Here is what he sounded like in that group. The Pilgrim Travelers – Sam Cooke on left, Lou Rawls on right Rawls later became a member of another gospel group, the Pilgrim Travelers, which also included Sam Cooke. The Chosen Gospel Singers w/ Lou Rawls – Walk With Me The Chosen Gospel Singers w/ Lou Rawls – I’m Goin’ Back and was recruited for The Chosen Gospel Singers, with whom he was first heard on record. In 1951, Rawls replaced Cooke in the Highway QC’s when Cooke departed to join The Soul Stirrers in Los Angeles. First GigsĪfter graduating from Chicago’s Dunbar Vocational High School, he sang briefly with Sam Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a local gospel group, and then with the Holy Wonders. In high school Lou would sing harmony with classmate, Sam Cooke in the school washroom. Billy Eckstine and Arthur Prysock were only two of the best that Lou saw. Lou was mostly influenced by shows at Chicago’s Regal theatre where he saw the greatest of black entertainment. Rawls later sang with local groups through which he met other future music stars Sam Cooke and Curtis Mayfield. His first introduction to music was when he was just seven years old, when he began to sing gospel music in a Baptist church choir. His father abandoned his family and his paternal grandmother was left to raise little Lou. It all began on December 1, 1933, in Chicago, Illinois, USA with the birth of a boy, Louis Allen Rawls, who would become the legendary Lou Rawls. He ultimately went on to release such blockbuster pop hits as “ You’ll Never Find (Another Love Like Mine)”, “Lady Love”, and many more.Ī gifted performer, his award-winning career spanned 40 years in both music and acting, and he sold more than 40 million records as a Grammy Award-winning singer.ġ975 / YOU’LL NEVER FIND (ANOTHER LOVE LIKE MINE) Rawls included spoken word segments in some of his songs, like a precursor to rap music. But it wasn’t until the 1966 smash single “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” that he hit the top of the R&B charts and earned his first gold record. Rawls released his first album in 1962, “I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water”. I think it was around 1963 when I first remember hearing Lou Rawls, and it was a bluesy jazz song with the wonderful Les McCann on piano. The talented Rawls is also the singing voice of the animated fickle feline "Garfield".This man is one of my all time favourite singers – with a distinctive and instantly recognizable silky baritone voice – a man who has covered the gamut of musical vocal styles from gospel to jazz, to spoken word (rap), to pop – a singer / songwriter / actor and philanthropist! South Wentworth Street in Chicago was renamed Lou Rawls Drive in his honor. He has raised hundreds of millions of dollars for black colleges and, every year, he sponsors a celebrity golf tournament in LA to raise money for the United Negro College Fund. During Christmas of 1983, he toured US bases in the Phillipines, Korea and Japan. Lou rawls singing one in a million you series#Since 1980, he has presented a series of world wide concerts for American military bases that were co-sponsored by Anheuser Busch, the USO, and the US Dept. In the mid 70s, he joined the Anheuser Busch Brewery as a corporate spokesman. He went solo in 1964 and has won four Grammys. He went on to perform at a number of LA clubs and later made his debut at the Hollywood Bowl in 1959 with Dick Clark. Rawls was first noticed by Capitol Records producer Nick Benet after noticing his four octave range while performing at a Pandora's Los Angeles coffee shop. Sam Cooke was also in the automobile and was left uninjured. Lou remained in a coma for over five days and suffered a memory loss for several months. In 1958, he was involved in a serious auto accident that killed one and Rawls was pronounced dead on on the way to the hospital. He left the group in 1956 and joined the US Army and became a Sergeant with the Screaming Eagle Paratroopers. School and joined the touring gospel singing group, the Pilgrim Travelers. He and classmate, Sam Cooke, would harmonize in the school lavatory. He was mostly influenced by the Chicago Regal theatre where he had the opportunity to see the best in black entertainment. His first meeting with music was when he was seven years old, in a Baptist church choir. His father abandoned his family and Lou was raised by his grandmother. Rawls was born on 1st December 1933 in Chicago, Illinois.
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