Lincoln R. Chase (June 29, 1926 – October 6, 1980) was an American

songwriter A songwriter is a musician who professionally composes musical compositions or writes lyrics for songs, or both. The writer of the music for a song can be called a composer, although this term tends to be used mainly in the classical music gen ...

and occasional recording artist. As a writer, his most notable songs were "

Such a Night Such may refer to: * Bob Such ( fl. 1990s), Australian politician * Alec John Such (1956–2022), American musician * Peter Such (born 1964), English cricketer * '' Such A Pretty Girl'', a 2007 novel by Laura Weiss See also * Screaming Lord Sutc ...

", " Jim Dandy", and several of

Shirley Ellis Shirley Marie O'Garra (stage name Shirley Ellis, married name Shirley Elliston; January 19, 1929 – October 5, 2005) was an American soul music singer and songwriter of West Indian heritage. She is best known for her novelty hits "The Nitty Grit ...

' hits in the early 1960s including "

The Name Game "The Name Game" is a song co-written and performed by Shirley Ellis as a rhyming game that creates variations on a person's name. She explains through speaking and singing how to play the game. The first verse is done using Ellis's first name; t ...

" and "

The Clapping Song "The Clapping Song" is an American song, written by Lincoln Chase, originally arranged by Charles Calello and recorded by Shirley Ellis in 1965. The single sold over a million copies, and peaked at number eight in the United States and number six ...

Background

Chase was born in

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, the only child of

West Indian A West Indian is a native or inhabitant of the West Indies (the Antilles and the Lucayan Archipelago). For more than 100 years the words ''West Indian'' specifically described natives of the West Indies, but by 1661 Europeans had begun to use it ...

immigrants. Lorenzo, his father, was born in

Cuba Cuba ( , ), officially the Republic of Cuba ( es, República de Cuba, links=no ), is an island country comprising the island of Cuba, as well as Isla de la Juventud and several minor archipelagos. Cuba is located where the northern Caribbea ...

and his mother, Edith (or Elizabeth), was a native of the

British West Indies The British West Indies (BWI) were colonized British territories in the West Indies: Anguilla, the Cayman Islands, Turks and Caicos Islands, Montserrat, the British Virgin Islands, Antigua and Barbuda, The Bahamas, Barbados, Dominica, Grena ...

. He was raised in

. His wife was Monica D. Chase. His children are Alton D Chase, Leland E. Chase, and Melanie D. Chase. His grandchildren include Nadira and Ansar Chase.

Career

He studied at the American Academy of Music in

, and signed as a recording artist for

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 1951. However, his single releases for Decca and, later, other labels including

RCA The RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded as the Radio Corporation of America in 1919. It was initially a patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse, AT&T Corporation and United Fruit Comp ...

Dawn Dawn is the time that marks the beginning of twilight before sunrise. It is recognized by the appearance of indirect sunlight being scattered in Earth's atmosphere, when the centre of the Sun's disc has reached 18° below the observer's horizo ...

Liberty Liberty is the ability to do as one pleases, or a right or immunity enjoyed by prescription or by grant (i.e. privilege). It is a synonym for the word freedom. In modern politics, liberty is understood as the state of being free within society fr ...

and Columbia were unsuccessful. Tocosongs: Review of Shirley Ellis, ''The Complete Congress Recordings'', 10 September 2008
/ref> As a songwriter, early recordings of his songs included "Rain Down Rain" by

Big Maybelle Mabel Louise Smith (May 1, 1924 – January 23, 1972), known professionally as Big Maybelle, was an American R&B singer. Her 1956 hit single " Candy" received the Grammy Hall of Fame Award in 1999. Childhood and musical background Born in J ...

, and "Salty Tears" by

Chuck Willis Harold "Chuck" Willis (January 31, 1926 – April 10, 1958) was an American blues, rhythm and blues, and rock and roll singer and songwriter. His biggest hits, " C. C. Rider" (1957) and "What Am I Living For" (1958), both reached No.1 on the ''Bil ...

(both 1952), and "Mend Your Ways" by

Ruth Brown Ruth Alston Brown (; January 12, 1928 – November 17, 2006) was an American singer-songwriter and actress, sometimes referred to as the " Queen of R&B". She was noted for bringing a pop music style to R&B music in a series of hit songs for Atl ...

