Lloyd Price
Encyclopedia
Lloyd Price is an American
R&B
vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits. His first recording
, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy
" was a huge hit
on Specialty Records
in 1952, and although he continued to turn out records
, none were as popular until several years later, when he refined the New Orleans beat and achieved a series of national hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
in 1998.
, United States
, and growing up in a suburb of New Orleans, Price had formal musical training in trumpet and piano, sang in his church's gospel choir, and was a member of a combo in high school. His mother, Beatrice Price, owned the Fish ‘n’ Fry Restaurant, and Price picked up a life-long interest in business and in food from her.
When Art Rupe
of Specialty Records
came to New Orleans scouting for talent and heard Price's song, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy
", he wanted to record it. Because Price did not have a band,(though he would eventually start his own band in 1949),http://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/more2.html Rupe hired Dave Bartholomew
and his band (which included Fats Domino
on piano) to do the arrangements and back up Price in the recording session. The song turned out to be a massive hit and his next release cut at the same session, "Oooh, Oooh, Oooh" a much smaller one. Price continued making recordings for Speciality but did not chart any further hits at that time.
In 1954 he was drafted
and ended up in Korea
. When he returned he found he had been replaced by Little Richard
. In addition, his former chauffeur, Larry Williams
, was also recording for the label, having released "Short Fat Fannie
".
Price eventually formed KRC Records with Harold Logan and Bill Boskent. The first single was "Just Because". It was picked up by ABC Records
and from 1957 to 1959 Price recorded a series of national hits on ABC Records
that were successful adaptations of the New Orleans sound, such as "Stagger Lee
", "Personality", which reached #2, and the #3 hit "I'm Gonna Get Married". "Stagger Lee" topped the pop
and R&B
charts, sold over a million copies. Dick Clark
insisted the violent content of the song be toned down when Price appeared on American Bandstand
but it was still the "violent" version that was on top of the R&B charts
of 1959. "Stack-o-Lee" is an old blues
standard recorded many times previously by other artists. Greil Marcus
, in a critical analysis of the song's history, has written that Price's was an enthusiastic hard rock version with a screaming saxophone
.In all of these early recordings of Lloyd Price, Merritt Mel Dalton was the lead Sax Man on the recordings of "Personality, Stagger Lee, I'm gonna get married etc..," Merritt, was in the traveling band as well and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show with Lloyd Price.
In 1962, Price formed Double L Records with Logan. Wilson Pickett
got his start on this label. In 1969, Logan was murdered. Price then founded a new label, Turntable, and opened a club by the same name in New York City.
During the 1970s Price owned a Manhattan restaurant-nightclub called Turntable and helped Don King
promote fights including Muhammad Ali
's "Rumble in the Jungle". He later became a builder erecting 42 town houses in the Bronx.
Price toured Europe in 1993 with Jerry Lee Lewis
, Little Richard
, and Gary U.S. Bonds
. He performed in 2005 with soul legends Jerry Butler
, Gene Chandler
, and Ben E. King
for the "Four Kings of Rhythm and Blues" tour, concerts captured for a DVD
and PBS television special.
On March 9, 2010, his 77th Birthday, in New Orleans, Lloyd Price was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
and on June 20, 2010, Price appeared and sang in season 1 finale of the HBO series "Treme
".
Price currently manages Icon Food Brands, which makes a line of primarily Southern-style foods, including Lawdy Miss Clawdy food products, ranging from canned greens to sweet potato
cookies, and a line of Lloyd Price foods, such as Lloyd Price's Soulful 'n' Smooth Grits
and Lloyd Price's Energy-2-Eat Bar (with the brand slogan "Good taste ... Great Personality"), plus Lawdy Miss Clawdy clothing and collectibles.
Lloyd Price Avenue in Kenner, Louisiana
, was named for the singer and the city celebrates an annual Lloyd Price Day.
In 2011 Price was promoting his autobiography The True King of the Fifties: The Lloyd Price Story and was working on a Broadway musical called "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," in conjunction with a team that includes producer Phil Ramone
. The musical details how rock and roll evolved out of the New Orleans music scene of the early 1950s. He continues to sing.
