Weldon McDougal was a singer, songwriter, record producer and a record label executive. He also founded the

Philadelphia Philadelphia, often called Philly, is the largest city in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania, the sixth-largest city in the U.S., the second-largest city in both the Northeast megalopolis and Mid-Atlantic regions after New York City. Sinc ...

recording group

The Larks The Larks were an American vocal group, active in the early 1950s. They were not the same group as the Los Angeles-based Larks (originally The Meadowlarks) featuring Don Julian, nor the Philadelphia-based group The Four Larks. Original members * ...

. He produced "Yes I'm Ready" for

Barbara Mason Barbara Mason (born August 9, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American soul singer with several R&B and pop hits in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for her self-written 1965 hit song " Yes, I'm Ready". She has released ...

. As a song writer, along with

Guy Hemric Guy or GUY may refer to: Personal names * Guy (given name) * Guy (surname) * That Guy (...), the New Zealand street performer Leigh Hart Places * Guy, Alberta, a Canadian hamlet * Guy, Arkansas, US, a city * Guy, Indiana, US, an unin ...

and

Jerry Styner Jerry Howard Styner (born June 18, 1936) is an American songwriter, musician, and former record producer. He has written scores for or had his compositions featured in over 30 films. Some of the artists he has worked with include Chet Baker for h ...

, he co-wrote "Doing It Right" for

The Go! Team The Go! Team are an English six-piece band from Brighton, England. The band initially began as a solo project conceived by Ian Parton; however, after the unexpected success of The Go! Team's debut album, '' Thunder, Lightning, Strike'', Parton r ...

which appeared on their ''

Proof of Youth ''Proof of Youth'' is the second studio album by English band The Go! Team. It was released on 10 September 2007 in the United Kingdom by Memphis Industries and a day later in the United States by Sub Pop. ''Proof of Youth'' was preceded by t ...

'' album.

Band membership

He is credited as the founder of the Philadelphia group, The Larks. In 1954, he was singing bass. Along with Calvin Nichols, Mary Archer and the Blalock brothers, Clarence & Bill Blalock, he started a group called The Victors. Not long after the formation, Mary Archer left the group and her replacement was Herman Green. The progress of the Victors was interrupted with McDougal joining the marines at the end of the year. While in still in the marines, he was performing in a group with the same name. He left the service in 1958, and went about reforming The Victors. The only member he could get was Calvin Nichols. He managed to bring other members, Jackie Marshall who was a high tenor. Then Baritone Bill Oxendine joined up. McDougal's wife Cleopatra also joined the group. He changed the name of the group to The Larks after seeing a brand of nails called Lark. One day Weldon ran into

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most i ...

promo man Jerry Ross. His group auditioned for Ross, and the Larks recorded around six tracks. The backing band on the session was called The Manhattans and included keyboardist

Ruben Wright Ruben Wright is a musician and former bandleader from Philadelphia. He had an R&B Top 30 hit with " I'm Walking Out On You". He is also a songwriter. He also wrote the regional hit "God Only Knows" for The Capris in 1954. Background Wright was a ...

, guitarist Johnny Stiles, sax player Harrison Scott and drummer Norman Conners. In 1961, their recording "It's Unbelievable" was released on the

Sheryl Sheryl is a female given name. The similar name Sherill may be male or female. Notable people named Sheryl, Sheryll or Sheryle include: Business *Sheryl Handler (born 1955), American businesswoman (Thinking Machines, Ab Initio Software) * Sher ...

label. It entered the charts at no 78 for the Week Ending 12th March, 1961. It eventually rose to no 69 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 ...

'' pop charts. Jerry Ross arranged for the group to appear on ''

American Bandstand ''American Bandstand'', abbreviated ''AB'', is an American music-performance and dance television program that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989, and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as the pro ...

'' to sing their song.

Record label career

Around 1964, McDougal had begun work with Chips Distributors. It was reported in the May 15, 1965 edition of ''Billboard'' that McDougal along with John H. Stiles, Luther Randolph and James Bishop had set up Stilran Music which was located at the offices of Universal Record Distributors. In October 1967, he joined Motown Records as their regional promotion man, based in Philadelphia. In 1982, he was the national promotion director for Philly World Records. During the 1980s he was guest co-host on the '' R&B Showcase Radio Show''.

Legacy

McDougal has a place in history as one of many black record promoters who helped black artists gain recognition in the pop music field both in the US and abroad. He played an important part in what came to be known as the

Philly Sound Philadelphia soul, sometimes called Philly soul, the Philadelphia sound, Phillysound, or The Sound of Philadelphia TSOP, is a genre of late 1960s–1970s soul music characterized by funk influences and lush instrumental arrangements, often featu ...

. He was also something of a photographer and took some rare Motown photographs.

Death

McDougal died on October 22, 2010 from

pancreatic cancer Pancreatic cancer arises when cell (biology), cells in the pancreas, a glandular organ behind the stomach, begin to multiply out of control and form a Neoplasm, mass. These cancerous cells have the malignant, ability to invade other parts of t ...

.The Dead Rock Stars Club
2010 July to December Weldon McDougal III (Weldon Arthur MacDougal III) - Died 10-21-2010 in Philadelphia, PA, U.S
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References

External links

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Soul Source: Weldon McDougal
{{DEFAULTSORT:McDougal, Weldon Record producers from Pennsylvania Songwriters from Pennsylvania 1936 births 2010 deaths Deaths from pancreatic cancer