Lowrell Simon

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Lowrell Simon (born March 18, 1943 in Chicago , Illinois , † June 19, 2018 in Newton , Mississippi ) was an American soul singer and songwriter . He was successful as the lead singer for The Lost Generation and solo under his first name. His biggest hit was Mellow, Mellow Right On (1979).

biography

Simon attended Philips High on Chicago's Southside. With some school friends from his high school and from Dunbar High, he founded the vocal group LaVondells in 1964 , which was renamed The Vondells that same year and had a regional hit with Lenora . In 1965 the band split up.

In 1969, Simon was one of the founding members of the singing group The Lost Generation, along with his brother Fred and a few other musicians . In the song The Sly, Slick, and the Wicked , which was released as a debut single , he was also involved as a songwriter in addition to his role as lead singer. The title became a hit on the Billboard R&B (# 14) and pop charts (# 30). After three more placements in the R&B charts, the formation broke up in 1974. That year, Simon worked as a producer and writer on the soundtrack for the film Drei eiskalte Profis (OT: Three the Hard Way ), which was released on Curtis Mayfield 's Curtom label as an album by the R&B band The Impressions and reached number 26 on the R&B charts managed.

Simon made his solo debut, who from now until 1980 published exclusively under his first name Lowrell, in 1978 with the single Overdose of Love . The song placed in the R&B charts at the end of the year and reached number 89. In the fall of the following year, Lowrell released the track Mellow, Mellow Right On , which comes from the pen of The Lost Generation bandmate Larry Brownlee. The single became Simon's greatest success, reaching number 32 on the US R&B charts and number 37 in the UK . With You're Playing Dirty , he had another small R&B hit in 1980 (# 87). The three songs, released as a single, can also be found on the 1979 album Lowrell .

In 1981, Simon, who now appeared under his full name, achieved another success in the R&B hit list. The single Love Massage made it to number 58 and was his last chart hit. As a songwriter, Simon was involved in, among others, Keep on Playing the Music by Mystique (1977) and All About the Paper by Loleatta Holloway (1979).

Discography

Albums

  • 1979: Lowrell (AVI 6070)

Singles

year Title
album 		Top ranking, total weeks, awardChart placementsChart placements
(Year, title, album , rankings, weeks, awards, notes) 		Remarks
UK UK R&B R&B
1978 Overdose of Love
Lowrell 		- R&B89 (3 weeks)
R&B
First published: October 1978
Authors: Lowrell Simon, Albert Tribble
1979 Mellow, Mellow Right On
Lowrell 		UK37 (9 weeks)
UK 		R&B32 (15 weeks)
R&B
First published: September 1979
Authors: Larry Brownlee, Gus Redmond,
Jeffrey Simon, Fred Simon
1980 You're Playing Dirty
Lowrell 		- R&B87 (3 weeks)
R&B
First published: May 1980
Authors: Lowrell Simon, Albert Tribble
1981 Love massage - R&B58 (10 weeks)
R&B
First published: November 1981
as Lowrell Simon
Authors: Lowrell Simon, Jimmy Levine

Trivia

Mellow, Mellow Right On was often used as a sample , for example Lately by Massive Attack (1991), Mellow by Prince Markie Dee (1995) and Reminding Me (Of Sef) by Common (1997).

Web links

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ Aaron Cohen: Lowrell Simon, famed Chicago soul singer-songwriter, this at 75. In: Chicago Tribune . June 20, 2018, archived from the original on June 21, 2018 ; accessed on June 21, 2018 (English).
  2. ↑ Chart sources: UK / Joel Whitburn : Hot R&B Songs 1942–2010: 6th Edition, ISBN 978-0-89820-186-4
personal data
SURNAME Simon, Lowrell
BRIEF DESCRIPTION American soul singer and songwriter
DATE OF BIRTH March 18, 1943
PLACE OF BIRTH Chicago
DATE OF DEATH 19th June 2018
Place of death Newton (Mississippi)