Died On This Date (November 17, 2003) Arthur Conley / Soul Great
themusicsover Arthur Conley
January 4, 1946 – November 17, 2003
Arthur Conley was a gifted soul singer and dynamic performer whose 1967 single, “Sweet Soul Music” is considered one of the era’s greatest R&B songs, and to this day, a staple of Bruce Springsteen’s live shows. After slugging it out on his own since 1959, Conley was, in 1967, “discovered” by Otis Redding, who began teaching him the ways of the music business and helping him land a better record deal. The two quickly co-wrote “Sweet Soul Music” which hit #2 on the US pop chart and became a top hit across Europe. Conley released several records during his career but none were able to catch the same excitement as “Sweet Soul Music, so in the late ’70s, he all but retired and moved to Europe where he continued to work, but not as much as he had during the ’60s and early ’70s. Arthur Conley was 57 when he died of intestinal cancer.
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