Sonny Charles | |
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 Charles with Steve Miller at the Royal Albert Hall | |
| Background information | |
| Birth name | Charles Hemphill |
| Born | September 4, 1940 Blytheville, Arkansas, U.S. |
| Occupation | Musician |
| Instrument | Vocals |
| Years active | 1960–present |
Sonny Charles (born Charles Hemphill, September 4, 1940) [1] is an American soul singer.
Charles Hemphill born to a sharecropping family at Blytheville, Arkansas. At the age of 10. he moved with his parents and six sisters to Fort Wayne, Indiana.
He was the lead singer of the Checkmates, Ltd. in the 1960s and 1970s, and it is his vocals that are heard out front on their 1969 Phil Spector-produced hit, "Black Pearl". Charles launched a solo career in the early 1970s, and had a brief reunion with the Checkmates during the 1980s. Thereafter, from the mid- to late 1990s, he toured with another member of the Checkmates, Ltd., Marvin "Sweet Louie" Smith, under the Checkmates name.
Charles's 1982 album, The Sun Still Shines, recorded on Highrise Records, hit #136 on the Billboard album chart and #14 on U.S. Black Albums [2] on the strength of the single "Put It in a Magazine". Written by Charles with producer Bobby Paris, the song went to #2 on the R&B Singles chart [3] and reached #40 on the Billboard Hot 100 in early 1983. [1] The follow-up single, "Always on My Mind", peaked at #53, [3] but Charles quickly fell from view.
Charles toured with the Steve Miller Band in 2008 to 2012. [4]
The Righteous Brothers are an American musical duo originally formed by Bill Medley and Bobby Hatfield but now comprising Medley and Bucky Heard. Medley formed the group with Hatfield in 1963. They had first performed together in 1962 in the Los Angeles area as part of a five-member group called the Paramours, and adopted the name The Righteous Brothers when they became a duo. Their most active recording period was in the 1960s and '70s, and, after several years inactive as a duo, Hatfield and Medley reunited in 1981 and continued to perform until Hatfield's death in 2003. The term "blue-eyed soul" is thought to have first been coined by Philadelphia radio DJ Georgie Woods in 1964 when describing the duo's music.
The Ronettes were an American girl group from Washington Heights, Manhattan, New York City. The group consisted of lead singer Veronica Bennett, her older sister Estelle Bennett, and their cousin Nedra Talley. They had sung together since they were teenagers, then known as "The Darling Sisters". Signed first by Colpix Records in 1961, they moved to Phil Spector's Philles Records in March 1963 and changed their name to "The Ronettes".
Ace were a British rock band who enjoyed moderate success in the 1970s. Their membership included Paul Carrack, who later became famous as a vocalist for Mike + The Mechanics and as a solo artist. Ace were perhaps best known for their hit single "How Long", which was a top 20 single in the United Kingdom in 1974, and reached no. 3 in the United States and Canada in 1975.
Nicola James Capaldi was an English singer-songwriter and drummer. His musical career spanned more than four decades. He co-founded the progressive rock band Traffic in 1967 with Steve Winwood with whom he co-wrote the majority of the band's material. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a part of Traffic's original lineup.
The Steve Miller Band is an American rock band formed in San Francisco, California in 1966. The band is led by Steve Miller on guitar and lead vocals. The group had a string of mid- to late-1970s hit singles that are staples of classic rock radio, as well as several earlier psychedelic rock albums. Miller left his first band to move to San Francisco and form the Steve Miller Blues Band. Shortly after Harvey Kornspan negotiated the band's contract with Capitol Records in 1967, the band shortened its name to the Steve Miller Band. In February 1968, the band recorded its debut album, Children of the Future. It went on to produce the albums Sailor, Brave New World, Your Saving Grace, Number 5, The Joker, Fly Like an Eagle, and Book of Dreams, among others. The band's album Greatest Hits 1974–78, released in 1978, has sold over 13 million copies. In 2016, Steve Miller was inducted as a solo artist in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
Veronica Yvette Greenfield was an American singer who co-founded and fronted the girl group the Ronettes. She is sometimes referred to as the original "bad girl of rock and roll".
Toni Wine is an American pop music songwriter, who wrote songs for such artists as The Mindbenders, Tony Orlando and Dawn ("Candida"), and Checkmates, Ltd. in the late 1960s and 1970s. Wine also sang the female vocals for the cartoon music group The Archies, most notably on their #1 hit song "Sugar, Sugar". She shared the lead vocals in the Archies' subsequent single, "Jingle Jangle" with Ron Dante using his falsetto voice. In addition, Wine was a backing vocalist on "It Hurts to Be in Love" and on Willie Nelson's "Always on My Mind."
