Singers that were active in the 1960s.

Category:1960s in music Category:Singers by time period

Johnny Mann (born August 30, 1928, Baltimore, Maryland) is an American arranger, composer, conductor, entertainer, and recording artist.

Career

As bandleader with the Johnny Mann Singers, the group recorded approximately three dozen albums, hosted the TV series entitled Stand Up and Cheer, and was the musical director for The Joey Bishop Show. He was also musical director of The Alvin Show, and was the voice of Theodore. Mann was also choral director for the NBC Comedy Hour.

The Johnny Mann Singers' cover version of "Up, Up and Away", rather than the original by The 5th Dimension, became the hit version of the song in the UK Singles Chart. The version also won a Grammy Award in 1968 in the Best Performance by a Choir of Seven or More Persons category. In total, Mann has been nominated for five Grammys, two of which he won.

Mann wrote a number of radio jingles, the most famous being Los Angeles station "93 KHJ" as well as the "Sounds of the City" jingle for KSFO in San Francisco, California. This jingle became as requested as many of the songs played by KSFO in the era of Don Sherwood, and it was adapted by Mann for other radio stations around the country which included KFRC (AM) in San Francisco and CKLW in Windsor, Ontario.

The Johnny Mann Singers still record jingles for radio stations today, done in the Bill Drake style of the 1960s and 1970s Top 40 era. Mann is credited as "Johnnie Mann" in some of his earlier works. The group's most notable alumna is Vickie Lawrence.

References

External links

Johnny Mann Singers

Space Age Pop profile of Johnny Mann

Category:1928 births Category:Living people Category:American conductors (music) Category:Easy listening music Category:Apex Records artists Category:Liberty Records artists Category:Grammy Award winners

Name	Clara Ward
Background	solo_singer
Born	April 21, 1924
Died	January 16, 1973Los Angeles, California
Origin	Philadelphia, Pennsylvania
Years active	1931–1972
Associated acts	The Ward Singers, The Ward Trio, The Clara Ward Specials, Willa Ward Singers, Gertrude Ward Singers

Clara Ward (April 21, 1924 – January 16, 1973) was an American gospel artist who achieved great success, both artistic and commercial, in the 1940s and 1950s as leader of The Famous Ward Singers.

A gifted singer and arranger, Ward took the lead-switching style used by male gospel quartets to new heights, leaving room for spontaneous improvisation and vamping by each member of the group while giving virtuoso singers such as Marion Williams the opportunity to step forward in songs such as "Surely, God Is Able" (among the first million-selling gospel hits), "How I Got Over" (which she wrote; one of the most famous songs in the Black gospel repertoire), and "Packin' Up".

Career

Clara Ward's mother, Gertrude Ward (1901–1981), founded the Ward Singers in 1931 as a family group, then called variously The Consecrated Gospel Singers or The Ward Trio, consisting of herself, her youngest daughter Clara, and her elder daughter Willa.

Clara Ward made her first solo recording in 1940 and continued accompanying the Ward Gospel Trio.

The Ward Singers began touring nationally in 1943, after making a memorable appearance at the National Baptist Convention held in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania that year. Henrietta Waddy joined the group in 1947 after Willa Ward retired; she added a rougher alto and the enthusiastic stage manners taken from her South Carolina church background. The group's performance style, such as the mimed packing of suitcases as part of the song "Packin' Up", may have been condemned by some purists as "clowning" but was wildly popular with their audiences.

The addition of Marion Williams, who came out of the Pentecostal tradition growing up in Miami, Florida, brought even more to the group. A powerful singer with a preternaturally broad range, she was able to reach the highest registers of the soprano range without losing either purity or volume, and could also swoop down to growling low notes in the style of a country preacher. Williams' singing helped make the group nationally popular when they began recording in 1948.

In 1949 the Ward Singers toured from Philadelphia to California in their new Cadillac, appeared on TV in Hollywood, and recorded for the Miltone Record Company of Los Angeles. The Miltone recordings were purchased in a multi-artist package by Gotham Record Company, which had moved to Philadelphia. Gotham's Irv Ballen recorded some new Ward material, including "Surely God Is Able", and some of the Ward Singers' Gotham recordings were transferred to Savoy Record Company in Newark, New Jersey to settle a contract dispute. When Savoy began contracting with the Ward Singers for new recordings in the 1950s, they were mostly recorded and engineered in Bergen County, New Jersey by Rudy Van Gelder.

In 1950, Clara Ward and the Famous Ward Singers of Philadelphia made their first appearance at Carnegie Hall in New York City on a gospel program titled Negro Music Festival, produced by gospel music pioneer Joe Bostic, sharing the stage with Mahalia Jackson and appearing there at Carnegie Hall on Bostic's program again in 1952.

Over the years, Gertrude Ward created a booking agency for gospel acts, sponsored tours under the name "The Ward Gospel Cavalcade", established a publishing house for gospel music, and even wrote a book for churches on how to promote gospel programs. Gertrude also created and managed a second group, "The Clara Ward Specials", to accompany the Ward Singers. Although as musical director of the Ward franchise Clara was willing to share the spotlight with her talented co-singers, she and her mother were tightfisted about sharing the group's financial rewards with other members. According to Willa Ward's biography of Clara Ward, with the exception of Gertrude and Clara, Willa and other members of the group were grossly underpaid. In addition, their meager earnings were further reduced because Gertrude and Clara provided their housing and charged them for it. Accordingly, stars such as Marion Williams and Frances Steadman not only had to accept second billing and lesser pay for their work, but pay their employers rent out of their earnings.

Williams left the group in 1958 when her demand for a raise and reimbursement for hotel expenses was rejected; she was followed shortly thereafter by the rest of the group—Henrietta Waddy, Esther Ford, Frances Steadman and Kitty Parham—who formed a new group, "The Stars of Faith". Their departure marked the end of the glory days for the Ward Singers, who later alienated much of their churchgoing audience by performing in Las Vegas, nightclubs, and other secular venues in the 1960s.

In 1963 Clara Ward was the second gospel singer to sing gospel songs on Broadway in Langston Hughes' play Tambourines To Glory. She was also the musical director for this play. The first being her former group members, which were known as the Stars of Faith, which starred Langston Hughes in the first Gospel stage play and first play that featured an all black cast to be produced on Broadway, The Black Nativity.

While performing at the Castaways Lounge in Miami Beach, Florida, in the 1960s, Clara collapsed and was rushed to the hospital and told if she recovered she would never sing or walk again. Gertrude Ward telephoned Mother Dabney, a spiritual healer in New Jersey, and Clara miraculously was restored to health. Details were reported in the Gospel News Journal published by Marvin Bunton. Clara later recounted this experience in a church service at the Wayside Chapel in Sydney, Australia. This testimony was released on an LP issued on the WARD label along with Clara singing "The Lord's Prayer" and a few other Ward musical selections.

During the group's heyday, however, it was both widely popular and highly influential, emphasizing glamor—traveling in over-sized Cadillacs, preferring sequined gowns for choir robes, and wearing wigs and jewelry that more conservative churchgoing women considered too worldly—while bringing Gertrude Ward's shrewd entrepreneurial sense to the gospel music business at large. Though Gertrude was a savvy negotiator, her understanding of the value of music copyrights was limited. According to Willa Ward, Gertrude was misled into believing that the songwriting royalties from Clara's compositions would be minimal and accordingly sold them. In her book Willa said the music ended up under the control of Herman Lubinsky, founder of Savoy Records (who was known for his unscrupulous exploitation of recording artists), and became owned by Planemar Music Company.

Clara Ward was the first gospel singer to sing with a 100-piece symphony orchestra in the 1960s. They recorded an album together on the Verve label, V-5019, The Heart, The Faith, The Soul of Clara Ward, and the Ward Singers performed their music live in Philadelphia with the symphony and the Golden Voices Ensemble.

Though Clara Ward did not regularly sing secular music as a soloist or with her groups, she did sing backup for pop artists with her sister Willa's background group, most notably on Dee Dee Sharp's smash hit, 'Mashed Potato Time", which reached #1 on Billboard's pop chart in 1962. In 1969 she recorded an album for Capitol Records, Soul and Inspiration, which consisted of pop songs from Broadway plays and Hollywood movies. This album was later reissued on the Capitol's budget Pickwick label minus one song. In the same year she recorded an album in Copenhagen, Denmark on the Philips label, Walk A Mile In My Shoes, which included the pop title song, other pop songs (such as "California Dreaming") and a few gospel songs. She also recorded an album for MGM/Verve, Hang Your Tears Out To Dry, which included country and Western, blues/folk, pop and an arrangement of the Beatles' hit song, "Help". Her 1972 album Uplifting on United Artists, produced by Nikolas Venet and Sam Alexander, included her stunning interpretation of Bill Wither's pop hit "Lean On Me" and a rearrangement of the Soul Stirrer's 1950's recording of "Thank You, Jesus". Also in 1972 Ward, because she was under exclusive contract to United Artists at this time, provided vocals for a Canned Heat's album New Age, on the ballad "Looking For My Rainbow"; it was released on that album and as a single 45 rpm record.

In 1968 Clara Ward and her singers toured Vietnam at the request of the U.S. State Department and the U.S.O. It was a very popular war-time tour supported by recorded radio broadcasts of the Ward Singers on U.S. Armed Forces Radio. The Ward Singers narrowly missed death when their hotel in Vietnam was bombed and several guests died. However, Clara was never afraid because she knew she was bringing some momentary joy, consolation, and a religious message to soldiers, many of whom would not return home alive, and they showed their appreciation and enthusiasm for her style of gospel music. When asked during a TV interview what was her favorite concert, Clara responded that these tours in Vietnam during the war were her favorite. She was invited back to Vietnam by U.S.O. in 1969 for several more months. These war-time tours were filmed and all the Ward Singers were given special certificates of recognition by the U.S. Army. The U.S.O did not pay a salary to entertainers, but after these tours the Ward Singers went to Japan each year for commercial concerts and released LPs in Japan to coincide with these tours.

Clara Ward co-starred in the Hollywood movie A Time To Sing, starring Hank Williams, Jr., Shelley Fabares, Ed Begley, and D'Urville Martin. She was cast as a waitress in a Nashville, Tennessee cafeteria who inspires a young singer, played by Hank Williams, Jr., to pursue his dream of becoming a Country & Western recording artist. There are also several scenes of the Clara Ward Singers performing gospel songs. This movie was released by MGM in 1968 and Clara's picture appears on lobby cards and other movie advertisements. Other movie appearances include Its Your Thing starring the Isley Brothers, and Spree, also known as Night Time in Las Vegas.

