R.I.P. - Bobby Caldwell (15 Aug 1951 - 14 Mar 2023)

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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