Benjamin William Lattimore (born September 7, 1939), known professionally as Latimore, is an American

blues Blues is a music genre and musical form that originated among African Americans in the Deep South of the United States around the 1860s. Blues has incorporated spiritual (music), spirituals, work songs, field hollers, Ring shout, shouts, cha ...

and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist. In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the

Blues Hall of Fame The Blues Hall of Fame is a music museum operated by the Blues Foundation at 421 S. Main Street in Memphis, Tennessee. Initially, the "Blues Hall of Fame" was not a physical building, but a listing of people who have significantly contributed to b ...

Life and career

Latimore was born in Charleston,

Tennessee Tennessee (, ), officially the State of Tennessee, is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders Kentucky to the north, Virginia to the northeast, North Carolina t ...

, and was influenced by

country music Country (also called country and western) is a popular music, music genre originating in the southern regions of the United States, both the American South and American southwest, the Southwest. First produced in the 1920s, country music is p ...

, his Baptist

church Church may refer to: Religion * Church (building), a place/building for Christian religious activities and praying * Church (congregation), a local congregation of a Christian denomination * Church service, a formalized period of Christian comm ...

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

, and the blues. His first professional experience came as a pianist for various Florida-based groups including

Steve Alaimo Stephen Charles Alaimo (December 6, 1939 – November 30, 2024) was an American singer who was a teen idol in the early 1960s. He later became a record producer and label owner, but he is perhaps best known for hosting and co-producing Dick Clar ...

. He first recorded around 1965 for

Henry Stone Henry Stone (June 3, 1921 – August 7, 2014), born Henry David Epstein, was an American record company executive and producer whose career spanned the era from R&B in the early 1950s through the disco boom of the 1970s to the 2010s. He was be ...

's Dade

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

Miami Miami is a East Coast of the United States, coastal city in the U.S. state of Florida and the county seat of Miami-Dade County, Florida, Miami-Dade County in South Florida. It is the core of the Miami metropolitan area, which, with a populat ...

Florida Florida ( ; ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders the Gulf of Mexico to the west, Alabama to the northwest, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the north, the Atlantic ...

. In the early 1970s, he moved to the Glades label, and had his first major hit in 1973 with a

jazz Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana, in the late 19th and early 20th centuries. Its roots are in blues, ragtime, European harmony, African rhythmic rituals, spirituals, h ...

y reworking of

T-Bone Walker Aaron Thibeaux "T-Bone" Walker (May 28, 1910 – March 16, 1975) was an American blues musician, composer, songwriter and bandleader, who was a pioneer and innovator of the jump blues, West Coast blues, and electric blues sounds. In 2018 ''R ...

's " Stormy Monday", which reached No. 27 on the R&B

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

. Latimore's first national hit was "If You Were My Woman," a gender-modified cover of " If I Were Your Woman" (written by

Pam Sawyer Pamela Joan Sawyer (born 1938) is an English songwriter/lyricist, who started writing songs in the mid-1960s and whose credits as a co-writer at Motown included " Love Child", " If I Were Your Woman", " My Whole World Ended (The Moment You Lef ...

, Clay McMurray and

Gloria Jones Gloria Richetta Jones (born October 19, 1945) is an American singer and songwriter who first found success in the United Kingdom, being recognized there as "The Queen of Northern Soul". She recorded the 1965 hit song "Tainted Love" and has wo ...

and first popularized by

Gladys Knight & the Pips Gladys Knight & the Pips were an American Rhythm and blues, R&B, soul music, soul, and funk family music group from Atlanta, Georgia, that remained active on the music charts and performing circuit for over three decades starting from the early ...

