Lou Rawls Biography 2 of 3

Rawls calls up those memories in monologues like "An Old 'Man's Memories," Southside Blues" and "Street Corner Hustler Blues." He's done them thousands of times but each time sounds like the first, full of the life and pain that inspired them

Listen to Lou Rawls rap on:
"Hoochie Coochie Man" 2 minutes

Lou is known for these monologues as much as for anything else, "It's making up stories that people can relate to," he says. "Sitting up in a bar getting drunk. Crying the blues because your old lady split. Everyone can relate to that."

In 1958, Rawls, who was then eighteen, barely survived a near fatal accident. Rushed to the hospital with a concussion, he stayed in a coma for six days. All his vital signs had ceased to function.

"Had I died at that point, people would have said of me 'He was a good boy,' "Rawls says," I had accomplished nothing in life -- just living from hand to mouth, popping my fingers, having fun."

Upon recovery, he began prodigiously to redeem his life. 1959 was the turning point. Rawls moved to Los Angeles and appeared with Dick Clark at a Hollywood Bowl show. He was critically acclaimed as the "best promising male vocalist of the year."

In time, a recording contract was signed, and Lou augmented his professional scope by beginning dramatic lessons, which culminated in the display of his acting abilities on many television shows.

Lou Rawls is an entertainer who loved to spend 12 months a year performing and recording. He loved touring extensively, appearing in concert halls around the world, including Las Vegas, Reno, and Lake Tahoe showrooms.

He was a frequent guest on prime time television talk shows due, in part, to his varied experiences and an exuberantly inquisitive nature about the world which surrounded him.

Lou became a close friend of the international soccer hero, Pele, and was designated "Goodwill Ambassador" for the North American Soccer League. Humanitarian Lou on one trip to Florida visited Charlie Smith, the oldest living black resident in the United States.

Rawls frequently visited kids in grade schools. He talked with them about education, grooming, and the difficult problems of growing up.

"When I was young," Lou explains, "we responded to Joe Louis' remarks. A famous person has a special advantage. He may be able to get through to youngsters in a way that parents and teachers can't. That's why I visit schools."

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