Lou Rawls Dies

By I Jan. 6, 2006

Lou Rawls, who possessed an unmistakable baritone voice, died Jan. 6 after battling lung cancer. He was 72.

While Rawls’ is best known for his array of pop hits (“Love Is A Hurting Thing” and “You’ll Never Find Another Love Like Mine”), the Chicago-born singer also frequently delved into jazz and drew on the music’s improvisational spirit for his lengthy, and influential, spoken-word monologues.

The gospel-trained Rawls recorded his first solo album, Stormy Monday, with the Les McCann Trio in 1962. A few years later, the singer was the voice on many of producer David Axelrod’s early innovations in fusion. Two of those tracks were recently compiled on David Axelrod – The Edge: David Axelrod At Capitol Records 1966-1970 (Blue Note). In 2003, he paid tribute to a notable jazz singer on his disc Rawls Sings Sinatra (Savoy Jazz).

“I don’t put myself in any particular category,” Rawls once said. “Whatever the occasion calls for, I rise to the occasion. There are no limits to music, so why should I limit myself?”

Aaron Cohen