Lou Rawls, who learned of gospel music through his grandmother in Chicago, became a successful singer, primarily from the 1950s through the 1980s. He was a high school classmate of music giant Sam Cooke, and they sang together in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a '50s gospel group.
After graduating from Chicago's Dunbar Vocational High School, he sang briefly with Cooke in the Teenage Kings of Harmony, a local gospel group, and then with the Holy Wonders. In 1951, Rawls replaced Cooke in the Highway QC's after Cooke departed to join The Soul Stirrers in Los Angeles. Rawls was soon recruited by the Chosen Gospel Singers and himself moved to Los Angeles, where he subsequently joined the Pilgrim Travelers
After graduating from Chicago's Dunbar Vocational Career Academy, Rawls enlisted in the U.S. Army as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division. He left the "All-Americans" three years later as a sergeant, and hooked up with The Pilgrim Travelers as he traveled to Los Angeles. In 1958, while touring the South with the Travelers and Sam Cooke, Rawls was in a serious car crash. Rawls was pronounced dead before arriving at the hospital, where he stayed in a coma for five and a half days. It took him months to regain his memory, and a year to fully recuperate. Rawls considered the event to be life-changing.
Alongside Dick Clark as master of ceremonies, Rawls was recovered enough by 1959 to be able to perform at the Hollywood Bowl. He was signed to Capitol Records in 1962, the same year he sang the soulful background vocals on the Sam Cooke recording of "Bring it on Home to Me." Rawls himself charted with a cover of the song in 1970 (with the title shortened to "Bring It On Home").
Rawls' first Capitol solo release was Stormy Monday (a.k.a. I'd Rather Drink Muddy Water), a jazz album. On August 21, 1966, he opened for The Beatles at Crosley Field in Cincinnati.
Though his 1966 album Live! went gold, Rawls would not have a star-making hit until he made a proper soul album, appropriately named Soulin', later that same year. The album contained his first R&B #1 single, "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing". In 1967 Rawls won his first Grammy Award for Best R&B Vocal Performance, for the single "Dead End Street."
In 1969, the singer was co-host of NBC's summer replacement series for the Dean Martin Show along with Martin's daughter, singer Gail Martin.
After leaving Capitol in 1971, Rawls joined MGM, at which juncture he released his Grammy-winning single "Natural Man." He had a brief stint with Bell Records in 1974, where he recorded a cover of Hall & Oates' "She's Gone." In 1976, Rawls signed with Philadelphia International Records, where he had his greatest album success with the million-selling All Things in Time. The album produced his most successful single, "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine", which topped the R&B and Adult Contemporary charts and went to number two on the pop side, becoming Rawls' only certified million-selling single in the process.
Subsequent albums, such as 1977's When You've Heard Lou, You've Heard It All yielded such hit singles as "Lady Love". Other releases in the 1970s included the classic album Sit Down And Talk To Me.
In 1982, Rawls received a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame.
On the night of September 29, 1977, Rawls performed the national anthem of the United States prior to the Earnie Shavers-Muhammad Ali title fight at Madison Square Garden. He would be requested to sing the anthem many times over the next 28 years, and his final performance of it came on October 23, 2005. The crowd at that performance may not have known that Rawls was extremely ill with cancer, but he reportedly delivered an electrifying performance to kick off Game Two of the 2005 World Series between the Chicago White Sox and Houston Astros.
In 1980, Rawls began the "Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon" which benefits the United Negro College Fund. The annual event, known since 1998 as "An Evening of Stars: A Celebration of Educational Excellence", consists of stories of successful African-American students who have benefited from and/or graduated from one of the many historically black colleges and universities who receive support from the UNCF, along with musical performances from various recording artists in support of the UNCF's and Rawls' efforts. The event has raised over US$200 million in 27 shows for the fund through 2006.
In January 2004, Rawls was honored by the United Negro College Fund for his more than 25 years of charity work with the organization. Instead of hosting and performing as he usually did, Rawls was given the seat of honor and celebrated by his performing colleagues, including Stevie Wonder, The O'Jays, Gerald Levert, Ashanti, and many others. His final television performance occurred during the 2005-2006 edition of the telethon, honoring Stevie Wonder in September 2005, just months before entering the hospital and after having been diagnosed with cancer earlier in the year. This program, aired in January, 2006, contains his final public television performance, where he performed two classics, "You Are the Sunshine of My Life," and a final ode to Frank Sinatra with, "It Was A Very Good Year."