Price lives with his wife in Westchester County, New York
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
vocalist. Known as "Mr. Personality", after the name of one of his biggest million-selling hits. His first recording
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price. It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the chart...
" was a huge hit
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
on Specialty Records
Specialty Records
Specialty Records was an American record label based in Los Angeles. It was originally launched as Juke Box Records in 1946, but later renamed by its owner Art Rupe when he parted company with a couple of his original partners...
in 1952, and although he continued to turn out records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
, none were as popular until several years later, when he refined the New Orleans beat and achieved a series of national hits. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
Rock and Roll Hall of Fame
The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame and Museum is a museum located on the shore of Lake Erie in downtown Cleveland, Ohio, United States. It is dedicated to archiving the history of some of the best-known and most influential artists, producers, engineers and others who have, in some major way,...
in 1998.
Biography
Born in Kenner, LouisianaKenner, Louisiana
Kenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
, United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
, and growing up in a suburb of New Orleans, Price had formal musical training in trumpet and piano, sang in his church's gospel choir, and was a member of a combo in high school. His mother, Beatrice Price, owned the Fish ‘n’ Fry Restaurant, and Price picked up a life-long interest in business and in food from her.
When Art Rupe
Art Rupe
Arthur N. "Art" Rupe is an American music industry executive and record producer. He started Specialty Records, noted for its rhythm & blues, blues, gospel and early rock and roll music recordings, in Los Angeles in 1946.-Career:Born in the Pittsburgh suburb of Greensburg, Pennsylvania, Rupe...
of Specialty Records
Specialty Records
Specialty Records was an American record label based in Los Angeles. It was originally launched as Juke Box Records in 1946, but later renamed by its owner Art Rupe when he parted company with a couple of his original partners...
came to New Orleans scouting for talent and heard Price's song, "Lawdy Miss Clawdy
Lawdy Miss Clawdy
"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price. It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the chart...
", he wanted to record it. Because Price did not have a band,(though he would eventually start his own band in 1949),http://www.angelfire.com/mn/coasters/more2.html Rupe hired Dave Bartholomew
Dave Bartholomew
Dave Bartholomew is a musician, band leader, composer and arranger, prominent in the music of New Orleans throughout the second half of the 20th century...
and his band (which included Fats Domino
Fats Domino
Antoine Dominique "Fats" Domino, Jr. is an American R&B and rock and roll pianist and singer-songwriter. He was born and raised in New Orleans, Louisiana, and Creole was his first language....
on piano) to do the arrangements and back up Price in the recording session. The song turned out to be a massive hit and his next release cut at the same session, "Oooh, Oooh, Oooh" a much smaller one. Price continued making recordings for Speciality but did not chart any further hits at that time.
In 1954 he was drafted
Conscription
Conscription is the compulsory enlistment of people in some sort of national service, most often military service. Conscription dates back to antiquity and continues in some countries to the present day under various names...
and ended up in Korea
Korea
Korea ) is an East Asian geographic region that is currently divided into two separate sovereign states — North Korea and South Korea. Located on the Korean Peninsula, Korea is bordered by the People's Republic of China to the northwest, Russia to the northeast, and is separated from Japan to the...
. When he returned he found he had been replaced by Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
. In addition, his former chauffeur, Larry Williams
Larry Williams
Larry Williams was an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer, songwriter, producer, and pianist from New Orleans, Louisiana...
, was also recording for the label, having released "Short Fat Fannie
Short Fat Fannie
"Short Fat Fannie" is Larry Williams' second single release after "High School Dance". Williams' original penned track peaked at number five on the U.S. pop chart, and at number one on the R&B chart...
".
Price eventually formed KRC Records with Harold Logan and Bill Boskent. The first single was "Just Because". It was picked up by ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
and from 1957 to 1959 Price recorded a series of national hits on ABC Records
ABC Records
ABC Records was an American record label, founded in New York City in 1955 as ABC-Paramount Records. It originated as the main popular music label operated the Am-Par Record Corporation, the music subsidiary of the American Broadcasting Company . ABC-Paramount Records' first president was Samuel H....
that were successful adaptations of the New Orleans sound, such as "Stagger Lee
Stagger Lee (song)
"Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee", "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stack-a-Lee" and several other variants, is a popular folk song based on the murder of William "Billy" Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton...
