Charles Chalmers

Last updated

Charlie Chalmers
Occupation(s)Producer, songwriter, musician
InstrumentSaxophonist
Website charliechalmers.com

Charles Chalmers is an American saxophonist, backup vocalist, songwriter and producer. He has written several hit songs for many recording artists, and has also arranged and performed on many Grammy winning recordings. Seven of those recordings are in the Grammy Hall of Fame: Al Green's "Let's Stay Together"; Aretha Franklin's "Respect," "Chain of Fools" and "Natural Woman"; Dusty Springfield's "Son of a Preacher Man"; and Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally" and "Land of a Thousand Dances." He also holds an Album of the Century award for his work on Aretha Franklin's, I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You .

Contents

Early life and education

Chalmers attended South Side High School in Memphis, Tennessee, where he learned to read music. [1] His mother bought him a used tenor saxophone as a graduation gift. [1] He took classes at Memphis State University, but quit after six months so he could start touring with Jerry Lee Lewis. [1]

Career

By age 19, he had toured with Jerry Lee Lewis and worked extensively with Charlie Rich. [2]

Chalmers came to the attention of Bill Black, who called Chalmers for a session. Not long after working with Black, Willie Mitchell asked Chalmers to play on some of his recordings. Chalmers played lead sax on Mitchell's instrumental, "Soul Serenade". Mitchell then called Chalmers to work regularly on his productions, not only as a saxophone player, but also as an arranger and back up singer. [2]

Chalmers helped arrange and sang backup on "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green with Sandy and Donna Rhodes in a group that came to be called Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes. [3] [2] They also sang on Green's album, I Can't Stop , produced by Mitchell, for Blue Note Records (2003). [3]

Before recording with Al Green, Chalmers was asked to go to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to play on a Wilson Pickett recording date for Atlantic Records. "Land of a Thousand Dances" and "Mustang Sally" were two of the songs he recorded with Pickett that week, and it was then that Chalmers met Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd. [2]

Wexler brought 25-year-old Aretha Franklin to the Fame Studio at Muscle Shoals, introducing her to Chalmers, Chips Moman, and Dewey "Spooner" Oldham, resulting in Chalmers's first track with Franklin, "I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You". [4] Chalmers wend on to arrange the horns and played sax on many other Aretha Franklin songs, including "I Ain't Never Loved A Man", "Respect", "Do Right Woman", "Chain of Fools", and "Dr. Feel Good". [2]

In 1969, Chalmers announced a partnership with Sandy Rhodes, and a contract with Chess Records. [1] Rick Hall produced Charlie Chalmers' Sax and the Single Girl for Chess Records. [2] [5]

Las Vegas and Miami years

After Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes sang on Paul Anka's hit "(You're) Having My Baby", they performed live dates with Anka in Las Vegas for three years at Caesar's Palace. Chalmers located a studio in Las Vegas, where they sang back up on a Frank Sinatra session. [2]

After working for several years in Vegas, Chalmers and his group were called to Miami to do some sessions at Criteria Studios. For the next few years, they recorded with artists including Andy Gibb, The Bee Gees, Fire Fall, Harry Chapin, John Mellencamp and K. C. and the Sunshine Band. [2]

Move to Missouri

In 1989, Mel Tillis asked Chalmers to work with him at his new theatre in Branson, Missouri. Two years later, Chalmers built his own recording studio in Branson, where he now resides. [2]

Songs

As a songwriter and music publisher, Charlie Chalmers had a #1 hit record by Conway Twitty – "The Clown" – which he co-wrote with Wayne Carson Thompson and Sandy Rhodes. [6] Also among Chalmers' songs are "One Woman", on the Isaac Hayes album Hot Buttered Soul , and "One Big Unhappy Family", on the album The Isaac Hayes Movement . Both albums are double Platinum sellers. "Alice Is In Wonderland" is on The Oak Ridge Boys' Deliver . Al Green also recorded "One Woman" on his Green Is Blues album. The Staple Singers recorded "City In The Sky" for their City In The Sky album, Boz Scaggs recorded "Look What I Got" on his self-titled Atlantic album Boz Scaggs , and Etta James recorded the popular "It Hurts Me So Much" on the album Tell Mama for Chess Records.

