Mel Waiters (June 25, 1956 – May 28, 2015) was an American

southern soul Southern soul or country soul is a type of soul and country music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel ...

singer born and raised in

San Antonio San Antonio ( ; Spanish for " Saint Anthony") is a city in the U.S. state of Texas and the most populous city in Greater San Antonio. San Antonio is the third-largest metropolitan area in Texas and the 24th-largest metropolitan area in the ...

Texas Texas ( , ; or ) is the most populous U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Louisiana to the east, Arkansas to the northeast, Oklahoma to the north, New Mexico to the we ...

. In the early 1970s, he began singing in the church choir and nightclubs. Additionally, he was a radio DJ and entertainer on military bases around this time. In the mid-1990s, he achieved national fame with his first single "Hit It and Quit It." He gave the only copy of his new CD, the soon-to-be ''Got My Whiskey,'' to Tommy Couch Jr. at

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, ...

Jackson, Mississippi Jackson is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Mississippi, most populous city of the U.S. state of Mississippi. The city sits on the Pearl River (Mississippi–Louisiana), Pearl River and is locate ...

, and was subsequently brought onto the label. Waiters became popular on the blues festival and touring circuit in the

South South is one of the cardinal directions or compass points. The direction is the opposite of north and is perpendicular to both west and east. Etymology The word ''south'' comes from Old English ''sūþ'', from earlier Proto-Germanic ''*sunþa ...

, and was known for songs about partying and romance. In 1999, his fourth album ''Material Things'' made it to the ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertis ...

Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a music chart published weekly by '' Billboard'' magazine that ranks R&B and hip-hop albums based on sales in the United States and is compiled by Luminate. The chart debuted as Hot R&B LPs in the issue dated January 30, ...

chart. He claimed that

Teddy Pendergrass Theodore DeReese Pendergrass (March 26, 1950 – January 13, 2010) was an American Soul music, soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He was born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. Pendergrass lived most of his life in the Philadelphia area, and initial ...

was the main influence on his singing style. Waiters was featured in a cover story of the February 2007 issue of ''

Living Blues ''Living Blues: The Magazine of the African American Blues Tradition'' is a bi-monthly magazine focused on blues music, and America's oldest blues periodical. The magazine was founded as a quarterly in Chicago in 1970 by Jim O'Neal and Amy van ...

'' magazine. Waiters died of cancer on May 28, 2015.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Waiters, Mel 1956 births 2015 deaths Singers from San Antonio American rhythm and blues singers Malaco Records artists