The late 1960s and early 1970s were an extremely busy and successful time for the Clara Ward Singers. The summer months usually found them at the Golden Horseshoe Club in Disneyland in Anaheim, California or touring colleges across the United States. They also toured in Australia, Japan, Europe, Indonesia, and Thailand. They had a one-day TV special in London, England. They were in demand on American TV shows constantly and appeared on The Mike Douglas Show over a dozen times. They appeared on Oral Roberts' Country Roads TV special and an album soundtrack was issued of this show. Clara still found time to sing at her mother's church, the Miracle Temple of Faith for All People in Los Angeles. and at Victory Baptist Church. Her mother, Gertrude Ward, also had a popular religious radio program in the Los Angeles market.

Personal life

Despite her career success, Ward's life was an unhappy one. Financial hardships caused her and her family to move 19 times before her adulthood. Sexually abused in childhood by a cousin and relentlessly driven as prime breadwinner by her mother throughout her life, Clara's life was one of constant work and little joy. According to her sister Willa, Gertrude Ward recognized Clara's exceptional musical ability when Clara was a child and controlled and manipulated her throughout her life. In her biography of Clara, Willa attests that Gertrude worked to prevent Clara from forming any romantic attachments. Although Clara eloped as a teenager (at age 17 in 1941), her mother forced her to tour and the strain caused the always frail Clara to have a miscarriage. Her marriage ended after only one year. Willa describes Clara as explaining her occasional lesbian encounters as the sexual expression likely to escape her mother's notice. Her only real happiness seems to have come from her longtime romance with Rev. C. L. Franklin (with whom the Ward groups extensively toured), the famous Detroit-based preacher and father of the legendary Aretha Franklin.

Death

Ward's poor health forced her to retire in the early 1970s. She died after two strokes in 1973. Aretha Franklin and Rev. C. L. Franklin sang at her funeral in Philadelphia in 1973; Marion Williams sang at her second memorial service held days later in Los Angeles, California.

Clara Ward is interred in the Forest Lawn Memorial Park Cemetery in Glendale, California.

Legacy

In 1977, Ward was honored posthumously at the Songwriters Hall of Fame in New York City and her surviving sister, Willa, accepted an award in her honor.

In July 1998, in recognition of her status as one of the most famous and loved gospel singers in the world, the United States Postal Service issued a 32-cent stamp with her image. The stamp can still be purchased with a CD and other gospel singers' stamps at www.usps.com.

Ward's beautiful alto (with a distinctly nasal tone) in gospel songs and the Methodist hymns of the 18th century continues to delight music lovers. She had a marked influence on later singers, such as her protegee Aretha Franklin, who adopted her moan for secular songs and who saluted Ward in Amazing Grace, the gospel album she made with James Cleveland in the early 1970s.

Discography

Soul & Inspiration Digital download released by Stateside Records

References

Further reading

Boyer, Horace Clarence, How Sweet the Sound: The Golden Age of Gospel Elliott and Clark, 1995, ISBN 0-252-06877-7.

Heilbut, Tony The Gospel Sound: Good News and Bad Times Limelight Editions, 1997, ISBN 0-87910-034-6.

Salvatore, Nick, Singing in a Strange Land: C. L. Franklin, the Black Church, and the Transformation of America, Little Brown, 2005, Hardcover ISBN 0-316-16037-7.

Ward-Royster, Willa, "How I Got Over: Clara Ward and the World-Famous Ward Singers", Temple University Press, 1997, Paper ISBN 1-56639-490-2. Highly recommended.

Interview with Willa Ward, Philadelphia Inquirer, July 2, 2006,

Zolten, Jerry "Great God A'Mighty! The Dixie Hummingbirds: Celebrating the Rise of Soul Gospel Music" Oxford University Press, 2003, ISBN 0-19-515272-7.

Category:1924 births Category:1973 deaths Category:American gospel singers Category:American female singers Category:African American singers Category:Musicians from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania Category:Savoy Records artists Category:Duke Records artists

Name	Ray Charles Robinson
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Ray Charles Robinson
Origin	Greenville, Florida, United States
Born	September 23, 1930Albany, Georgia, United States
Died	June 10, 2004Beverly Hills, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, piano, keyboards, alto saxophone, trombone
Genre	R&B;, soul, rock and roll, blues, jazz, country, pop, gospel
Occupation	Singer-songwriter, musician, arranger, bandleader
Years active	1947–2004
Label	Atlantic, ABC, Warner Bros., Swingtime, Concord, Columbia Records
Associated acts	The Raelettes, Quincy Jones, Betty Carter, Marvin Gaye, James Brown, Little Richard
Url	Official website

Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930June 10, 2004), better known by his shortened stage name Ray Charles, was an American musician. He was a pioneer in the genre of soul music during the 1950s by fusing rhythm & blues, gospel, and blues styles into his early recordings with Atlantic Records. He also helped racially integrate country and pop music during the 1960s with his crossover success on ABC Records, most notably with his Modern Sounds albums. While with ABC, Charles became one of the first African-American musicians to be given artistic control by a mainstream record company. Frank Sinatra called Charles “the only true genius in show business.”

Rolling Stone ranked Charles number 10 on their list of "100 Greatest Artists of All Time" in 2004, and number two on their November 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In honoring Charles, Billy Joel noted: "This may sound like sacrilege, but I think Ray Charles was more important than Elvis Presley. I don't know if Ray was the architect of rock & roll, but he was certainly the first guy to do a lot of things . . . Who the hell ever put so many styles together and made it work?"

Biography

Early life: 1930–1945

Ray Charles Robinson was the son of Aretha Williams, a sharecropper, and Bailey Robinson, a railroad repair man, mechanic and handyman. Aretha Williams was a devout Christian and the family attended the New Shiloh Baptist Church. When Ray was an infant, his family moved from Albany, Georgia, where he was born, to the poor black community on the western side of Greenville, Florida. In his early years, Charles showed a curiosity for mechanical things and he often watched the neighborhood men working on their cars and farm machinery. His musical curiosity was sparked at Mr. Wiley Pit's Red Wing Cafe when Pit played boogie woogie on an old upright piano. Pit would care for George, Ray's brother, so as to take the burden off Williams. However, George drowned in the Williams' wash tub when he was four years old.

Charles started to lose his sight at the age of five. He went completely blind by the age of seven, apparently due to glaucoma. He attended school at the Florida School for the Deaf and the Blind in St. Augustine from 1937 to 1945, While at school, he became the school's premier musician. On Fridays, the South Campus Literary Society held assemblies where Charles would play piano and sing popular songs. On Halloween and Washington's birthday, the Colored Department of the school had socials where Charles would play. It was here he established "RC Robinson and the Shop Boys" and sang his own arrangement of "Jingle Bell Boogie." He spent his first Christmas at the school, but later the staff pitched in so that Charles could return to Greenville, as he did each summer.

Henry and Alice Johnson, who owned a store not unlike Mr. Pit's store in Greenville, moved to the Frenchtown section of Tallahassee, just west of Greenville; and they, as well as Freddy and Margaret Bryant, took Charles in. He worked the register in the Bryants' store under the direction of Lucille Bryant, their daughter. It's said he loved Tallahassee and often used the drug store delivery boy's motorbike to run up and down hills using the exhaust sound of a friend's bike to guide him. Charles found Tallahassee musically exciting too and sat in with the Florida A&M; University student band. He played with the Adderley brothers, Nat and Cannonball, and began playing gigs with Lawyer Smith and his Band in 1943 at the Red Bird Club and DeLuxe Clubs in Frenchtown and roadhouses around Tallahassee, as well as the Governor's Ball.

Early career: 1945–1952

After his mother died in 1945, Charles was 15 years old and didn't return to school. He lived in Jacksonville with a couple who were friends of his mother. For over a year, he played the piano for bands at the Ritz Theatre in LaVilla, earning $4 a night. Then he moved to Orlando, and later Tampa, where he played with a southern band called The Florida Playboys. This is where he began his habit of always wearing sunglasses, made by designer Billy Stickles.

Charles had always played for other people, but he wanted his own band. He decided to leave Florida for a large city, but Chicago and New York City were too big. After asking a friend to look in a map and note the city in the United States that was farthest from Florida, he moved to Seattle in 1947 (where he first met and befriended a 14 year old Quincy Jones) and soon started recording, first for the Down Beat label as the Maxin Trio with guitarist G.D. McKee and bassist Milton Garrett, achieving his first hit with "Confession Blues" in 1949. The song soared to #2 on the R&B; charts. He joined Swing Time Records and under his own name ("Ray Charles" to avoid being confused with boxer Sugar Ray Robinson)

Breakthrough period with Atlantic Records: 1953–1959

Almost immediately after signing with Atlantic, Charles scored his first hit singles. "Mess Around" was an R&B; hit in 1953. "It Should Have Been Me" and "Don't You Know" both made the charts in 1954, but "I Got a Woman" (composed with band mate Renald Richard) brought him to national prominence.

The song reached the top of Billboard's R&B; singles chart in 1955 and from there until 1959 he would have a series of R&B; successes including "A Fool For You" (#1), This Little Girl of Mine", "Lonely Avenue", "Mary Ann", "Drown in My Own Tears" (#1) and the #5 hit "The Night Time (Is the Right Time)", which were compiled on his Atlantic releases Hallelujah, I Love Her So, Yes Indeed!, and The Genius Sings the Blues.

During this time of transition, he recruited a young girl group from Philadelphia, The Cookies, as his background singing group, recording with them in New York and changing their name to the Raelettes in the process.

Crossover success: 1959–1967

In 1959, Charles crossed over to Top 40 radio with the release of his impromptu blues number, "What'd I Say", initially conceived while Charles was in concert. The song reached number one on the R&B; list and would become Charles's first top-ten single on the pop charts, peaking at number 6. Charles would also record The Genius of Ray Charles, before leaving Atlantic for a more lucrative deal with ABC-Paramount Records (later renamed ABC Records) in 1960. The deal gave Charles a higher royalty rate, complete artistic control and eventual ownership of the master tapes.

