Otis Leavill - Love Uprising

"Love Uprising" was a song that soul fans everywhere adored, by the late great Otis Leavill. Friendly, talented Otis Leavill Cobb was born February 8, 1943, in Dewey Rose, GA. The Cobb family moved to Chicago two years later. Leavill's childhood chum, Major Lance lived in the Cabrini Green Projects near Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Butler. They slept over at each other houses and acted more like brothers than buddies. As teenagers the two pals participated in amateur boxing at St. Albees, Leavill always fought in a division five pounds heavier than Lance. At 5' 5" Leavill was short and stocky; Lance was taller and slimmer at 5' 8." They formed the Floats with two females: Barbara Tyson, and another that no one remembers. After eight months the Floats ended, they never released a record but recorded a demo that's floating around Chi-town. The Impressions recorded first, then Lance, and finally Leavill. His first record "Ride Sally Ride," dropped on Mercury's Limelight subsidiary, though Otis says he waxed it for St. Lawrence Records who evidently leased the master. His next release "Gotta Right To Cry," a Mayfield song came out on Lucky Records; Lance had already waxed and released the tune in 1963 for Okeh Records. Blue Rock Records was Leavill's next stop. There he cut some memorable sides, including Billy Butlers' "To Be Or Not To Be," and "Let Me Live." When Carl Davis formed the Dakar label, he appointed Otis as Vice President and gave him shares in the company. Leavill also recorded for Dakar where he enjoyed his biggest hit: Eugene Record's "I Love You," a song that sounded like Otis imitating Record-the Chi-lites' lead singer; it climbed to number 10 R&B but never threatened the Pop Top 40, stalling number 64. Another Record composition "Love Uprising" nearly repeated the success of "I Love You," checking in at number 19 R&B and number72 Pop. Another single "There's Nothing Better Than Loving You" scraped into the lower rungs of the R&B chart. After Dakar's demise Carl Davis went to Brunswick Records, Leavill followed and had a few releases including "Can't Stop Loving You," which sells for $40 bucks to collectors, but never equaled the success he had at Dakar. His releases after that were sporadic. "Right Back In Love" came out on Columbia Records, but after a few more droppings, Leavill's recording career ended. Never one to sit back and wait, Leavill also owned the '76 Car Wash and Gas Station at Washington and Pulaski and moonlighted as a policeman in a west Chicago 'burb. He formed OK Records in 2000 after a long hiatus from the record business. Sadly, Otis Leavill passed July 17, 2002 of a heart attack, he was 65.

Category:

Music

Tags:

• Northern-Soul
• Chicago
• Brunswick
• Dakar
• Motorcity
• Male-Soul-Singers
• Soul-Classic
• Sixties

[GReYSTOKE2012]

I'd like to dedicate this tune to Joe Frazier. Enough bitterness Joe. Find the peace.

[lqtlvxy]

merci encore MRS levine de nous faire partager de la musique comme ça!!!!

[Discoboy1974]

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[TooDarnSoulful]

Great sound - raw soulful stuff