", "Personality", which reached #2, and the #3 hit "I'm Gonna Get Married". "Stagger Lee" topped the pop
Popular music
Popular music belongs to any of a number of musical genres "having wide appeal" and is typically distributed to large audiences through the music industry. It stands in contrast to both art music and traditional music, which are typically disseminated academically or orally to smaller, local...
and R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
charts, sold over a million copies. Dick Clark
Dick Clark (entertainer)
Richard Wagstaff "Dick" Clark is an American businessman; game-show host; and radio and television personality. He served as chairman and chief executive officer of Dick Clark Productions, which he has sold part of in recent years...
insisted the violent content of the song be toned down when Price appeared on American Bandstand
American Bandstand
American Bandstand is an American music-performance show that aired in various versions from 1952 to 1989 and was hosted from 1956 until its final season by Dick Clark, who also served as producer...
but it was still the "violent" version that was on top of the R&B charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
of 1959. "Stack-o-Lee" is an old blues
Blues
Blues is the name given to both a musical form and a music genre that originated in African-American communities of primarily the "Deep South" of the United States at the end of the 19th century from spirituals, work songs, field hollers, shouts and chants, and rhymed simple narrative ballads...
standard recorded many times previously by other artists. Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus
Greil Marcus is an American author, music journalist and cultural critic. He is notable for producing scholarly and literary essays that place rock music in a much broader framework of culture and politics than is customary in pop music journalism.-Life and career:Marcus was born in San Francisco...
, in a critical analysis of the song's history, has written that Price's was an enthusiastic hard rock version with a screaming saxophone
Saxophone
The saxophone is a conical-bore transposing musical instrument that is a member of the woodwind family. Saxophones are usually made of brass and played with a single-reed mouthpiece similar to that of the clarinet. The saxophone was invented by the Belgian instrument maker Adolphe Sax in 1846...
.In all of these early recordings of Lloyd Price, Merritt Mel Dalton was the lead Sax Man on the recordings of "Personality, Stagger Lee, I'm gonna get married etc..," Merritt, was in the traveling band as well and appeared on the Ed Sullivan show with Lloyd Price.
In 1962, Price formed Double L Records with Logan. Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett
Wilson Pickett was an American R&B/Soul singer and songwriter.A major figure in the development of American soul music, Pickett recorded over 50 songs which made the US R&B charts, and frequently crossed over to the US Billboard Hot 100...
got his start on this label. In 1969, Logan was murdered. Price then founded a new label, Turntable, and opened a club by the same name in New York City.
During the 1970s Price owned a Manhattan restaurant-nightclub called Turntable and helped Don King
Don King
Donald "Don" King is an American boxing promoter particularly known for his hairstyle and flamboyant personality. His career highlights include promoting "The Rumble in the Jungle" and the "Thrilla in Manila". He also had a long association with Mike Tyson...
promote fights including Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali
Muhammad Ali is an American former professional boxer, philanthropist and social activist...
's "Rumble in the Jungle". He later became a builder erecting 42 town houses in the Bronx.
Price toured Europe in 1993 with Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis
Jerry Lee Lewis is an American rock and roll and country music singer-songwriter and pianist. An early pioneer of rock and roll music, Lewis's career faltered after he married his young cousin, and he afterwards made a career extension to country and western music. He is known by the nickname 'The...
, Little Richard
Little Richard
Richard Wayne Penniman , known by the stage name Little Richard, is an American singer, songwriter, musician, recording artist, and actor, considered key in the transition from rhythm and blues to rock and roll in the 1950s. He was also the first artist to put the funk in the rock and roll beat and...
, and Gary U.S. Bonds
Gary U.S. Bonds
Gary U.S. Bonds is an American rhythm and blues and rock and roll singer. He is also a prolific songwriter.-Career:...
. He performed in 2005 with soul legends Jerry Butler
Jerry Butler (singer)
Jerry Butler is an American soul singer and songwriter. He is also noted as being the original lead singer of the R&B vocal group, The Impressions, as well as a Rock and Roll Hall of Fame inductee.Butler is also an American politician...
, Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene...