), which reached No. 70 on the R&B chart. His biggest success came in 1974, with " Let's Straighten It Out", a No. 1 R&B hit, which also reached No. 31 on the US '' ''Billboard'' Hot 100'' chart. He followed it up with more hits, including "Keep The Home Fire Burnin'" (No. 5 R&B, 1975) and "Somethin' 'Bout 'Cha" (No. 7 R&B, 1976). The hits dissipated in the late 1970s. Latimore moved to

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Latimore, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, ...

in 1982, releasing seven albums of modern blues music with that label. He briefly left the label in 1994 and released a song for the J-Town label, ''Turning Up The Mood'', before returning to Malaco in 2000 with ''You're Welcome To Ride''. Next, Latimore recorded an album with Mel Waiters' label, Brittney Records, called ''Latt Is Back''. Later, Latimore collaborated with Henry Stone on a new record label called LatStone; which released his first new album in six years, ''Back 'Atcha''. He has continued to work as a session pianist. He appeared most recently on

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album An album is a collection of audio recordings (e.g., music) issued on a medium such as compact disc (CD), Phonograph record, vinyl (record), audio tape (like 8-track cartridge, 8-track or Cassette tape, cassette), or digital distribution, dig ...

s, ''

The Soul Sessions ''The Soul Sessions'' is the debut studio album by English singer and songwriter Joss Stone, released on 16 September 2003 by S-Curve Records. The album consists of cover versions of soul songs from the 1960s and 1970s, in addition to a cover ...

'' (2003) and '' Mind Body & Soul'' (2004), along with fellow Miami music veterans

Betty Wright Bessie Regina Norris (December 21, 1953 – May 10, 2020), better known by her stage name Betty Wright, was an American soul music, soul and Rhythm and blues, R&B singer, songwriter and background vocalist. Beginning her professional career ...

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and

Willie Hale Willie George Hale (born August 15, 1945), often known by the name Little Beaver, is an American guitarist, singer and songwriter, who has been featured on many hit records since the 1960s. Early life and session musicianship Hale was born on Au ...

, and made an appearance in May 2014 on ''

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''. In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the

Discography

Albums

:1973 ''Latimore'' :1974 ''More, More, More Latimore'', ''(Let's Straighten It Out)'' - Black Albums No. 13 :1975 ''Latimore III'' - Black Albums No. 49 :1976 ''It Ain't Where You Been...It's Where You're Goin - Pop Albums No. 181, Black Albums No. 47 :1978 ''Dig a Little Deeper'' - Black Albums No. 51 :1980 ''Getting Down to Brass Tacks'' :1982 ''Singing in the Key of Love'' - Black Albums No. 61 :1983 ''I'll Do Anything for You'' - Black Albums No. 66, Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 67 :1985 ''Good Time Man'' :1986 ''Every Way But Wrong'' :1987 ''Slow Down'' :1991 ''The Only Way Is Up'' - Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums No. 34 :1993 ''Catchin' Up'' :1995 ''Best of Latimore: Sweet Vibrations'' :1995 ''Straighten It Out: The Best of Latimore'' :1996 ''Turnin' Up the Mood'' :1998 ''All You'll Ever Need'' :2000 ''You're Welcome to Ride'' :2003 ''Latt Is Back'' :2004 ''Sweet Vibrations: The Best of Latimore'' :2005 ''The Early Years'' :2007 ''Back 'Atcha'' :2009 ''All About the Rhythm and the Blues'' :2010 ''Live in Vienna'' :2011 ''Ladies Choice'' :2012 ''Henry Stones's Best Of: Latimore'' :2013 ''Latimore Remembers Ray Charles''

Charted singles

*1974: "If You Were My Woman" - Black Singles No. 70 *1974: " Let's Straighten It Out" - Black Singles No. 1, Pop Singles No. 31 *1975: "Keep the Home Fire Burnin'" - Black Singles No. 5 *1975: "There's a Red-Neck in the Soul Band" - Black Singles No. 36 *1976: "Qualified Man" - Black Singles No. 43 *1977: "I Get Lifted" - Black Singles No. 30 *1977: "Let Me Live the Life I Love" - Black Singles No. 49 *1977: "Somethin' 'Bout 'Cha" - Black Singles No. 7, Pop Singles No. 37 *1979: "Dig a Little Deeper" - Black Singles No. 42 *1979: "Goodbye Heartache" - Black Singles No. 82 *1979: "Long Distance Love" - Black Singles No. 75 *1980: "Discoed to Death" - Black Singles No. 68 *1986: "Sunshine Lady" - Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Singles & Tracks No. 76

References

External links

The complete Latimore Story at Soul Express
* {{DEFAULTSORT:Latimore, Benny 1939 births Living people People from Bradley County, Tennessee Malaco Records artists 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century African-American male singers 21st-century American male singers