At the time of Rawls' death, news and UNCF figures noted the significance of Rawls' final performance, "It Was a Very Good Year." The song is a retrospective of one's life and its lyrics include, "When I was seventeen, it was a very good year. It was a very good year for small town girls and soft summer nights...And now those days grow short, it is the autumn of years, and now I think about life as vintage wine from fine old kegs, from the brim to the dregs, it pours sweet and clear, it was a very good year."
Rawls appeared in a segment of the first season of Sesame Street, to sing the alphabet. He dismissed the concept of using cue cards for the performance, but reversed such decision when he forgot the order of the letters.
Throughout Rawls' singing career, he had the opportunity to appear in many films, television shows, and commercials. He can be seen in such films as Leaving Las Vegas, Blues Brothers 2000, and Angel, Angel, Down We Go. He had a supporting role in the Baywatch spin-off, Baywatch Nights. He also appeared in the western television series, Big Valley, (starring legend Barbara Stanwyck, along with Lee Majors and Linda Evans) where he played a hired hand. Here, he delivered the memorial line: "Ain't a horse that can't be rode; ain't a man that can't be throwed".
Rawls lent his rich baritone voice to many cartoons, including Hey Arnold! as the voice of Harvey The Mailman, Garfield, and The Proud Family. For many of the Film Roman Garfield specials, Rawls would often compose songs for them, which he would then sing usually doing a duet with Desiree Goyette. He also was famously in American sitcom The Fresh Prince of Bel Air.
For many years, he was a spokesperson for the Colonial Penn Life Insurance Company. He was also a spokesman for Budweiser, helping promote the brand on radio and TV to African-American markets much as Ed McMahon did for the white audience. Budweiser was a key sponsor for the Rawls telethon and UNCF.
Rawls was also a regular guest host on "Jazz Central", a program aired on the BET Jazz cable channel.
He appears as "Dr. Rawls" in a dream on an episode My Wife and Kids, where he breaks into a parody version of "You'll Never Find", which a frightened Damon Wayans is afraid of having a colonoscopy the following day. Rawls uses the scope as a microphone in the scene. Rawls appears as a commentator in the second half of the unrated commentary of Anchorman: The Legend of Ron Burgundy.
Rawls was also a guest star during the second season of The Muppet Show. He also made a brief appearance on the series finale of Martin. (The show's character Tommy is excited to see Lou Rawls at Nipsey's and mentioned that his favorite song is "Natural Man." Lou replied that he received a letter from a female claiming that she and her boyfriend broke up because of the song. This eludes to the episode where Tommy and Pam decide to move in together, but winded up fighting and ultimately breaking up because Tommy played the song "Natural Man" so much that it drove Pam crazy.)
The following is a list of Lou Rawls singles that made the top 50 on the Billboard Hot 100. His first Hot 100 entry was "Three O'Clock in the Morning" in 1965, and his final was "Wind Beneath My Wings" in 1983. In addition to those two, nine other singles peaked at positions below the top 50 on the Hot 100, and additional singles reached the R&B, Adult Contemporary and Bubbling Under charts.
* "Love Is a Hurtin' Thing" - 1966, #13 (also #1 R&B)
* "Dead End Street" - 1967, #29
* "Show Business" - 1967, #45
* "Your Good Thing (Is About to End)" - 1969, #18
* "A Natural Man" - 1971, #17
* "You'll Never Find Another Love Like Mine" - 1976, #2 (also #1 R&B and #1 Adult Contemporary); certified Gold for sales of one million copies
* "Lady Love" - 1978, #24
Come Fly With Me
Lou Rawls Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
If you can use some exotic booze
There's a bar in far Bombay
Come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru
In llama land there's a one-man band
And he'll toot his flute for you
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near
You may hear all the angels cheer 'cause we're together
Weather-wise it's such a lovely day
Just say the words and we'll beat the birds
Down to Acapulco Bay
It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
[Instrumental]
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so very near
You may even hear a whole gang cheer 'cause we're together
Weather-wise it's such a cool cool day
You just say those words and we'll beat the birds
Down to Acapulco Bay
It's so perfect for a flying honeymoon, oh babe
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly
Pack up, let's fly away!!
