Don Bryant | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Donald Maurice Bryant |
| Born | April 4, 1942 Memphis, Tennessee, United States |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, songwriter |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals |
| Labels | Hi Records Fat Possum Records |
Donald Maurice Bryant (born April 4, 1942) is an American rhythm and blues singer and songwriter. [1]
Bryant was born in Memphis, Tennessee, United States, the fifth of ten children. [2] He began singing in church at age five, and soon joined his father's family vocal group. [3] He eventually formed a gospel quartet for a high school radio show, finding success singing secular pop songs on Dick “Cane” Cole’s popular WLOK show. [3] The quartet, performing as The Four Kings, would part with Cole to become the front band for Willie Mitchell, with Bryant as the lead singer. [4]
In 1960, the still teenage Bryant was offered a shot at songwriting, penning “I Got To Know” for The 5 Royales. He wrote material for other artists at Hi Records while continuing to record with The Four Kings and as a solo artist, resulting in a 1969 solo album. [3] However, with the success of Al Green, Otis Clay, and other vocalists at Hi, Bryant’s singing career took a backseat to writing, joining Earl Randle, Dan Greer, and Darryl Carter as Hi's top staff writers. Bryant is credited on as many as 154 titles.
By 1970, Willie Mitchell had begun to pair Bryant with his newest act, a young Ann Peebles, for whom he wrote "99 Pounds" and "Do I Need You." [3] The pair co-wrote the Top 40 hit "I Can't Stand the Rain" in 1973, and were married the following year. [3] Bryant spent much of the subsequent decade writing and opening for Peebles, with his final Hi single coming in 1981, a duet with his wife called "Mon Belle-Amour." [3]
Bryant focused mainly on gospel albums throughout the 1980s and 1990s, [3] and ultimately stopped performing altogether outside of church services. [5] [6]
Following a conversation between producer Scott Bomar and former Hi Records drummer Howard Grimes, Bryant was invited to perform as a vocalist with Memphis-based soul homage outfit The Bo-Keys. After some convincing from Grimes, Bryant accepted and, within a few months, found the inspiration to return to the studio. Bryant and The Bo-Keys recorded Don’t Give Up on Love in the fall of 2016, which was released on the Fat Possum label in 2017. The album features an array of Bryant’s past triumphs as well as new material. [7] In 2020, Bryant and the Bo-Keys collaborated again on the Fat Possum Records release You Make Me Feel which was nominated for a Grammy Award. [8]
Albert Leornes Greene, known professionally as Al Green, is an American singer, songwriter, pastor and record producer best known for recording a series of soul hit singles in the early 1970s, including "Take Me to the River", "Tired of Being Alone", "I'm Still in Love with You", "Love and Happiness", and his signature song, "Let's Stay Together". After his girlfriend died by suicide, Green became an ordained pastor and turned to gospel music. He later returned to secular music.
Memphis soul, also known as the Memphis sound, is the most prominent strain of Southern soul. It is a shimmering, sultry style produced in the 1960s and 1970s at Stax Records and Hi Records in Memphis, Tennessee, featuring melodic unison horn lines, organ, guitar, bass, and a driving beat on the drums.
Southern soul is a type of soul 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
The Hi Rhythm Section was the house band for hit soul albums by several artists, including Al Green and Ann Peebles, on Willie Mitchell's Hi Records label in the 1970s. The band included the three Hodges brothers, organist Charles Hodges, bassist Leroy Hodges and guitarist Mabon "Teenie" Hodges, together with pianist Archie Turner and drummer Howard Grimes. Many recordings also used The Memphis Horns - Wayne Jackson and Andrew Love - of Stax fame, usually with Willie's brother James Mitchell arranging and (Perry) Michael Allen - piano (Alt). The recordings were made at producer Willie Mitchell's Royal Recording Studio in Memphis, Tennessee.
William Lawrence Mitchell was an American trumpeter, bandleader, soul, R&B, rock and roll, pop and funk record producer and arranger who ran Royal Studios in Memphis, Tennessee. He was best known for his Hi Records label of the 1970s, which released albums by a large stable of popular Memphis soul artists, including Mitchell himself, Al Green, O. V. Wright, Syl Johnson, Ann Peebles and Quiet Elegance.
