R.I.P. Winfield Parker (20 Jun 1942 - 18 Jan 2021)

A name probably not known to many but the most ardent of soul listeners passed away on 18 Jan 2020 aged 78. 

I first became aware of him via a 1971 45 on Spring which was a cover of Edwin Starr's 'S.O.S. (Stop Her On Sight)' but had a better track on the flip 'I'm On My Way'.  This record was his only chart entry reaching #48 on US R&B chart.

Prior to that 45 he'd released several singles on various labels Ru-Jac, Atco, Arctic and Wand between 1963-1970.  One picked up by the NS scene was his second Ru-Jac 45  from 1966 'I Love You Just The Same' / 'My Love', the former being played at The Torch and the latter at Cleethorpes Pier/Winter Gardens.  His Atco 45 was a national release of his second Ru-Jac 45 'Sweet Little Girl' (co-written by Arthur Conley and Ru-Jac owner Rufus Mitchell) / 'What Do You Say?'. His third Ru-Jac 45 had a stomper 'She's So Pretty' flipped with a deep doo-wop/soul ballad 'Oh My Love'.

He formed a group called Best Of Both Worlds who recorded an album 'I Want The World To Know' on Calla in 1975 from which one single was released.  A track from that album that has been a long time favourite is 'Lost In The Shuffle Of Love'.

His last secular recording on P&L (his own label P(arker) & L(yles) his manager at the time) 'I Wanna Be With You' is a modern soul anthem in the UK. The top side was a re-recording of his first single on Ru-Jac in 1963 which I suspect was far too dated to make any impact in 1979.  In the 80s he turned to gospel music.

He was interviewed by David Cole (author of 'In The Basement' magazine) in 2004. You can read the interview which was posted on his website WinfieldParker.

A really interesting story is that he was originally scheduled to record the classic 'Sweet Soul Music' but he was sent to Cincinatti instead of Muscles Shoals, Alabama. Arthur Conley (who used to open for Parker at his shows in Baltimore) was already at Muscles Shoals so he got the gig!  Just imagine what might have happened to his career had he recorded that song!