Lou Rawls - A Natural Man

Louis Allen Rawls (December 1, 1933 -- January 6, 2006) was an American soul music, jazz, and blues singer. He was known for his smooth vocal style: Frank Sinatra once said that Rawls had "the classiest singing and silkiest chops in the singing game".Rawls released more than 70 albums, sold more than 40 million records, appeared as an actor in motion pictures and on television, and voiced-over many cartoons. He had been called "The Funkiest Man Alive".

Rawls was also a guest star during the second season of The Muppet Show. He also made a brief appearance on the series finale of Martin. (The show's character Tommy is excited to see Lou Rawls at Nipsey's and mentioned that his favorite song is "Natural Man." Lou replied that he received a letter from a female claiming that she and her boyfriend broke up because of the song. This eludes to the episode where Tommy and Pam decide to move in together, but winded up fighting and ultimately breaking up because Tommy played the song "Natural Man" so much that it drove Pam crazy.)

Lou Rawls's father abandoned his family and Lou was raised by his grandmother. His first meeting with music was when he was seven years old, in a Baptist church choir. He was mostly influenced by the Chicago Regal Theatre where he had the opportunity to see the best in black entertainment. Billy Eckstine and Arthur Prysock were only two of the best that Lou saw. He and classmate, Sam Cooke, would harmonize in the school lavatory. He graduated from Dunbar Tech. School and joined the touring gospel singing group, the Pilgrim Travelers. He left the group in 1956 and joined the US Army and became a Sergeant with the Screaming Eagle Paratroopers. 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. Lou remained in a coma for over five days and suffered a memory loss for several months. Sam Cooke was also in the automobile and was left uninjured. 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. 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. He went solo in 1964 and has won four Grammys. In the mid 70s, he joined the Anheuser Busch Brewery as a corporate spokesman. 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. Of Defense. During Christmas of 1983, he toured US bases in the Phillipines, Korea and Japan. 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. South Wentworth Street in Chicago was renamed Lou Rawls Drive in his honor.

In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of hosting and performing as he usually did, Rawls was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and many others. His final television performance occurred during the 2005-2006 edition of the telethon, honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, just months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. This program, aired in January, 2006, contains his final public television performance, where he performed two classics, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and a final ode to Frank Sinatra with, "It Was A Very Good Year."

At the time of Rawls' death, news and UNCF figures noted the significance of Rawls' final performance, "It Was a Very Good Year." The song is a retrospective of one's life and its lyrics include, "When I was seventeen, it was a very good year. It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights...And now those days grow short, it is the autumn of years, and now I think about life as vintage wine from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs, it pours sweet and clear, it was a very good year."

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Lou
• Rawls
• soul
• jazz
• blues
• r&b
• gospel
• The
• Funkiest
• Man
• Alive
• United
• Negro
• College
• Fund

[AbbottSupreme]

The distiguishedable voice of Mr. Lou Rawls, Natural & Free baby ~ Peace!~

[breathoffreshair360]

@AbbottSupreme As much as we would all like to believe, we're living life on our own terms. Truth is we all go by and follow so many dang rules (ex: alarm clocks, stop lights, the speed, schools regulations, our faith, relationships, and ect)!! So this song fits and feels like what we're all thinking inside. To simply be happy, free, living and loving for me (fulfillment)!! Lou Rawls was only speaking the truth, my bro! ~ Phurdrick

[Empresskimz]

I want to be happy and free, living and loving for me!!!!! LOVES THIS!!!!!!!!!!!!!....exactly what I want!

[breathoffreshair360]

@Empresskimz Me too, lol :O)

[Bizarronumber4]

I love this song! RIP Lou.

[FranciePart]

great francie part

[NatayaSharrae2244]

Nothing like a real natural mann!! 

[breathoffreshair360]

@kvalle1 Ha, ha, respect "Mama Bear". ~ Phurdrick :)

[kvalle1]

@breathoffreshair360 Well, I'm not as much a teddy bear as what some of my friends call me...a mama bear :). lol

[breathoffreshair360]

@kvalle1 Your a Teddy Bear, I can see that a mile away, lol :O)