Anthem alert! If the chorus to this gorgeously sweet tune doesn't get stuck in your head for the rest of the day, I'd be very surprised.
From Memphis, Percy Wiggins grew up singing gospel in church and also graduated in the same class as soul legends David Porter and Maurice White. (Read an excellent in depth piece on Percy here).
While attending college in Nashville, Percy hooked up with guitarist Larry Lee (who went on to play Woodstock with Jimi Hendrix, where he was practically written out of history in this role as his guitar work was all but mixed out of the recording and he wasn't seen in the film. Thankfully for bootleg recordings we can hear Larry's beautiful tune "Mastermind" performed by Larry, Hendrix and band at the festival, along with a lovely version of 'Gypsy Woman").
Percy and Larry's group became quite active on the Nashville scene, and their success brought them into Bradley's Barn studio for sessions that were released on this RCA single. After a few more years of recording (he also cut sides for Atco and Abet Records), Percy went back to his Memphis high school where he continued his career as a history teacher.
Thankfully, his incredible voice has been preserved forever on a handful of 45's.
from 1966...
PERCY WIGGINS - IT DIDN'T TAKE MUCH (FOR ME TO FALL IN LOVE)
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1 comment:
Percy has been performing recently in Memphis with the Bo-Keys (he's featured on their newest album) . . . it seems like i might have some pics of him at a local show . . . i might have to dig those out :)
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