And don't tell your mamma!!
The lyrics to Lou Rawls’ “Come Fly With Me” narrate a longing for adventure and new experiences. The song invites somebody to come fly with him to faraway exotic places such as Bombay and Peru, and even mentions a llama band in Peru that will play their music. The lyrics urge the subject to join him in the skies, where the air is rarefied and will make them feel a sense of bliss and happiness. The song makes promises of holding the subject so close that they would hear the angels cheer, and together, they will ‘glide, starry-eyed.’ He continues to woo the subject, mentioning how it’s a perfect day for a flying honeymoon in Acapulco Bay.
Overall, the song is a romantic and adventurous invitation to take a break from reality and live out one's dreams in the sky with the person they love. The lyrics evoke a feeling of freedom and excitement, making the listener feel like they too are on this flying adventure.
Line by Line Meaning
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
Let's go on a romantic adventure together!
If you can use some exotic booze
If you're in the mood for some unique alcohol
There's a bar in far Bombay
There's a place to find what you're looking for in Bombay
Come on and fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
Let's go on an adventure together!
Come fly with me, let's float down to Peru
Let's take a trip to Peru, by air
In llama land there's a one-man band
There's a musician in Peru who plays all by himself
And he'll toot his flute for you
He'll play his instrument specially for you
Come on fly with me, let's take off in the blue
Let's go together up in the sky!
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied
Once we're above on the rarefied air level
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
We'll glide with ease and excitement
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so near
Once we're up high, I'll hold you really close to me
You may hear all the angels cheer 'cause we're together
You may feel that the world is blessing our love
Weather-wise it's such a lovely day
The weather is just perfect for a great day
Just say the words and we'll beat the birds
Just say you're in and we'll leave the birds behind
Down to Acapulco Bay
We'll fly down to beautiful Acapulco Bay
It's perfect for a flying honeymoon, they say
It's a great destination for a romantic journey, people say
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly away
Let's go on an adventure together!
[Instrumental]
Musical interlude
Once I get you up there where the air is rarefied
Once we're above on the rarefied air level
We'll just glide, starry-eyed
We'll glide with ease and excitement
Once I get you up there I'll be holding you so very near
Once we're up high, I'll hold you closely
You may even hear a whole gang cheer 'cause we're together
People may cheer for us being together
Weather-wise it's such a cool cool day
The weather is perfect today!
You just say those words and we'll beat the birds
Just give me the word, and we'll fly out like a bird
Down to Acapulco Bay
We'll fly down to beautiful Acapulco Bay
It's so perfect for a flying honeymoon, oh babe
It's a great destination for a romantic journey, dear
Come fly with me, let's fly, let's fly
Let's go on an adventure together!
Pack up, let's fly away!!
Let's go! Let's leave everything behind and go on an adventure!
And don't tell your mamma!!
Let's keep it a secret, just between us!
Lyrics © CONCORD MUSIC PUBLISHING LLC
Written by: Jimmy Van Heusen, Sammy Cahn
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@miltonesuarezm338
I'm still enjoy this one in 2024...
@hennyyenny5149
Me...now already February 2024...Still Listening this songs...Love it..❤😂
@zuzannawisniewska4464
Rest in enternal peace Lou Rawls, Born December 1, 1933 in Chicago, Illinois, died January 6, 2023, Los Angeles, California....memory from Fresno, CA.
@crystalhoffler
2006 Google it
@malcolmlonewolf9621
When his voice start singing you could have a bad day or a bad week and he can turn your bad day into Sunshine flowers birds chirping people barbecuing💯
@red19700
I ❤this Song 🔥 Still!!!!
@swapmeetsheriffdonknottexp3046
Gives me chills every time. Reminds menwhen inwas a kid my uncle was fresh out of NAM and we would go cruising pick up sum weed meet his homies they bought me ice cream then my other uncles band would play old is in my grandma garage gramps came home buzzed dancing with grandma and if cant even finish the story. To hard. Sorry
@winstonbergan671
This brother's voice was truly a gift from God.
@theresabrown1604
Beautiful voice! Need more music like this today.
@yvonnevanommen-klaassen1731
Great singer beautyful song love it