Leroy Hutson | |
|---|---|
| Born | June 4, 1945 Newark, New Jersey, U.S. |
| Genres | Funk, R&B, soul, Chicago soul, smooth soul, jazz |
| Occupation(s) | Songwriter, musician, arranger, producer |
| Instrument(s) | Vocals, piano, keyboards, clavinet, saxophone |
| Years active | 1970s–1990s |
| Labels | Curtom Warner Bros. Elektra Triumph, Kapp Acid Jazz Records |
| Website | Official website |
Leroy Hutson (born June 4, 1945) is an American soul and R&B singer, songwriter, arranger, producer and instrumentalist, best known as former lead singer of R&B vocal group The Impressions.
His music concerns 1970s soul, as noted in the June 29, 2006 issue of Rolling Stone magazine. He is the father of producer JR Hutson.[1][2][3][full citation needed]
As a teenager, Hutson formed the Nu-Tones, a four-man vocal group based in New Jersey. They won several talent shows during his high school years.[4] The other members of the Nu-Tones were Ronald King, Bernard Ransom, Ed Davis, and Irving Jenkins.
In 1968, as part of the duo Sugar & Spice, Lee Hutson and Deborah Rollins recorded for Kapp Records. They recorded several singles with some success. Their single "In Love Forever" ranked the "Best New Record Of The Week" in the local newspaper column "Soul Sauce". Two other singles recorded were "Ah Ha Yeah" and "Dreams".
Initially attending Howard University in Washington D.C. to study dentistry, Hutson was room-mates with Donny Hathaway who left college early in order to be Curtis Mayfield's musical director, Hutson then chose to switch his college major to music theory and composition. It is through Hathaway that Hutson then came to replace Curtis in The Impressions.[5]
At Howard University, Hutson joined The Mayfield Singers, a group put together on Howard's campus by musician Curtis Mayfield that performed at New York's famed Apollo Theater and Philadelphia's Uptown Theater. The group released one single for Mayfield in 1967.
There, Hutson collaborated with Donny Hathaway on "The Ghetto", giving the late recording star his first hit record in early 1970.
In 1971, three months out of college, Hutson was asked to replace Curtis Mayfield as the lead singer of The Impressions. He stayed with them for two-and-a-half years and recorded two albums with the group, before amicably leaving to pursue his own career as a writer, producer, arranger, and musician.
The first Impressions single to feature Hutson as lead vocalist was entitled "Love Me", released on Curtom Records in North America in June 1971.
On August 27, 2013, Hutson, filed a complaint against Young Jeezy and others alleging that Young Jeezy's song "Time" inappropriately incorporated the instrumental portion of The Impressions "Getting it On," which was registered with the United States Copyright Office in 1973.[6]
In 1973 Hutson wrote, produced, arranged and recorded his first solo album, Love Oh Love, featuring the single "So In Love With You". It was released on Curtom Records.
Between the period of 1973 until 1992 Hutson recorded eight albums and charted with thirteen singles in the U.S.[7] Because of this he has developed a cult following on the soul scene. After Love Oh Love, Hutson went on to release The Man!, Hutson, Feel the Spirit, Hutson II, Closer to the Source and Unforgettable. Hutson's last 12", the Share Your Love EP, was released via the UK's Expansion Records.
In 2008, Hutson returned to recording under the name Lee Hutson, issuing an album Soothe You Groove You on his own Triumph label and via download. Two years later, in August 2010, Hutson made his comeback to European stages, performing at Suncebeat Festival in Zadar, Croatia, at Vintage at Goodwood Festival and at Indigo2 in London. He was backed by the British group The Third Degree.
As of 2017, Hutson's work is now licensed by British independent record label Acid Jazz Records,[8] who released an Anthology LP featuring his bigger hits such as "I Think I'm Falling In Love", "Lucky Fellow" and "Don't It Make You Feel Good" as well as previously unreleased track "Positive Forces", which featured an instrumental of "All Because of You" on the B side.[9] They then went on to release another unreleased single, "Now That I Found You".[10]
In February 2018 they re-issued both Hutson and Hutson II and are currently in the process of releasing a four-part online documentary entitled Leroy Hutson: The Man!,[11] which features contributions from long-time fans of Hutson's such as actor and radio DJ Craig Charles and Acid Jazz founder and managing director Eddie Piller. Piller is said to have based his own music production style on that of Hutson's,[12] and uses the instrumental track "Cool Out" as the opening track for his current radio show, Eddie Piller's Eclectic Soul Show.
Consistently touring through the late 1970s and 1980s, Hutson also lent his musicality to production work with fellow Curtom artists Linda Clifford, Arnold Blair, and The Natural Four.
As a writer/producer, he has worked for Roberta Flack ("Tryin' Times", "Gone Away"), The Natural Four ("You Bring Out the Best in Me", "Can This Be Real"), Linda Clifford, Voices of East Harlem ("Giving Love"), Arnold Blair ("Trying to Get Next to You"), and Next Movement ("Let's Work It Out"), while more recently one of his own cult singles "Lucky Fellow" was covered by Snowboy on Acid Jazz records.
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - singles
| Year | Single | Chart | Chart position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1973 | "Love Oh Love" | Black Singles | 75 |
| "When You Smile" | Black Singles | 81 | |
| 1974 | "Ella Weez" | Black Singles | 81 |
| 1975 | "All Because of You" | Black Singles | 31 |
| "Can't Stay Away" | Black Singles | 66 | |
| 1976 | "Feel the Spirit" | Disco Singles | 5 |
| Black Singles | 25 | ||
| "Lover's Holiday" | Black Singles | 68 | |
| 1977 | "Blackberry Jam" | Black Singles | 82 |
| "I Do, I Do (Want to Make Love to You)" | Black Singles | 55 | |
| 1978 | "In the Mood" | Black Singles | 56 |
| "Where Did Love Go" | Black Singles | 45 | |
| 1979 | "Right or Wrong" | Black Singles | 47 |
Billboard Music Charts (North America) - album
| Year | Album | Chart | Chart position |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1974 | The Man! | Black Albums | 36 |
| 1975 | Hutson | Black Albums | 46 |
| 1976 | Feel the Spirit | Black Albums | 21 |
| Pop Albums | 170 | ||
| 1977 | Hutson II | Black Albums | 26 |
| 1979 | Unforgettable | Black Albums | 69 |
