Charles Chalmers is an American saxophonist, backup vocalist, songwriter and producer. He has written several hit songs for many recording artists, and has also arranged and performed on many Grammy winning recordings. Seven of those recordings are in the Grammy Hall of Fame: Al Green's " Let's Stay Together";

Aretha Franklin Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...

's "

Respect Respect, also called esteem, is a positive feeling or deferential action shown towards someone or something considered important or held in high esteem or regard. It conveys a sense of admiration for good or valuable qualities. It is also th ...

," " Chain of Fools" and " Natural Woman";

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

's " Son of a Preacher Man"; and

Wilson Pickett Wilson Pickett (March 18, 1941 – January 19, 2006) was an American singer and songwriter. A major figure in the development of soul music, Pickett recorded more than 50 songs that made the US R&B charts, many of which crossed over to the '' ...

's " Mustang Sally" and " Land of a Thousand Dances." He also holds an Album of the Century award for his work on Aretha Franklin's, '' I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You''.

Early life and education

Chalmers attended South Side High School in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

, where he learned to read music. His mother bought him a used

tenor saxophone The tenor saxophone is a medium-sized member of the saxophone family, a group of instruments invented by Adolphe Sax in the 1840s. The tenor and the alto are the two most commonly used saxophones. The tenor is pitched in the key of B (whi ...

as a graduation gift. He took classes at Memphis State University, but quit after six months so he could start touring with

Jerry Lee Lewis Jerry Lee Lewis (September 29, 1935October 28, 2022) was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. Nicknamed "The Killer", he was described as "rock 'n' roll's first great wild man". A pioneer of rock and roll and rockabilly music, Lewis m ...

Career

By age 19, he had toured with

and worked extensively with

Charlie Rich Charles Allan Rich (December 14, 1932July 25, 1995) was an American country singer. His eclectic style of music also blended influences from rockabilly, jazz, blues, soul, and gospel. In the later part of his life, Rich acquired the nickname t ...

. Chalmers came to the attention of

Bill Black William Patton Black Jr. (September 17, 1926 – October 21, 1965) was an American musician and bandleader who is noted as one of the pioneers of rock and roll. He played in Elvis Presley's early trio, The Blue Moon Boys. Black later formed Bill ...

, who called Chalmers for a session. Not long after working with Black, Willie Mitchell asked Chalmers to play on some of his recordings. Chalmers played lead sax on Mitchell's instrumental, "Soul Serenade". Mitchell then called Chalmers to work regularly on his productions, not only as a saxophone player, but also as an arranger and back up singer. Chalmers helped arrange and sang backup on "Let's Stay Together" by Al Green with Sandy and Donna Rhodes in a group that came to be called Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes. They also sang on Green's album, '' I Can't Stop'', produced by Mitchell, for

Blue Note Records Blue Note Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Capitol Music Group. Established in 1939 by History of the Jews in Germany, German-Jewish emigrants Alfred Lion and Max Margulis, it deriv ...

(2003). Before recording with Al Green, Chalmers was asked to go to Muscle Shoals, Alabama, to play on a

recording date for

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

. " Land of a Thousand Dances" and " Mustang Sally" were two of the songs he recorded with Pickett that week, and it was then that Chalmers met

Jerry Wexler Gerald Wexler (January 10, 1917 – August 15, 2008) was a music journalist turned music producer, and was a major influence on American popular music from the 1950s through the 1980s. He coined the term "rhythm and blues", and was integra ...

and

Tom Dowd Thomas John Dowd (October 20, 1925 – October 27, 2002) was an American recording engineer and producer for Atlantic Records. He was credited with innovating the multitrack recording method. Dowd worked on a veritable "who's who" of recordings ...

. Wexler brought 25-year-old

to the Fame Studio at Muscle Shoals, introducing her to Chalmers, Chips Moman, and Dewey "Spooner" Oldham, resulting in Chalmers's first track with Franklin, " I Never Loved a Man the Way I Love You". Chalmers wend on to arrange the horns and played sax on many other Aretha Franklin songs, including "I Ain't Never Loved A Man", "Respect", "Do Right Woman", "Chain of Fools", and "Dr. Feel Good". In 1969, Chalmers announced a partnership with Sandy Rhodes, and a contract with

Chess Records Chess Records was an American record company established in 1950 in Chicago, specializing in blues and rhythm and blues. It was the successor to Aristocrat Records, founded in 1947. It expanded into soul music, gospel music, early rock an ...