Hit songs such as "Georgia On My Mind" (US #1 Pop, #3 R&B;), "Hit the Road Jack" (US #1 Pop and R&B;), "One Mint Julep" (#8 Pop, #1 R&B;) and "Unchain My Heart" (#9 Pop, #1 R&B;) helped his transition to pop success, and his landmark 1962 album, Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music and its sequel Modern Sounds in Country and Western Music, Vol. 2, helped to bring country into the mainstream of music. His version of the Don Gibson song, I Can't Stop Loving You topped the Pop chart for five weeks and stayed at #1 R&B; for ten weeks in 1962. It also gave him his only number one record in the UK. In 1963, he founded his own record label, Tangerine Records which ABC-Paramount distributed. He also had major pop hits in 1963 with "Busted" (US #4) and Take These Chains From My Heart (US #8), and a Top 20 hit four years later, in 1967, with "Here We Go Again" (US #15) (which would be a duet with Norah Jones in 2004).

Later years

In 1965, Ray Charles was arrested for possession of heroin, a drug to which he had been addicted for nearly 20 years. In the 1980s a number of other events increased Charles's recognition among young audiences. He made a cameo appearance in the popular 1980 film The Blues Brothers. In 1985, "The Right Time" was featured in the episode "Happy Anniversary" of The Cosby Show on NBC. The next year, he sang America The Beautiful at Wrestlemania 2. In a Pepsi Cola commercial of the early 1990s – composed by Kenny Ascher, Joseph C. Caro, and Helary Jay Lipsitz – Charles popularized the catchphrase "You Got the Right One, Baby!" and he was featured in the recording of "We Are the World" for USA for Africa.

After having supported Martin Luther King, Jr. and for the American Civil Rights Movement in the 1960s, Charles courted controversy when he toured South Africa in 1981, Eventually, it sold more than 400,000 copies, and became that year's best-selling single performed by a Western artist for the Japanese music market.

Charles also appeared at two Presidential inaugurations in his lifetime. In 1985, he performed for Ronald Reagan's second inauguration, and in 1993 for Bill Clinton's first.

In the late 1980s/early 1990s, Charles made appearances on The Super Dave Osbourne Show, where he performed and appeared in a few vignettes where he was somehow driving a car, often as Super Dave's chauffeur. At the height of his newfound fame in the early nineties, Charles did guest vocals for several projects. He also appeared (with Chaka Khan) on long time friend Quincy Jones' hit "I'll Be Good to You" in 1990, from Jones's album Back on the Block. Following Jim Henson's death in 1990, Ray Charles appeared in the one-hour CBS tribute, The Muppets Celebrate Jim Henson. He gave a short speech about Henson, stating that he "took a simple song and a piece of felt and turned it into a moment of great power". Charles was referring to the song "It's Not Easy Being Green", which he later performed with the rest of the Muppet cast in a tribute to Henson's legacy.

During the sixth season of Designing Women, Charles sang "Georgia on My Mind", instead of the song being rendered instrumentally by other musicians as in the previous five seasons. He also appeared in 4 episodes of the popular TV comedy The Nanny in Seasons 4 & 5 (1997 & 1998) as 'Sammy', in one episode singing "My Yiddish Mamma" to December romance and later fiancee of character Gramma Yetta, played by veteran actress Ann Guilbert.

Final appearances

In 2000, Charles made a special guest appearance on Blue's Clues Big Musical Movie as a fictional character named G-Clef. The Persuasions also made a guest appearance as his companions. Charles recorded "There It Is" during and after filming with Steve Burns and Traci Paige Johnson. After recording, Charles commented "This has been the most fun I have had since I met President Reagan in '84."

In 2001 Charles played a memorable show in a sold out Teatro Teresa Carreño in Caracas, Venezuela. In 2002 Charles headlined during the Blues Passions Cognac festival in southern France. Charles, along with the Utah Symphony at Abravanel Hall, paid a visit to Salt Lake City Tuesday night on October 15, 2002 and played a benefit concert for the Regence Blue Cross and Blue Shield Association's 10th Annual Caring Foundation for Children Gala.

In 2002, he took part with other musicians in a peace concert in Rome, the first event to take place inside the city's ancient Colosseum since A.D. 404. It was organized in partnership with the Global Forum and the Quincy Jones Listen Up Foundation. Charles appeared with Travis Tritt on CMT Crossroads in December of that year. He was invited to Star Academy (France) season 2 the 30th November for sing "Hit the Road Jack" with Emma Daumas.

In 2003, Ray Charles headlined the White House Correspondents Dinner in Washington, D.C. where the President, First Lady, Colin Powell and Condoleezza Rice attended. He also presented one of his greatest admirers, Van Morrison, with his award upon being inducted in the Songwriters Hall of Fame and the two sang Morrison's song "Crazy Love". This performance appears on Morrison's 2007 album, The Best of Van Morrison Volume 3.

On Friday, April 11, 2003, Ray Charles sang 'America The Beautiful' at Fenway Park in Boston, Friday, prior to the rained out Red Sox home opener against the Baltimore Orioles.

In 2003 Charles performed "Georgia On My Mind" and "America the Beautiful" at a televised annual electronic media journalist banquet held in Washington, D.C., at what may have been his final performance in public. His final public appearance came on April 30, 2004, at the dedication of his music studio as a historic landmark in the city of Los Angeles.

Two more posthumous albums, Genius & Friends (2005) and Ray Sings, Basie Swings (2006), were released. Genius & Friends consisted of duets recorded from 1997 to 2005 with his choice of artists. Ray Sings, Basie Swings consists of archived vocals of Ray Charles from live mid-1970s performances added to new instrumental tracks specially recorded by the contemporary Count Basie Orchestra and other musicians. Charles's vocals recorded from the concert mixing board were added to new accompaniments to create a "fantasy concert" recording. Gregg Field, who had performed as a drummer with both Charles and Basie, produced the album.

Personal life

Charles was married twice and fathered 12 children with nine different women. His first marriage to Eileen Williams was brief: July 31, 1951 to 1952. He had three children from his second marriage, to Della Beatrice Howard Robinson from April 5, 1955 to 1977. His long term girlfriend and partner at the time of his death was Norma Pinella.

His children:

Born ~ 1950: Evelyn Robinson (to Louise Mitchell)

Born ~ 1955: Ray Charles Robinson, Jr. (to Della Robinson)

Born ~ 1958: David Robinson (to Della Robinson)

Born ~ 1959: Charles Wayne Hendricks (to Margie Hendricks)

Born ~ 1960: Reverend Robert Robinson (to Della Robinson)

Born ~ 1961: Raenee Robinson (to Mae Mosely Lyles)

Born ~ 1963: Sheila Raye Charles Robinson (to Sandra Jean Betts)

Born ~ 1966: Reatha Butler (unknown)

Born ~ 1968: Alexandra Bertrand (to Chantal Bertrand)

Born ~ 1977: Vincent Kotchounian (to Arlette Kotchounian)

Born ~ 1978: Robyn Moffett (to Gloria Moffett)

Born ~ 1987: Ryan Corey Robinson den Bok (to Mary Anne den Bok)

Charles gave each of his children $1 million (tax-free) in December 2002 at a family lunch. Ten of his 12 children were given a check for $1,000,000 at the luncheon, while two couldn't make it.

Chess

Chess was a hobby of his, using a special board with holes for the pieces and raised squares. In 2002, he played American Grandmaster and former U. S. Champion Larry Evans. Evans won but some analysts believe Ray Charles resigned prematurely.

Drugs

On November 14, 1961, Charles was arrested on a narcotics charge in an Indiana hotel room, where he waited to perform. The detectives seized heroin, marijuana, and other items. Charles, then 31, stated that he had been a drug addict since the age of 16. While the case was dismissed because of the manner in which the evidence was obtained, Charles's situation did not improve until a few years later. Individuals such as Quincy Jones and Reverend Henry Griffin, felt that those around Charles were responsible for his drug use. By 1964 Charles's drug addiction caught up with him and he was arrested for possession of marijuana and heroin. Following a self-imposed stay

Discography

Filmography

Swingin' Along (1961)

Ballad in Blue (1964)

The Big T.N.T. Show (1966) (documentary)

The Blues Brothers (1980)

Who's The Boss (himself) 1987

Limit Up (1989)

Listen Up: The Lives of Quincy Jones (1990) (documentary)

Love Affair (1994)

Spy Hard (1996)

The Nanny (1999) as Sammy

Adv. Super Dave (2000)

Blue's Big Musical Movie (2000)

Soul Deep

Biographical film

Charles was significantly involved in the biopic Ray, an October 2004 film which portrays his life and career between 1930 and 1966 and stars Jamie Foxx as Charles. Foxx won the 2005 Academy Award for Best Actor for the role.

Before shooting could begin, director Taylor Hackford brought Foxx to meet Charles, who insisted that they sit down at two pianos and play together. After two hours, he stood up, hugged Foxx, and gave his blessing, proclaiming, "He's the one... he can do it." Charles was expected to attend a showing of the completed film, but died before it opened. The movie is the all-time number one biopic per screen average, opening on 2006 screens and making 20 million dollars.

As noted in the film's final credits, Ray is based on true events, but includes some characters, names, locations, events which have been changed and others which have been "fictionalized for dramatization purposes". Dramatic license accounts for scenes that refer to Charles as temporarily banned from performing in Georgia.

The credits note that he is survived by 12 children, 21 grandchildren, and 5 great grandchildren as of the movie release in October 2004.

Hall of Fame and other honors

In 1979, Charles was one of the first of the Georgia State Music Hall of Fame to be recognized as a musician born in the state. Ray's version of "Georgia On My Mind" was made the official state song for Georgia. In 1981, he was given a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame and was one of the first inductees to the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame at its inaugural ceremony in 1986. He received the Kennedy Center Honors in 1986.

In 1987, he was awarded the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award. In 1991, he was inducted to the Rhythm & Blues Foundation. In 1993, he was awarded the National Medal of Arts. In 1998 he was awarded the Polar Music Prize together with Ravi Shankar in Stockholm, Sweden. In 2004 he was inducted to the Jazz Hall of Fame, and inducted to the National Black Sports & Entertainment Hall of Fame. The Grammy Awards of 2005 were dedicated to Charles.

On December 7, 2007, Ray Charles Plaza was opened in Albany, Georgia, with a revolving, lighted bronze sculpture of Charles seated at a piano. Later that month, on December 26, 2007, Ray Charles was inducted into the Hit Parade Hall of Fame. He was also presented with the George and Ira Gershwin Award for Lifetime Musical Achievement, during the 1991 UCLA Spring Sing.

In 2003, Charles was awarded an honorary degree by Dillard University. Upon his death, he endowed a professorship of African-American culinary history at the school, which is the first such chair in the nation. A $20 million performing arts center at Morehouse College was named after Charles and was dedicated in September 2010.

