Black Music Sunday is a weekly series highlighting all things Black music, with 240 stories covering performers, genres, history, and more, each featuring its own vibrant soundtrack. I hope you’ll find some familiar tunes and perhaps an introduction to something new.
Thanks to Vice President Kamala Harris being a graduate of Howard University, her historic presidential campaign helped more people in the U.S. learn about the nation’s Historically Black Colleges and Universities. “Black Music Sunday” has showcased music from HBCUs in the past, including musical Howard alumni like Shirley Horn, Geri Allen, Roberta Flack, and Donny Hathaway. We’ve also highlighted the groundbreaking work of the Fisk (University) Jubilee Singers, and featured the magic of HBCU marching bands and drumlines.
Yet we have not explored the musical career and passionate work of singer, actor, and philanthropist Lou Rawls or his work funding HBCUs via the United Negro College Fund, an organization founded in 1944 whose work continues today
Rawls was born in Chicago on Dec. 1, 1933, and for his birthday, we celebrate both his music and his commitment to supporting Black educational achievement.
Music critic Steve Huey is behind the biography of Rawls found at Blue Note Records.
Louis Allen Rawls ... was raised on [Chicago’s] south side by his grandmother. He sang in the choir at his Baptist church starting at age seven, and became interested in popular music as a teenager by attending shows at the Regal Theatre, with genre-crossing singers like Joe Williams, Arthur Prysock, and Billy Eckstine ranking as his particular favorites. Rawls also tried his hand at harmony-group singing with schoolmate Sam Cooke, together in a gospel outfit called the Teenage Kings of Harmony. Rawls moved on to sing with the Holy Wonders, and in 1951 replaced Cooke in the Highway Q.C.s. In 1953, when Specialty recording artists the Chosen Gospel Singers swung through Chicago on tour, they recruited Rawls as a new member; he made his recording debut on a pair of sessions in early 1954. He later joined the Pilgrim Travelers, but quit in 1956 to enlist in the Army as a paratrooper; upon his discharge in 1958, he returned to the Travelers and embarked on a tour with Cooke. It nearly cost Rawls his life — during the Southern leg of their tour, the car Rawls and Cooke were riding in crashed into a truck. Cooke escaped with minor injuries, but another passenger was killed, and Rawls was actually pronounced dead on the way to the hospital; as it turned out, he spent five and a half days in a coma, did not regain his full memory for another three months, and took an entire year to recuperate.
Here is Rawls with the Chosen Gospel Singers in 1954.
Huey’s Blue Note biography continues:
When Rawls had recovered sufficiently, he switched to secular music and hit the L.A. circuit with a vengeance, performing in clubs, coffeehouses, and any other small venues that would allow him on-stage. During this period, he also landed his first acting role, a small part on the hit detective series 77 Sunset Strip. In 1962, he was discovered at a coffeeshop near Capitol Records headquarters by producer Nick Venet; at Venet’s request, Rawls hastily recorded an audition tape, and wound up with a recording contract. Later that year, Capitol issued Rawls’ debut album, Stormy Monday (alternately known as I’d Rather Drink Muddy Water), a collection of jazz tunes with backing from the Les McCann Trio. The same year, he supplied the impassioned background vocals on Sam Cooke’s hit “Bring It On Home to Me.” Rawls’ next few recordings for Capitol combined jazz, blues, R&B, and pop in varying combinations, sometimes casting him in big-band settings akin to those of his hero Joe Williams. While the results were often rewarding, it was plain that Rawls and Capitol were still searching for a definite direction.
Here’s “Stormy Monday.”
And here’s Rawls and Cooke with “Bring It On Home To Me.”
One last bit from the Blue Note biography:
In the meantime, Rawls was revamping his live act by adding lengthy spoken monologues to his songs; these “raps” served as a platform for the singer to discuss social issues and personal experience, not to mention as an attention-getting gimmick that overrode the noise and bustle of the clubs he performed in. 1966’s Live! captured that distinctive concert presence on a repertoire of mostly jazz and blues (plus a celebrated version of “Tobacco Road”), and proved to be a gold-selling breakthrough hit. However, Rawls found an even more lucrative direction when he made the switch to soul music later that year; his first full-fledged R&B album, Soulin’, spawned his first major hit single in “Love Is a Hurtin’ Thing,” which nearly reached the pop Top Ten and went all the way to number one on the R&B charts before year’s end. 1967’s “Dead End Street” hit number three R&B and won Rawls his first Grammy, for Best R&B Vocal Performance
I will never forget the first words of Rawls’ “Dead End Street” opening monologue.
