Eloise Laws

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Lavern Eloise Laws (* 1949 in Houston , Texas ) is an American soul singer.

Career

Eloise Laws comes from a very musical family: her brothers Hubert (* 1939) and Ronnie (* 1950) are well-known jazz musicians, her sister Debra is also a singer. The family worked together over and over again over the years. Eloise Laws made records for numerous labels without her big breakthrough. The singer released her first unsuccessful singles on Columbia in the late 1960s . Between 1969 and 1971 she appeared several times on television shows that were very popular at the time, such as The David Frost Show , The Merv Griffin Show and The Tom Jones Show. In 1970 she also appeared for two weeks with Harry Belafonte at Caesars Palace, among others . The industry paper Billboard certified their great potential and the charisma of a Shirley Bassey or Nancy Wilson . At the time, torch songs were primarily a part of her repertoire.

In the early 1970s she signed a contract with Music Merchant and worked for two R&B singles with the songwriter and producer trio Holland-Dozier-Holland . The trio saw in Laws a successor to Freda Payne , who after some successes was in contractual difficulties. The song Love Factory wasn't a hit at the time, but over the years it has developed into a classic of the Northern soul scene in Great Britain. In 1973 Laws sang a duet with Harry Belafonte, So Close , on his album Play Me .

After hopes for a hit with Music Merchant had not been fulfilled, Laws was briefly a member of the 1966-1973 vocal group The 5th Dimension, which was very successful between 1966 and 1973 . She replaced Marilyn McCoo that the band previously with her husband Billy Davis, Jr. had left. The following year, Laws resumed the collaboration with Eddie and Brian Holland, who signed them to their Invictus label and changed their style towards disco .

In 1977 their debut album Ain't It Good Feeling Good was released , which included Love Goes Deeper Than That and You Got Me Loving You Again Laws' first hits in the American disco charts. In the following year Laws was able to celebrate two small hits in the American pop charts: 1,000 Laughs (91st place) and Number One (97th place, R&B 78th place). Both tracks were also successful together in the disco charts (number 21) and come from their only album for ABC : Eloise was produced by Linda Creed and Jerry Goldstein and offered a mixture of gentle soul and disco. Together with her sister Debra, Laws also sang background on the album Fantasy by the disco band Aquarian Dream in 1978 and opened concerts by the funk group War .

On Liberty Laws celebrated two of their greatest hits in the R&B charts from 1980: Strength of a Woman (33rd place) and You Are Everything (53rd place) come from Eloise Laws , which was partly produced by her brother Ronnie. The Philly Soul legend Thom Bell acted as arranger for some of the songs . 1982, meanwhile Laws was under contract with Capitol , followed with the album All in Time another production for which Ronnie Laws was responsible. Hubert and Debra Laws were also involved in this work.

After several years without a record deal, she did not record a new CD until 2000: The Key . Secrets followed in 2003 . In 2008 she appeared in the musical It Ain't Nothin 'But the Blues .

Laws continues to perform live, depending on the occasion, with her siblings as The Laws Family .

Laws incorporated her successfully treated breast cancer in the book Healing Shower .

Discography

Albums

  • 1977: Ain't It Good Feeling Good (Invictus)
  • 1977: Eloise (ABC)
  • 1980: Eloise Laws (Liberty)
  • 1982: All in Time (Capitol)
  • 2000: The Key (Scepterstein)
  • 2003: Secrets (Scepterstein)

Compilations

  • 1999: Love Factory: The Invictus Sessions (Castle)

Individual evidence

  1. ^ [Joel Whitburn: Top R&B Singles 1942-1995 , Record Research Inc., 1996, page 262, ISBN 0-89820-115-2 ]
  2. ↑ [1] Program information, Jet-Magazin, June 10, 1971, page 66
  3. ↑ [2] Harry Belafonte , News, Westbury, Long Island, Billboard Magazine, Dec. 5, 1970, p. 28
  4. ↑ [3] News on hollanddozierholland.com
  5. ^ [Text in the booklet of the CD Love Factory: The Invictus Sessions , 1999, Castle / Sequel]
  6. ↑ [4] Davis, McCoo Reveal Why They Left 5th Dimension , Jet Magazine, Nov. 20, 1975, p. 57
  7. ^ [5] Concert Report, Billboard Magazine, September 16, 1978, p. 29
  8. ↑ http://www.eloiselaws.com/#/healing-shower/4571870029
  9. ↑ http://www.amazon.com/The-Healing-Shower-Eloise-Laws/dp/0988864428

Web links

personal data
SURNAME Laws, Eloise
ALTERNATIVE NAMES Laws, Lavern Eloise (full name)
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soul singer
DATE OF BIRTH 1949
PLACE OF BIRTH Houston , Texas