Ray Charles Post Office Building

On Tuesday, July 12, 2005, President George Bush signed into law a bill (PL 109–25), sponsored by Congresswoman Diane E. Watson (CA-33rd), designating the U.S. postal facility at 4960 W. Washington Blvd. in Los Angeles, California, the Ray Charles Post Office Building. On August 24, 2005, the United States Congress honored Charles by dedicating and renaming the former West Adams Station post office, on the site of the former legendary jazz and supper club The Parisian Room, the "Ray Charles Station".

References

Further reading

Article from the St. Augustine Record noting Charles' being on WFOY.

External links

Ray Charles website

Ray Charles - Daily Telegraph obituary

Ray Charles at RollingStone.com

Ray Charles at Songwriters Hall of Fame

Ray Charles at Rock and Roll Hall of Fame

Ray Charles autobiography: The Early Years 1930–1960

I Can't Stop Loving You: Ray Charles and Country Music - Past Exhibit at the Country Music Hall of Fame and Museum

Yes Indeed! The Photographs of Joe Adams

Watch

Ray Charles's oral history video excerpts at the National Visionary Leadership Project

Listen

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Name	Brian Wilson
Landscape	yes
Background	solo_singer
Birth name	Brian Douglas Wilson
Born	June 20, 1942Inglewood, California, United States
Instrument	Vocals, bass, piano, synthesizers
Genre	Psychedelic rock, surf rock, psychedelic pop, baroque pop, art rock, rock, pop
Occupation	Songwriter, bassist, pianist, vocalist, producer, composer, arranger
Years active	1961–present
Label	Capitol/EMI RecordsSire/Reprise/Warner Bros. RecordsBrother/Reprise/Warner Bros. RecordsGiant/Warner Bros. RecordsCaribou/CBS RecordsNonesuch/Elektra Records
Associated acts	The Beach Boys
Url	BrianWilson.com
Notable instruments	Fender Precision BassBaldwin HT2R Theater Organ

Brian Douglas Wilson (born June 20, 1942 in Inglewood, California) is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the group The Beach Boys. Within the band, Wilson played bass and keyboards, also providing part-time lead vocals and, more often, backing vocals, harmonizing in falsetto with the group. Besides being the primary composer in The Beach Boys, he also functioned as the band's main producer and arranger. Wilson's life was derailed by years of drug abuse and mental illness, contributing to tensions with the band. After years of treatment and recuperation, he began a solo career in 1988.

That same year, Wilson and his bandmates were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, which refers to Wilson on its website as "One of the few undisputed geniuses in popular music". In 2008, Rolling Stone magazine published a list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time", and ranked Wilson number 52. Wilson won a Grammy Award in 2005 for "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental. He is also an occasional actor and voice actor, having appeared in television shows, films, and other music artist music videos.

Life and career

Early years

Wilson was born on June 20, 1942 at Centinela Hospital in Inglewood, California. He was the eldest of three boys; his younger brothers were Dennis and Carl. When Brian was two, the Wilson family moved from Inglewood to 3701 West 119th Street in nearby Hawthorne, California, a town in the greater Los Angeles urban area about five miles inland from the Pacific Ocean. He spent his entire subsequent childhood years in this middle-class family home.

Brian Wilson's father Murry Wilson told of Brian's unusual musical abilities prior to his first birthday, observing that the baby could repeat the melody from "When the Caissons Go Rolling Along" after only a few verses had been sung by the father. Murry stated, "He was very clever and quick. I just fell in love with him."

At about age two, Brian heard George Gershwin's "Rhapsody in Blue", which had an enormous emotional impact on him. A few years later Brian was discovered to have extremely diminished hearing in his right ear. The exact cause of this hearing loss is unclear, though theories range from Brian's simply being born partially deaf, to a blow to the head from Brian's father, or a neighborhood bully, being to blame.

While father Murry was ostensibly a reasonable provider, he was abusive and hard to please, liable to dispense harsh punishments for minor or perceived misdeeds. But Murry, a minor musician and songwriter, also encouraged his children in this field in numerous ways. At a young age, Brian was given six weeks of lessons on a "toy accordion", and at seven and eight sang solos in church with a choir behind him.

By most accounts a natural leader by the time he began attending Hawthorne High School, Brian was on the football team as a quarterback, played baseball and was a cross-country runner in his senior year. However, most of his energy was directed toward music. He sang with various students at school functions and with his family and friends at home. Brian taught his two brothers harmony parts that all three would then practice when they were supposed to be asleep. He also played piano obsessively after school, deconstructing the harmonies of The Four Freshmen by listening to short segments of their songs on a phonograph, then working to recreate the blended sounds note by note on the keyboard. Brian received a Wollensak tape recorder on his sixteenth birthday, allowing him to experiment with recording songs and early group vocals.

First steps: Carl and the Passions

Wilson's surviving home tapes document his initial efforts singing with various buddies and family, including a song that would later be recorded in the studio by The Beach Boys, "Sloop John B", as well as "Bermuda Shorts" and a hymn titled "Good News". In his senior year at Hawthorne High, in addition to his classroom music studies, he would gather at lunchtime to sing with friends like Keith Lent and Bruce Griffin. Brian and Lent worked on a revised version of the tune "Hully Gully" to support the campaign of a classmate named Carol Hess who was running for senior class president. When performed for a full high school gathering, Brian's revised arrangement received a warm round of applause from the student audience.

Enlisting his cousin and often-time singing partner Mike Love, and Wilson's reluctant youngest brother Carl Wilson, Brian's next public performance featured more ambitious arrangements at a fall arts program at his high school. To entice Carl into the group, Wilson named the newly-formed membership "Carl and the Passions". The performance featured tunes by Dion and the Belmonts and The Four Freshmen ("It's a Blue World"), the latter of which proved difficult for the ensemble to carry off. However, the event was notable for the impression it made on another musician and classmate of Brian's who was in the audience that night, Al Jardine, later to join the three Wilson brothers and Mike Love in The Beach Boys.

Initial compositions and the Pendletones

Brian enrolled at El Camino Community College in Los Angeles, majoring in psychology, in September 1960. However, he continued his music studies at the college as well. At some point in the year 1961 Brian wrote his first all-original melody, loosely based on a Dion and the Belmonts version of "When You Wish Upon a Star". Brian's tune would eventually be known as "Surfer Girl". Brian has commented that he wrote the melody in his car, then later at home finished the bridge and harmonies. Although an early demo of the song was recorded in Feb. 1962 at World-Pacific Studios, it was not re-recorded and released until 1963, when it became a top ten hit.

Brian and his brothers Carl and Dennis Wilson along with Mike Love and Al Jardine first gelled as a music group in the summer of 1961, initially named the Pendletones. After being prodded by Dennis to write a song about the local water sports craze, Brian and Mike Love together created what would become the first single for the band, "Surfin'". Over Labor Day weekend 1961, Brian took advantage of the fact that his parents were in Mexico City for a couple days and intended to use the emergency money they had left for the boys to rent an amp, a microphone, and a stand-up bass. As it turned out, the money they had left was not enough to cover musical expenses, so Al Jardine appealed to his mother, Virginia for assistance. When she heard the group perform, she was suitably impressed and handed over $300 to help out. Al promptly took Brian to the music store where he was able to rent a stand-up bass. After two days of rehearsing in the Wilson's music room, Brian's parents returned home from their trip. Murry was irate, until Brian convinced him to listen to what they'd been up to. His father was convinced that the boys did indeed have something worth pursuing. He quickly proclaimed himself the group's manager and the band embarked on serious rehearsals for a proper studio session. Recorded by Hite and Dorinda Morgan and released on the small Candix label, "Surfin'" became a top local hit in Los Angeles and reached number seventy-five on the national Billboard sales charts.

Dennis later described the first time Brian heard their song on the radio as the three Wilson brothers (and soon-to-be-band member David Marks) drove in Brian's 1957 Ford in the rain: "Nothing will ever top the expression on Brian's face, ever ... THAT was the all-time moment."

However, the Pendletones were no more. Without the band's knowledge or permission, Candix Records had changed their name to The Beach Boys.

First performances and the quest for a major label

Brian Wilson and his bandmates, following a set by Ike and Tina Turner, performed their first major live show at The Ritchie Valens Memorial Dance on New Year's Eve, 1961. Three days previously, Brian's father had bought him an electric bass and amplifier; Brian had learned to play the instrument in that short period of time, with Al Jardine moving to rhythm guitar.

Looking for a followup single for their radio hit, Brian and Mike wrote "Surfin' Safari", and attempts were made to record a usable take at World Pacific, including overdubs, on February 8, 1962, along with several other tunes including an early version of "Surfer Girl". Only a few days later, discouraged about the band's financial prospects, and objecting to adding some Chubby Checker songs to The Beach Boys live setlist, Al Jardine abruptly left the group.

Murry Wilson had become The Beach Boys manager, and when Candix Records ran into money problems and sold the group's master recordings to another label, Murry terminated the contract. Brian, worried about The Beach Boys' future, asked his father to help his group make more recordings. But Murry and Hite Morgan (who at this point was their music publisher) were turned down by a number of Los Angeles record companies.

As "Surfin'" faded from the charts, Brian, who had forged a songwriting partnership with Gary Usher, created several new tunes, including a car song, "409", that Usher had helped write. Recruiting Carl and Dennis' friend, thirteen-year-old neighbor David Marks, who had been playing electric guitar (and practicing with Carl) for years, Brian and the revamped Beach Boys cut new tracks on April 19 at Western Recorders including an updated "Surfin' Safari" and "409". These tunes convinced Capitol Records to release the demos as a single; they became a double-sided national hit.

The Beach Boys and first success with Capitol Records

After signing with Capitol Records in mid-1962, Brian Wilson wrote or co-wrote a series of hit singles including the aforementioned "Surfin' Safari", " Surfin' USA", "Shut Down", "Little Deuce Coupe", "Be True to Your School", "In My Room", "Fun, Fun, Fun", "I Get Around", "Dance, Dance, Dance", "Help Me Rhonda", "California Girls" and "Good Vibrations". These songs and their accompanying albums were internationally popular, making The Beach Boys one of the biggest acts of their time.

Recording sessions for the band's first album took place in Capitol's basement studios (in the famous tower building) in August 1962, but early on Brian lobbied for a different place to cut Beach Boy tracks. The large rooms were built to record the big orchestras and ensembles of the 50s, not small rock groups. At Brian's insistence, Capitol agreed to let The Beach Boys pay for their own outside recording sessions, which Capitol would own all the rights to, and in return the band would receive a higher royalty rate on their record sales. Additionally, although it was very rare at the time for rock and roll band members to have a say in the process of making their records, during the taping of their first LP Brian fought for, and won, the right to be totally in charge of the production- though his first acknowledged liner notes production credit did not come until the band's third album Surfer Girl, in 1963.

