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 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 " It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", credited to Louis Brooks and ...

, reached 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 in 1955. Brooks was born in

Nashville, Tennessee Nashville is the capital city of the U.S. state of Tennessee and the county seat, seat of Davidson County, Tennessee, Davidson County. With a population of 689,447 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 U.S. census, Nashville is the List of muni ...

, United States into a musical family; his father was a saxophonist in a

New Orleans New Orleans ( , ,New Orleans
Merriam-Webster. ; french: La Nouvelle-Orléans , es, Nuev ...

-style

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a major ...

band. He formed a small band in the 1940s and played in local clubs in the Nashville area. As Louis Brooks and the Downbeats, the group first recorded for

Tennessee Records {{Unreferenced, date=December 2009 Tennessee Records was a mid-20th century United States based record label, headquartered in Nashville, Tennessee. Tennessee mostly released country music, but the label's biggest hit was " Down Yonder", a ragti ...

in the early 1950s, supporting vocalists including

Christine Kittrell Christine Kittrell (August 11, 1929 – December 19, 2001) was an American R&B singer, who first recorded tracks in 1951 with Louis Brooks and his Band. Kittrell was born Christine Joygena Porter in Nashville, Tennessee, United States, and a ...

and Helen Foster as well as recording under their own name. They recorded several

instrumentals A backing track is an audio recording on audiotape, CD or a digital recording medium or a MIDI recording of synthesized instruments, sometimes of purely rhythmic accompaniment, often of a rhythm section or other accompaniment parts that live music ...

featuring pianist Lovell "Knot" Phillips. Renamed as Louis Brooks and his Hi-Toppers, the group began recording for the Excello label in 1954. The following year they had their biggest hit, "It's Love Baby (24 Hours a Day)", featuring Earl Gaines. The record entered the R&B chart in July 1955 and reached no.2. The song was also

covered Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

successfully 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 ...

and Hank Ballard and the Midnighters. Brooks and his band continued to perform regularly in the Nashville area in the 1950s; their vocalists included

Larry Birdsong Lawrence E. Birdsong (June 15, 1934 – August 7, 1990) was an American R&B singer who recorded between the 1950s and 1970s. His biggest hit was "Pleadin' For Love", which reached the '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1956. Life and career He wa ...

and Helen Hebb, the sister of

Bobby Hebb Robert Von Hebb (July 26, 1938 – August 3, 2010) was an American R&B and soul singer, musician, songwriter, recording artist, and performer known for his 1966 hit entitled " Sunny". Biography Hebb was born in Nashville, Tennessee. His par ...

. Brooks also played as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

in Nashville, as well as working full-time at the First National Bank in the city. He died in Nashville in 1993, at the age of 82.

References

1911 births 1993 deaths Musicians from Nashville, Tennessee 20th-century American saxophonists Excello Records artists Jazz musicians from Tennessee American jazz saxophonists {{US-jazz-saxophonist-stub