Arthur Lassiter (January 27, 1928 – August 4, 1994) was an American singer, known for his work with

Ike Turner Izear Luster "Ike" Turner Jr. (November 5, 1931 – December 12, 2007) was an American musician, bandleader, songwriter, record producer, and talent scout. An early pioneer of 1950s rock and roll, he is best known for his work in the 1960s and ...

Early life

Lassiter was born in 1928 in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

. His parents were cotton

sharecropper Sharecropping is a legal arrangement in which a landowner allows a tenant (sharecropper) to use the land in return for a share of the crops produced on that land. Sharecropping is not to be conflated with tenant farming, providing the tenant a ...

s, and Lassiter began singing after joining his uncles'

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...

group. At the age of 14, he moved to

Newark, New Jersey Newark ( , ) is the List of municipalities in New Jersey, most populous City (New Jersey), city in the U.S. state of New Jersey, the county seat of Essex County, New Jersey, Essex County, and a principal city of the New York metropolitan area. ...

, to live with his mother, who had moved there for work. While in Newark, Lassiter performed with the Jubilaires. Lassiter married his first wife, Neaty Ann (née Butler), with whom he had two children. Lassiter later joined the

United States Army The United States Army (USA) is the primary Land warfare, land service branch of the United States Department of Defense. It is designated as the Army of the United States in the United States Constitution.Article II, section 2, clause 1 of th ...

and served during the

Korean War The Korean War (25 June 1950 – 27 July 1953) was an armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula fought between North Korea (Democratic People's Republic of Korea; DPRK) and South Korea (Republic of Korea; ROK) and their allies. North Korea was s ...

. While stationed in the Far East, he performed in officers' clubs and took up

boxing Boxing is a combat sport and martial art. Taking place in a boxing ring, it involves two people – usually wearing protective equipment, such as boxing glove, protective gloves, hand wraps, and mouthguards – throwing Punch (combat), punch ...

, competing under the name Artie Wilkins (taking his step-father's surname).

Recording career

After leaving active service, Lassiter returned to the United States. During a cross-country drive, he broke down in

St. Louis St. Louis ( , sometimes referred to as St. Louis City, Saint Louis or STL) is an independent city in the U.S. state of Missouri. It lies near the confluence of the Mississippi and the Missouri rivers. In 2020, the city proper had a populatio ...

. While there he sang at an amateur club night, and was given a permanent booking. He often sang covers of

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

songs, and formed The Bel-Airs with brothers George and Murrey Green and Douglas Martin. By late 1955, the band renamed themselves The Trojans and recorded with RPM Records, backing

Kings of Rhythm Kings of Rhythm are an American music group formed in the late 1940s in Clarksdale, Mississippi and led by Ike Turner through to his death in 2007. Turner would retain the name of the band throughout his career, although the group has undergone c ...

. The group backed Turner again the following February, this time on

Federal Records Federal Records was an American record label founded in 1950 as a subsidiary of Syd Nathan's King Records and based in Cincinnati, Ohio. It was run by famed record producer Ralph Bass and was mainly devoted to rhythm & blues releases. The comp ...

under the name of The Rockers. Turner offered Lassiter a place in his Rhythm Revue, where he subsequently met and worked with

Sam Cooke Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...

and Albert Cook. In March 1960, Turner chose Lassiter to front his Kings of Rhythm. Lassiter's trio of backup singers —

Robbie Montgomery Robbie Montgomery (born June 16, 1940) is an American singer and restaurateur. She is noted for being one of the original Ikettes in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue in the 1960s. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a member of the Mirettes, and ...

, Frances Hodges, and Sandra Harding – were called The Artettes, and eventually formed the foundation of

The Ikettes The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio (sometimes quartet) of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had chart-toppe ...

. Turner wrote "

A Fool in Love "A Fool in Love" is the debut single by Ike & Tina Turner. It was released on Sue Records in 1960. The song is Tina Turner's first release with the stage name "Tina Turner" although she had been singing with Ike Turner and his Kings of Rhythm since ...

" specifically for Lassiter, but Lassiter failed to turn up to the

recording session A studio recording, or a recording session is any recording made in a studio, as opposed to a live recording, which is usually made in a concert venue or a theatre, with an audience attending the performance. Studio cast recordings In the case o ...

at Technisonic Studios in St. Louis.

Tina Turner Tina Turner (born Anna Mae Bullock; November 26, 1939 – May 24, 2023) was a singer, songwriter, actress, and author. Dubbed the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Rock 'n' Roll", her vocal prowess, raspy voice, and electrifyin ...