All I Really Want to Do is the debut solo studio album by American singer-actress Cher and was released on August 16, 1965, by Imperial Records. The album was produced for Cher by her then husband and singing partner, Sonny Bono, with contributions from arranger Harold Battiste. The album is by-and-large a collection of cover versions but does contain three songs written by Bono. In 1992, All I Really Want to Do and Cher's follow-up solo album, The Sonny Side of Chér, were reissued on one CD by EMI Records. Later, in 1995, EMI released a collection titled The Originals, which included All I Really Want to Do, The Sonny Side of Chér, and Cher's third solo album, Chér. The album was again reissued on one CD with The Sonny Side of Chér by BGO Records in 2005 in the UK only. The original twelve track All I Really Want to Do album has never been issued on Compact Disc on its own. Upon its release, the album was well received by critics and garnered positive reviews.
William Thomas Medley is an American singer best known as one-half of The Righteous Brothers. He is noted for his bass-baritone voice, exemplified in songs such as "You've Lost That Lovin' Feelin'". Medley produced a number of the duo's songs, including "Unchained Melody" and "(You're My) Soul and Inspiration".
"Proud Mary" is a song by American rock band Creedence Clearwater Revival, written by vocalist and lead guitarist John Fogerty. It was released as a single in January 1969 by Fantasy Records and on the band's second studio album, Bayou Country. The song became a major hit in the United States, peaking at No. 2 on the Billboard Hot 100 in March 1969, the first of five singles to peak at No. 2 for the group.
"I Keep Forgettin" is a song by Chuck Jackson, written by Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, and Gilbert Garfield. It appears on his second studio album Any Day Now. It peaked at No. 55 on the Billboard Top 100 and remained on the chart for 7 weeks. It did not chart on the R&B chart. This single is often cited as one of the most innovative yet least commercial singles written and produced by Leiber-Stoller.
The Checkmates, Ltd. were an American R&B group from Fort Wayne, Indiana. The group, discovered by Nancy Wilson, was named such because the group included both black and white members, and their various skin tones evoked a chessboard; their one major hit was 1969's "Black Pearl", produced by Phil Spector. The song peaked at No. 13 on the U.S. pop chart. Their remake of "Proud Mary" reached No. 30 on the UK Singles Chart in late 1969.
Harvey Phillip Spector was an American record producer and songwriter, and convicted murderer. He is best known for his innovative recording practices and entrepreneurship in the 1960s along with his two trials and conviction for the murder of Lana Clarkson in the 2000s. Spector developed the Wall of Sound, a production style that is characterized for its diffusion of tone colors and dense orchestral sound, which he described as a "Wagnerian" approach to rock and roll. He is widely regarded as one of the most influential figures in pop music history and one of the most successful producers of the 1960s.
"Ringo, I Love You" is a rock song performed by American singer-actress Cher released under the pseudonym Bonnie Jo Mason, the name she used at the start of her career when based in Los Angeles. The song was released as a promotional single in 1964 during the height of Beatlemania. It was a tribute to the Beatles. The original vinyl is now a valuable rarity. In 1999, the song was covered by German electronic duo Stereo Total and released on their studio album My Melody.
Arthur Adams is an American blues guitarist from Medon, Tennessee. Inspired by B.B. King and other 1950s artists, he played gospel music before attending college. He moved to Los Angeles, and during the 1960s and 1970s he released solo albums and worked as a session musician. In 1985 he was tapped to tour on bass guitar with Nina Simone, and he staged a comeback in the 1990s when he released Back on Track, and became a respected Chicago blues player and bandleader in B.B. King's clubs.
"I Love How You Love Me" is a song written by Barry Mann and Larry Kolber. It was a 1961 Top Five hit for the pop girl group The Paris Sisters, which inaugurated a string of elaborately produced classic hits by Phil Spector. Bobby Vinton had a Top Ten hit in 1968 with a cover version. The song has been recorded by many other artists over the years.
Horace Faith was a Jamaican reggae singer. He is best known for his cover of the Checkmates, Ltd. song, "Black Pearl", which reached number 13 on the UK Singles Chart in 1970.
"Black Pearl" is a song written by Phil Spector, Toni Wine and Irwin Levine, and performed by Sonny Charles and the Checkmates, Ltd. It was inspired by the 1968 Sidney Poitier film For Love of Ivy about Ivy Moore, a maid who after nine years of service leaves to go to secretarial school. The song reached No. 8 on the U.S. R&B chart, No. 13 on the Billboard pop chart, and No. 31 in Australia in 1969. The song was featured on the group's 1969 album, Love Is All We Have to Give.
Love Is All We Have to Give is the first studio album by Checkmates, Ltd., released in 1969, and their second overall album after the 1967 live album Live! at Caesar's Palace. Love Is All We Have to Give reached No. 178 on the Billboard Top LPs chart.
This is a list of record that were produced or co-produced by Phil Spector.
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