Bobby Powell (born July 25, 1943) – Question (1971)

This phenomenal jam was the B-side to the Southern soul singer/songwriter's anti-war message song "Peace Begins Within."

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Bobby Powell is a soul and gospel singer/songwriter and keyboardist who had a #1 hit on the Cash Box R&B charts in 1966 with a cover of “C.C. Rider.”

Born near Winnfield, Louisiana, the childhood home of former Governor Huey Long, Powell’s parents were both blind and he was born blind as well. He began singing gospel music at age four and playing the piano at six. He attended the Louisiana State School for the Negro Blind at Southern University in Baton Rouge, and sang in various local gospel groups. In the mid-sixties he began recording secular R&B for the Shreveport-based producer Lionel Whitfield, who ran Whit Records.

The B-side to Powell’s second single was a cover of the blues standard “C.C. Rider,” first recorded by Gertrude “Ma” Rainey almost one hundred years ago in October, 1924 with a backing band that included Louis Armstrong on cornet and Fletcher Henderson on piano. Subsequent versions included a #1 R&B cover by Chuck Willis in 1957 and LaVern Baker’s 1963 cover that went to #9 R&B and #34 on the Billboard Hot 100. Powell’s version came out in late 1965 and was an unexpected success, hitting #1 on the Cash Box R&B charts in January, 1966 and peaking at #12 R&B in Billboard’s listings.

His follow up, “It's Getting Late In The Evening” (1965) b/w the self-empowerment anthem “Do Something For Yourself” (which he co-wrote with Whitfield) made it to #36 R&B.

Later in 1966, he released a duet with singer Jackie Johnson, the blues-flavored “I’m Gonna Leave You” with the upbeat jam “Done Got Over” on the flip. The B-side was again co-written by Powell and Whitfield.

Powell released many more singles on Whit over the next few years, a run that ended with funky releases in 1971 including the Sly & the Family Stone cover “Into My Own Thing” and a cover of Myron LeFevre’s gospel-flavored anti-war message song “Peace Begins Within.” The latter’s B-side was the phenomenal, upbeat jam “Question,” another Powell-Whitfield composition.

In 1973, Whitfield produced Powell’s debut album Thank You, which the two of them co-arranged. It was released on Excello, the blues subsidiary of Nashville-based Nashboro Records.

Powell solely wrote several of its cuts, including the funky opening title track, the heartfelt ballad “Try Me,” and its beautiful closing cut “Childhood Days.”

He returned to his gospel roots in the late seventies, and released a few gospel albums starting with Down By The Riverside (1978) on the New Orleans label Hep’ Me Records. In the eighties Powell became a fixture on the Baton Rouge live blues and soul scene, opening for nearly every national artist who toured there. Up until a few years ago, he was known to still be occasionally performing live.

Happy Birthday to the great Bobby Powell.

Further info:

“Bobby Powell – 1973 – Thank You (and more),” Funk My Soul.

#soul #funk #BobbyPowell