Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American

funk Funk is a music genre that originated in African-American communities in the mid-1960s when musicians created a rhythmic, danceable new form of music through a mixture of various music genres that were popular among African-Americans in the ...

and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer, songwriter, and record producer. He is best known for his 1975

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single, or simply hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record'' ...

"I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been frequently

sampled Sample or samples may refer to: * Sample (graphics), an intersection of a color channel and a pixel * Sample (material), a specimen or small quantity of something * Sample (signal), a digital discrete sample of a continuous analog signal * Sample ...

by musicians such as

Dr. Dre Andre Romell Young (born February 18, 1965), known professionally as Dr. Dre, is an American rapper, record producer, record executive, and actor. He is the founder and CEO of Aftermath Entertainment and Beats Electronics, and co-founder of ...

(for his 1992 hit "

Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang "Nuthin' but a 'G' Thang" is a song by American rapper Dr. Dre, featuring fellow American rapper Snoop Dogg, Snoop Doggy Dogg, on Dre's debut solo album, ''The Chronic'' (1992). Released in January 1993 by Death Row Records, Death Row, Interscope ...

") among others.

Career

Born in Houston, he listened to the

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 ...

as a child and started playing piano at the age of three. In his teens, he performed with a local group and worked as an accompanist to blues musician,

Guitar Slim Eddie Jones (December 10, 1926 – February 7, 1959), known as Guitar Slim, was an American guitarist in the 1940s and 1950s, best known for the million-selling song " The Things That I Used to Do", for Specialty Records. It is listed in the Roc ...

. In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked with saxophonist

Big Jay McNeely Cecil James "Big Jay" McNeely (April 29, 1927 – September 16, 2018) was an American R&B saxophonist. Biography Inspired by Illinois Jacquet and Lester Young, McNeely teamed with his older brother Robert McNeely, who played baritone saxophon ...

. McNeely arranged for him to record his first single, "Without a Love", an

instrumental An instrumental or instrumental song is music without any vocals, although it might include some inarticulate vocals, such as shouted backup vocals in a big band setting. Through Semantic change, semantic widening, a broader sense of the word s ...

on the small Swingin' record label. After that, he joined

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 ...

's band as keyboardist until the singer's death. Haywood next recorded two singles for

Fantasy Records Fantasy Records is an American independent record label company founded by brothers Max and Sol Stanley Weiss in 1949. The early years of the company were dedicated to issuing recordings by jazz pianist Dave Brubeck, who was also one of its inves ...

, and subsequently moved to

Imperial Records Imperial Records is an American record company and label started in 1947 by Lew Chudd. The label was reactivated in 2006 by EMI, which owned the label and back catalogue at the time. Imperial is owned by Universal Music Group. Early years to ...

, where he recorded the single "She's with Her Other Love", which made the R&B charts in 1965. Haywood was also part of two session bands organized by Los Angeles disc jockey

Magnificent Montague Nathaniel "Magnificent" Montague (born in New Jersey, January 11, 1928), is an American R&B disc jockey notable not only for the soul music records he helped promote on KGFJ Los Angeles and WWRL New York City, but also his trademark catch-phras ...

which issued the instrumental hits "Hole in the Wall" (R&B No. 5/

Pop Pop or POP may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Pop music, a musical genre Artists * POP, a Japanese idol group now known as Gang Parade * Pop! (British group), a UK pop group * Pop! featuring Angie Hart, an Australian band Album ...

No. 50, 1965) under the name of the Packers, and "Precious Memories" (R&B number 31, 1967) billed as the Romeos. In 1967, Haywood secured his first solo hit with "It's Got to Be Mellow" (R&B No. 21 and Pop No. 63) on

Decca Records Decca Records is a British record label established in 1929 by Edward Lewis (Decca), Edward Lewis after his acquisition of a gramophone manufacturer, The Decca Gramophone Company. It set up an American subsidiary under the Decca name, which bec ...

. He played on further recording sessions with the Packers and

Dyke & the Blazers Dyke or dike may refer to: General uses * Dyke (slang), a slang word meaning "lesbian" * Dike (geology), formations of magma or sediment that cut through and across the layering of adjacent rocks * Dike (mythology), ''Dikē'', the Greek goddess ...

, then returned to recording under his own name. He also established in 1967 a production company, Evejim, named after his parents. Haywood recorded, without too much success for the Fat Fish (Hollywood, Ca.) label in 1966 and 1967. Two singles from that source were given a UK release at the time on the Decca distributed Vocalion label but gathered few sales – "Skate a While" and "Ain't No Use". He found only sporadic success as a singer, including with "It's Got to Be Mellow" and "Keep It in the Family". After recording for

Columbia Records Columbia Records is an American reco ...

, he moved over to

MCA Records MCA Records was an American record label owned by MCA Inc. established in 1972, though MCA had released recordings under that name in the UK from the 1960s. The label achieved success in the 1970s through the 1980s, often by acquiring other ...

