Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American
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, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1975
hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been frequently
sampled
Sample or samples may refer to:
Base meaning
* Sample (statistics), a subset of a population – complete data set
* Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal
* Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of so ...
by musicians such as
Dr. Dre
Andre Romelle Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper and record producer. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and previously co-founded, co-owned, and ...
(for his 1992 hit "
Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang
"Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is a song by American rapper Dr. Dre, featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Doggy Dogg, on Dre's debut solo album, ''The Chronic'' (1992). The album's first single, "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang," reaching number 2 on the ' ...
") among others.
Career
Born in Houston, he listened to the
blues
Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the Afr ...
as a child and started playing piano at the age of three.
In his teens, he performed with a local group and worked as an accompanist to blues musician,
Guitar Slim
Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), better known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song " The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in t ...
.
In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked with saxophonist
Big Jay McNeely.
McNeely arranged for him to
record his first single, "Without a Love", an
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 ...
on the small Swingin' record label.
After that, he joined
Sam Cooke's band as keyboardist until the singer's death.
Haywood next recorded two singles for
Fantasy Records
Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its invest ...
, and subsequently moved to
Imperial Records
Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group.
Early years to ...
, where he recorded the single "She's with Her Other Love", which made the R&B charts in 1965.
Haywood was also part of two
session bands organized by Los Angeles disc jockey
Magnificent Montague
Nathaniel "Magnificent" Montague (born in New Jersey, January 11, 1928), is an American R&B disc jockey notable not only for the soul music records he helped promote on KGFJ Los Angeles and WWRL New York City, but also his trademark catch-phra ...
which issued the instrumental hits "Hole in the Wall" (R&B No. 5/
Pop No. 50, 1965) under the name of
the Packers
The Packers were an American soul group formed by tenor saxophonist Charles "Packy" Axton, who was the son of Stax Records part-owner Estelle Axton.Ron Wynn, The Packersat Allmusic Axton was a former member of the Mar-Keys, as was Steve Croppe ...
, and "Precious Memories" (R&B number 31, 1967) billed as the Romeos.
In 1967, Haywood secured his first solo hit with "It's Got to Be Mellow" (R&B No. 21 and Pop No. 63) on
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 ...
.
He played on further recording sessions with the Packers and
Dyke & the Blazers
Dyke and the Blazers was an American funk band led by Arlester Christian. The band was formed in 1965, and recorded up until Christian's death in 1971. Among their most successful records were the original version of "Funky Broadway" (1966) and " ...
, then returned to recording under his own name.
He also established in 1967 a production company, Evejim, named after his parents.
Haywood recorded, without too much success for the Fat Fish (Hollywood, Ca.) label in 1966 and 1967. Two singles from that source were given a UK release at the time on the Decca distributed Vocalion label but gathered few sales – "Skate a While" and "Ain't No Use".
He found only sporadic success as a singer, including with "It's Got to Be Mellow" and "Keep It in the Family".
After recording for
Columbia Records
Columbia Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music, Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Corporation of America, the North American division of Japanese Conglomerate (company), conglomerate Sony. It was founded on Janua ...
, he moved over to
MCA Records
MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc., which later became part of Universal Music Group.
Pre-history
MCA Inc., a powerful talent agency and a television production company, entered the recorded music business in 1962 wit ...
.
He emerged as a
star
A star is an astronomical object comprising a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by its gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked ...
in the 1970s by modifying his style to incorporate the emerging
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
disco
Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...
idioms.
Haywood joined
20th Century Records in 1974 and was immediately successful, notably with "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You"
(R&B No. 7/Pop No. 15, 1975), "Strokin' (Pt. II)" (R&B No. 13, 1976) and "Party" (R&B No. 24, 1978).
In 1980, Haywood revived the
shuffle beat
In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...
of 1950s
rock and roll
Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from Africa ...
with "Don't Push It Don't Force It" (R&B No. 2 and Pop No. 49).
This single also reached No. 12 in the
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...
, where he is considered a
one-hit wonder
A one-hit wonder or viral hit is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music p ...
.
Haywood is credited with writing the 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama" by
Carl Carlton
Carl Carlton (born May 21, 1953) is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer-songwriter, best known for his hits "Everlasting Love" and " She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)".
Career
Carlton was born in Detroit, Michigan, and beg ...
, which he produced in his own studio.
[ In 1983, he released the album ''It's Me Again'', which featured a couple minor R&B hits. His last R&B chart record was "Tenderoni" (No. 22) in 1984,] but the accompanying album, ''Now and Then'' went unreleased (although the single was featured on a similarly-titled compilation album, ''Then & Now'', which surfaced five years later). After a few more chart singles, for Casablanca Records
Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label current ...
and Modern Records, Haywood's output failed to excite the public's taste. In the late 1980s, he became associated in an executive/production capacity with the Los Angeles-based Edge Records. From the 1980s, he produced blues albums by Jimmy McCracklin
James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, vocalist, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career tha ...
, Clay Hammond
Clay Hammond (21 June 1936 – 4 February 2011) was an American R&B and soul singer and songwriter. As well as recording in his own right, he is most notable for writing "Part Time Love", a no.1 R&B chart hit in 1963 for Little Johnny Tay ...
, Ronnie Lovejoy, Buddy Ace and others on his own Evejim Records label.[
He died in his sleep on April 5, 2016, aged 74.]
Discography
Albums
* ''The Mellow Mellow Leon Haywood'' (Galaxy, 1964)
* ''Soul Cargo'' (Fat Fish, 1966)
* ''It's Got to Be Mellow'' (Decca, 1967)
* ''Back to Stay'' (20th Century, 1973)
* ''Keep It in the Family'' (20th Century, 1974)
* '' Come and Get Yourself Some'' (20th Century, 1975)
* ''Intimate'' (Columbia, 1976)
* ''Double My Pleasure'' (MCA, 1978)
* ''Energy'' (MCA, 1979)
* ''Naturally'' (20th Century, 1980)
* ''It's Me Again'' (Casablanca, 1983)
* ''Freaky Man'' (Evejim, 1994)
Singles
References
External links
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Leon
1942 births
2016 deaths
20th-century African-American male singers
African-American songwriters
American funk singers
American male singers
American soul singers
Musicians from Houston
Singers from Los Angeles
Songwriters from California
Songwriters from Texas
21st-century African-American people
American male songwriters