On March 11th, 1957, session vocalist, singer, songwriter, and solo artist-Cheryl Lynn (Lynda Cheryl Smith) was born in Los Angeles, California. Cheryl started singing in the church when she was a child, and in her late teens, she played the role of Evillene (The Wicked Witch of the West) from the play The Wiz in 1976. Shortly afterwards, she appeared on The Gong Show and won. She sung Joe Cocker’s You Are So Beautiful, and scored a perfect 30 out of 30. She was set to sign with Atlantic, but exec Ahmed Ertegun dropped the ball. Columbia Records eagerly picked her up, and she went on to release her smash hit debut single Got To Be Real in 1978 (written by Lynn-with David Foster & David Paich of Toto). The song put her on the map-making it to #1 on The R&B Chart, and #12 on The Pop Chart.
Paich & Lynn proved to be a good musical pair, and based on the success of the single, Columbia decided to have him produce her self-titled debut LP that came out later that year. The album peaked at #5 on the R&B Chart and #23 on The Pop chart. A decent B-side off the LP is You Saved My Day (written by Charles May). Paich liked Lynn’s voice so much that he asked her to sing the female vocal parts for Toto’s soon to be hit Georgy Porgy (1978). She complied, and also appeared as a session vocalist on other LPs with Chaka Khan, Luther Vandross, Teddy Riley, Deniece Williams, Evelyn 'Champagne' King, Richard Marx, and Ray Parker Jr to name a few. She’s 61 today.
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On March 11, 1986, we lost a seminal Bluesman, distant cousin of mine, Hall Of Fame musician, harmonica player, singer, jaw harpist, songwriter, actor, Piedmont Blues vocalist, and folk singer-Sonny Terry (Saunders Terrell: above-l, inset-r). Sonny Terry is a native of Greensboro, North Carolina, and learned the blues harp from his father. He had an eye injury, early in his childhood, that caused him to go blind by the time he had reached age 16. He couldn’t be a farmer, so he was coerced to perform music as a means of earning a living. He started performing in Shelby, NC, first, before hooking up with Blind Boy Fuller in the late 1930s. They performed Piedmont Blues together. He also performed at Carnegie Hall, in 1938, for their first annual From Spirituals To Swing Concert.
Towards the end of 1938, Terry was recorded by The Library Of Congress as an American Folk musician. In 1940 he made his first commercial recording, and after the 1941 death of Blind Boy Fuller, Terry linked up with Brownie McGhee. In 1947 he appeared in the Broadway musical Finian’s Rainbow. Terry & McGhee cut singles with folk artists like Woody Guthrie and Moses Asch, on the Folkways/Smithsonian Records imprint, during the late 1950s and 1960s. Two of his staple songs are Lost John and Old Jabo. In 1979 he appeared in Steve Martin’s film The Jerk, in 1985, Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple-and Crossroads in 1986. He was 74 when he passed away.
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On March 11th, 2004, singer, actor, songwriter, former lover of Freda Payne and member of The Sylvers-Edmund Sylvers (above: back row-c, inset:) passed away in Richmond, Virginia. TOV covered the artist’s birthday in the January 25th post. Please refer to it for more information. Edmund was the fifth child in his family. They were like DeBarge, before DeBarge-and just a bit shy of being the next Jackson 5 crew. As a matter of fact, Edmund played the voice of Marlon Jackson on the The Jackson 5ive cartoon series on ABC (1971-1972). Later in 1972, he and his siblings formed The Sylvers. His vocal skills were very evident to their producers, as he became one of the lead singers for the group. Their early work, which was produced by Jerry Butler and Leon Sylvers, is some of their best.
It’s definitely for beat heads, and isn’t riddled with pop melodies and lyrics they were forced to release after 1974. After 1975, the band was encouraged by their new label to go big! They did so-which changed their sound from hard edged funk and soul, to commercial and pop music like Boogie Fever (1975). Edmund sang lead on the tune, and it became one of their biggest hits. The 70s were full of family-based acts like The Jacksons, The Osmonds, The Partridge Family, and The Monkees (not an actually family). The over-saturation led to a swift decline in sales, for up and coming acts like The Sylvers, who had yet to establish a strong following in the music market. As a result, they disbanded in the late 70s. Edmund went solo in 1980, and released his debut LP Have You Heard. He was 47 years old, when he died.
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HONORABLE MENTION: TOV missed this artist in the March 10th post-Ladies 1st. On March 10th, 2017, we lost one of the members of the Nile Rodgers-produced group Sister Sledge-Joni Sledge (Joan Elise Sledge-r). She was the second oldest of four sisters-with Debbie being the oldest, and Kim & Kathy the younger two. She not only sang vocals on all of their tracks; she also acted in films and made several cameo appearances on TV shows like The Jeffersons, Soul Train, and Midnight Special. She had a passion for the dramatic arts, and penned her own screen play (WildFlower) while a sophomore at Temple University. Joni Sledge was 60, at the time of her death.
On March 11th , 1981, singer, actress, songwriter and original member of Destiny’s Child-LeToya Luckett (LeToya Nicole Luckett) was born in Houston, TX. She made her start in the church choir. Her father-a singer himself-tried to get her into the music business at an early age. She mostly sang in school plays, at church, and local talent shows however. She met Beyonce during high school, who then asked Luckett to join her group Girls Tyme. Girls Tyme morphed into Destiny’s Child in 1993. Beyonce’s dad was their manager, and Luckett questioned his handling of the money. She was replaced in 2000. She’s 38 today.
On March 11th, 1969, Mr. "Man, I’m right about him. I’m always right. It’s like when I’m right, I’m right, and when I’m wrong I could’ve been right, so I’m still right, cuz I could’ve been wrong…" That right there is classic! Truth!!! Actor Terrance Howard was born in Chicago, Illinois. I give props for his role in 50 Cent’s Get Rich Or Die Trying. He played a down homey and businessman in the film. Howard’s film credits go back to 1992, when he played Jackie Jackson in the made for TV movie-The Jacksons: An American Dream. His basketball skills were mad questionable in the film, but he did his thing. He’s 50 today.
On March 11th, 1947, singer, keyboardist, songwriter, composer, producer, arranger, co-founding member and lead singer of Vanilla Fudge-Mark Stein (seated 2nd l) was born in Bayonne, New Jersey. Interesting Fact:
Vanilla Fudge often toured with Funkadelic, as their opening act during the late 1960s. At a gig they had in some random American locale, Funkadelic’s roadies with the band’s equipment ‘got lost.' Mark insisted that they use their instruments to fulfill their set. George Clinton said after this, using their hi-tech equipment made Funkadelic take their musical direction more seriously-and use top notch instruments and sound equipment to duplicate the sound they created that night. Stein is 72 today.
Vanilla Fudge often toured with Funkadelic, as their opening act during the late 1960s. At a gig they had in some random American locale, Funkadelic’s roadies with the band’s equipment ‘got lost.' Mark insisted that they use their instruments to fulfill their set. George Clinton said after this, using their hi-tech equipment made Funkadelic take their musical direction more seriously-and use top notch instruments and sound equipment to duplicate the sound they created that night. Stein is 72 today.
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