Lou Rawls Biography 1 of 3

Recording artist Lou Rawls (1935 - 2006), has 45 albums under his belt. These include albums on Philadelphia International Records, the platinum "All Things In Time," the Grammy-winning "Unmistakably Lou," and "When You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All." His earlier gold albums include the Grammy winners "Dead End Street" and "Natural Man."

Listen to Lou Rawls rap on:
"Let's Clean Up The Ghetto"

with the Philadelphia International All-Stars - 1 minute, 7 seconds

For forty plus years, Rawls was a jazz performer, pop vocalist, folk stylist, soul singer, and blues interpreter.

In November, 1978, Lou added Broadway to his credits with a ten-day concert engagement at New York's Mark Hellinger Theatre.

Rawls was visible nationally in standing room only concert tours and on television, including his own special for ABC-'TV. He's been a featured performer on "The National Collegiate Cheerleading Championships" with George Burns, Cheryl Ladd and Gene Kelly.

When You Hear Lou, You've Heard It All features yet another Lou collaboration with producers Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff. This album contains standards like "Unforgettable," plus original material by Gamble and Huff.

Rawls reflects the personal style on his songs which have earned accolades from every major music publication on the international scene.

Lou was born in Chicago, and made his singing debut at the age of seven, when he and the late Sam Cooke sang in a junior choir. Rawl's first professional experience began as a member of the Pilgrim Travelers, a well known gospel group from Los Angeles.

After completing a tour of duty with the United States Army, which found him performing in local service clubs, Lou cut his teeth on the "chitlin circuit" - the small clubs where black singers learn the ropes. Many don't proceed any further.

A knife, a bullet, a needle or a bottle of T-bird can see that you never leave.

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