Frederick Knight is celebrating his 77th birthday today.
His only UK hit and only Billboard Hot 100 hit was "I've Been Lonely For
So Long" in 1972. The song was actually recorded first by Rita & The
Soulettes as a reggae version in 1971. Rita was Rita Marley wife of Bob
Marley.
A song of his that has always stuck in my mind is one he wrote with Sam
Dees (which has got his signature all through it) and recorded in 1975 on Stax subsidiary Truth (which was posted a
month or so back recorded by Ben E. King), is "I Betcha Didn't Know
That". KC & The Sunshine Band also covered it in 1979 as the flip side
to "Please Don't Go" which was a #3 UK pop chart hit. There are a also few
other versions.
When Stax folded in 1975 Knight set up his own label Juana writing for
and producing The Controllers. The label hit pay dirt with a disco song
"Ring My Bell" he wrote for Anita Ward which was a world-wide #1 hit in
1979. Not his finest song, which was originally written for a 12 year old
Stacy Lattisaw but she chose to sign for Cotillion so the song was given
to Anita Ward.
Another killer song written by Knight & Dees was "Drop My Heart Off At
The Door" recorded by Barbara Hall on the flip to her Northern/Modern soul
biggie "You Brought It On Yourself" in Jun 1975. It was produced by Chicago soul legends Major Lance and Otis Leavill. Ben E. King recorded it as an album
track only ("Supernatural Thing") in US but it gained a UK single release as the flip to "Happiness Is Where You
Find It" in 1975. I'm not sure which was first but would guess Ben E. King.
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1 comment:
Happy birthday to this great gentleman who we find with happiness everywhere!!!
Yves
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