![]() ![]() You'll never find, no matter where you search, someone who cares about you the way I do. RAWLS: (Singing) You'll never find, as long as you live, someone who loves you tender like I do. One thing is for certain: you'll never find anything quite like that unmistakable baritone. In one way, I feel this is doing that by helping so many kids who are growing up there now in the community where I grew up, giving them a chance to get out there and get some education. RAWLS: (Singing) Save my money and get rich, I know, and bring it back to Tobacco Road. (unintelligible), save my money, get rich, I know, bring it back to Tobacco Road.' RAWLS: I did a song called "Tobacco Road," my first-one of my first albums, and in the song it says, `I'm gonna leave you the. ![]() At his suggestion, the company began sponsoring the United Negro College Fund, and in 1979, Rawls began hosting what would become an annual national telethon known as "An Evening With The Stars." The event has grown into a multi-million-dollar fund-raising vehicle. In the mid-70s, when he was at the peak of his career, Rawls became the national spokesperson for the brewing company Anheuser-Busch. GORDON: And then there was Lou Rawls, the great humanitarian. Don't just stick to one particular type of music, 'cause you figure when you go out to do your concerts or your shows, you got your audience, got a lot of different people out there, a lot of different tastes, so if you limit yourself to one particular delivery, a lot of those people, they'll be there, but they ain't gonna be into it. RAWLS: (Singing) Lady love, your love is cooling like the winter snow. He sang Gospel and R&B, he sang soul, pop, jazz, country and even disco. GORDON: But what made this singer different from most was his conscious choice to explore the best music that any genre had to offer. I happen to have lived on a street that was a dead-end street, see, and I lived right at the. Wind, boy, and he's mean in the wintertime. RAWLS: Now they called it the Windy City because of the hawk, the almighty hawk. RAWLS: I was born in a city they called the Windy City. He spoke sometimes almost as long as he sang, and audiences loved it. At the same time, Rawls was developing a reputation for his pre-song monologues. The album "Lou Rawls Live" went gold and "Love Is A Hurting Thing" made him a crossover star. ![]() GORDON: By 1966, Rawls' career was off and running. For every single thrill, there's another heartache. RAWLS: (Singing) For every little kiss, there's a little teardrop. RAWLS: So I started, you know, gearing myself to fill that void, establish that kind of presentation in my performance as far as the diction and the clarity of the words and the, you know, feeling and all, and not replace him-you never could replace somebody like that-but fill the void. Nat "King" Cole had recently died and Capitol was looking for his replacement. GORDON: In the early 1960s, Rawls was working his way through the R&B chitlin circuit when he was signed by Capitol Records. RAWLS: (Singing) Darling, please trust me. The difference is instead of saying, you know, `Oh Lord, take my hand and lead me on,' say, `Oh baby, hold my hand and love me long.' GORDON: Rawls said it was an easy leap because both genres spring from the same well. RAWLS: (Singing) Oh little baby, please trust me, and I'll never ever lead you astray. In the late 1950s, Rawls followed the lead of his friend, superstar Sam Cooke, and moved from praise songs to the secular sounds of rhythm and blues. GORDON: But that burgeoning baritone wouldn't be confined to Gospel music. RAWLS: (Singing) Coming for to carry me home. RAWLS: People said, `Was your voice been like this all the time?' I said, `Well, they put me in the baritone section in junior choir when I was eight.' So I kind of been in the basement ever since. He had grown up in the black churches of Chicago's South Side, and those churches were Lou's musical training ground. GORDON: In the 1950s, Lou Rawls was making his mark as a member of the famous Gospel quartet The Pilgrim Travelers. LOU RAWLS: (Singing) Swing low sweet chariot, coming for to carry me home. GORDON: This is the way many people first heard that resonating voice in the context of Gospel music. Friday the world lost one of the greatest voices of all time when the silky baritone of Lou Rawls fell silent. ![]()
0 Comments
Leave a Reply. |
AuthorWrite something about yourself. No need to be fancy, just an overview. ArchivesCategories |