I was born in a city that they call the Windy City
And they called it the Windy City because of the Hawk
The Hawk, the almighty Hawk, Mr. Wind
Takes care of plenty business around wintertime
The place that I lived in
Was on a street that, uh, happened to be one of the dead end streets
Where there was nothing to block the wind, the elements
Nothing to buffer them for me to keep them from knockin' my pad down, you know
I mean, really sockin' it to me...
The history of the term “the Hawk” as shorthand for Chicago’s brutal winds was explored in a 2021 Chicago Tribune story by Edward McClelland.
“When you’d come out the projects, and that wind hit you, we’d call it the Hawk,” said an elder from my church who grew up in the Robert Taylor Homes in the 1950s and ’60s. “The old folks still say it. I don’t know if the young folks say it. We still say icebox, too.”
Now that the Hawk has returned to our city for a three- or four-month stay, it’s worth looking at the origins of this Chicago phrase. It is not, as the name might suggest, an attempt to compare the cutting, slicing wind to a sharp-beaked, sharp-clawed raptor.
McClelland goes on to explain the phrase also didn’t originate in Chicago!
Here’s “Dead End Street,” which brought Rawls his first Grammy award
Christine Morrison at Musician Guide continues Rawls’ story:
His first single "A Natural Man" earned Rawls a second Grammy Award in 1972. The song reached number 17 on the pop and R & B charts. Rawls released only one more album with MGM before signing with Philadelphia International records.
The signing with Philadelphia International was memorable because it paired Rawls with legendary producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. His first album with Gamble and Huff was his only platinum album: All Things in Time. It reached number 3 on the R & B charts. Rawls' most notable single was the first single recorded with Gamble and Huff in 1976 called "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine." It reached number two on the pop charts and number one on the R & B charts, and was played in virtually every disco across the country. The song was Rawls' first gold single and it won him an American Music Award and a Grammy nomination. "Groovy People" was the next single recorded with Gamble and Huff; it also earned a Grammy nomination. Other singles released with Gamble and Huff include: "See You When I Git There," "Lady Love," and "Let Me Be Good to You."
In 1977 Rawls won his third Grammy Award. This time it was for the best male rhythm and blues performance for the album Unmistakably Lou. Rawls was seen on television often in the 1970s on variety shows and as an actor.
Here’s Rawls performing “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine” on “Soul Train.”
And here’s “Lady Love.”
All About Jazz details Rawls’ musical and acting career until he passed on.
The title track of 1979's Let Me Be Good to You was his last big hit with Philly International, reaching number 11 R&B. The following year, Rawls kicked off what would become a consuming passion for years to come: the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, an annual event which eventually raised millions of dollars for the United Negro College Fund.
From the '80s on, Rawls played the part of a well-established entertainer, rather than focusing his energies on maintaining a chart presence. He served a stint on Epic Records from 1982-1986 that proved a commercial disappointment; by then, he was more interested in running the telethon and conducting extensive tours of American military bases around the world. A 1987 reunion with Gamble & Huff produced his final charting single on the R&B side, "I Wish You Belonged to Me." Toward the end of the '80s, Rawls made some recordings for Blue Note, including the Grammy- nominated At Last in 1989. During the latter half of the '90s, Rawls returned to his acting career with greater frequency, appearing in the acclaimed Leaving Las Vegas (among many other films and TV shows) and also pursuing voice-over work in cartoons like Hey Arnold and Rugrats (he'd begun this side of his career singing on several Garfield specials). Most of his '90s recordings were holiday collections, but 1998's Seasons 4 U was a jazzy outing released on his own label. Rawls entered the new millennium by returning to his gospel roots on 2001's I'm Blessed (astonishingly, his first solo gospel album) and 2002's Oh Happy Day. In 2003 he paid tribute to Frank Sinatra with the release of Rawls Sings Sinatra on Savoy Jazz. On January 6, 2006, he succumbed to a two-year fight with cancer.
Let’s pivot to that telethon. The United Negro College Fund describes Rawls’ massive fundraising power.