. Rick Hall produced Charlie Chalmers' ''Sax and the Single Girl'' for

Las Vegas and Miami years

After Rhodes, Chalmers & Rhodes sang on Paul Anka's hit " (You're) Having My Baby", they performed live dates with Anka in Las Vegas for three years at Caesar's Palace. Chalmers located a studio in Las Vegas, where they sang back up on a

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

session. After working for several years in Vegas, Chalmers and his group were called to Miami to do some sessions at Criteria Studios. For the next few years, they recorded with artists including

Andy Gibb Andrew Roy Gibb (5 March 1958 – 10 March 1988) was an English singer and songwriter. He was the younger brother of Barry Gibb, Barry, Robin Gibb, Robin, and Maurice Gibb, musicians who had formed the Bee Gees during the late 1950s. Andy G ...

The Bee Gees ''The'' is a grammatical Article (grammar), article in English language, English, denoting nouns that are already or about to be mentioned, under discussion, implied or otherwise presumed familiar to listeners, readers, or speakers. It is the ...

, Fire Fall, Harry Chapin,

John Mellencamp John J. Mellencamp (born October 7, 1951), previously known as Johnny Cougar, John Cougar, and John Cougar Mellencamp, is an American singer-songwriter. He is known for his brand of heartland rock, which emphasizes traditional instrumentation ...

and K. C. and the Sunshine Band.

Move to Missouri

In 1989, Mel Tillis asked Chalmers to work with him at his new theatre in Branson, Missouri. Two years later, Chalmers built his own recording studio in Branson, where he now resides.

Songs

As a songwriter and music publisher, Charlie Chalmers had a #1 hit record by Conway Twitty – "The Clown" – which he co-wrote with Wayne Carson Thompson and Sandy Rhodes. Also among Chalmers' songs are "One Woman", on the

Isaac Hayes Isaac Lee Hayes Jr. (August 20, 1942 – August 10, 2008) was an American singer, songwriter, composer, and actor. He was one of the creative forces behind the Southern soul music label Stax Records in the 1960s, serving as an in-house songwr ...

album ''

Hot Buttered Soul ''Hot Buttered Soul'' is the second studio album by American Soul music, soul musician Isaac Hayes. Released in June 1969, it is recognized as a landmark recording in soul music. Recorded with The Bar-Kays, the album features four lengthy tracks ...

'', and "One Big Unhappy Family", on the album '' The Isaac Hayes Movement''. Both albums are double Platinum sellers. "Alice Is In Wonderland" is on The Oak Ridge Boys' '' Deliver''. Al Green also recorded "One Woman" on his '' Green Is Blues'' album.

The Staple Singers The Staple Singers were an American Gospel music, gospel, soul music, soul, and Rhythm and blues, R&B singing group. Pops Staples, Roebuck "Pops" Staples (December 28, 1914 – December 19, 2000), the patriarch of the family, formed the group w ...

recorded "City In The Sky" for their ''City In The Sky'' album, Boz Scaggs recorded "Look What I Got" on his self-titled

Atlantic The Atlantic Ocean is the second largest of the world's five oceanic divisions, with an area of about . It covers approximately 17% of Earth's surface and about 24% of its water surface area. During the Age of Discovery, it was known for se ...

album '' Boz Scaggs'', and

Etta James Jamesetta Hawkins (January 25, 1938 – January 20, 2012), known professionally as Etta James, was an American singer and songwriter. Starting her career in 1954, James frequently performed in Nashville's R&B clubs, collectively known as the Ch ...

recorded the popular "It Hurts Me So Much" on the album ''

Tell Mama Tell MAMA (Measuring Anti-Muslim Attacks) is a national project which records and measures anti-Muslim incidents in the United Kingdom. It is modelled on the Jewish Community Security Trust (CST) and like the CST it also provides support for ...

'' for

. Chalmers also wrote "Tell Him Tonight" recorded by Rudolph Taylor, ranked as one of the 60 greatest Memphis soul songs of all time by the '' Commercial Appeal'' in 2017.

Personal life

Chalmers was married to Sandy Rhodes. He later married Josie and in 2008 they had a son of the same name.

References

External links

* * Chalmer's Allmusic entry* {{DEFAULTSORT:Chalmers, Charles American saxophonists Living people Year of birth missing (living people) 21st-century American saxophonists Place of birth missing (living people)