, and Ben E. King
Ben E. King
Benjamin Earl King , better known as Ben E. King, is an American soul singer. He is perhaps best known as the singer and co-composer of "Stand by Me", a U.S...
for the "Four Kings of Rhythm and Blues" tour, concerts captured for a DVD
DVD
A DVD is an optical disc storage media format, invented and developed by Philips, Sony, Toshiba, and Panasonic in 1995. DVDs offer higher storage capacity than Compact Discs while having the same dimensions....
and PBS television special.
On March 9, 2010, his 77th Birthday, in New Orleans, Lloyd Price was inducted into The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
Louisiana Music Hall of Fame
The Louisiana Music Hall of Fame is an IRS certified 501 non-profit organization based in the state capitol of Baton Rouge, La., that seeks to preserve Louisiana's rich music culture and heritage and to further educate its citizens and people worldwide about the state’s unique role contributing...
and on June 20, 2010, Price appeared and sang in season 1 finale of the HBO series "Treme
Treme (TV series)
Treme is an American television drama series created by David Simon and Eric Overmyer that premiered on April 11, 2010 on HBO. It takes its name from Tremé, a neighborhood of New Orleans...
".
Price currently manages Icon Food Brands, which makes a line of primarily Southern-style foods, including Lawdy Miss Clawdy food products, ranging from canned greens to sweet potato
Sweet potato
The sweet potato is a dicotyledonous plant that belongs to the family Convolvulaceae. Its large, starchy, sweet-tasting, tuberous roots are an important root vegetable. The young leaves and shoots are sometimes eaten as greens. Of the approximately 50 genera and more than 1,000 species of...
cookies, and a line of Lloyd Price foods, such as Lloyd Price's Soulful 'n' Smooth Grits
Grits
Grits are a food of American Indian origin common in the Southern United States and mainly eaten at breakfast. They consist of coarsely ground corn, or sometimes alkali-treated corn . They are also sometimes called sofkee or sofkey from the Muskogee language word...
and Lloyd Price's Energy-2-Eat Bar (with the brand slogan "Good taste ... Great Personality"), plus Lawdy Miss Clawdy clothing and collectibles.
Lloyd Price Avenue in Kenner, Louisiana
Kenner, Louisiana
Kenner is a city in Jefferson Parish, Louisiana, United States, and a suburb of New Orleans. The population was 66,702 at the 2010 census....
, was named for the singer and the city celebrates an annual Lloyd Price Day.
In 2011 Price was promoting his autobiography The True King of the Fifties: The Lloyd Price Story and was working on a Broadway musical called "Lawdy Miss Clawdy," in conjunction with a team that includes producer Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone
Phil Ramone is a South-African violinist, composer, recording engineer, and record producer.-Biography:As a young child in South Africa, Ramone was a musical prodigy, beginning to play the violin at age three and performing for Queen Elizabeth II at age ten...
. The musical details how rock and roll evolved out of the New Orleans music scene of the early 1950s. He continues to sing.
Price lives with his wife in Westchester County, New York
Westchester County, New York
Westchester County is a county located in the U.S. state of New York. Westchester covers an area of and has a population of 949,113 according to the 2010 Census, residing in 45 municipalities...
.
Albums
- 1959: Exciting Lloyd Price
- 1959: Mr. Personality
- 1960: Fantastic
- 1960: Mr. Personality Sings the Blues
- 1960: Mr. Personality's Big 15
- 1961: Cookin' Music-Music
- 1981: This Is My Band
- 1989: Lloyd Price : His Originals, Speciality
- 1990: Greatest Hits, Pair
- 1990: Walkin' the Track, Speciality
- 1990: Personality Plus, Speciality
- 1992: Stagger Lee, Collectables
- 1994: Lloyd Price sings his Big Ten, Curb
- 1994: Vol. 2 : Heavy Dreams, Speciality
- 1994: Greatest Hits : The Original ABC Paramount, MCA
- 1995: Lawdy Miss Clawdy, Ace
- 1998: Body with No Body, Moms
- 1999: Mr Personality, Sba
- 1999: The Exciting, Sba
- 2002: Christmas Classics, Prestige
- 2002: Millenium Collection, Universal
- 2004: Classics : 1952-1953, Nad
- 2005: Lawdy !, Fantasy
- 2006: Speciality Profiles, Speciality
- 2006: Great, Goldies
- 2006: 16 Greatest Hits, Passport Audio
Chart singles
- 1952 "Lawdy Miss ClawdyLawdy Miss Clawdy"Lawdy Miss Clawdy" is a song by Lloyd Price. It was first recorded by Price at the New Orleans recording studio of Specialty Records in March 1952. It was released under the Specialty label in April and was number one on the Billboard rhythm and blues chart for seven weeks and stayed on the chart...