One of the longest running televised events in U.S. history, An Evening of Stars® began nearly three decades ago in 1979 as the Parade of Stars, a three-hour syndicated telethon launched by legendary singer Lou Rawls, who set out to raise funds for UNCF–the United Negro College Fund. Over the years, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars® took on several formats, becoming a 12-hour telethon before taking on a new and exciting format as An Evening of Stars®: A Celebration of Educational Excellence in 1998. While An Evening of Stars® has evolved over the years, the message has remained the same – supporting minority higher education as an essential path to ensure the future success of our nation.
During its first year, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars® telethon raised $3.5 million for minority education. Celebrity appearances garnered support for UNCF and educational excellence. Those classic shows featured top entertainers, including Sammy Davis, Jr., Bill Cosby, Tony Bennett, The Four Tops, and The Commodores, as well as a special appearance by President Ronald Reagan.
In 1984, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars® changed to a 12-hour telethon and made history by becoming the first nationally televised fundraiser to benefit minority higher education. It aired in 53 different cities across the country and produced more than a 100 percent increase in pledges and gifts over the previous year. The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars® telethon continued to feature a Who’s Who of the nation’s most recognizable talent as performers and presenters for the show. By the end of this important era, The Lou Rawls Parade of Stars® had raised approximately $156.6 million for UNCF, its member institutions and students.
Here’s a 2-hour excerpt from one of Rawls’ telethons—this one in 1987—for those who have never seen one.
From PIX Promos & More’s YouTube video notes:
Starting in 1979-80 and continuing through 1998 when it was re-branded “An Evening of Stars”; legendary R&B singer Lou Rawls would put on a Telethon supporting the United Negro College Fund (“A Mind is a Terrible thing to Waste”). And like most Telethons did back in the day, it would be packed to the rafters with Major talent—and because Rawls (and Telethon Co-Producer Dick Clark) had a lot of clout, the stars were on par with all the major Telethons that aired during that era—Many of them lasting 6 hours or more, and airing Nationwide; usually after Christmas but Before New Years.
Even folks who may not have seen one of the telethons might be familiar with the UNCF slogan, “A mind is a terrible thing to waste.”
For more than seven decades, this principle has remained at the heart of UNCF, enabling us to raise more than $5 billion and help more than 500,000 students and counting not just attend college, but thrive, graduate and become leaders.
We do this in three ways: By awarding more than 12,000 students scholarships, worth more than $65 million, each year. By providing financial support to 37 historically Black colleges and universities (HBCUs). And by serving as the nation’s leading advocate for the importance of minority education and community engagement.
This three-pronged approach is powerful: Since our founding in 1944, we’ve helped to more than double the number of minorities attending college. The six-year graduation rate for UNCF African American scholarship recipient is 70%. This is 11% higher than the national average and 31% higher than the national average for all African Americans.
A 1997 UNCF PSA featured Ray Charles.
Rawls also did commercials, like this one encouraging minority students to enroll in engineering programs.
Youngsters across the country were introduced to Rawls via “The Muppet Show.”
Rawls explains jazz to Kermit the Frog in this clip.
Rawls was a terrific live entertainer all the way through his final years, so take some time to enjoy two such concerts. First, at the North Sea Jazz Festival in 1995:
From Charly Records’ YouTube video notes:
As a result of his years playing live dates to audiences of all types, Rawls was a truly consummate showman in his later years, as attested by this superb concert performance recorded at the 1995 North Sea Jazz Festival which demonstrates both his extraordinary rapport with his audience and the broad scope of his repertoire.The featured songs are all proven stage favourites and include all his biggest hits. They range from his moving rendition of the Broadway standard ‘Send In The Clowns’ to up-tempo R&B standards like ‘Hoochie Coochie Man’ and ‘Tobacco Road’. In a more soulful vein, they range from the cool groove of ‘You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine’- his biggest career hit - to the wonderful 'Lady Love'.
Recorded in Howard University’s hometown of Washington, D.C., BET produced and presented this Rawls concert in 2000:
As a former Howard student and the daughter of two HBCU graduates myself, and on behalf of my aunts, uncles, and cousins who all attended HBCUs, I honor and celebrate Lou Rawls, and offer my heartfelt thanks on his birthday.
Please join me in the comments for lots more Lou!
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