by Teri Vance

Created on: May 24, 2008

The Greatest Male R&B singers .........

Submitted for your perusal, I give you eleven of the most influential men, in the history of not only R&B, but also in the history of Rock and Roll. These men, are the ones who were able to start breaking down the barriers that separates people, because of color, religion and social status. These men are the very foundation of the R&B genre. They are who every other, that came after, have aspired to be, and in reality, will never have the ability to attain.

Otis Redding - 9/9/1941 - 12/10/1967
Essential recordings: (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay
I've Been Loving You To Long
Respect
Hard To Handle
Try A Little Tenderness
Otis was born in Dawson, Georgia, and his family moved to Macon Georgia when he was five years old. His brief career, was tragically cut short, when he, his manager, four members of his back-up band and the pilot of his chartered plane, were killed when the plane crashed, during a storm, into Lake Minona, enroute to a concert in Madison, Wisconsin. The actual cause of the crash was never determined. Otis is interred on his private ranch, in Round Oak, Georgia, 23 miles north of Macon.
The song most attributted to Otis, (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, was recorded four days before his untimely death. He considered the song to be unfinished, and he intended to write another verse of lyrics, for the last verse of the song, which he whistled during the recording. The song was released in January 1968, with the whistled last verse intact. (Sittin' On) The Dock of the Bay, posthumously, became his only #1 single.
Otis Redding was inducted into the Rock and Roll hall of Fame in 1989.

Smokey Robinson - 2/19/1940 -
Essential recordings: The Tracks of My Tears
Tears of a Clown
Ooh Baby, Baby
I Second That Emotion
You Really Got A Hold On ME
Cruisin'
Smokey was born and raised in Detroit, Michigan. If there were anyone as synonymous with Motown as Berry Gordy, it would undoubtably be Smokey Robinson. Smokey Robinson and The Miracles were one of the first to sign with Motown. In 1961, Gordy appointed Smokey Vice President of Motown Records, a position he held from 1961 until 1988. He had 37 top 40 hits for Motown between 1960 and 1987, both with The Miracles, and as a solo performer.
Smokey Robinson was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1987.

Sam Cooke - 1/22/1931 - 12/11/1964
"The King Of Soul"
Essential recordings: You Send Me
A Change Is Gonna Come
Chain Gang
Another Saturday Night
Sam was born

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