. He emerged as a

star A star is a luminous spheroid of plasma (physics), plasma held together by Self-gravitation, self-gravity. The List of nearest stars and brown dwarfs, nearest star to Earth is the Sun. Many other stars are visible to the naked eye at night sk ...

in the 1970s by modifying his style to incorporate the emerging

and

disco Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...

idioms. Haywood joined

20th Century Records 20th Century Fox Records (also known as 20th Fox Records and 20th Century Records, or simply 20th Century Fox Film Scores and Fox Records) was a wholly owned subsidiary of film studio 20th Century Fox. The history of the label covers three distin ...

in 1974 and was immediately successful, notably with "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" (R&B No. 7/Pop No. 15, 1975), "Strokin' (Pt. II)" (R&B No. 13, 1976) and "Party" (R&B No. 24, 1978). In 1980, Haywood revived the

shuffle beat In music, the term ''swing'' has two main uses. Colloquially, it is used to describe the propulsive quality or "feel" of a rhythm, especially when the music prompts a visceral response such as foot-tapping or head-nodding (see pulse). This sens ...

of 1950s

rock and roll Rock and roll (often written as rock & roll, rock-n-roll, and rock 'n' roll) is a Genre (music), genre of popular music that evolved in the United States during the late 1940s and early 1950s. It Origins of rock and roll, originated from African ...

with "Don't Push It Don't Force It" (R&B No. 2 and Pop No. 49). This single also reached No. 12 in the UK Singles Chart, where he is considered a

one-hit wonder A one-hit wonder is any entity that achieves mainstream popularity, often for only one piece of work, and becomes known among the general public solely for that momentary success. The term is most commonly used in regard to music performers with ...

. Haywood is credited with writing the 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama" by

Carl Carlton Carl Carlton (born May 21, 1953) is an American R&B, soul, and funk singer-songwriter, best known for his hits " Everlasting Love" and " She's a Bad Mama Jama (She's Built, She's Stacked)". Background Carlton was born in Detroit, Michigan, an ...

, which he produced in his own studio. In 1983, he released the album ''It's Me Again'', which featured a couple minor R&B hits. His last R&B chart record was "Tenderoni" (No. 22) in 1984, but the accompanying album, ''Now and Then'' went unreleased (although the single was featured on a similarly-titled compilation album, ''Then & Now'', which surfaced five years later). After a few more chart singles, for

Casablanca Records Casablanca Records is an American record label owned by Universal Music Group and operated under Republic Records. Under its founder Neil Bogart, Casablanca was most successful during the disco era of the mid to late 1970s. The label focuses ...

and

Modern Records Modern Records (Modern Music Records before 1947) was an American record company and label formed in 1945 in Los Angeles by the Bihari brothers. Modern's artists included Hadda Brooks, Etta James, Joe Houston, Little Richard, Ike & Tina Turn ...

, Haywood's output failed to excite the public's taste. In the late 1980s, he became associated in an executive/production capacity with the Los Angeles-based Edge Records. From the 1980s, he produced blues albums by

Jimmy McCracklin James David Walker Jr. (August 13, 1921 – December 20, 2012), better known by his stage name Jimmy McCracklin, was an American pianist, singer, and songwriter. His style contained West Coast blues, Jump blues, and R&B. Over a career that ...

, Clay Hammond, Ronnie Lovejoy,

Buddy Ace Jimmie Lee Land (November 11, 1936 – December 25, 1994), better known as Buddy Ace, was an American Texas blues singer, billed as the "Silver Fox of the Blues". Biography Born in Jasper, Texas, he was raised in Baytown near Houston, and began ...

and others on his own

Evejim Records Evejim Records was an American independent record label founded in the 1980s by Leon Haywood and based in Los Angeles, California. The label released various soul, blues, hip hop and electro recordings, as well as re-recordings of some of Leon Hay ...

label. He died in his sleep on April 5, 2016, aged 74.

Discography

Albums

* ''The Mellow Mellow Leon Haywood'' (Galaxy, 1964) * ''Soul Cargo'' (Fat Fish, 1966) * ''It's Got to Be Mellow'' (Decca, 1967) * ''Back to Stay'' (20th Century, 1973) * ''Keep It in the Family'' (20th Century, 1974) * '' Come and Get Yourself Some'' (20th Century, 1975) * ''Intimate'' (Columbia, 1976) * ''Hey! Mr BigBen'' (20th Century, 1976) * ''Double My Pleasure'' (MCA, 1978) * ''Energy'' (MCA, 1979) * ''Naturally'' (20th Century, 1980) * ''It's Me Again'' (Casablanca, 1983) * ''Freaky Man'' (Evejim, 1994) * ''The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (There Ain't Enough Hate Around)'' (Evejim, 1996)

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Haywood, Leon 1942 births 2016 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers African-American songwriters American funk singers American male singers American soul singers Singers from Houston Singers from Los Angeles Songwriters from California Songwriters from Texas 21st-century African-American musicians American male songwriters