January 1963 saw the recording of the first top-ten (cresting at #3 in the United States) Beach Boys single, "Surfin' USA", which began their long run of highly successful recording efforts at Hollywood's Western Recorders on Sunset Boulevard. It was during the sessions for this single that Brian made the production decision from that point on to use doubletracking on the group's vocals, resulting in a deeper and more resonant sound.

The tune, adapted from (and eventually partially credited to) Chuck Berry, is widely seen as emblematic of the early 60s American rock cultural experience. The Surfin' USA album was also a big hit in the United States, reaching number two on the national sales charts by early July, 1963. Brian and his group had become a top-rank recording and touring music band.

Early era as writer/producer

As previously mentioned, Brian was first credited as The Beach Boys' producer on the Surfer Girl album, recorded in June and July 1963 and released in September 1963. This LP reached #7 on the national charts on the strength of songs like the ballad "In My Room", later released as a single; "Catch a Wave"; and "Little Deuce Coupe", which was released as a double-sided single with the album's title track, both top-15 hits.

He also began working with other artists in this period. On July 20, 1963, "Surf City", which he had co-written with Jan and Dean, was the first surfing song to reach the pinnacle of the sales charts. While Brian was excited and happy, his father (and still-manager) Murry and Capitol Records were less than thrilled. Indeed, openly enraged by Brian's chart-topping effort for what he saw as a rival band, Murry went so far as to order his oldest son to sever any further efforts with Jan and Dean.

Brian's other non-Beach Boy work in this period included tracks by The Honeys, Sharon Marie, The Timers, and The Survivors. Feeling that surfing songs had become limiting, Brian decided to produce a set of largely car-oriented tunes for The Beach Boys' fourth album Little Deuce Coupe, which was released in October 1963, only three weeks after the Surfer Girl LP. The departure of guitarist David Marks from the band that month meant that Brian was forced to resume touring with The Beach Boys, for a time reducing his availability in the recording studio.

Artistic growth

Brian became known for his unique use of vocal harmonies, his trademark style of lyrics and incessant studio perfectionism. Early influences on his music included not only the previously mentioned Four Freshmen and Chuck Berry, but also the work of record producer Phil Spector, the latter of whom obsessed Wilson for years. He later considered The Beatles to be his chief rivals, and they in turn would cite his work as a major influence. Wilson also produced records for other artists, but to much lesser success, with the exception of Jan and Dean, for whom Wilson co-wrote several hit songs. Following a nervous breakdown onboard a flight from L.A. to Houston in 1964,|}} As he began work on the new project, Pet Sounds, Wilson formed a temporary songwriting partnership with lyricist Tony Asher. Wilson, who had recorded the album's instrumentation with The Wrecking Crew, then gathered with The Beach Boys to record vocal overdubs, following their return from a tour of Japan. Upon hearing what Wilson had created for the first time in 1965,

During the Pet Sounds sessions, Wilson had been working on another song, which was held back from inclusion on the record as he felt that it was not sufficiently complete. The song, "Good Vibrations", set a new standard for musicians, and what could be achieved in the recording studio. Recorded in multiple sessions and in numerous studios, the song eventually cost $50,000 to record within a six month period. In October 1966, the song was released as a single, giving The Beach Boys their third U.S. number-one hit—alongside "I Get Around" and "Help Me, Rhonda"—and it sold over a million copies.

Smile, group tension and Brother Records

With the surprising success of "Good Vibrations", Capitol Records had no choice but to back Wilson up for his next project, originally called Dumb Angel Soon after, Smile was abandoned, and Wilson would not return to complete it until 2004, when it was released as a Brian Wilson album of the same name. Van Dyke Parks later noted, "...Brian had a nervous collapse. What broke his heart was Sgt. Pepper."

:[A] combination of factors, including litigations against the record company and increasing animosity between Wilson and the rest of the band, meant that in May 1967 Wilson pulled the plug on the record... [Mike] Love had already dismissed "Good Vibrations "as "avant-garde shit" and objected to the way Wilson, Parks and a group of highly skilled session musicians were creating music way beyond his understanding... By March 1967, the bad feeling got too much for Parks and, having no desire to break up The Beach Boys, he walked out.

Following the cancellation of Smile, The Beach Boys relocated to a recording studio within the confines of Brian Wilson's mansion, where the hastily compiled Smiley Smile album was assembled, along with a number of future Beach Boys records. This marked the end of Wilson's leadership within the band, and has been seen to be "the moment when the Beach Boys first started slipping from the vanguard to nostalgia."

Mental illness

Psychologically overwhelmed by the cancellation of Smile, the release of The Beatles' album Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band, and the birth of his first child Carnie Wilson in 1968, Wilson began having a diminished creative role with The Beach Boys. Until about 1970 he remained the group's principal songwriter, but increasingly production reins were handed to younger brother Carl. Carl Wilson mostly oversaw the albums Smiley Smile, Wild Honey, and Friends, (a personal favorite of Brian's), which only performed modestly on the charts. After that, Brian Wilson all but stopped writing songs and was frequently seen partying in the company of songwriter Tandyn Almer and Three Dog Night singer Danny Hutton. It was during this period that he was introduced to cocaine. The 1969 album 20/20 was made mostly without Wilson's participation, although the Wilson/Love-authored "Do It Again" was a major hit, topping the charts in the UK.

Wilson spent the majority of the following three years in his bedroom sleeping, taking drugs, and overeating. During this time, his voice deteriorated significantly as a result of chain smoking, drug ingestion and neglect. Many of his "new" contributions to Beach Boys albums were remnants of Smile (e.g., "Cabinessence", "Surf's Up"), and those that were genuinely new reflected his depression and growing detachment from the world ("'Til I Die", the EP "Mount Vernon and Fairway"). Reportedly, Warner Bros. Records was so desperate for material from Wilson that the single "We Got Love" (co-written by Ricky Fataar, Blondie Chaplin, and Love) was scrapped from the Holland album in favor of "Sail On, Sailor", a song mostly written by committee (including Chaplin, Almer and Parks) that happened to draw its initial germ from a Wilson chord sequence.

In 1975, Wilson's wife and family enlisted the services of controversial therapist Eugene Landy in a bid to help Wilson, and hopefully help revive the group's ailing profile. Wilson did not stay under Landy's care for long, but during this short period, the doctor managed to help him into a more productive, social frame of mind. The new album 15 Big Ones, consisting of oldies and some new songs was released in 1976 and Wilson began to regularly appear live on stage with the band. A Love-orchestrated publicity campaign announced that "Brian is Back". He was also deemed to be well enough to do a solo performance on Saturday Night Live in November 1976. In 1977, the cult favorite Love You was released, consisting entirely of new material written and performed by Wilson. He continues to say it is his favorite Beach Boys album.

By 1982, Eugene Landy was once more called into action, and a more radical program was undertaken to try to restore Wilson to health. This involved firing him from The Beach Boys, isolating him from his family on Hawaii, and putting him onto a rigorous diet and health regimen. This, coupled with long, extreme counseling sessions, continued to bring Wilson back to reality. He lost a tremendous amount of weight, was certainly healthier and more conversant than previously, but he was also under a strict level of control by Landy. Wilson's recovery continued as he joined the band on stage in Live Aid in 1985, and recorded the album The Beach Boys with the group.

Dr. Landy provided a Svengali-like environment for Wilson, controlling his every movement in his life, including his musical direction. Landy's misconduct would eventually lead to the loss of his psychologist license, as well as a court-ordered removal and restraining order from Wilson.

Some years later, during his second marriage, Wilson was diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder, bipolar type which supposedly caused him to hear voices in his head. By 1989 the rumor was that Brian either had a stroke or had abused too many drugs and was permanently "fried". a neurological condition marked by involuntary, repetitive movements, that develops in about 20% of patients treated with antipsychotic drugs for a long period of time. Wilson's drug regimen has now been reduced to a mild combination of antidepressants, and he has resumed recording and performing.

The effects of Brian Wilson's mental illness on his parenting skills were discussed by Wilson's daughter Wendy during her appearance in an episode of the British reality television program Supernanny. Wilson's daughter Carnie and granddaughter Lola also made an appearance on the episode. The effects of Brian Wilson's mental illness are also referenced in the Barenaked Ladies song "Brian Wilson".

Solo career

Wilson launched a career as a solo artist in 1988 with limited success. It is possible that his efforts in this regard were both encouraged and hampered by Landy's influence. Partly due to the control that Landy exercised on his life, Wilson stopped working with The Beach Boys on a regular basis after the release of The Beach Boys in 1985. He had been signed to a solo record deal with Sire Records by label boss Seymour Stein.

Wilson released a solo album, Brian Wilson, in 1988 and a memoir, Wouldn't It Be Nice - My Own Story, in which he spoke for the first time about his troubled relationship with his abusive father Murry and his "lost years" of mental illness. Although it was written following interviews with Brian and others, Landy was largely responsible for the book, in conjunction with People magazine writer Todd Gold. The book describes Landy in terms that could be called messianic. In a later lawsuit over the book, instigated by several family members including his brother Carl and mother Audree, Wilson testified in court that he hadn't even read the final manuscript. As a result, the book was taken out of press some years later.

A second solo album made for Sire, entitled Sweet Insanity, was never released. Landy's illegal use of psychotropic drugs on Wilson and his influence over Wilson's financial affairs was legally ended by Carl Wilson. In 1995, Wilson married Melinda Ledbetter. The couple adopted two girls, Daria Rose and Delanie Rae, in 1998; a boy, Dylan, in 2004; a boy, Dash Tristan; and a girl, Dakota Rose, in 2010 in 2009. Wilson has two daughters from his first marriage to Marilyn Rovell: Carnie Wilson and Wendy Wilson, who would go on to musical success of their own in the early 1990s as two-thirds of Wilson Phillips.

Also in 1995, he released two albums, albeit neither containing any new original Wilson material, almost simultaneously. The first, the soundtrack to Don Was's documentary I Just Wasn't Made for These Times, consists of re-recorded versions of songs from his Beach Boys and solo catalogue produced by Was, along with a 1976-vintage demo recording. The second, Orange Crate Art, saw Wilson as lead vocalist, multitracked many times over, on an album of songs produced, arranged and (mostly) written by Van Dyke Parks, and was released as a duo album under both men's names.

