Terry Black (February 3, 1949 – June 28, 2009) was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia.

Career

Black's debut U.S. single, "

Unless You Care "Unless You Care" is a song written by P.F. Sloan and Steve Barri and performed by Terry Black. It reached No. 2 on Canada's ''RPM'' Top 40 & 5 and No. 99 on the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100 in 1964. The song was featured on his 1965 album, '' Onl ...

", was released in 1964, when Black was 15. The song was written and produced by

P. F. Sloan Philip Gary "Flip" Sloan (born Philip Gary Schlein; September 18, 1945 – November 15, 2015), known professionally as P. F. Sloan, was an American singer and songwriter. During the mid-1960s, he wrote, performed, and produced many Billboard H ...

and Steve Barri and featured backing from Glen Campbell and

Leon Russell Leon Russell (born Claude Russell Bridges; April 2, 1942 – November 13, 2016) was an American musician and songwriter who was involved with numerous bestselling records during his 60-year career that spanned multiple genres, including rock and ...

, who were at that time

studio musicians 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 ...

.Terry Black, Canada's Teen Sensation in '60s
. ''

Kamloops Kamloops ( ) is a city in south-central British Columbia, Canada, at the confluence of the South flowing North Thompson River and the West flowing Thompson River, east of Kamloops Lake. It is located in the Thompson-Nicola Regional District, w ...

'', June 29, 2009. The song was a major hit in Canada and also cracked the U.S. ''Billboard'' Hot 100, and Black was awarded the "Male Vocalist of the Year" award at the Maple Music Awards in 1965. Black had several further singles through 1966, such as the Sloan-Barri tunes "Kisses for My Baby" and "Say It Again", Sam Cooke's "Only Sixteen", and "Baby's Gone" (written by Graham Bonney and

Barry Mason John Barry Mason (12 July 1935 – 16 April 2021) was an English singer and songwriter. A leading songwriter of the 1960s, he wrote the bulk of his most successful songs in partnership with Les Reed. Mason gained many gold and platinum awar ...

), all of which were produced by Sloan and Barri. He released a Sloan-Barri produced album, ''

Only 16 ''Only 16'' is the debut album by Terry Black and was released in 1965. The album featured five songs that were released as singles: "Unless You Care" which reached #2 in Canada, " Poor Little Fool", which reached #6, "Little Liar", which reache ...

'' in 1965, on the Canadian ARC Records label.

Terry Black Terry Black (February 3, 1949 – June 28, 2009) was a Canadian pop singer and teen idol, born in Vancouver, British Columbia. Career Black's debut U.S. single, " Unless You Care", was released in 1964, when Black was 15. The song was writ ...

at Allmusic Black then moved to the U.S., and his remaining unreleased tracks (plus some alternate versions of released songs) were assembled into another Sloan-Barri produced album, ''The Black Plague'', in 1966. Under the name "Terence" he released the album ''An Eye for An Ear'' 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 ...

in the U.S. in 1969. The album was also released with a different cover by MCA Records in Germany, but it went unreleased in Canada and few, if any, copies were distributed there. A hoped-for film career failed to materialize, and Black returned to Canada. Black also joined the cast for the Toronto production of ''

Hair Hair is a protein filament that grows from follicles found in the dermis. Hair is one of the defining characteristics of mammals. The human body, apart from areas of glabrous skin, is covered in follicles which produce thick terminal and f ...

'' in 1969. He married a member of the cast, Laurel Ward, in 1970, and from 1972 to 1982 the pair released several singles together as Black and Ward, such as the minor hit "Goin' Down (On the Road to L.A.)", peaking at , 2/12/72.Billboard Hot 100, Joel Whitburn, Top Pop Singles 1955–1993 He also performed, alongside Ward, with

Dr. Music Dr. Music was a Toronto jazz group founded in 1969 by producer, arranger and performer Doug Riley. The band recorded three albums and toured across Canada. The personnel of the band changed throughout its history, with Riley remaining at the cor ...

, including the 1972 Canadian hit "Sun Goes By". In 1979, Black performed the song "Moondust" on the soundtrack for the movie ''

Meatballs A meatball is ground meat rolled into a ball, sometimes along with other ingredients, such as bread crumbs, minced onion, eggs, butter, and seasoning. Meatballs are cooked by frying, baking, steaming, or braising in sauce. There are many types ...

''. Black and Ward divorced in 1993. In the 2000s, Black hosted an oldies radio show in British Columbia. He had

multiple sclerosis Multiple (cerebral) sclerosis (MS), also known as encephalomyelitis disseminata or disseminated sclerosis, is the most common demyelinating disease, in which the insulating covers of nerve cells in the brain and spinal cord are damaged. This d ...

late in life and died as a result of the condition on June 28, 2009, in Kamloops, British Columbia, Canada.

Discography

Albums

Solo

with Laurel Ward

with Dr. Music

Singles

Solo

with Laurel Ward

with Dr. Music

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Black, Terry 1949 births 2009 deaths Canadian pop singers 20th-century Canadian male singers Deaths from multiple sclerosis Neurological disease deaths in British Columbia