Earl Grant (January 20, 1931 – June 10, 1970) was an American pianist, organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
Grant was born in Idabel, Oklahoma. Though he would be known later for his keyboards and vocals, Grant also played trumpet and drums. Grant attended four music schools, eventually becoming a music teacher. He augmented his income by performing in clubs during his army service, throughout which he was stationed in Fort Bliss, Texas.[1][2]
Grant signed with Decca Records in 1957 and his first single "The End" reached number 7 on the Billboard Hot 100 charts on October 13, 1958. The album Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites) sold over one million copies, gaining gold disc status.[1] He recorded six more singles that made the charts, including "Swingin' Gently" (from Beyond the Reef), and six additional albums (on the Decca label) through 1968. He also recorded the album Yes Sirree! and the instrumental album Trade Winds, single-tracked on the Hammond organ and piano, featuring the love theme from the film El Cid and Chaplin's "Eternally". This album featured some realistic-sounding "tropical bird calls" produced by his electric organ. "House of Bamboo" was another big-selling single. Grant recorded 30 albums for Decca, mostly on the Brunswick label, a subsidiary of Decca.[2]
Several of his albums featured tenor saxophonist Plas Johnson.[3]
Grant also made a few appearances in films and on television, including Tender Is the Night (1962),[4] Juke Box Rhythm (1959),[5] It Takes a Thief (1969)[6] and The Ed Sullivan Show (1960).[7]
Grant sang the title theme for the 1959 film Imitation of Life.
He died instantly in a car accident in Lordsburg, New Mexico, at the age of 39[1] when the car he was driving ran off Interstate 10.[2] He was driving from Los Angeles to an intended destination in Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for an appearance at the La Fiesta nightclub. His 17-year-old cousin, Roosevelt Woods III, was also killed in the accident.[8]
| Year | Title | Chart positions |
|---|---|---|
| US | ||
| 1961 | Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites) | 7 |
| 1962 | At Basin Street East | 92 |
| Beyond The Reef (And Other Instrumental Favorites) | 17 | |
| 1964 | Just for a Thrill | 149 |
| Fly Me to the Moon | 139 | |
| 1965 | Trade Winds | 192 |
| 1968 | Gently Swingin' | 168 |
| 1969 | Winter Wonderland | 14 |
| Year | Title | Chart positions | Release date | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US | US R&B | ||||
| 1958 | "The End" | 7 | 16 | August 1958 | |
| 1959 | "Evening Rain" | 63 | — | January 1959 | |
| 1960 | "House of Bamboo" | 88 | — | January 1960 | |
| 1962 | "Swingin' Gently" | 44 | — | March 1962 | |
| "Sweet Sixteen Bars" | 55 | 9 | August 1962 | ||
| 1965 | "Stand by Me" | 75 | — | July 1965 | |
| 1966 | "Silver Bells" | —[a] | — | December 1969 | |