(May 1953). His first real success came when his song "

" was recorded by

The Drifters The Drifters are several American doo-wop and R&B/Soul music, soul vocal groups. They were originally formed as a backing group for Clyde McPhatter, formerly the lead tenor of Billy Ward and his Dominoes in 1953. The second group of Drifters, f ...

, featuring

Clyde McPhatter Clyde Lensley McPhatter (November 15, 1932 – June 13, 1972) was an American rhythm and blues, soul, and rock and roll singer. He was one of the most widely imitated R&B singers of the 1950s and early 1960sPalmer, Robert (1981)"Roy Brown, a Pi ...

, in November 1953. The song reached #2 on 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 The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...

in early 1954, and was covered by

Johnnie Ray John Alvin Ray (January 10, 1927 – February 24, 1990) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Highly popular for most of the 1950s, Ray has been cited by critics as a major precursor to what became rock and roll, for his jazz and blu ...

, whose version reached #1 on 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 ...

. A version recorded by

Elvis Presley Elvis Aaron Presley (January 8, 1935 – August 16, 1977), or simply Elvis, was an American singer and actor. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, King of Rock and Roll", he is regarded as Cultural impact of Elvis Presley, one ...

in 1960 also became a hit in 1964, and the song has subsequently been recorded by many other musicians. Chase's next major success came with " Jim Dandy", recorded in 1956 by

LaVern Baker Delores LaVern Baker (November 11, 1929 – March 10, 1997) was an American R&B singer who had several hit records on the pop chart in the 1950s and early 1960s. Her most successful records were "Tweedle Dee" (1955), " Jim Dandy" (1956), and "I ...

and the Gliders. The song rose to #1 on the US R&B chart and #17 on the

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 ...

in early 1957. Chase also wrote the follow-up record, "Jim Dandy Got Married". He released an album on

Liberty Records Liberty Records was a record label founded in the United States by chairman Simon Waronker in 1955 with Al Bennett as president and Theodore Keep as chief engineer. It was reactivated in 2001 in the United Kingdom and had two previous revival ...

in 1957, ''The Explosive Lincoln Chase'', recorded with the Spencer Hagen Orchestra. In 1959, he met singer

, and worked as her manager for the next few years. Tom Simon: Shirley Ellis
/ref> Contrary to some reports,Biography by Ron Wynn at Allmusic.com
/ref> they were never married. After collaborating on several unsuccessful singles, he wrote the song "

The Nitty Gritty ''The'' () is a grammatical article in English, denoting persons or things already mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the definite article in English. ''The'' is the m ...

" for her, and it rose to #8 on the Hot 100 in early 1964. Several follow-ups written (or co-written) by Chase - "(That's) What The Nitty Gritty Is", "

", and " The Clapping Song (Clap Pat Clap Slap)" - also made the US pop charts. In 1973, Chase released a second album under his own name, ''Lincoln Chase 'N You'', on

Paramount Records Paramount Records was an American record label known for its recordings of jazz and blues in the 1920s and early 1930s, including such artists as Ma Rainey, Tommy Johnson and Blind Lemon Jefferson. Early years Paramount Records was formed in 19 ...

. Featuring drummer

Idris Muhammad Idris Muhammad ( ar, إدريس محمد; born Leo Morris; November 13, 1939 – July 29, 2014) was an American jazz drummer and bandleader. He had an extensive career performing jazz, funk, R&B, and soul music and recorded with musicians such a ...

, it has been described as "trippy, odd and funky all at the same time....a bit like a black

Frank Zappa Frank Vincent Zappa (December 21, 1940 – December 4, 1993) was an American musician, composer, and bandleader. His work is characterized by wikt:nonconformity, nonconformity, Free improvisation, free-form improvisation, sound experimen ...

but groovier."Trunk Records, Winter 2000
/ref> Chase died in the Atlanta area on October 6, 1980 at the age of 54.

References

External links

{{DEFAULTSORT:Chase, Lincoln 1926 births 1980 deaths American people of Cuban descent African-American songwriters Songwriters from New York (state) 20th-century American musicians 20th-century African-American musicians