—then going by the stage name Little Ann—knew the song from rehearsal sessions and recorded a guide track to act as a demo. Lassiter's failure to appear for the session was after Turner lent him money, which he didn't pay back. This financial dispute ended their partnership.

Later life and death

Lassiter later became an active member of the

Black Panthers The Black Panther Party (originally the Black Panther Party for Self-Defense) was a Marxist–Leninist and black power political organization founded by college students Bobby Seale and Huey P. Newton in October 1966 in Oakland, California ...

San Mateo, California San Mateo ( ) is the most populous city in San Mateo County, California, United States, on the San Francisco Peninsula. It is part of the San Francisco Bay Area metropolitan region, and is located about south of San Francisco. San Mateo border ...

, and studied

alternative history Alternate history (also referred to as alternative history, allohistory, althist, or simply A.H.) is a subgenre of speculative fiction in which one or more historical events have occurred but are resolved differently than in actual history. As ...

with

Huey P. Newton Huey Percy Newton (February 17, 1942 – August 22, 1989) was an African American revolutionary and political activist who co-founded the Black Panther Party in 1966. He ran the party as its first leader and crafted its ten-point manifesto with ...

and

Eldridge Cleaver Leroy Eldridge Cleaver (August 31, 1935 – May 1, 1998) was an American writer and political activist who became an early leader of the Black Panther Party. In 1968, Cleaver wrote '' Soul on Ice'', a collection of essays that, at the time of i ...

, before relocating to Hawaii in 1970. He owned a club called Destiny in Honolulu until 1975 when he was hospitalized for 14 months due to pancreas failure. Lassiter moved to Japan then New Zealand and eventually ended up in Canada where he began performing again. After Lassiter and his band were deported from Vancouver, he performed as a solo act in

Bellingham, Washington Bellingham ( ) is the county seat of Whatcom County, Washington, Whatcom County in the U.S. state of Washington (state), Washington. It lies south of the Canada–United States border, U.S.–Canada border, between Vancouver, British Columbia, ...

. Lassiter settled in Washington with his second wife Thelma Lassiter and three children Christine, Arthur Jr., and Lydia. During this time Art performed at many local blues festivals and local venues acquiring a substantial local following in the 1980s. Lassiter spent his final years with his third wife, Ruth Lindgren and two children Miriam and Linnea. He died in

Seattle Seattle ( ) is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Washington and in the Pacific Northwest region of North America. With a population of 780,995 in 2024, it is the 18th-most populous city in the United States. The city is the cou ...

from throat cancer on August 4, 1994. Lassiter also had a son, Andre Montgomery (1961–1995), with his former background vocalist

. Lassiter's grandson, Andre Montgomery Jr., later starred in the reality television series '' Welcome to Sweetie Pie's''. He was murdered in 2016 in a plot believed to have orchestrated by Tim Norman, Montgomery's son from a later relationship. In September 2022, Norman was tried and convicted for the murder.

Discography

* 1955: The Trojans, Ike Turner & Orch. – "As Long As I Have You" / "I Wanna Make Love To You" (

RPM Revolutions per minute (abbreviated rpm, RPM, rev/min, r/min, or r⋅min−1) is a unit of rotational speed (or rotational frequency) for rotating machines. One revolution per minute is equivalent to hertz. Standards ISO 80000-3:2019 def ...

446) * 1956: The Rockers – "Why Don't You Believe" / "Down in the Bottom" ( Federal 12273) * 1958: Art Lassiter – "Just One Cure for the Blues" / "Too Late For Tears" (Ballad 1024) * 1961: Art Lassiter – "It's All Right" / "Just Another Day in the Life of a Fool" (Ballad 5025) *1962: Art Lassiter – "It's Alright" / "Mr. Loneliness" (

Symbol A symbol is a mark, Sign (semiotics), sign, or word that indicates, signifies, or is understood as representing an idea, physical object, object, or wikt:relationship, relationship. Symbols allow people to go beyond what is known or seen by cr ...

912) *1962: Art Lassiter – "Sum'n Nother" / "Baby's Cry" (Marbo N80W-0677)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lassiter, Art 1928 births 1994 deaths American soul singers Deaths from throat cancer in the United States 20th-century American singers Kings of Rhythm members Singers from Seattle Singers from Missouri Singers from North Carolina Members of the Black Panther Party United States Army personnel of the Korean War