BLACK SOCIAL HISTORY Arthur Prysock
was perfectly at home singing jazz, blues, or R&B, but his smooth-as-silk baritone made him a superbly effective (and underappreciated) pop crooner in the manner of his chief influence, Billy Eckstine
. Prysock
was born January 2, 1929, in Spartanburg, SC, and was the brother of saxophonist Red Prysock
. As a teenager, he moved to Hartford, CT, where he worked in the aviation industry and sang with several small bands by night. He was discovered in 1944 by jump blues bandleader Buddy Johnson
, who signed him as lead male vocalist and brought him to Harlem. Prysock
sang on a number of Johnson
's hits for the Decca label before going solo in 1952 to tour the chitlin circuit (sometimes with his brother). He quickly landed an R&B hit with "I Didn't Sleep a Wink Last Night," and subsequently made his name among black audiences as an emotive balladeer. During the '50s, Prysock
recorded for several smaller labels, but his popularity in concert gradually gained him more exposure. He began a long relationship with the Old Town label, scoring R&B hits with "I Worry 'Bout You" in 1958, Ray Noble
's old ballad "The Very Thought of You" in 1960, and "It's Too Late Baby, It's Too Late" in 1965. That year, he fulfilled a dream by recording an album with Count Basie
on Verve, the label he remained with for most of the '60s. Prysock
performed at Carnegie Hall in 1966, and hosted his own TV show for a short time. By the end of the '60s, Prysock
had returned to Old Town, where he recorded several albums while touring the club circuit. He had an unexpected disco hit in 1976 with "When Love Is New," but otherwise remained largely out of sight. Prysock
returned to active recording in 1985 with the well-received A Rockin' Good Way
album on Milestone, and also sang a well-known jingle for Lowenbrau beer. Two more albums for Milestone followed, 1986's This Guy's in Love With You
and 1987's Today's Love Songs, Tomorrow's Blues
, before Prysock
receded from the limelight again. He died on June 21, 1997.
Arthur Prysock January 1, 1924 – June 21, 1997 was an American
jazz singer best known for his live shows and his baritone influenced by Billy Eckstine.
Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina, Prysock moved to Hartford, Connecticut to work in the aircraft industry during World War II. In 1944 bandleader Buddy Johnson signed him as a vocalist, and Prysock became a mainstay of the live performance circuits. Prysock sang on several of Johnson’s hits on Decca Records ("Jet My Love", 1947 and "I Wonder Where Our Love Has Gone", 1948) and later on Mercury Records ("Because", 1950).
In 1952 Prysock went solo and signed with Decca to record the R&B hit, "I Didn’t Sleep a Wink Last Night". He recorded R&B classics such as Roy Brown's "Good Rocking Tonight". In the 1960s, Prysock joined Old Town Records and did an R&B cover of Ray Noble's ballad "The Very Thought of You" (1960) and a pop hit "It’s Too Late Baby, It’s Too Late" (1965). For Verve Record she recorded Arthur Prysock and Count Basie (12, 13, 14, 20 and 21 December 1965, at Van Gelder Studios, Englewood Cliffs, New Jersey), and A Working Man's Prayer (1968). He read verses from Walter Benton's book of poems against a jazz instrumental backdrop on his 1968 album, This is My Beloved.
In the 1970s, Prysock had a surprise
disco hit with "When Love Is New" (Old Town, 1977) and in 1985, recorded his first new album in almost a decade,
Arthur Prysock (Milestone). He gained further attention for his tender, soulful singing on a beer commercial, "Tonight, tonight, let it be Löwenbräu."
His brother, Red Prysock, was a noted
tenor sax player who appeared on many of Arthur's records.
Prysock received a Pioneer Award from the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1995.
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