It is being reported that Bobby Caldwell died yesterday aged 71. He has not
been well for several years and unable to walk, apparently due to a
bad reaction to antibiotics which caused a ruptured Achilles tendon
leading to neuropathy. His wife posted the announcement on Caldwell's official Twitter account.
Stating the obvious, he is best know for his 1978 hit "What You
Won't Do For Love" (#6 R&B / #9 Hot 100) and the lesser hit
1980 "Coming Down From Love". His biggest hit has been covered
so many times, Second Hand Songs lists just over fifty but there are
many more than that as even a cursory search on the blog revealed
around nine that aren't listed that have been released in the last
two years alone. (i.e. Temica Key, Saucy Lady, Savannah Christina, FF Edits, Roneice Levias, Joyce sims, Judith N Benoit, Soultry, Snoh Aalegra)
If you haven't already, and own the single, flip it over for a good
70s modern soul dancer. The flip side to his second
charting single ("Can't Say Goodbye") "Down For The Third Time" is
regarded as a jazz/funk classic in the UK.
Caldwell was born in Manhattan, NYC, but raised in Miami and
registered nine R&B chart hits between 1978 and 1996 with three of them crossing over to the Hot 100 (the two mentioned above
along with "All Of My Love" (1982)) and another three just outside.
Between 1978 and 2015 he produced fifteen studio and two live albums.
After learning to play piano and guitar aged 12 he later became a bassist
for Katmandu who got a break after working with Little Richard and
recorded a self-titled album for Mainstream Records in 1971.
Caldwell left the group to pursue a solo career and after six years of
trying to get a break in L.A. he signed to Henry Stone's T.K. set up in Miami. The
legend is that after recording his first album Stone sent him back
into the studio to record some new songs as he said that he didn't
hear a hit on the album and shortly afterwards "What What You Won't Do For Love" was written and recorded.
In the mid 90s he portrayed Frank Sinatra in tributes to The Rat Pack in Las Vegas so it's no surprise that
he turned to crooning and released many albums of jazz standard since
then.
Album Discography
Studio Albums
1978 - Bobby Caldwell
1980 - Cat in the Hat
1982 - Carry On
1983 - August Moon
1989 - Heart of Mine
1991 - Stuck on You
1993 - Where Is Love
1995 - Soul Survivor
1996 - Blue Condition
1999 - Come Rain or Shine
2005 - Perfect Island Nights
2010 - The Consummate Caldwell
2012 - House of Cards
2014 - After Dark
2015 - Cool Uncle
Live Albums
1996 - Live & More
2007 - Live at the Blue Note Tokyo
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