Few people outside Soul collector circles that I talk to are familar with the name Leroy Hutson. This always makes me sad, because the man deserves to be up there with Marvin Gaye and Stevie Wonder, leading the list of music history's top Soul artists. Because Leroy was more than just a singer. He was a multi-instrumentalist, writer, arranger, producer.

One of his biggest hits, The Ghetto, Leroy wrote for his buddy and former roomate Donny Hathaway. Leroy later released his own version.

He came to fame in 1971, when he replaced Curtis Mayfield as the lead singer of The Impressions. But he stayed with them for only two albums (Times have changed and Preacherman), because Curtis soon signed him as a solo artist for his Curtom label.

Over a period of six years, Leroy released eight amazing solo albums on Curtom. He had everything going for him - except chart success. Why none of his songs like Lucky Fellow, When you smile, Lovers Holiday, All because of you, etc became chartbusters, remains a mystery. They should have.

Leroy was also a talented producer, the mastermind behind 1970s smooth Soul acts like The Natural Four, The Voices of East Harlem, Arnold Blair and Linda Clifford.

Leroy Hutson has always been my favorite solo artist, next to James Brown. Five years ago, I tracked him down and we've been in touch since, exchanging thoughts, ideas and music. This year, Leroy has recorded a new album Soothe you - groove you.

And this coming Friday, December 12, he will appear as the special guest on my weekly radio show Midnight Soulstice here in Richmond, VA. We'll present a two-hour-Leroy Hutson Special, we will play much of his music, that of the artists he produced and even drop some new songs. And we'll talk about all of that. For every Soul fan who loves the sound of Curtus Mayfield, The Natural Four, The Impressions, etc this will be a great show to listen to. You can listen to it live from 11 pm - 1 am on the live stream on www.wrir.org But I'll also post the link of the download in the following week.



In the meantime, some Leroy Hutson tracks to groove to ...

Leroy Hutson - Lucky Fellow



Leroy Hutson - So in love with you



Leroy Hutson - Butterfat



Leroy Hutson - All Because of you



Leroy Hutson - It's different



Leroy Hutson - Times bring on a change

[Edited 12/13/08 5:20am]

More:

Leroy Hutson - Heaven right here on Earth



The Natural Four - Can this be real



The Natural Four - Try Love again



The Natural Four - Count on me



The Voices of East Harlem - Take a stand



The Voices of East Harlem - Cashing in



The Voices of East Harlem - Can you feel it


The Impressions - Preacherman


For more info on Leroy Hutson visit

www.myspace.com/leroyhutsontheman
[Edited 12/7/08 13:09pm]

funkpill said:

You got that right .. and the little attention this thread has received is even more proof for my thesis that Leroy is heavily underrated ...

See I stepped in here late... you should know better Im a big Leroy Hutson fan.

Just look at my avatar. Im a huge LH fan. He is so underated it is a crime.

Leroy Hutson is the truth. I saw him and the Natural Four on one of those Classic Soul rain episodes.

elem55 said:

Yeah, I noticed your avatar the other day.

IAintTheOne said:

No doubt.

"It's Different" is my cut!!!!!

leroy is the shit!

MrSoulpower said:

You sure about that? As I recall, he only did one album with them, Times Have Changed, and then left.


This is what allmusic.com has to say about it,

"This is an unexpectedly fine album, particularly in light of the circumstances under which it was recorded. The Impressions had just finished a European tour in late 1972 when Leroy Hutson, who had been Curtis Mayfield's successor in lineup, left them to pursue a solo career. So it was two-man version of the Impressions -- consisting of Sam Gooden and Fred Cash -- who went into the studio in early 1973 with producer Rich Tufo, with Cash handling the lead vocals. Tufo as producer and arranger, as well as songwriter for a good chunk of the album, surrounded the pair with some of the best music and overdubbed background vocals of the group's history; and the result, instead of a threadbare effort by a reduced lineup version of the Impressions, was something new and amazingly bold, never more so than on the ten-minute "Thin Line," which opened side two of the LP -- this was getting into the same realms of conceptual soul that Marvin Gaye had remade his career with on What's Going On. Preacher Man, which could have been an effort to buy time for a group in disarray, ended up being a strong artistic statement in its own right, and a record that was well worth owning, and opened a new era for the group."

Leroy is indeed criminally underrated. The man had some seriously good solo cuts, and produced some helluva good groups, like the Natural Four.

MY FAVE IS "DON'T YOU LET IT GET NEXT TO YOU"

FuNkeNsteiN said:

That's an interesting point. To my knowledge, Leroy worked with the Impressions for two albums, and Preacherman would be the second one. But it is obvious that his lead vocals are absent from this album, and I did notice that. I never discussed the Impressions with him, but of course this will come up during our radio show on Friday, so we'll be able to clear this up for once and all.

FuNkeNsteiN said:

The Natural Four are terribly underrated as well, especially their same titled second album und third album Heaven right here on Earth. And don't even get me started on The Voices of East Harlem.

MrSoulpower said:

Unfortunately, I haven't been able to locate a copy of 'Good Vibes'
I've got a copy of the Voices' debut, it's great

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Good Vibes .. that's tough to find.

You were right about the Impressions though. I just checked with Leroy, he did sing on only that one album Times have changed.

Make sure to check out the radio show, it's a rare chance to hear the man talk himself.

Shows airs tonight!

MrSoulpower said:

I don't think I'll be able to listen to it live, but I'll download it later on and give it a listen

FuNkeNsteiN said:

Since you're a fan, you definitely should. The man rarely doesn't give any interviews.

MrSoulpower said:

Yea, I'll definitely check it out later on

The show was great! Listen to Leroy Hutson's interview here:

http://wrir.org/x/modules...oryid=8528

MrSoulpower said:

Thanks!