3 June 1942, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 26 December 1999, Roswell, Georgia, USA. As songwriter and vocalist with the Impressions, Mayfield established an early reputation as one of soul music’s most intuitive talents. In the decade between 1961 and 1971, he penned a succession of exemplary singles for his group, including ‘Gypsy Woman’ (1961), ‘It’s
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Stevie Wonder
- 76% match to Marvin Gaye
Steveland Judkins, 13 May 1950, Saginaw, Michigan, USA. Born Judkins, Wonder now prefers to be known as Steveland Morris after his mother’s married name. He was born with rerolental fibroplasia, a disease of the eyes that affects prematurely born babies. This caused permanent blindness but despite this handicap, Wonder began to learn the piano at the age of seven, and h
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1 October 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 13 January 1979, New York City, New York, USA. Originally schooled in the gospel tradition, this versatile artist was raised in St. Louis and majored in musical theory at Howard University in Washington DC. He performed in a cocktail jazz trio before gaining employment as a producer with Curtis Mayfield’s Curtom Records. A duet
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Three brothers, O’Kelly (25 December 1937, d. 31 March 1986), Rudolph (b. 1 April 1939) and Ronald Isley (b. 21 May 1941), began singing gospel in their home-town of Cincinnati, USA, in the early 50s, accompanied by their brother Vernon, who died in a car crash around 1957. Moving to New York the following year, the trio issued one-off singles before being signed by the
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Isaac Hayes
- 57% match to Marvin Gaye
20 August 1942, Covington, Tennessee, USA d. 10 August 2008, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Hayes’ formative years were spent playing piano and organ in various Memphis clubs. He fronted several groups, including Sir Isaac And The Doo-dads, the Teen Tones and Sir Calvin And His Swinging Cats, and recorded a handful of rudimentary singles. However, it was not until 1964 that h
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Bill Withers
- 53% match to Marvin Gaye
4 July 1938, Slab Fork, West Virginia, USA. Having moved to California in 1967 after nine years in the US Navy, Withers began hawking his original songs around several west coast companies. He was eventually signed to Sussex Records in 1970, at the age of 32, and secured an immediate hit with his debut single, ‘Ain’t No Sunshine’. Produced by Booker T. Jones,
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Otis Redding
- 52% match to Marvin Gaye
9 September 1941, Dawson, Georgia, USA, d. 10 December 1967, Lake Monona, Madison, Wisconsin, USA. The son of a Baptist minister with the same name, Redding assimilated gospel music during his childhood and soon became interested in jump blues and R&B. After resettling in Macon, he became infatuated with local luminary Little Richard and began singing on a full-time basi
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25 March 1942, Memphis, Tennessee, USA. Aretha Franklin’s music is steeped in the traditions of the church. Her father, Rev. C.L. Franklin, was a Baptist preacher who, once he had moved his family to Detroit, became famous throughout black America for his fiery sermons and magnetic public appearances. He knew the major gospel stars Mahalia Jackson and Clara Ward, who in
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The O'Jays
- 42% match to Marvin Gaye
The core of this long-standing soul group, Eddie LeVert (16 June 1942, Birmingham, Alabama, USA) and Walter Williams (b. 25 August 1942, USA), sang together as a gospel duo prior to forming the Triumphs in 1958. This doo-wop-influenced quintet was completed by William Powell (b. 20 January 1942, USA, d. 26 May 1977), Bill Isles and Bobby Massey and quickly grew popular aroun
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Theodore Pendergrass, 26 March 1950, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Pendergrass joined Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes in 1969, when they invited his group, the Cadillacs, to work as backing musicians. Initially their drummer, Pendergrass had become the featured vocalist within a year. His ragged, passionate interpretations brought distinction to such releases as ‘I
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Artist matches
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