Biography of Lloyd Price

Having taken New Orleans by storm in 1952 with his often-covered #1 R&B hit "Lawdy Miss Clawdy" and a raft of sizzling encores, Lloyd Price yearned for new horizons in 1958, when he signed with ABC-Paramount Records. Price wanted to be a pop star, and it didn't take him long to achieve his goal. Price's pleading style worked brilliantly on his initial New Orleans sides for Specialty Records, resulting in a string of 1952-1953 R&B hits, but his later ABC output left the second-line rhythms behind in favor of prominent female choruses and giant supper-club-style horn sections. His socko reading of the old Crescent City chant "Stagger Lee" deservedly topped the R&B and pop lists in 1958, and he followed it with the utterly pop-styled "Personality" and "I'm Gonna Get Married," another pair of R&B #1s that sported no hint of Price's New Orleans roots. As the 60s dawned, Price insisted on interpreting a variety of Tin Pan Alley standards on his albums, although "Come into My Heart" and "Lady Luck," both hits, swung with a brassy, R&B-based drive. Price formed his own Double-L logo in 1963, issuing hits by Wilson Pickett and one for himself -- a Vegas-oriented treatment of "Misty." Price seemed to prefer the business end of show biz after that, rather than focusing on his singing career. ~ Bill Dahl