Gene Chandler – The Music's Over

Died On This Date (August 9, 2013) Carl Davis / Acclaimed R&B Producer

themusicsover August 26, 2012 0 Comments

Carl Davis
September 19, 1934 – August 9, 2012

Carl Davis was an acclaimed record producer and one of the architects of the “Chicago Sound” – Chicago soul music of the 1960s. Davis began his music career as the assistant to a local Chicago disc jockey in 1955. During the early ’60s, he went to work at Nat Records where he produced a regional hit, “Nite Owl,” for the DuKays. He followed that up with “Duke Of Earl” which was credited to the group’s lead singer, Gene Chandler. The song quickly became a #1 hit and one of the biggest selling records of the era. Davis went on to produce hits like “Monkey Time” for Major Lance, Jackie Wilson’s “(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher,” Barbara Acklin’s “Love Makes A Woman, and the Chi-Lites’ “Oh Girl” to name a few. In 1976, Davis founded Chi Sounds Records which he ran well into the 2000s. Carl Davis was 77 when he died of pulmonary fibrosis on August 9, 2012.

Thanks Henk de Bruin for the assist.

R&B Singer Songwriter

Died On This Date (November 27, 1998) Barbara Acklin / ’60s Soul Singer

themusicsover November 27, 2009 0 Comments

Barbara Acklin
February 28, 1944 – November 27, 1998

barbaraacklin Barbara Acklin was a popular soul singer and successful songwriter during the ’60s and ’70s. After singing in church and then Chicago area nightclubs while still a teenager, Acklin was hired by Chess Records to sing backup for the likes of Etta James and Fontella Bass. In 1966, Acklin was hired as a receptionist for Brunswick Records where she had to chance to hand a song she had co-written to Jackie Wilson. That song was “Whispers (Gettin’ Louder)” which Wilson made into a top 5 R&B and #11 pop hit. That was enough to land Acklin a recording contract with Brunswick. Acklin released several charting singles over the next decade, including “Show Me the Way” (a duet with Gene Chandler), “Love Makes a Woman,” and “Am I the Same Girl,” which was later covered by Dusty Springfield, the Manhattan Transfer, and Swing Out Sister. Acklin’s biggest hit as a songwriter came with the release of “Have You Seen Her,” a song she co-wrote with Eugene Record and turned into a chart topping hit by his group, the Chi-Lites. Barbara Acklin was 54 when she died of pneumonia.