Robert Alan Lewis (February 9, 1925 – April 28, 2020) was an American

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock 'n' roll, or rock 'n roll) is a genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It originated from African-American music such as jazz, rhythm ...

and

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 ...

singer, best known for his 1961 hit singles " Tossin' and Turnin'" and "One Track Mind".

Biography

Lewis was born in

Indianapolis Indianapolis (), colloquially known as Indy, is the state capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Indiana and the seat of Marion County. According to the U.S. Census Bureau, the consolidated population of Indianapolis and Marion ...

Indiana Indiana () is a U.S. state in the Midwestern United States. It is the 38th-largest by area and the 17th-most populous of the 50 States. Its capital and largest city is Indianapolis. Indiana was admitted to the United States as the 19th ...

and was raised in an

orphanage An orphanage is a residential institution, total institution or group home, devoted to the care of orphans and children who, for various reasons, cannot be cared for by their biological families. The parents may be deceased, absent, or a ...

. He learned to play the

piano The piano is a stringed keyboard instrument in which the strings are struck by wooden hammers that are coated with a softer material (modern hammers are covered with dense wool felt; some early pianos used leather). It is played using a keyboa ...

by age six, despite very poor eyesight. Adopted at age twelve, he moved to a

foster home Foster care is a system in which a minor has been placed into a ward, group home ( residential child care community, treatment center, etc.), or private home of a state-certified caregiver, referred to as a "foster parent" or with a family ...

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a state in the Great Lakes region of the upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the 10th-largest state by population, the 11th-largest by area, and t ...

, but ran away at the age of 14. Bruce Eder, "Bobby Lewis: Biography", ''Allmusic.com''
Retrieved 29 April 2020 Growing up with the influences of the pioneer

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form which originated in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues incorporated spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts, chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads from the ...

musicians until the advent of

, Lewis began to build a musical career in the 1950s, initially working in carnival shows, and then as a singer with the Leo Hines Orchestra in Indianapolis. He made his first recordings for the Spotlight label, and then recorded "Mumbles Blues" for

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock a ...

in 1952. At one stage he was managed by

Nat Tarnopol Nat Tarnopol (January 26, 1931 – December 25, 1987) was an American record producer. He played a vital role in producing and shaping R&B music throughout the 1960s and 1970s as the president of Brunswick Records, a subsidiary label of Decca Re ...

, who also managed

Jackie Wilson Jack Leroy Wilson Jr. (June 9, 1934 – January 21, 1984) was an American singer and performer of the 1950s and 60s. He was a prominent figure in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. Nicknamed "Mr. Excitement", he was considered a mas ...

. Lewis moved to New York City, and his 1960 recording of " Tossin' and Turnin'" on the Beltone label went to No.1 for seven weeks 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 adverti ...

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent ...

in summer 1961. It sold over one million copies and was awarded a

gold disc Music recording certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped, sold, or streamed a certain number of units. The threshold quantity varies by type (such as album, single, music video) and by nation or territory (see ...

. Later in 1961, Lewis had a second Top Ten song, "One Track Mind", his only other major hit record (again on Beltone), charting at No. 9. Subsequent records were less successful. Beltone Records itself went out of business in 1963, and later recordings for

ABC-Paramount ABC Records was an American record label founded in New York City in 1955. It originated as the main popular music label operated by the Am-Par Record Corporation. Am-Par also created the Impulse! jazz label in 1960. It acquired many labels befo ...

and other labels were also commercial failures. In a 2011 interview, Lewis said that he had lived in

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey and the county seat, seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County and the second largest city within the New Yo ...

since about 1980, and had become almost blind, but still performed occasionally.Bobby Lewis: An Interview by Mark Voger for The New Jersey Star-Ledger, 2011
Retrieved 29 April 2020 Lewis died on April 28, 2020, aged 95, after contracting pneumonia.Andrew Unterberger, "Bobby Lewis, '60s Singer and "Tossin' & Turnin" Hitmaker, Dies at 95", ''Hollywood Reporter'', June 13, 2020
Retrieved 14 June 2020

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Lewis, Bobby 1925 births 2020 deaths 20th-century American pianists 21st-century American pianists American male pianists American pop pianists American rhythm and blues singers American rock pianists American rock singers Musicians from Indianapolis Singers from Detroit African-American pianists 20th-century African-American male singers