His final release as part of the group was on the 1996 album Stars and Stripes Vol. 1, a group collaboration with select country music artists singing the lead vocals. After considerable mental recovery, he mended his relationship with his daughters Carnie and Wendy and the three of them released an album in 1997 titled The Wilsons.

In 1996 Wilson sang backup on Belinda Carlisle's "California."

Wilson released a second solo album of mostly new material, Imagination, in 1998. Following this, he received extensive vocal coaching to improve his voice, and learned to cope with his stage fright and started to play live for the first time in decades, going on to play the whole Pet Sounds album live on his tours of the United States, United Kingdom, and Europe.

A new studio album, Gettin' in Over My Head, was released on June 22, 2004. It featured collaborations with Elton John, Paul McCartney, Eric Clapton, and Wilson's deceased brother Carl. Clapton played on the track "City Blues." The album was almost entirely composed of re-recordings of unreleased material, and received mixed reviews.

Smile resurrected

With the improvements in his mental health, Wilson found himself able to contemplate returning to the Smile project. Aided by musician and long time fan Darian Sahanaja of The Wondermints, and lyricist Van Dyke Parks, Brian painstakingly worked throughout 2003 to realize the album. In February 2004, 37 years after it was conceived, Wilson debuted the newly completed Smile at the Royal Festival Hall in London and throughout a subsequent UK tour.

The debut performance at the RFH was a defining moment for Brian. The documentary DVD of the event shows Brian preparing for the big day and, right up to show time, expressing doubts over the concept of putting this legendary work before the public. After an opening set of Beach Boys classics, he climbed back on stage for a rousing performance of the album. A 10-minute standing ovation followed the concert; the DVD shows a sprinkling of rock luminaries in the crowd, such as Roger Daltrey, Paul Weller, Sir George Martin and Sir Paul McCartney (although neither Martin nor McCartney attended the opening night, contrary to what the DVD implies).

Smile was then recorded through April to June and released in September, to wide critical acclaim. The release hit #13 on the Billboard chart. The 2004 recording featured his backup/touring band, including Beach Boys guitarist Jeff Foskett, members of the Wondermints and backup singer Taylor Mills. In this version, "Good Vibrations" features Tony Asher's original lyrics in the verses, instead of Mike Love's lyrics from the released 1966 version.

Wilson won his only Grammy Award in 2005 for the track "Mrs. O'Leary's Cow (Fire)" as Best Rock Instrumental. In 2004 Smile was taken on the road for a thorough tour of Australia, New Zealand and Europe. In December 2005, he also released What I Really Want for Christmas for Arista Records. The release hit #200 on the Billboard chart, though sales were modest. Wilson's remake of the classic "Deck The Halls" became a surprise Top 10 Adult Contemporary hit.

Though no longer a part of The Beach Boys touring band, Brian Wilson remains a member of the Beach Boys corporation, Brother Records Incorporated.

Post-Smile to That Lucky Old Sun

In February 2005, Wilson had a cameo in the TV series Duck Dodgers in the 24½th Century as Daffy Duck's spiritual surfing advisor. He also appeared in the 2005 holiday episode of , performing "Deck the Halls" for a group of children with xeroderma pigmentosum (hypersensitivity to sunlight) at Walt Disney World Resort. On July 2, 2005, Wilson performed for the Live 8 concert in Berlin, Germany.

In September 2005, Wilson arranged a charity drive to aid victims of Hurricane Katrina, wherein people who donated $100 or more would receive a personal phone call from Wilson. According to the website, over $250K was raised. In November 2005, former bandmate Mike Love sued Wilson over "shamelessly misappropriating... Love's songs, likeness, and the Beach Boys trademark, as well as the 'Smile' album itself" in the promotion of Smile. The lawsuit was ultimately thrown out of court on grounds that it was meritless.

On November 1, 2006, Wilson kicked off a small but highly anticipated tour celebrating the 40th anniversary of Pet Sounds. He was joined by Al Jardine.

Wilson released a new album That Lucky Old Sun on September 2, 2008. The piece originally debuted in a series of September 2007 concerts at London's Royal Festival Hall, and in January 2008 at Sydney's State Theatre while headlining the Sydney Festival. Wilson describes the piece as "consisting of five 'rounds', with interspersed spoken word". A series of US and UK concerts led up to its release.

On September 30, 2008, Seattle's Light in the Attic Records released A World of Peace Must Come, a collaboration between Wilson and Stephen Kalinich, originally recorded in 1969, but later lost in Kalinich's closet.

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (2009–present)

In summer 2009, Wilson was approached by the Gershwin estate to record an album of covers of classic Gershwin songs, and to complete two piano pieces left unfinished by Gershwin at his death. The album, Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin, was released on August 17, 2010 on Disney's Pearl label. Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin hit #1 on the Billboard Jazz Chart. Wilson signed a two-record deal with Disney; the second album will be a collection of classic Disney movie songs.

Awards and recognitions

Wilson and the Beach Boys were inducted into the Rock Hall of Fame in January 1988, alongside The Beatles and Bob Dylan.

In 2000, Wilson was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame. Paul McCartney introduced Brian, referring to him as "one of the great American geniuses."

In March 2001, TNT and Radio City Music Hall hosted "An All-Star Tribute to Brian Wilson." This event featured performances and appearances by Elton John, Billy Joel, Chazz Palminteri host, David Crosby, Dennis Hopper, Paul Simon, Carly Simon, The Go-Go's, Cameron Crowe, Sir George Martin, Vince Gill, Brain's daughters Carnie & Wendy Wilson along with Chynna Phillips (Wilson Phillips), Jimmy Webb, Darius Rucker, Matthew Sweet, Ann and Nancy Wilson of (Heart), The Boys Choir of Harlem, and others.

Pet Sounds has been ranked as one of the most influential records in western pop music, and has been ranked #1 on several music magazines' lists of the greatest albums of all time. It is ranked #2 on Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

On May 10, 2004, Wilson was honored as a BMI Icon at the 52th annual BMI Pop Awards. He was saluted for his "unique and indelible influence on generations of music makers."

A 2005 concert, "Musicares: A Tribute to Brian Wilson," was held in Wilson's honor, during which he was named MusiCares Person of the Year. Performers included Jeff Beck, the Red Hot Chili Peppers, Earth Wind & Fire, Barenaked Ladies, and The Backstreet Boys, among others.

On May 20, 2005, Wilson and the five other original-era Beach Boys were honored with the unveiling of the Beach Boys Historic Landmark on the former site of the Wilson family home in Hawthorne, California.

In 2005, Wilson won the Grammy Award for Best Rock Instrumental Performance for Mrs. O'Leary's Cow.

In November 2006, Wilson was inducted into the UK Music Hall of Fame by Pink Floyd guitarist David Gilmour. Wilson performed "God Only Knows" and "Good Vibrations" at the ceremony.

On December 2, 2007, the Kennedy Center Honors committee recognized Wilson for a lifetime of contributions to American culture through the performing arts in music.

Discography

Brian Wilson (July 12, 1988)

I Just Wasn't Made for These Times (August 15, 1995)

Orange Crate Art (with Van Dyke Parks) (October 24, 1995)

Imagination (June 16, 1998)

Live at the Roxy Theatre (June, 2000)

Pet Sounds Live (June 11, 2002)

Gettin' in Over My Head (June 22, 2004)

Smile (September 28, 2004)

What I Really Want for Christmas (October 18, 2005)

That Lucky Old Sun (September 2, 2008)

Brian Wilson Reimagines Gershwin (August 17, 2010)

See also

List of songs by Brian Wilson

Beach Boys Historic Landmark

A Tribute To Brian Wilson - Radio City Music Hall (March 29, 2001)

Notes

References

Badman, Keith. The Beach Boys: The Definitive Diary of America's Greatest Band on Stage and in the Studio (Backstreet Books, 2004). ISBN 0-87930-818-4.

Carlin, Peter Ames. Catch a Wave: The Rise, Fall and Redemption of the Beach Boys' Brian Wilson (Rodale Inc., 2006). ISBN 13 978-1-59486-749-1.

Leaf, David. The Beach Boys and the California Myth (Kingsport Press, 1978). ISBN 0 89471 412 0.

Lambert, Philip. Inside the Music of Brian Wilson: the songs, sounds and influences of the Beach Boys' founding genius (Continuum International Publishing Group Inc., 2007). ISBN 13 978 0 8264 1877 7.

Stebbins, Jon. The Lost Beach Boy (Virgin Books Ltd, 2007). ISBN 978 1 8522 7391 0.

External links

Official site

2004 Larry King Transcript where they speak about Wilson's mental illness

The Guardian (June 1, 2002)">"After the wipe out" by Ginny Dougary in The Guardian (June 1, 2002)

"Four Decades Later, Wilson's 'Smile' Hits London" Audio review at NPR (February 25, 2004)

SMiLE Timeline

Brian Wilson Pictures from 2007 Consumer Electronics Show performance

January 2009 Interview with L.A. Record

This list of "outside productions" by members of the Beach Boys includes records Brian produced and-or wrote for other artists throughout his career

Cabin Essence, Web Page for Brian Wilson

Brian Wilson's Wave by Peter Ames Carlin, American Heritage, August/September 2004.

Category:American composers Category:American record producers Category:American rock bass guitarists Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Kennedy Center honorees Category:Sire Records artists Category:Capitol Records artists Category:Nonesuch Records artists Category:Giant Records artists Category:Musicians from California Category:People from the Greater Los Angeles Area Category:People with bipolar disorder Category:Songwriters Hall of Fame inductees Category:The Beach Boys members Category:1942 births Category:Songwriters from California Category:Living people Category:People with schizophrenia

Anita Kerr (born Anita Jean Grilli; October 31, 1927, Memphis, Tennessee) is an American singer, arranger, composer, conductor, pianist, and music producer. She recorded and performed successfully with her vocal harmony groups in Nashville, Los Angeles, and Europe.

Career

Nashville

In 1948, shortly after moving from Memphis to Nashville, Kerr organized a vocal quintet whose performances attracted the attention of a WSM radio program director. He hired Kerr to become leader of and arranger for an octet choir on the radio station's "Sunday Down South" broadcasts. Joining her were singers Carl Garvin, Jim Hall, Doug Kirkham, Mary Ellen Puckett, Evelyn Wilson, Mildred Kirkham, and Don Fotrell. The group's first recording session was with Red Foley, and their collaboration resulted in a #16 hit on Billboard's Pop chart in 1950: Our Lady of Fatima. The following year, producer Owen Bradley signed them to record for Decca Records. Their talents in demand, Anita's group continued to sing backup for other country artists in Nashville, including Eddy Arnold, Burl Ives, and Ernest Tubb. The group's recording sessions—initially averaging two per week—increased to eight sessions weekly by 1955.

