Earl Wright (September 27, 1948 – August 7, 2013) was an American singer, songwriter, musician, and Vietnam veteran from Memphis, Tennessee. Wright wrote Southern blues songs in the 1960s before being drafted in the Vietnam War.

Early life

Wright was born to parents Robert, Sr. and Clara Wright in Memphis, Tennessee. He was the youngest of six children. Wright attended

Manassas High School Manassas High School is in Memphis, Tennessee, Memphis, Tennessee. It was established in 1900. As of 2022 the school had about 420 students 96 percent of whom were black. The high school produced several prominent jazz musicians. In the 1920s, it ...

(along with

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, actor, songwriter, and composer. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwri ...

) where he graduated in 1968.

Career

Wright began his writing career in the heart of Memphis, home to Stax Records and the renowned Willie Mitchell. He assisted in writing hit songs. Wright was scheduled to appear on the Memphis' own version of Band Stand, but plan was canceled as Wright was drafted into the Vietnam War and sent to training camp.

Musical career

In 1974, Wright wrote "

Six Nights and a Day 6 is a number, numeral, and glyph. 6 or six may also refer to: * AD 6, the sixth year of the AD era * 6 BC, the sixth year before the AD era * The month of June Science * Carbon, the element with atomic number 6 * 6 Hebe, an asteroid People ...

" for

Candi Staton Canzetta Maria "Candi" Staton (, ) (born March 13, 1940) is an American singer–songwriter, best known in the United States for her 1970 remake of Tammy Wynette's " Stand by Your Man" and her 1976 disco chart-topper "Young Hearts Run Free". In E ...

's album, ''

The Best of Candi Staton ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in En ...

''. Wright later recorded and wrote two songs which became hits in the United Kingdom, "

Them Love Blues Them or THEM, a third-person plural accusative personal pronoun, may refer to: Books * ''Them'' (novel), 3rd volume (1969) in American Joyce Carol Oates' ''Wonderland Quartet'' * '' Them: Adventures with Extremists'', 2003 non-fiction by Welsh ...

" and " I Don't Know". Wright had a distinguished sound that consisted of horns and bass lines.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Wright, Earl 1948 births 2013 deaths Singers from Memphis, Tennessee Singer-songwriters from Tennessee