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
Tobacco Road
Lou Rawls Lyrics
Jump to: Overall Meaning ↴ Line by Line Meaning ↴
My mama died and my daddy got drunk
He left me here to die or grow
In the middle of Tobacco Road
I grew up in a rusty shack
All I owned was hangin' on my back
The Lord knows, how I loathe
But it's a home, yeah
The only life I'll ever know
And the Lord knows, I loathe
Tobacco Road, yeah
I'm gonna leave and get a job
With the help and the grace from above
Save my money and get rich I know
And bring it back to Tobacco Road
Bring dynamite and a crane
Blow it up and start all over again
And I'll build a town, I'll be proud to show
And keep the name, Tobacco Road
'Cause it's a home, yeah, yeah
The only life I'll ever know
And despise you called you filthy but I love it
But I love you because you're my home
Hey, Tobacco Road, Tobacco Road
Now you're dirty and you're filthy
Tobacco Road
I'm gonna get me some dynamite
And I'll bring me a crane
And then blow it up
I'll tear down and start out all over again
Tobacco Road, Tobacco Road
And I love you, yeah
Because you're my home
But you're dirty and you're filthy
Tobacco Road
I'm gonna blow you up
I'm gonna tear you down
And I'll build me a town
That I will be proud to show
But I'll keep the name
I'm gonna keep the name
I'm gonna keep the name
A Tobacco Road, a Tobacco Road
Tobacco Road, road, road, road
I'm talkin' 'bout
Tobacco Road, road, oh yeah
The song Tobacco Road, originally written by John D. Loudermilk and later popularized by Lou Rawls, tells the story of a man who is from a place that he despises but also loves because it is all he has ever known. The first stanza describes the circumstances of his birth and upbringing in a rundown shack, abandoned by his father and left to fend for himself in the middle of the squalor that is Tobacco Road. The place symbolizes poverty, despair, and hopelessness. Yet, despite all this, the singer has a sense of attachment to the place, for it is the only home he has ever known.
In the second stanza, the singer reveals his desire to leave Tobacco Road, get a job, save money, and come back and rebuild the place. However, he acknowledges that it will require massive effort to make that dream a reality. He envisions using dynamite and a crane to tear down the old buildings and start anew, but he will still keep the name Tobacco Road as a sign of the place's rebirth. This final act of transformation is the singer's way of reconciling his love and hate relationship with the place, by making it better than it ever was before.
Line by Line Meaning
'Cause I was born in a dump
I was born in a very poor and unpleasant place.
My mama died and my daddy got drunk
After my mother died, my father became an alcoholic.
He left me here to die or grow
My father abandoned me in the hope that I would either die or manage to survive on my own.
In the middle of Tobacco Road
The specific location where I was left by my father is known as Tobacco Road.
I grew up in a rusty shack
I spent my childhood living in a rundown and dilapidated shack.
All I owned was hangin' on my back
Because I was so poor, everything I owned had to be carried on my back.
The Lord knows, how I loathe
I really hate living in this place.
This place called, Tobacco Road
The location I am referring to is known as Tobacco Road.
But it's a home, yeah
Despite its flaws, this place is still my home.
The only life I'll ever know
This place is the only life I have ever known.
And the Lord knows, I loathe
I really do hate living in Tobacco Road.
Tobacco Road, yeah
This place is called Tobacco Road.
I'm gonna leave and get a job
I plan on leaving this place and finding a better job elsewhere.
With the help and the grace from above
I am hoping to receive divine help and guidance when leaving Tobacco Road.
Save my money and get rich I know
I plan on saving my money and becoming rich at some point in the future.
And bring it back to Tobacco Road
After becoming rich, I plan on returning to Tobacco Road with my newfound wealth.
Bring dynamite and a crane
I plan on destroying the current structures in Tobacco Road using explosive charges and a crane.
Blow it up and start all over again
After demolishing the structures in Tobacco Road, I plan on rebuilding the town from scratch.
And I'll build a town, I'll be proud to show
I will construct a town that I can show off to others with pride.
And keep the name, Tobacco Road
Despite rebuilding the town, I plan on keeping the old name of Tobacco Road.
'Cause it's a home, yeah, yeah
This place will always be my home, no matter how much I hate it.
And despise you called you filthy but I love it
Despite being filthy and rundown, I still love this place.
But I love you because you're my home
Despite its flaws, I love Tobacco Road because it is my home.
Hey, Tobacco Road, Tobacco Road
I am addressing Tobacco Road directly.
Now you're dirty and you're filthy
Tobacco Road is dirty and rundown.
I'm gonna get me some dynamite
I plan on obtaining explosive charges to destroy the current structures in Tobacco Road.
And I'll bring me a crane
I plan on using a crane to help demolish the structures in Tobacco Road.
And then blow it up
I plan on demolishing the structures in Tobacco Road using explosive charges.
I'll tear down and start out all over again
After demolishing the structures in Tobacco Road, I plan on rebuilding the town from scratch.
And I love you, yeah
Despite its flaws, I still love Tobacco Road.
Because you're my home
Tobacco Road will always be my home.
But you're dirty and you're filthy
Despite being my home, Tobacco Road is still dirty and rundown.
Tobacco Road, road, road, road
I am repeating the name of Tobacco Road.
I'm talkin' 'bout
I am referring to.
Tobacco Road, road, oh yeah
Again, I am referring to Tobacco Road.
Lyrics © Universal Music Publishing Group, Sony/ATV Music Publishing LLC, Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: John D. Loudermilk
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
@komiczar
Before, "Papa was a Rollin Stone."
There was this song.
The most significant lyrics are reflective of the focused channeling of Spiritually constructive, and compassionate reasoning, rooted in development and improvement, of ones own self, circumstances, and environment.
He observes the situation develops a planned remedy, that includes keeping the name "Tobacco Road."
Just Being Natural.
@dbrown9495
Didn't know Lou sung down home blues!! Right On Lou!!
@chocolatecitygemini3832
Soulful Lou Rawls!!
One of Black America's All-time Greats!!
RIP!! Bruh!!
Frfr!!
🗣♊️👤Rising
@dresqueda
I have this album. It was a gift for my 8th birthday. I had fantastic parents.
@lancemetta5052
I’m 16 and so glad I found this in 2020, his voice is just amazing
@rudestrudedog
I met him when I was 5 years old (45 years ago) in Acapulco. He was staying at the same hotel. My mom told me "he's the guy that sings that song I love." His voice is awesome.
@dainawilliams978
I heard this was my grandmother favorite song I never met her so I fell very connected to her listening to it
@lancemetta5052
@@dainawilliams978 I feel the same way when I hear about my grandfather’s taste in music! Listening to it makes me feel as if he’s smiling with me.
@tinagreen7502
Search Aretha Franklin "My Song." Beautiful.
@victorvernon2507
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@carlbowles1808
My favorite Lou Rawls song. His manly soulful voice and delivery is unequaled. Know someone better? Show him to me.