In 1956, Anita Kerr's singers won a contest on the "Arthur Godfrey's Talent Scouts" national television program. Now a quartet, the group traveled to New York two weeks out of every six to appear with Godfrey on his daily television and radio broadcasts. A few years later, Kerr and her singers performed five times a week with Jim Reeves on his national radio program at WSM. The quartet's roster at this time featured, definitively, tenor Gil Wright, baritone Louis Nunley, alto Dottie Dilliard, and Kerr herself as both soprano and arranger. Demand for the group's talents exploded. Singers and arranger soon began contributing to between twelve and eighteen recording sessions weekly. Under her RCA contract, Kerr also arranged and produced a series of albums for The Living Voices on the RCA Camden budget label. In 1964, together with Chet Atkins and Jim Reeves, the Anita Kerr Singers toured Europe. [To see a video clip from their performance in Oslo, Norway, please access the first External Link below.]

Los Angeles

In 1965, disbanding the Nashville version of her Anita Kerr Singers, Kerr relocated to Los Angeles "to do more orchestral writing and music that was not just country."

In 1972, Kerr wrote—and MCA Music published—a 103-page book (accompanied by five 45rpm records) called VOICES. With Complete Recorded Examples. That same year, the Anita Kerr Singers recorded two LPs for Philips and Kerr scored and conducted original music for the motion picture soundtrack to Limbo, a drama starring Kate Jackson. During the early 1970s, Kerr also made numerous personal appearances on television in Holland. In 1974, Kerr began a five-year professional relationship with Word Records. In addition to recording four gospel albums with the Singers, Kerr arranged and produced a series of Hallelujah... instrumental albums for Word. She received Grammy nominations twice for her Word inspirational recordings.

During these years, Kerr also wrote choral and instrumental arrangements for Hal Leonard Corporation, the world's largest music print publisher. [To see samples of her published work, please access the fifth External Link below.]

In 1975, Kerr received a special ASCAP Award saluting "[a] lady of class and a first-class musician for her significant contributions to the birth and development of the Nashville Sound." Between 1977 and 1988 she continued to perform and record for a variety of record labels. The following LPs distinguish her work from this period: Anita Kerr Performs Wonders, as singer/arranger; The Sound of Warm, as pianist/arranger; and In The Soul, as composer/arranger.

In 1985, Kerr conducted her own composition of Piano, Piano as the Swiss entry for the 1985 Eurovision Song Contest in Göteborg, Sweden. In 1992, Kerr received a NARAS Governors Award "[in] recognition of [her] outstanding contribution to American Music." [1965/LP RCA CAMDEN CAS-881 (US)] :*The Little Drummer Boy [1965/LP RCA CAMDEN CAS-911 (US)] :*Positively 4th Street and Other Message Folk Songs [1966/LP RCA CAMDEN CAS-947 (US)] :*The Living Voices Sing the Music from the Motion Picture The Singing Nun [1966/LP RCA CAMDEN CAS-974 (US)]

The Mexicali Singers LPs

Featuring The Anita Kerr Singers :*The Mexicali Singers [1966/LP WARNER BROS WS-1641 (US)] :*The Further Adventures of the Mexicali Singers [1966/LP WARNER BROS WS-1651 (US)] :*'The Mexicali Singers Ride Again [1967/LP WARNER BROS WS-1677 (US)]

The San Sebastian Strings LPs

Music and arrangements by Anita Kerr. Words by Rod McKuen. Co-produced by Anita Kerr and Rod McKuen. :*The Sea [1967/LP WARNER BROS WS-1670 (US)] :*The Earth [1967/LP WARNER BROS WS-1705 (US)] :*The Sky [1968/LP WARNER BROS WS-1720 (US)] :*The Sea/The Earth/The Sky [1968/3LP WARNER BROS 3WS-1730 (US)] :*Home to the Sea [1968/LP WARNER BROS WS-1764 (US)] :*For Lovers [1969/LP WARNER BROS WS-1795 (US)] :*The Complete Sea [1969/3LP WARNER BROS 3WS-1827 (US)] :*The Soft Sea [1970/LP WARNER BROS WS-1839 (US)] :*Winter [1972/LP WARNER BROS BS-2622 (US)] :*Spring [197x/LP WARNER BROS (US)] :*Summer [1973/LP WARNER BROS BS-2707 (US)] :*Autumn [197x/LP WARNER BROS (US)] :*The Seasons [1973/4LP WARNER BROS 4WS-2754 (US)] :*Bouquet: The Best of the San Sebastian Strings [1974/LP WARNER BROS BS-2768 (US)] :*With Love [1975/LP WARNER BROS BS-2837 (US)]

Miscellaneous

:*Near the Cross: Sacred Songs sung by Jimmie Davis by Jimmie Davis [1955/LP DECCA DL-8174] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*Hymn Time by Jimmie Davis [1957/LP DECCA DL-8572 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*The Door Is Always Open by Jimmie Davis [1958/LP DECCA DL-8729 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*He Walks With Thee by Red Foley [1958/LP DECCA DL-8767 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*Hail Him With A Song by Jimmie Davis [1958/LP DECCA DL-8786 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*The Versatile Burl Ives! by Burl Ives [1961/LP DECCA DL-74152 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*The Scene Changes by Perry Como [1965/LP RCA VICTOR LPM-3396 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Quartet :*Southland Favorites by George Beverly Shea [1965/LP RCA VICTOR LSP-3440 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Quartet :*George Beverly Shea Sings Southland Songs That Life the Heart by George Beverly Shea [1966/LP RCA VICTOR LPM-3634 (US)] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*It's Real by Dale Evans [1967/LP CAPITOL ST-2772 (US)] chorus and orchestra conducted by Anita Kerr :*Amazing Grace by Jimmie Davis [1968/LP VOCALION VL 73862 (US)], reissue of Jimmie's Hail Him With A Song LP with two songs omitted :*Closing the Gap by the Mystic Monks [1968/LP RANWOOD RLP-8032 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Yestergroovin' by Les Tres Guitars [1969/LP DOT DLP-25916 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Anita Kerr Presents Teresa [1969/LP DOT DLP-25944 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Touchlove [1969/LP DOT DLP-25970 (US)] Anita Kerr as pianist/arranger/producer :*In My Father's House by Jimmie Davis [1969/LP VOCALION VL-73878 (US)], reissue of Jimmie's The Door Is Always Open LP with two songs omitted :*I Believe by Red Foley [1969/LP VOCALION VL-73879 (US)], reissue of Red's He Walks With Thee LP with two songs omitted :*Hallelujah Brass [1975/LP WORD WST 8647 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Hymns [1975/LP WORD WST 8692 (US)] Anita Kerr and Kurt Kaiser :*Hallelujah Guitars [1976/LP WORD WST 8707 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Hallelujah Woodwinds [1977/LP WORD WST 8741 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Anita Kerr and the French Connection [1977/RCA VICTOR APL1-2298 (US)] Anita Kerr as pianist/arranger/producer :*The Sound of Warm [1977/LP MONTE ROSA NN4 (US)] Anita Kerr as pianist/arranger/producer :*Hallelujah Voices [1979/LP WORD WSB 8808 (US)] Anita Kerr as arranger/producer :*Anita Kerr Performs Wonders [1979/LP CENTURY CRD-1160 (US)] Anita Kerr performs the songs of Stevie Wonder :*Together [1979/LP PHILIPS 143 (US)] Anita Kerr, Harry van Hoof, and Pieter van Vollenhoven :*In The Soul [1988/LP GAIA 13 9004 (US)] Anita Kerr performs original music around the poetry of Walt Whitman :*Music is her Name [1992/CD SONY (US)], compilation of songs reissued from Anita's Sentimental Journey and 'Round Midnight LPs, respectively :*Anita Kerr's Christmas Story: The Angel in the Faded Blue Jeans [1993/CD BLACK TULIPS]--reissue of Anita's A Christmas Story LP :*Two Classic Albums from The Anita Kerr Singers [1999/CD COLLECTOR'S CHOICE (US)], reissue of Anita's The Anita Kerr Singers Reflect on the Hits of Burt Bacharach & Hal David and Velvet Voices and Bold Brass LPs, respectively :*The Jim Reeves Radio Show: Monday, February 24, 1958 [2003/CD BEAR FAMILY] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*The Jim Reeves Radio Show: February 25–28, 1958 [2004/CD BEAR FAMILY] as The Anita Kerr Singers :*Mr. Guitar: The Complete Recordings 1955-1960 by Chet Atkins [2004/7CD BEAR FAMILY]--includes 20 SESAC recordings with The Anita Kerr Singers :*Velvet Voices [2007/MP3 AND MORE BEARS] as The Anita Kerr Quartet :*Mansion Over The Hilltop [2007/MP3 AND MORE BEARS] with Faron Young -- as The Anita Kerr Singers :*On This Holy Night [2009/MP3 AND MORE BEARS], reissue of Anita's On This Holy Night LP

Awards and honors

:*1965: The Anita Kerr Singers album We Dig Mancini won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. :*1965: George Beverly Shea's album Southland Favorites, to which The Anita Kerr Quartet contributed, won a Grammy Award for Best Gospel or Other Religious Recording (Musical). :*1966: The Anita Kerr Singers single A Man and A Woman won a Grammy Award for Best Performance by a Vocal Group. :*1970: The Anita Kerr Singers album The Anita Kerr Singers Reflect on the Hits of Burt Bacharach & Hal David won an Edison Award. :*1976: The Anita Kerr Singers album Gentle as Morning was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance. :*1976: The Anita Kerr Singers album Walk a Little Slower won a GMA Dove Award for Best Gospel Record Album of the Year by a Non-Gospel Artist. :*1977: The Anita Kerr Singers album Precious Memories was nominated for a Grammy Award for Best Inspirational Performance.

