Lou Rawls - Les McCann

[Bright Moments]

Wow!!! recorded in 1962 lou was only 21 years old, but boy oh boy could he belt 'em out! and les on piano kickin' !!!

this one's special!!!

[jazzbo]

Agreed, nice session!

[JSngry]

A classic in certain circles around these parts. That one, and Live! too. Heard both albums regularly for decades on the AM jazz stations down here from the late 60s on. The FM jazz stations never seemed to be hip to it. Par for the course, that...

[JSngry]

Fuddy-duddy me preferes the original cover however...

Wasn't really that green, though///

[mikeweil]

I never understood why Cuscuna with his usual quest for authenticity did not use the original cover for the CD. I like that photo of the band on the parking lot at night ...

[Noj]

Cool, but parts of it leave me cold. Maybe it's Lou's insistence on pronouncing everything so well.

Anyway, this thread made me seek Stormy Monday out. Following a brief, profanity-laced temper tantrum I found it filed under Les McCann.

I prefer the original artwork too.

[Bright Moments]

Anyway, this thread made me seek Stormy Monday out.  Following a brief, profanity-laced temper tantrum I found it filed under Les McCann.

←

i SO know what you mean!!!

[Bright Moments]

RIP Lou!

[GA Russell]

There was quite a large obituary of Lou Rawls in yesterday's Raleigh News & Observer. Its headline referred to him as "R&B Crooner".

I had never thought of him as R&B, because I think of R&B as music aimed at high schoolers; i.e., Fats Domino and The Supremes. Even when he had hits on the radio in the 60s, I thought of Lou Rawls as aiming for an adult audience.

I haven't heard this album with Les McCann, but I remember it in the stores. I suppose it's a good example of what I mean.

[Harold_Z]

I had never thought of him as R&B, because I think of R&B as music aimed at high schoolers; i.e., Fats Domino and The Supremes. Even when he had hits on the radio in the 60s, I thought of Lou Rawls as aiming for an adult audience.

Overall, I think the media coverage of Lou's death has been pretty revealing of how square the media really is.

It happens everytime somebody hip dies...and I guess it shows by negative example the true meaning of hip.

[GA Russell]

Wow!!! recorded in 1962 lou was only 21 years old, but boy oh boy could he belt 'em out! and les on piano kickin' !!!

BM, I think you're off by ten years. Rawls was born in 1932, I think, so that would make him 30 years old when he cut that record.

[jazzbo]

According to ABC News. . .

Louis Allen Rawls was born on the south side of Chicago in 1935

So he was 27 or so.

Man. . . hard to believe he's gone. . .he was a few years younger than my dad.

ARGH!

[GA Russell]

Lon, the obit in the other thread has him at 72, which would make his birth year 1933. That would make him 29 in 1962. It's not uncommon for entertainers to take two years off their age, and your ABC citation was probably based upon PR-sourced information.

Singer Lou Rawls Dies at 72

Email this Story

Jan 6, 10:57 AM (ET)

LOS ANGELES (AP) - Grammy Award-winning singer Lou Rawls has died of lung cancer in Los Angeles. He was 72.

The velvet-voiced singer started as a church choir boy and went on to sell more than 40 million albums. He won three Grammy Awards in a career that spanned nearly five decades and a range of genres.

Rawls died this morning at Cedars-Sinai Medical Center. He was hospitalized last month.

http://apnews.myway.com/article/20060106/D8EV971O0.html

[John L]

There was quite a large obituary of Lou Rawls in yesterday's Raleigh News & Observer. Its headline referred to him as "R&B Crooner".

I had never thought of him as R&B, because I think of R&B as music aimed at high schoolers; i.e., Fats Domino and The Supremes. Even when he had hits on the radio in the 60s, I thought of Lou Rawls as aiming for an adult audience.

R&B is a very broad musical category. It includes a lot of adult music. On the other hand, we already loved Lou Rawls when we were kids. His music is for all ages, and for the ages themselves. You'll never find...another voice like his.

[The Magnificent Goldberg]

There was quite a large obituary of Lou Rawls in yesterday's Raleigh News & Observer. Its headline referred to him as "R&B Crooner".

I had never thought of him as R&B, because I think of R&B as music aimed at high schoolers; i.e., Fats Domino and The Supremes. Even when he had hits on the radio in the 60s, I thought of Lou Rawls as aiming for an adult audience.

R&B is a very broad musical category. It includes a lot of adult music. On the other hand, we already loved Lou Rawls when we were kids. His music is for all ages, and for the ages themselves. You'll never find...another voice like his.

Ray Charles always said that R&B was adult music, as distinct from Rock & Roll, or Soul, which he said were for kids. (I suspect he was thinking mor eof Motown than Aretha when he said that.) Anyway, I've always thought of Lou as a Soul Jazz singer. And Soul Jazz, according to Bob Porter, is definitely entertainment for black adults.

MG

[jazzbo]

It was the ABC obit so who knows?

In either case he was not 21.

[Bright Moments]

According to ABC News. . .

Louis Allen Rawls was born on the south side of Chicago in 1935

So he was 27 or so.

Man. . . hard to believe he's gone. . .he was a few years younger than my dad.

ARGH!

my bad. -_-

great cd!

[Guest]

My wife and I went to see Lou Rawls at a little jazz club in San Diego called Ward's Jazzville in 1964. Lou sang many songs from the "Stormy Monday" album. I owned the album and knew it by heart. That night on piano was someone that I didn't recognize. I knew it wasn't Les McCann, but McCann's parts were played perfectly. At the end of the set Lou introduced the band. When he announced that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was on piano, I just about fell out of my chair. I had been listening to Johnny "Guitar' Watson's blues records for many years. However, I didn't know he played piano or jazz. This was one of my most memorable nights.

[Bright Moments]

My wife and I went to see Lou Rawls at a little jazz club in San Diego called Ward's Jazzville in 1964. Lou sang many songs from the "Stormy Monday" album. I owned the album and knew it by heart. That night on piano was someone that I didn't recognize. I knew it wasn't Les McCann, but McCann's parts were played perfectly. At the end of the set Lou introduced the band. When he announced that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was on piano, I just about fell out of my chair. I had been listening to Johnny "Guitar' Watson's blues records for many years. However, I didn't know he played piano or jazz. This was one of my most memorable nights.

thanks for sharing that mike and welcome to the board!!!

[mikeweil]

My wife and I went to see Lou Rawls at a little jazz club in San Diego called Ward's Jazzville in 1964. Lou sang many songs from the "Stormy Monday" album. I owned the album and knew it by heart. That night on piano was someone that I didn't recognize. I knew it wasn't Les McCann, but McCann's parts were played perfectly. At the end of the set Lou introduced the band. When he announced that Johnny "Guitar" Watson was on piano, I just about fell out of my chair. I had been listening to Johnny "Guitar' Watson's blues records for many years. However, I didn't know he played piano or jazz. This was one of my most memorable nights.

Watson started his career as a pianist and did a whole album of jazz standards as a pianist for Cadet in the 1960's - I Cried For You (reissued under other titles) - be warned of his vocals! But his piano playing is pretty fine on that one, and his groove is great!

Edited January 17, 2006 by mikeweil