In Concert, April 27, 2002

Lou Rawls' voice is as distinctive and instantly recognizable as any in music. He's recorded more than 60 records, won three Grammy Awards, and raised over $200 million for the United Negro College Fund.

From his early days in gospel to his collaborations with Sam Cooke; from the Dick Clark Show at the Hollywood Bowl in 1959 to the opening for The Beatles in 1962 at Crosley Field in Cincinnati; from his monologues in the Seventies that presaged rap music to becoming a "crossover" artist before the term was invented, there has been one constant in Lou Rawls' career -- a voice that one critic has called "sweet as sugar, soft as velvet, strong as steel, smooth as butter."

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, Rawls has epitomized the ultimate song stylist. 

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.

During a tour of the South with Cooke and the Travelers, a serious car accident nearly ended his career and his life. 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 didn't recover 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."

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 favorite 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. 

In 1975, Rawls moved to Philadelphia International, where 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.

Sinatra once said about the two of them that they were saloon singers--voices that's all, reaching into hearts and souls. Throughout the years, Rawls has stayed true to his voice. "People may not know what I'm doing," he says of his changing styles, "but they know it's me."

In the end, that's the only way to truly describe that voice--Lou Rawls. 

Lou Rawls will perform at the Saturday Night Banquet, April 27, at the Ohio Credit Union's 2002 Convention & Expo at the Hyatt Regency Columbus. 

Source: www.lourawls.com 

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