would be known later for his keyboards and vocals, Grant also played trumpet and drums. Grant attended four music schools, eventually becoming a music teacher. He augmented his income by performing in clubs during his

army An army (from Old French ''armee'', itself derived from the Latin verb ''armāre'', meaning "to arm", and related to the Latin noun ''arma'', meaning "arms" or "weapons"), ground force or land force is a fighting force that fights primarily on ...

service, throughout which he was stationed in

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, Texas. Grant signed with

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis. Its U.S. label was established in late 1934 by Lewis, Jack Kapp, American Decca's first president, and Milton Rackmil, who later became American ...

in 1957 and his first single "The End" reached number 7 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

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 ...

. The album ''Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites)'' sold over one million copies, gaining

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

status. He recorded six more singles that made the charts, including "Swingin' Gently" (from ''Beyond the Reef''), and six additional albums (on the Decca label) through 1968. He also recorded the album ''Yes Sirree!'' and the

instrumental An instrumental is a recording normally without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through semantic widening, a broader sense of the word song may refer to instru ...

album ''Trade Winds'', single-tracked on the

Hammond organ The Hammond organ is an electric organ invented by Laurens Hammond and John M. Hanert and first manufactured in 1935. Multiple models have been produced, most of which use sliding drawbars to vary sounds. Until 1975, Hammond organs generated s ...

and piano, featuring the love theme from the film ''

El Cid Rodrigo Díaz de Vivar (c. 1043 – 10 July 1099) was a Castilian knight and warlord in medieval Spain. Fighting with both Christian and Muslim armies during his lifetime, he earned the Arabic honorific ''al-sīd'', which would evolve into El ...

'' and

Chaplin Chaplin may refer to: People * Charlie Chaplin (1889–1977), English comedy film actor and director * Chaplin (name), other people named Chaplin Films * '' Unknown Chaplin'' (1983) * ''Chaplin'' (film) (1992) * ''Chaplin'' (2011 film), Ben ...

's " Eternally". This album featured some realistic-sounding "tropical bird calls" produced by his electric organ. "House of Bamboo" was another big-selling single. Grant recorded 30 albums for Decca, mostly on the Brunswick label, a subsidiary of Decca. Several of his albums featured tenor saxophonist

Plas Johnson Plas John Johnson Jr. (born July 21, 1931) is an American soul-jazz and hard bop tenor saxophonist, probably most widely known as the tenor saxophone soloist on Henry Mancini’s "The Pink Panther Theme". He also performs on alto and baritone sax ...

. Grant also made a few appearances in films and on television, including ''

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'' (1962), ''

Juke Box Rhythm ''Juke Box Rhythm'' is a 1959 American musical film starring Brian Donlevy and Jo Morrow. The film was released on a double bill with ''The Tingler'' (1959). Plot Preparing for her coronation, Princess Ann flies to New York City along with her A ...

'' (1959), '' It Takes a Thief'' (1969) and ''

The Ed Sullivan Show ''The Ed Sullivan Show'' is an American television program, television variety show that ran on CBS from June 20, 1948, to March 28, 1971, and was hosted by New York City, New York entertainment columnist Ed Sullivan. It was replaced in Septembe ...

'' (1960).

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�
The Ed Sullivan Show Season 12 Episode 45
/ref> Grant sang the title theme for the 1959 film '' Imitation of Life''. He died instantly in a car accident in

Lordsburg, New Mexico Lordsburg is a city in and the county seat of Hidalgo County, New Mexico, United States. Hidalgo County includes the southern "bootheel" of New Mexico, along the Arizona border. The population was 2,797 at the 2010 census, down from 3,379 in 20 ...

, at the age of 39 when the car he was driving ran off

Interstate 10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost cross-country highway in the American Interstate Highway System. I-10 is the fourth-longest Interstate in the United States at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. This freeway is part of the originally pl ...

. He was driving from Los Angeles to an intended destination in Juarez, Mexico, for an appearance at the La Fiesta nightclub. His cousin's 17-year-old son, Roosevelt Woods III, was also killed in the accident.

Discography

* ''The Versatile Earl Grant'' (

Decca Decca may refer to: Music * Decca Records or Decca Music Group, a record label * Decca Gold, a classical music record label owned by Universal Music Group * Decca Broadway, a musical theater record label * Decca Studios, a recording facility in W ...

DL-8672, 1958) * ''The End'' (Decca DL-8830, 1958) * ''Midnight Earl'' (Decca DL-9201, 1958) * ''Grant Takes Rhythm'' (Decca DL-8905, 1959) * ''Nothin' But The Blues'' (Decca DL-8916, 1959) * ''Paris Is My Beat'' (Decca DL-8935, 1959) * ''The Magic of Earl Grant'' (Decca DL-74044, 1960) * ''Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites)'' (Decca DL-74165, 1961) * ''Earl After Dark'' (Decca DL-74188, 1961) * ''Beyond The Reef (And Other Instrumental Favorites)'' (Decca DL-74231, 1962) * ''At Basin Street East'' (Decca DL-74299, 1962) * ''Midnight Sun'' (Decca DL-74338, 1962) * ''Yes Sirree!'' (Decca DL-74405, 1963) * ''Fly Me To The Moon'' (Decca DL-74454, 1963) * ''Just For A Thrill'' (Decca DL-74506, 1964) * ''Just One More Time (And Other Instrumental Favorites)'' (Decca DL-74576, 1964) * ''Trade Winds'' (Decca DL-74623, 1965) * ''Spotlight on Earl Grant'' (Decca DL-74624, 1965) * ''Winter Wonderland'' (Decca DL-74677, 1965) * ''Sings and Plays Songs Made Famous By Nat Cole'' (Decca DL-74729, 1966) * ''Stand By Me'' (Decca DL-74738, 1966) * ''Bali Ha'i'' (Decca DL-74806, 1966) * ''A Closer Walk With Thee'' (Decca DL-74811, 1966) * ''Earl Grant's Greatest Hits'' (Decca DL-74813, 1967) * ''Gently Swingin' '' (Decca DL-74937, 1968) * ''Spanish Eyes'' (Decca DL-74974, 1968) * ''In Motion!'' (Decca DL-75052, 1968) * ''This Magic Moment'' (Decca DL-75108, 1969) * ''A Time For Us'' (Decca DL-75158, 1969) * ''Earl Grant'' (Decca DL-75223, 1970)

Charted albums

Charted singles

References

External links

Profile of Grant

Earl Grant recordings
at the

Discography of American Historical Recordings The Discography of American Historical Recordings (DAHR) is a database of master recordings made by American record companies during the 78rpm era. The DAHR provides some of these original recordings, free of charge, via audio streaming, along with ...