CoronaVinyl Day 449 (R): Unmistakably Lou by Lou Rawls

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Today's CoronaVinyl category is "R," and I went with soul legend Lou Rawls's 1977 album Unmistakably Lou.

Rawls has a pretty cool backstory.  Born and raised in Chicago, he was friends with fellow Chicago soul legends Sam Cooke and Curtis Mayfield.  He enlisted in the Army in 1955 and was a member of the 82nd Airborne.  After the Army, he went back to signing, but was in a brutal car crash in 1958 that left him in a coma for five days and required over a year of rehabilitation.  After that, he was both a solo artist and a collaborator with others.  Most notably for me, he's that deep backing vocal on Sam Cooke's "Bring It On Home To Me" (one of my favorite songs ever) and "That's Where It's At."  In 1967, he performed at the iconic Monterey Pop Festival.

In the mid '70s, he switched record labels, going to Philadelphia International Recordings, run by famed songwriting/producing duo Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, along with another famed songwriter/producer Thom Bell.  Unmistakably Lou definitely has that Philadelphia soul sound, showcasing Rawls's silky baritone voice, complemented by plenty of horns.  There are also some more jazzy and traditional soul songs.  But one this is for damn sure:  this album is unmistakably Lou.

The album only reached #41 on the Billboard album chart and only produced one single -- "See You When I Git There," which only made it to #66 on the Billboard Hot 100, but went to #8 on the Billboard R&B singles chart -- but the album won the Grammy for Best Male R&B Vocal Performance.

In addition to making music, Rawls acted in TV and movies and, more importantly, started an annual telethon in 1980 -- the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, later called An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence -- which raised over $250 million for the United Negro College Fund by the time Rawls died in 2006 at the age of 72.

Favorite Song on Side 1:  "See You When I Git There"
The first track on the album starts with Rawls doing a little speaking part, sounding very much like Barry White.  This is one of the more Philadelphia soul sounding songs on the album, all about a guy calling home after a hard day of work to tell his lady "get ready to get busy when I get home."

Favorite Song on Side 2:  "All The Way"
The second side is definitely a little slower and jazzier than the first side, and the last song on the album is an uptempo jazzy number that ends the album on a good note (music pun intended, motherfuckers!).