References

External links

#The (Nashville) Anita Kerr Singers In Concert: Oslo, Norway, 1964 #The (Los Angeles) Anita Kerr Singers on a Dutch television show

# Audio samples of Anita Kerr's jingles for: ##KMPC AM-710 in Los Angeles, California ##WLS AM-890 in Chicago, Illinois ##WGH AM-1310 in Newport News, Virginia #Anita Kerr Arrangements published by Hal Leonard Corporation #Space Age Pop page entry

Category:1927 births Category:People from Memphis, Tennessee Category:American female singers Category:American musicians Category:American music arrangers Category:Vocal music Category:Easy listening music Category:American composers Category:Decca Records artists Category:Dot Records artists Category:RCA Victor artists Category:Warner Bros. Records artists Category:Word Records artists Category:American record producers Category:Grammy Award winners Category:Living people

Name	Five
Background	group_or_band
Origin	London, England
Genre	Pop, Hip hop, dance, teen pop
Years active	1997–20012006–2007
Label	Sony BMG (UK)RCA/Arista (USA) (1997–2001)
Associated acts	Spice Girls, East 17, 'N Sync
Url
Past members	J BrownAbs BreenRitchie NevilleScott RobinsonSean Conlon

Five (also known as 5ive) were an English boyband put together in 1997 by the same team that managed the Spice Girls before they launched their career. The five members were Scott Robinson, Ritchie Neville, J Brown, Abs Breen and Sean Conlon. Signed by Simon Cowell, they enjoyed great success worldwide, particularly in the UK, most of Europe and Asia, Russia, Brazil, Australia, New Zealand and the USA. They split up on 27 September 2001, after selling almost 20 million records, and having 11 top ten singles and four top ten albums in the UK. Four of the five original members, Robinson, Breen, Neville and Brown briefly reformed the group without Conlon in September 2006, with a new management team headed by music manager Richard Beck. Seven months later, having secured a lucrative tour, but failing to gain enough record company interest, Five made an announcement via their official website they would again disband.

Biography

5ive: the debut

In 1997, an advertisement was placed in the UK performing arts newspaper The Stage, asking for young male singers/dancers to audition for a boyband-style group with "attitude and edge". Bob and Chris Herbert, the two men who had earlier created the Spice Girls, thought the time was right for a male group. Over 3,000 hopefuls, including Russell Brand, auditioned and they were finally narrowed down to only fourteen, five (5ive) of whom had arranged themselves into a group while waiting for their audition and subsequently were signed with BMG/RCA for a six-album deal. The group practiced and demoed their work at Trinity Studios in Knaphill – the same place the Spice Girls did a few years previously.

In November 1997, the band released their first single in the UK, "Slam Dunk (Da Funk)", which debuted at #10. The song was also released in the US in 1998 but had little chart success, although it was chosen as the new theme song by the NBA. In 1998 Five earned their first major international hit, "When The Lights Go Out", which cracked the US top 10 and earned Gold status there soon after. Five then went on an eight-day tour to promote their upcoming album, appearing in a concert special for the Disney Channel with Irish girl group B*Witched, in Times Square in New York City, and on MTV's TRL. The debut album peaked at Number 27 in the US, and topped the charts in other countries worldwide, including the UK. "It's The Things You Do" was released in late 1998 in the US, only to receive a lukewarm reception. The group embarked upon a US tour with boy band *NSYNC, but soon after pulled out due to exhaustion, flying back to England to rest and start work on a new album. Still mining the first record, "Got The Feelin'", "Everybody Get Up", and "Until The Time Is Through" were all released as singles throughout 1998. Reaching the top 5 in different countries around the world, the latter two singles each rose to the number two spot in the UK, and Five had well and truly made their mark in the world of boy band mania. A significant element in 5ive's popularity was their resemblance to American boy bands such as New Kids on the Block, Backstreet Boys and 'N Sync in their uptempo musical style and 'street' image, in contrast to Take That, 98 Degrees, and Boyzone, who at the time were primarily known for their ballads.

Invincible: the new millennium

In August 1999, the first single of their second album, Invincible, the catchy dance tune "If Ya Gettin' Down", was released and became a major hit worldwide but yet again failed to go to Number 1 in their home country, kept out of the top spot by Ricky Martin. Finally in October 1999, after three consecutive number-two peaks, "Keep on Movin'" became their first UK Number 1, as well as their biggest selling single to date. The second album hit the top five shortly thereafter. "Don't Wanna Let You Go" was released in early March 2000, peaking at Number 9. On 3 March 2000, Five opened at the BRIT Awards with rock legends Queen, performing an updated version of that band's hit, "We Will Rock You". That night Five won their first BRIT Award, as "Best Pop Act", and their cover of the Queen song went on to become their second Number 1 in the UK in July 2000. The first half of 2000 found Five on a successful world tour, performing concerts in the UK, Europe, Russia, Australasia and—as a foursome—South America, after Ritchie contracted chickenpox and had to be flown back to England.

After finishing the tour, the group continued to perform at many concerts in the UK, including Party in the Park with Queen. A re-issue of their album Invincible included remixed versions of a couple of songs and five live tracks from their tour, as well as a bonus track, "Don't Fight It Baby". Due for release in July 2000 in the US, the song was pulled from release after the group was dropped by their stateside label, Arista Records. Five also had problems with their Asian record company, and subsequently cancelled their Asian tour.

Suffering from this major blow, the lads headed back to the studio and started writing songs for their next album. They continued to win awards in the UK and Europe, and in December 2000 launched their second big tour, in their home country. In January 2001, Five went to perform at one of the biggest festivals in the world, "Rock in Rio" in Rio de Janeiro and Caracas, to an audience of almost half a million people.

Kingsize and the end of an era

In May 2001, after many months of creative writing and "developing their own personal sound," Kingsize was completed. When it was time to begin filming the video for their first single off the album, however, band member Sean had fallen ill with glandular fever. The "Let's Dance" video was released with a life-size cardboard cut-out standing in for the ailing singer, and rumours that he had in fact left the band had to be quashed. Scott also temporarily left the band for a few weeks to be with his his childhood sweetheart fiancée Kerry Oaker, who was having troubles with her pregnancy. Their son, Brennan Rhys, was born on 11 July 2001, five weeks premature. The remaining three members, J, Abs and Ritchie, pressed on with heavy promotion of the group's third album and the "Let's Dance" single. Whilst performing at a concert in Belgium in July, Ritchie tore the tendons in his left foot, putting a halt to all promotion and prompting the group to have a few meetings to re-think their options and future. "Let's Dance" was released in mid August 2001, however, and became their third UK #1, holding the top spot for two weeks. Kingsize debuted two weeks later at #3, and went on to achieve Gold status.

After a month of serious meetings with record management, Five came to the decision that they were "calling it a day", and the group disbanded on 27 September 2001, via an announcement on MTV Select. On 28 September, a day after the announcement, Scott married Kerry at a ceremony with all of his former bandmates in attendance.

In November 2001, "Closer to Me", featuring rare footage of the band, and "Rock the Party", with an animated video, were released as a double-A-side single. A Greatest Hits album followed.

In the band's short life-span, they experienced success around the world, racking up three number-one singles in the UK and selling an estimate of 15-20 million records worldwide, including 7 million albums worldwide and two million in the United States, and picking up numerous awards along the way.

Life after Five and future

In November 2001, Five member Abs went to Australia for the major pop festival Rumba! and performed on stage with boy band Blue. About a year after the breakup, he enjoyed a brief but fairly successful solo career, releasing the album Abstract Theory in 2003, which produced three top 10 singles in the UK.

Ritchie Neville and Sean Conlon also initially attempted solo musical careers which seemed to stop almost before they began, although Ritchie has made occasional appearances as a TV guest star, presenter, actor and reality show celebrity contestant. Scott Robinson joined a local Essex radio station, EssexFM, in 2002 for a few months as a radio DJ. He starred in the UK regional theatre musical Boogie Nights 2 from late 2004 through most of 2005. Scott also became a father for a second time, with the birth of his second son on 13 September 2006. J had almost disappeared entirely from public view for nearly four years, but has recently resurfaced as a writer and producer, and also came third in the 2007 series of I'm a Celebrity... Get Me Out of Here!. Sean ultimately became the second group member to sign a solo recording deal, with Sony, and began work towards a new album. He has since been dropped by the label.

On 17 September 2006, an announcement was made via Five's official MySpace page that a press conference was to be held at The Scala in central London on 27 September, at around 11am GMT. After a venue change due to a shooting at The Scala, the conference was moved to the Bar Academy Islington. It was rumoured that four of the five members would be reuniting (Sean now being committed to his Sony deal), and this was confirmed at the press conference. Five recorded new material for what was to be their fourth studio album, working with Guy Chambers, Swedish producer/songwriter Anders Bagge, and French DJs Trak Invaders, and also planned to tour in 2007. As of January 2007, Five had completed half of their album and were looking to sign up to a record company with a new manager, Richard Beck. The album was expected to be released within the next few months. On 8 March 2007, at midnight, Five premiered one-minute clips of two brand new songs that were to have been on the new album. The songs, titled "70 Days", "Settle Down" and "It's All Good" can be heard on the band's official webpage and also on their MySpace page. Beck also secured an MTV documentary series titled 'Five - The Revive'.

On 19 May 2007, only eight months after reforming, having failed to secure a lucrative enough record deal, Five announced via their official website that the group will no longer be pursuing a comeback.

In 2009 Ritchie opened a myspace page for his new band RagztoRichez.

Discography

5ive (1998)

Invincible (1999)

Kingsize (2001)

Tours

Invincible Tour (February - May 2000)

Awards

(*) For source, see References.

BRIT Awards

Best Pop Act - 2000

MTV Europe Music Awards

The MTV Select Award - 1998

Silver Clef Awards

Best Newcomer - 2000

Smash Hits Poll Winners Party

Best New Act - 1997

Best Haircut (Scott) - 1997, 1998, 1999

Best British Band - 1998, 1999, 2000

Best Album - 1998

Best Cover - 1998

TMF Awards (Holland)

Best Single - 2000

Best Album - 2000

Best International Group - 2000

TV Hits Awards

Best New Band - 1999

Best Single (We Will Rock You (Queen cover)) - 2000

References

;General

5iveweb.com - Achievements — archived 21 December 2001; retrieved 10 November 2005

;Specific

See also

List of 1990s one-hit wonders in the United States

List of Number 1 singles from the 1990s (UK)

List of Number 1 singles from the 2000s (UK)

External links

World of Five - official website

Five's Official MySpace

5iveUSA

Five Fansite

Billboard charts

ARIA charts

The Official UK Charts

SonyBMG

RCA Records

Category:BRIT Award winners Category:2000s music groups Category:1990s music groups Category:British pop music groups Category:British boy bands Category:Musical groups established in 1997 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2001 Category:Musical groups reestablished in 2006 Category:Musical groups disestablished in 2007