Back in the 1960s, I loved Lou Rawls, especially when he sang “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing” and “Dead End Street (Parts 1 & 2). I loved Rawls’ habit of doing a gritty monologue before some songs like “Dead End Street” and then busting into song.
Later in his career with 60 albums and sales of over 40 million records, Lou Rawls specialized in Easy Listening hits like “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” (Grammy Winner: Best Male Pop Vocal Performance in 1978). But I prefer Rawls’ early soul songs. Are you a fan of Lou Rawls and his music? Do you remember these songs? GRADE: A
Oh, yeah. I had a 45 of “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing” too. My favorite is his backup .(almost a duet) with Sam Cooke on “Bring It on Home to Me” – their voices blended perfectly! He also sang on Cooke’s “That’s Where It’s At.” They knew each other from their childhood in Chicago. Rawls was three years younger. I also like his “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” His voice was so smooth!
I liked his song “Natural Man” (which also, iirc, had a spoken introduction) and the other songs mentioned here, but I don’t think I have any of his music on dvd unless it’s part of a compilation set.
Deb, I don’t have anywhere near all of the 40 albums LOU RAWLS put out, but of the dozen or so I do own I found them all enjoyable. Love Rawls’s voice!
Nope, afternoon sleepiness strikes again. Rawls covered “Another Saturday Night” but didn’t sing on the original Cooke recording. But “Bring It On Home to Me” is pretty irresistible, too…
I’ve never been a big fan of the talking or singing introductions to songs; just sing the song! Rawls had a great voice, but I don’t remember any specific song.
Rick, usually I’m not a fan of “introductions” to songs. Like you I’m impatient to hear the music, not the words. But Lou Rawls is something special! He makes his song introductions compelling.
Oh, yeah. I had a 45 of “Love is a Hurtin’ Thing” too. My favorite is his backup .(almost a duet) with Sam Cooke on “Bring It on Home to Me” – their voices blended perfectly! He also sang on Cooke’s “That’s Where It’s At.” They knew each other from their childhood in Chicago. Rawls was three years younger. I also like his “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine.” His voice was so smooth!
Jeff, you’re right about Lou Rawls’s smooth and silky voice! Rawls went on to have some big hits, but these early songs include some of my favorites!
I liked his song “Natural Man” (which also, iirc, had a spoken introduction) and the other songs mentioned here, but I don’t think I have any of his music on dvd unless it’s part of a compilation set.
Deb, I don’t have anywhere near all of the 40 albums LOU RAWLS put out, but of the dozen or so I do own I found them all enjoyable. Love Rawls’s voice!
I was aware of Rawls but not really familiar with his music. I do remember “Bring it on Home to Me” but might not have if Jeff hadn’t mentioned it.
Michael, Jeff possesses almost encyclopedic knowledge of music from this era!
“Another Saturday Night” is one of my shower songs, albeit it was a less-thorough duet with Sam Cooke.
And he never gave up on bluesy material, as his 1990 Blue Note album IT’S SUPPOSED TO BE FUN suggests…
Though when I first saw the subject of Rawls I for a moment conflated him with Brook Benton…who had to Go On without Dinah Washington, instead.
Nope, afternoon sleepiness strikes again. Rawls covered “Another Saturday Night” but didn’t sing on the original Cooke recording. But “Bring It On Home to Me” is pretty irresistible, too…
I’ve never been a big fan of the talking or singing introductions to songs; just sing the song! Rawls had a great voice, but I don’t remember any specific song.
Rick, usually I’m not a fan of “introductions” to songs. Like you I’m impatient to hear the music, not the words. But Lou Rawls is something special! He makes his song introductions compelling.