" / "Mailman Blues" (#1 R&B) - 1952 "Oooh-Oooh-Oooh" (#4 R&B)
- 1952 "Restless Heart" (#5 R&B) flip of above
- 1953 "Ain't It A Shame?" (#4 R&B)
- 1953 "Tell Me Pretty Baby" (#8 R&B) flip of above
- 1957 "Just Because" (#3 R&B/#29 Pop)
- 1957 "Lonely Chair" (#88 Pop)
- 1959 "Stagger LeeStagger Lee (song)"Stagger Lee", also known as "Stagolee", "Stackerlee", "Stack O'Lee", "Stack-a-Lee" and several other variants, is a popular folk song based on the murder of William "Billy" Lyons by Stagger Lee Shelton...
" (#1 R&B, #1 Pop, UKUK Singles ChartThe UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
#7) (certified GoldMusic recording sales certificationMusic recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
) - 1959 "Where Were You (On Our Wedding Day?)" (#4 R&B/#23 Pop, UK #15)
- 1959 "Personality" (#1 R&B/#2 Pop, UK #9) (certified Gold)
- 1959 "I'm Gonna Get MarriedI'm Gonna Get Married"I'm Gonna Get Married" is a 1959 R&B/pop hit by Lloyd Price. The single was his follow up to "Personality", and, like that entry, "I'm Gonna Get Married" went to number one on the Billboard R&B chart, where it stayed for three consecutive weeks...
" (#1 R&B/#3 Pop, UK #23) (certified Gold) - 1959 "Three Little Pigs" (#15 R&B) flip of above
- 1960 "Come Into My Heart" (#2 R&B/#20 Pop)
- 1960 "Wont'cha Come Home" (#6 R&B/#43 Pop) flip of above
- 1960 "Lady Luck" (#3 R&B/#14 Pop)
- 1960 "Never Let Me Go" (#26 R&B/#82 Pop)
- 1960 "No If's - No And's" (#16 R&B/#40 Pop)
- 1960 "For Love" (#43 Pop)
- 1960 "QuestionQuestion (Lloyd Price song)"Question" is a 1960 song written by Lloyd Price and Harold Logan. Lloyd Price's recording was issued as ABC-Paramount single 10123, reaching #5 on the Billboard R&B Singles chart and #19 on the Billboard Hot 100...
" (#5 R&B/#19 Pop) - 1960 "Just Call Me (And I'll Understand)" (#79 Pop)
- 1960 "Who Coulda'Told You (They Lied)" (#103 Pop)
- 1961 "(You Better) Know What You're Doin'" (#90 Pop)
- 1961 "Mary and Man-O" (#110 Pop)
- 1962 "Under Your Spell Again" (#123 Pop)
- 1963 "MistyMisty (song)"Misty" is a jazz standard written in 1954 by the pianist Erroll Garner.Originally composed as an instrumental following the traditional 32-bar format, the tune later had lyrics by Johnny Burke and became the signature song of Johnny Mathis, reaching #12 on the U.S. Pop Singles chart in 1959...
" (#11 R&B/#21 Pop) - 1964 "Billie Baby" (#84 Pop)
- 1964 "I Love You (I Just Love You)" (#123 Pop)
- 1964 "Amen" (#124 Pop)
- 1965 "If I Had My Life To Live Over" (#107 Pop)
- 1969 "Bad Conditions" (#21 R&B)
- 1973 "Trying To Slip (Away)" (#32 R&B)
- 1976 "What Did You Do With my Love" (#99 R&B)
External links
- Lloyd Price Icon Food Brands Official Website
- LLoyd Price History-of-Rock Profile