From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Mon Dec 1, 2003  1:28 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Lou Rawls
 
LOU RAWLS

Born Louis Allen Rawls, 1 December 1935, Chicago, Illinois

I'm not a great fan of Mr Rawls post-SAO era award winning work, bit too smooth
n Philly for my more raunchy tastes, but anyone who sings harmony on one of my
all time fav Sam Cooke classics, Bring It On Home To Me, (as well as being on
Havin' A Party and Soothe Me) is definitely worthy of an SAO biog. From Ernie
Freeman's brill bluesy piano intro right, the heart felt plea for forgiveness
right through to the gospel styled call and responses this record just oozes
quality and is a must in any decent R & B collection.

Louis was raised on the South Side of Chicago by his grandmother, he was a
member of his Baptist church choir when his was seven. As a teenager, his
horizons expanded with trips to the Regal Theatre to see Billy Eckstine, Arthur
Prysock and Joe Williams. "I loved the way they could lift the spirit of the
audience," he remembers. Influenced too by doo-wop, he'd harmonize with high
school classmate Sam Cooke, and they joined groups such as the Teenage Kings Of
Harmony. In the Fifties, Rawls ventured to Los Angeles and was recruited for the
Chosen Gospel Singers, with whom he was first heard on record. He then moved on
to the The Pilgrim Travelers before enlisting in 1955 as a paratrooper in the
Army's 82nd Airborne Division, the All Americans. Three years later, Sergeant
Rawls left the service and rejoined the Travelers.Lou claims that Sam wrote Only
16 at his parents house in Chicago and that his sister's forthcoming birthday
was the trigger.

It was during a tour of the South with Cooke and the Travelers that a serious
car accident nearly ended his career and his life (strangely enough the accident
happened close to where Bessie Smith had her fatal car crash in Arkansas). One
passenger was killed, Cooke was slightly injured and Rawls was pronounced dead
on the way to the hospital. Though he slipped into a coma for five-and-a-half
days, suffered memory loss, and wasn't completely recovered for a year, he
survived. "I really got a new life out of that," he says. "I saw a lot of
reasons to live. I began to learn acceptance, direction, understanding and
perception--all elements that had been sadly lacking in my life. I might have
lived long enough to learn all this in the long haul, but I would have been just
another soul taking up time and space for a long spell before I learned." Lou
later sang Just A Closer walk With Thee at Sam's funeral service.

Playing small R&B, pop and soul clubs in LA, Rawls was performing at Pandora's
Box Coffee Shop for $10 a night plus pizza in late 1959 when Nick Venet, a
producer at Capitol, was so impressed with his four-octave range that he invited
him to make an audition tape. He did, and Rawls was signed to Capitol. I'd
Rather Drink Muddy Water, his 1962 solo debut album, became the first of more
than 20 albums on that label in only a decade. It was Love Is A Hurtin' Thing in
1966 which shot Rawls to the top. It was also twice Grammy-nominated, for both
Best R&B Recording and Best R&B Solo Vocal Performance.

During this period, he began his hip monologues about life and love on World of
Trouble and Tobacco Road, each more than seven minutes long. Called "pre-rap" by
some, for Rawls they grew out of necessity. "I was working in little joints
where the stage would be behind the bar. So you were standing right over the
cash register and the crushed ice machine. You'd be swinging and the waitress
would yell, 'I want 12 beers and four martinis!' And then the dude would put the
ice in the crusher. There had to be a way to get the attention of the people. So
instead of just starting in singing, I would just start in talking the song."
His "raps" were so popular that 1967's Dead End Street won him his first Grammy
for Best R&B Vocal Performance.

In 1971 Rawls' popularity could be measured by the fact that he won the Downbeat
magazine poll for favourite male vocalist, besting perennial champ Frank
Sinatra, who has praised Rawls for having "the classiest singing and silkiest
chops in the singing game." The Seventies began with a second Grammy win for
Natural Man. But then came disco and Rawls, a symbol of quality and a relevance
that transcended trendiness, balked. "A lyric has to mean something to me,
something that has happened to me. I try to look for songs people can relate to
because I know the man on the corner waiting for the bus has to hear it and say,
'Yeah that's right.'" So, in 1975, while other artists succumbed to the beat,
Rawls moved to Philadelphia International, the mecca of producers/songwriters
Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and their renowned Philly sound. His integrity was
rewarded the next year when You'll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine) became
his biggest hit. The next year he took home his third Grammy, Best R&B Vocal
Performance, for Unmistakably Lou.

In 1976, Rawls became the corporate spokesman for Anheuser Busch, the world's
largest brewery, which led in 1980 to that company's sponsorship of two events
which have continued to this day. One was a series of concerts for American
military personnel on bases around the world. The other was a telethon whose
proceeds, now more than $200 million, are donated to the United Negro College
Fund. Epitomizing cool, class and soul, his humanitarian efforts have won him
more than honors, more even than a street named after him in Chicago, where
South Wentworth Avenue is now Lou Rawls Drive. His work for the UNCF has been
the joy of a man who never went to college but has since been awarded numerous
honorary doctorates. "I remember a woman came up to me once and said, 'Thank
you. You made my grandson the first college grad in our family.' That makes it
all worth it."

In addition to singing, Rawls' talents extend to acting, a second love. Over the
years he has appeared as a series regular, guest star and host in television
series as well as TV Movie-Of-The-Weeks. In the past few years he has ventured
in to the feature film arena, taking on lead roles in independent films as well
as smaller parts in movies such as Oscar winning Leaving Las Vegas. In 1999
Rawls appeared on Broadway for a stint in Smokey Joe's Cafe. Rawls also brought
his flair to children's programming, becoming the singing voice of the animated
feline Garfield. In 1982, he was Grammy-nominated for Best Recording for
Children for Here Comes Garfield and is the musical star of the "Garfield" TV
specials. More recently, he sings the title song for "Jungle Cubs," an animated
series. He is also the voice of the Harvey the Mailman on Nickelodeon's "Hey
Arnold" series.

In 1998 Rawls released his most recent album Seasons 4 U on his own newly
created record label, Rawls & Brokaw Records. As always, he continues to tour
extensively, from clubs to jazz festivals, from America to Europe to Asia.In his
40-some years as a recording artist, spanning an astonishing 60-plus albums,
three Grammy wins, 13 Grammy nominations, one platinum album, five gold albums
and a gold single."

(Taken from the biography page on the excellent official Lou Rawls web site,
http://www.lourawls.com)

Recommended reading:

Life & Times Of Sam Cooke -You Send Me by Daniel Wolff and others, essential
read for all SAOers

Recommended listening:

Sam Cooke -Bring It On Home To Me RCA featuring Lou on harmony vocal, "yeah!!!!"

also Havin' A Party and Soothe Me, sublime soul serenadin', suits me sir! Sam's
Movin' & Groovin' was co-written by Lou

SAR Records Story -V artists, Sam Cooke's gospel/pop label, Lou sings backing
vocals on some of disc 2's pop tracks

Lou Rawls -The Anthology, 2cd Capitol, a career and style spanning collection,
early 60s versions of Kansas City, Stormy Monday, Tobacco Road, I'd rather Drink
Muddy Water and a prev unissued 62 song What makes the Ending (written by Sam
Cooke) it also has Lou's homage to Sam, Bring It On Home (what else)