Raymond Earl Jackson (September 11, 1941 – November 10, 1972) was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated in African-American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly ...

songwriter, guitarist and record producer. His most successful songs, mostly written at

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

in the late 1960s and early 1970s, were "

Who's Making Love "Who's Making Love" is a song written by Stax Records staffers Homer Banks, Bettye Crutcher, Don Davis and Raymond Jackson and recorded by singer Johnnie Taylor in 1968. Released on the Stax label in the late summer of 1968, it became Taylor's ...

", co-written with

Homer Banks Homer Banks (August 2, 1941 – April 3, 2003) was an African American songwriter, singer and record producer. Although best known by many for his songwriting for Stax Records in the 1960s and 1970s, some of his own releases from the 1960s are co ...

and Bettye Crutcher; and "

(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right" is a song written by Stax Records songwriters Homer Banks, Carl Hampton, and Raymond Jackson. Originally written for The Emotions, it has been performed by many singers, most notably by Lut ...

" and "

If You're Ready (Come Go With Me) "If You're Ready (Come Go with Me)" is a song by the Staple Singers. Released from their album '' Be What You Are'', the single spent three weeks at number one on the ''Billboard'' magazine's Hot Soul Singles chart in 1973. It peaked at number ...

", both co-written with Banks and Carl Hampton.

Life

Jackson grew up in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

. With his friend and lifelong musical partner

, he formed his first group, the Soul Consolators, in his teens, and the pair wrote the group's songs together. After serving in the

US Army The United States Army (USA) is the land service branch of the United States Armed Forces. It is one of the eight U.S. uniformed services, and is designated as the Army of the United States in the U.S. Constitution.Article II, section 2, cla ...

between 1966 and 1968, he renewed his songwriting partnership with Banks, who had begun working at Stax Records. They wrote

Johnnie Taylor Johnnie Harrison Taylor (May 5, 1934 – May 31, 2000) was an American recording artist and songwriter who performed a wide variety of genres, from blues, rhythm and blues, soul, and gospel to pop, doo-wop, and disco. In 2022, Taylor was ...

's 1968 single "Next Time", before joining with fellow songwriter

Bettye Crutcher Bettye Jean Crutcher (September 16, 1939 – October 20, 2022) was an American songwriter. She was a staff writer for Stax Records.Peter Barker"Bettye Crutcher, Stax Records contributor and pioneering songwriter, dies at 83" ''Tennessee News'', ...

to write "Who's Making Love". Jackson also played guitar on the record, which became Taylor's biggest early hit, reaching no. 1 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 ...

and no. 5 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 ...

. Rob Bowman, ''Soulsville, U.S.A.: the story of Stax Records'', Music Sales Group, 2003"> Rob Bowman, ''Soulsville, U.S.A.: the story of Stax Records'', Music Sales Group, 2003
The songwriting trio of Jackson, Banks, and Crutcher remained together for the next two years, styling themselves We Three, and had more hits including Taylor's "Take Care Of Your Homework" and "I Could Never Be President"; and

Carla Thomas Carla Venita Thomas (born December 21, 1942) is an American singer, who is often referred to as the Queen of Memphis Soul. Thomas is best known for her 1960s recordings for Atlantic and Stax including the hits "Gee Whiz (Look at His Eyes)" (1960 ...

' "I Like What You're Doing (To Me)". Jackson and Banks then worked with Carl Hampton to write further hits for

The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American gospel, soul, and R&B singing group. Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group with his children Cleotha (April 11, 1934 – February 21 ...

Luther Ingram Luther Thomas Ingram (November 30, 1937 – March 19, 2007) was an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter. His most successful record, "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", reached No. 1 on the ''Billboard'' R&B chart and No. 3 ...

The Emotions ''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 ...

and others. These included "(If Loving You Is Wrong) I Don't Want to Be Right", first recorded by Ingram on Johnnie Baylor's KoKo label, which was distributed by Stax. Ingram's version made no. 1 on the R&B chart in 1972; the song was later recorded by many other artists including (the unrelated)

Millie Jackson Mildred Virginia Jackson (born July 15, 1944) is an American Rhythm and blues, R&B and Soul music, soul recording artist. Beginning her career in the early 1960s, three of Jackson's albums have been certified Music recording certification, gold ...

. Jackson also co-wrote Ingram's "I'll Be Your Shelter (In Time Of Storm)"; and the Staple Singers' "If You're Ready (Come Go With Me)" and " Touch a Hand, Make a Friend". Raymond Jackson died as a result of a house fire in November 1972, at the age of 31.

Family

Jackson's sons, Raymond Earl Jackson Jr. and Cornelius Jackson, are also musicians, who formed We Three Productions with Jimi Hill in 2020. We Three Records
/ref> His brother Robert Jackson worked as an engineer at Stax Records, and later worked at Ardent Studio and as

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 ...

' manager.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Jackson, Raymond 1941 births 1972 deaths Musicians from Memphis, Tennessee American soul musicians African-American songwriters Deaths from fire in the United States 20th-century American musicians Songwriters from Tennessee United States Army personnel of the Vietnam War United States Army soldiers 20th-century African-American musicians