Chalmers also wrote "Tell Him Tonight" recorded by Rudolph Taylor, ranked as one of the 60 greatest Memphis soul songs of all time by the Commercial Appeal in 2017. [7]

Personal life

Chalmers was married to Sandy Rhodes. [3] He later married Josie and in 2008 they had a son of the same name. [8]

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">King Curtis</span> American saxophonist (1934–1971)

Curtis Ousley, known professionally as King Curtis, was an American saxophonist who played rhythm and blues, jazz, and rock and roll. A bandleader, band member, and session musician, he was also a musical director and record producer. A master of the instrument, he played tenor, alto, and soprano saxophone. He played riffs and solos on hit singles such as "Respect" by Aretha Franklin (1967), and "Yakety Yak" by The Coasters (1958) and his own "Soul Twist" (1962), "Soul Serenade" (1964), and "Memphis Soul Stew" (1967).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Checker Records</span> American record label

Checker Records is a defunct record label that was started in 1952 as a subsidiary of Chess Records in Chicago, Illinois. The label was founded by the Chess brothers, Leonard and Phil, who ran the label until they sold it to General Recorded Tape (GRT) in 1969, shortly before Leonard's death.

Southern soul, also called Country Soul is a type of soul and country music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues, country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated from the sounds of Southern black churches. Bass guitar, drums, horn section, and gospel roots vocal are important to soul groove. This rhythmic force made it a strong influence in the rise of funk music. The terms "deep soul", "country soul", "downhome soul" and "hard soul" have been used synonymously with "Southern soul".p. 18

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Al Jackson Jr.</span> American drummer (1935–1975)

Albert J. Jackson Jr. was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their own instrumentals. Jackson was affectionately dubbed "The Human Timekeeper" for his drumming ability. He was posthumously inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame in 2015, and the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s in 1992.

Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums like Elvis Presley's 1969 From Elvis in Memphis and the 1985 debut album for The Highwaymen. Moman won a Grammy Award for co-writing "(Hey Won't You Play) Another Somebody Done Somebody Wrong Song", a 1975 hit for B.J. Thomas.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">The Sweet Inspirations</span> American R&B vocal group

The Sweet Inspirations are an American R&B girl group from Newark, New Jersey, founded by Cissy Houston, mostly known for their work as backup singers on studio recordings for other R&B and rock artists but also a Grammy-nominated recording act in their own right.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Land of a Thousand Dances</span> Song popularized by Wilson Pickett

"Land of a Thousand Dances" is a song written and first recorded by American rhythm and blues singer Chris Kenner in 1962. It later became a bigger hit in versions by Cannibal & the Headhunters and Wilson Pickett. A version by Thee Midniters reached number 27 in Canada on March 22, 1965.

<i>Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky)</i> 1973 studio album by Aretha Franklin

Hey Now Hey (The Other Side of the Sky) is the nineteenth studio album by American singer-songwriter Aretha Franklin.

<i>With Everything I Feel in Me</i> 1974 studio album by Aretha Franklin

With Everything I Feel in Me is the twenty-first studio album by American singer Aretha Franklin, Released on November 25, 1974, by Atlantic Records.

"I'm in Love" is a song written by Bobby Womack. It was first recorded by Wilson Pickett in 1967, which gave him a top-ten R&B hit on Billboard's chart in 1968, peaking at number 4 as well as peaking at number 45 on the Billboard Hot 100.

"I Never Loved a Man (The Way I Love You)" is a 1967 single released by American soul singer Aretha Franklin. Released on Atlantic Records as the first big hit of her career and the lead single from her tenth studio album of the same name, it became a defining song for Franklin, peaking at number one on the rhythm and blues charts and number nine on the pop charts. The B-side was "Do Right Woman, Do Right Man". Before this Franklin had placed only two Top 40 singles on the pop chart during her modest tenure with Columbia Records.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Spooner Oldham</span> American songwriter (born 1943)

Dewey "Spooner" Lindon Oldham Jr. is an American songwriter and session musician. An organist, he recorded in Muscle Shoals, Alabama, at FAME Studios as part of the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section on such hit R&B songs as Percy Sledge's "When a Man Loves a Woman", Wilson Pickett's "Mustang Sally", and Aretha Franklin's "I Never Loved a Man ". As a songwriter, Oldham teamed with Dan Penn to write such hits as "Cry Like a Baby", "I'm Your Puppet", and "A Woman Left Lonely" and "It Tears Me Up".

The Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section is a group of American session musicians based in the northern Alabama town of Muscle Shoals. One of the most prominent American studio house bands from the 1960s to the 1980s, these musicians, individually or as a group, have been associated with more than 500 recordings, including 75 gold and platinum hits. They were masters at creating a southern combination of R&B, soul and country music known as the "Muscle Shoals sound" to back up black artists, who were often in disbelief to learn that the studio musicians were white. Over the years from 1962 to 1969, there have been two successive groups under the name "Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section" and the common factor in the two was an association with Rick Hall at FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals.

<i>Aretha Live at Fillmore West</i> 1971 live album by Aretha Franklin

Aretha Live at Fillmore West is a live album by American singer Aretha Franklin. Released on May 19, 1971, by Atlantic Records. It was reissued on compact disc in 1993 through Rhino Records. An expanded, limited edition 4-CD box set titled Don't Fight the Feeling: The Complete Aretha Franklin & King Curtis Live at Fillmore West was released by Rhino in 2005 that was limited to 5,000 numbered copies. In addition, there is a guest duet vocal by Ray Charles on "Spirit in the Dark".

Thomas Clark Cogbill was an American bassist, guitarist and record producer known for his work in R&B, soul and country music.

Gene "Bowlegs" Miller was an American trumpeter and band leader.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Do Right Woman, Do Right Man</span> 1967 single by Aretha Franklin

"Do Right Woman, Do Right Man" is a song written by Chips Moman and Dan Penn, and made famous by Aretha Franklin. Her version was released on February 10, 1967. Rolling Stone listed it as number 476 in their list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.

Floyd Newman was an American saxophonist, session musician and bandleader. As a baritone sax player, he was long associated with Stax Records, and as a member of The Mar-Keys’ horn section and the Memphis Horns.

Sandy and Donna Rhodes are American singers and songwriters who have performed and recorded country music, and were also backing singers on many R&B records made in Memphis, Tennessee, particularly in the 1970s. Coming from a musical family that also included their father "Dusty" Rhodes and uncles "Slim" and "Speck" Rhodes, they recorded as a duo in the 1960s, first as The Rhodes Sisters and later as The Lonesome Rhodes. They also recorded, on their own account and as session musicians, with Sandy's then-husband Charles Chalmers as Rhodes Chalmers Rhodes (RCR). Sandy and Donna have continued to record and perform with family members and associates as The Rhodes Show, which was also the name of the family's earlier radio and television program.

The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, located in Memphis, Tennessee, honors Memphis musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The induction ceremony and concert is held each year in Memphis. Since its establishment in 2012, the Hall of Fame has inducted more than 48 individuals or groups. It is administered by the non-profit Memphis Rock N' Soul Museum. In July 2015, the Memphis Music Hall of Fame opened a 'brick and mortar' museum and exhibit hall, which features memorabilia, video interviews, and interactive exhibits.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Cortese, James (February 9, 1969). "Sounds Of Memphis—Chalmers Predicts Boom". The Commercial Appeal. Memphis, Tennessee. Retrieved July 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  2. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 "Biography". Charlie Chalmers – The Hitman. Retrieved July 14, 2024.
  3. 1 2 3 Ashton, Bill (April 5, 1980). "RCR: Backup Singers Try It Up Front". The Miami Herald . Retrieved July 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  4. ↑ Mitchell, Gail (October 4, 2003). "Aretha". Billboard. Retrieved July 14, 2024– via ProQuest.
  5. ↑ Talbert, Bob (October 22, 1967). "Record Reviews". The State. Columbia, South Carolina. Retrieved July 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  6. ↑ Burk, Bill E. (March 11, 1982). "Memphis Songwriters Enjoying Spotlight". The Memphis Press-Scimitar. Retrieved July 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  7. ↑ Herrington, Chris (November 24, 2017). "Ranking the 60 greatest Memphis soul songs". The Commercial Appeal . Retrieved July 14, 2024– via Newspapers.com.
  8. ↑ "Births". Springfield News Leader. November 24, 2008. Retrieved July 14, 2024– via ProQuest.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.