Oscar Toney Jr. (born 26 May 1939, Selma,

Alabama Alabama ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern and Deep South, Deep Southern regions of the United States. It borders Tennessee to the north, Georgia (U.S. state), Georgia to the east, Florida and the Gu ...

, United States) is an American

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 Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

Career

Toney was raised in

Columbus Columbus is a Latinized version of the Italian surname "''Colombo''". It most commonly refers to: * Christopher Columbus (1451–1506), the Italian explorer * Columbus, Ohio, the capital city of the U.S. state of Ohio * Columbus, Georgia, a city i ...

Georgia Georgia most commonly refers to: * Georgia (country), a country in the South Caucasus * Georgia (U.S. state), a state in the southeastern United States Georgia may also refer to: People and fictional characters * Georgia (name), a list of pe ...

, United States, and sang

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 ...

in churches while young. In his

teens Adolescence () is a transitional stage of human physical and psychological development that generally occurs during the period from puberty to adulthood (typically corresponding to the age of majority). Adolescence is usually associated with ...

, he joined a gospel group called The Sensational Melodies of Joy, and after this joined secular group called The Searchers (no relation to

The Searchers ''The Searchers'' is a 1956 American epic Western film directed by John Ford and written by Frank S. Nugent, based on the 1954 novel by Alan Le May. It is set during the Texas–Indian wars, and stars John Wayne as a middle-aged Civil War v ...

), who released a few singles between 1958 and 1961. In 1964, Toney released a

solo Solo or SOLO may refer to: Arts and entertainment Characters * Han Solo, a ''Star Wars'' character * Jacen Solo, a Jedi in the non-canonical ''Star Wars Legends'' continuity * Kylo Ren (Ben Solo), a ''Star Wars'' character * Napoleon Solo, fr ...

single Single may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media * Single (music), a song release Songs * "Single" (Natasha Bedingfield song), 2004 * "Single" (New Kids on the Block and Ne-Yo song), 2008 * "Single" (William Wei song), 2016 * "Single", by ...

, "Can it All Be Love", on King Records, but did not garner any widespread notice. Toney then began working with the

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Papa Don Schroeder, who used Toney as a backup replacement for

James & Bobby Purify James & Bobby Purify were an R&B singing duo, whose biggest hits were " I'm Your Puppet" in 1966, which reached number six in the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart and in a re-recorded version number 12 in the UK Singles Chart (in May 1976), an ...

when one of the two singers was unavailable for a live performance. Schroeder had Toney signed to

Bell Records Bell Records was an American record label founded in 1952 in New York City by Arthur Shimkin, the owner of the children's record label Golden Records, and initially a unit of Pocket Books, after the rights to the name were acquired from Benn ...

in 1967, and his first single, a

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of c ...

of "

For Your Precious Love "For Your Precious Love" is a song written by Arthur Brooks (singer), Arthur Brooks, Richard Brooks (singer), Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler, and performed by Jerry Butler and The Impressions in 1958. The song was ranked #335 on ''Rolling Stone ...

" by Jerry Butler & the Impressions, was produced by

Chips Moman Lincoln Wayne "Chips" Moman (June 12, 1937 – June 13, 2016) was an American record producer, guitarist, and songwriter. He is known for working in R&B, pop music and country music, operating American Sound Studios and producing hit albums li ...

. The tune would be the first and most successful of Toney's four

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 ...

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

. His last single was 1969's "Down in Texas" b/w "Aint That True Love", which failed to chart, and Toney left Bell when Schroeder quit the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

. Toney toured the UK a few times during the 1960s, brought to England by agents Henry Sellers and Danny O`Donavan. He insisted after his first tour to have the same backing band which was Merlin Q from London. Merlin Q were Dave Kerr-Clemenson on bass, Andy Locke and Wally Scott on guitars Eddie Richards on drums and Denis White on Hammond. After their first rehearsal at the Q club in Paddington Oscar said to Sellers "you said they were good but not that good". The tour included all the Northern soul venues, such as

Twisted Wheel Club The Twisted Wheel was a nightclub in Manchester, England, open from 1963 to 1971. It was one of the first clubs to play the music that became known as Northern soul. History The nightclub was founded by the brothers Jack, Phillip and Ivor Ab ...

in Manchester and

Golden Torch The Golden Torch, more commonly known as The Torch, was a nightclub in Tunstall, Stoke-on-Trent, England. Opened as a mod venue, it later became important to fans of Northern soul with their all-nighters. Peter Stringfellow was amongst the many ...

in Tunstall. After the last tour Dave, Andy Wally and Eddie went on to become

Edison Lighthouse Edison Lighthouse are an English pop band, formed in London in 1969. The band was best known for their 1970 hit single "Love Grows (Where My Rosemary Goes)" recorded in late 1969. Career Before the name Edison Lighthouse, they were known as ...

. In 1970, Toney released a single, "Down on My Knees", on

Capricorn Records Capricorn Records was an independent record label founded by Phil Walden and Frank Fenter in 1969 in Macon, Georgia. Capricorn Records is often credited by music historians as creating the southern rock genre. History Label and studio fou ...

, but the tune did not chart; three more singles, all flops, followed on Capricorn, which dropped the singer in 1973. Toney's career was tenuous in America, but the British love for

Northern soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

resulted in a second wind. Later in the 1970s, he was signed to the British

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, ...

Contempo Records for six singles and an

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 ...

, yet none of these sold well, and in the 1980s Toney left the secular industry to focus on gospel again.

Discography

Albums

*''For Your Precious Love'' (

, 1967)

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

#192, US R&B Albums #27 *''I've Been Loving You Too Long To Stop Now!'', 1975 *''Make It Easy On yourself!'', 1975 *''Papa Don's Preacher'', 1988 *''Oscar's Winners'', 1998 *''Oscar Toney, Jr. Resurfaces!'', 2000 *''Guilty of Loving You'' (BGR Records, 2001) Collaboration: Cliff Ellis & Oscar Toney, Jr ''Over At Mary's Place'', 2008

Singles

References

External links

The complete Oscar Toney Jr discography at Soul Express
{{DEFAULTSORT:Toney, Oscar Jr. American soul singers American male singers Singers from Alabama 1939 births Living people Musicians from Selma, Alabama