Hi Records is an American soul music and rockabilly label founded in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1957 by singer Ray Harris, record store owner Joe Cuoghi, Bill Cantrell and Quinton Claunch, and three silent partners, including Cuoghi's lawyer, Nick Pesce.
Ann Lee Peebles is an American retired singer and songwriter who gained popularity for her Memphis soul albums of the 1970s while signed to Hi Records. Her most successful singles include "I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband Don Bryant and radio broadcaster Bernie Miller, and "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down". In 2014, she was inducted into the Memphis Music Hall of Fame.
The Blackwood Brothers are an American southern gospel quartet. Pioneers of the Christian music industry, they are 8-time Grammy Award winners in addition to winning 7 Gospel Music Association Dove Awards. They are also members of the Memphis Music Hall of Fame, Gospel Music Hall of Fame, the Southern Gospel Museum and Hall of Fame.
Fat Possum Records is an American independent record label based in Water Valley and Oxford, Mississippi. At first Fat Possum focused almost entirely on recording previously unknown Mississippi blues artists. Recently, Fat Possum has signed younger rock acts to its roster. The label has been featured in The New York Times, New Yorker, The Observer, a Sundance Channel production, features on NPR, and a 2004 documentary, You See Me Laughin. Fat Possum also distributes the Hi Records catalog.
The Blues Don't Change is an album by American blues musician Albert King. He recorded it at the Stax Records studio in Memphis, Tennessee, in 1973 and 1974. In 1977, Stax released the album with the same songs and running order as The Pinch.
Nathaniel Mayer was an American rhythm and blues singer, who started his career in the early 1960s at Fortune Records in his birthplace of Detroit, Michigan. "Nay Dog" or "Nate," as he was also known, had a raw, highly energetic vocal style and wild stage show. After a 35-year absence from music, in 2002 Mayer began recording and touring again, releasing albums with Fat Possum, Alive Records and Norton Records.
The Fairfield Four is an American gospel group that has existed for over 100 years, starting as a trio in the Fairfield Baptist Church, Nashville, Tennessee, in 1921. They were designated as National Heritage Fellows in 1989 by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts. The group won the 1998 Grammy for Best Traditional Soul Gospel Album. As a quintet, they featured briefly in the 2000 movie O Brother, Where Art Thou?.
I Can't Stand the Rain is the fourth studio album by American Memphis soul singer Ann Peebles. It was released on the Hi label in 1974 and was her highest-charting record on the Billboard 200, where it reached no. 155 and spent 7 weeks. Produced by Willie Mitchell and largely written by Peebles and her husband, Don Bryant, I Can't Stand the Rain included the R&B hits "I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" and "I Can't Stand the Rain", the latter of which reached no. 6 on the R&B chart and no. 38 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1973.
"I Can't Stand the Rain" is a song originally recorded by Ann Peebles in 1973, and written by Peebles, Don Bryant, and Bernard "Bernie" Miller. Other notable versions were later recorded by Eruption, Graham Central Station, Tina Turner and Lowell George. The original version is ranked at 197 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time.
Howard Lee Grimes was an American drummer, best known as a member of the Hi Rhythm Section on records by Al Green, Ann Peebles and others in the 1970s.
Scott Bomar is a Memphis-based musician, Emmy Award-winning film composer, Grammy-nominated music producer, and recording engineer. Scott Bomar's songs are represented by Downtown Music Publishing.
The Bo-Keys are a soul jazz band from Memphis, Tennessee, formed as an homage to the city's rich musical tradition.
Royal Studios is a recording studio located in Memphis, Tennessee, United States. Established in 1956, it is one of the oldest continuously operated music recording studios in the world.
Straight from the Heart is the third studio album by American Memphis soul singer Ann Peebles. It was released on the Hi label in 1974 and included the songs "I Pity the Fool" and "Breaking Up Somebody's Home".
Fill This World with Love is an album by the American musician Ann Peebles, released in 1996. It was her second album for Bullseye Blues. Peebles supported the album with a North American tour, as well as shows in England.
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