Ronald Bertram Aloysius Greaves III (28 November 1943 – 27 September 2012) was an American singer who had chart success in 1969 with the pop single "

Take a Letter Maria "Take a Letter Maria" is the debut single written and recorded by American soul singer R. B. Greaves. It was recorded at Muscle Shoals Sound Studio on August 19, 1969, using the house studio musicians. These include Donna Jean Thatcher on voc ...

". A number two hit on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 chart, this single sold one million copies, and it earned gold record certification from the

Recording Industry Association of America The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

. Greaves also reached the

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or "conte ...

in early 1970 with "

(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" is a song written in the 1960s by songwriting team Burt Bacharach and Hal David. Originally recorded as a demo by Dionne Warwick in 1963, "(There's) Always Something There to Remind Me" first chart ...

Biography

Greaves was born in 1943 on the

US Army Air Forces The United States Army Air Forces (USAAF or AAF) was the major land-based aerial warfare service component of the United States Army and ''de facto'' aerial warfare service branch of the United States during and immediately after World War I ...

base at

Georgetown, Guyana Georgetown is the capital (political), capital and largest city of Guyana. It is situated in Demerara-Mahaica, region 4, on the Atlantic Ocean coast, at the mouth of the Demerara River. It is nicknamed the "Garden City of the Caribbean." It is t ...

. A nephew of Sam Cooke, he grew up on a Seminole Indian reservation in the United States, but he moved to England in 1963. Greaves had built a career both in the Caribbean and in the UK, where he performed under the name Sonny Childe with his group the TNTs. His debut recording, "

", was released under the name R.B. Greaves and produced by the president of

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 its first 20 years of operation, Atlantic earned a reputation as one of the most ...

Ahmet Ertegün Ahmet Ertegun (, Turkish spelling: Ahmet Ertegün; ; – December 14, 2006) was a Turkish-American businessman, songwriter, record executive and philanthropist. Ertegun was the co-founder and president of Atlantic Records. He discovered and ch ...

. The song is the story of a man who learns of his wife's infidelity and dictates a letter of

separation Separation may refer to: Films * ''Separation'' (1967 film), a British feature film written by and starring Jane Arden and directed by Jack Bond * ''La Séparation'', 1994 French film * ''A Separation'', 2011 Iranian film * ''Separation'' (20 ...

to Maria, his secretary, who the last verse suggests may become his new love. The song has a distinct

Latin Latin (, or , ) is a classical language belonging to the Italic branch of the Indo-European languages. Latin was originally a dialect spoken in the lower Tiber area (then known as Latium) around present-day Rome, but through the power ...

flavor, complete with a

mariachi Mariachi (, , ) is a genre of regional Mexican music that dates back to at least the 18th century, evolving over time in the countryside of various regions of western Mexico. The usual mariachi group today consists of as many as eight violins, t ...

-style horn section. The record stayed in 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 ...

'' chart for 15 weeks in the United States, selling a million copies. It received gold record certification from the

RIAA The Recording Industry Association of America (RIAA) is a trade organization that represents the music recording industry in the United States. Its members consist of record labels and distributors that the RIAA says "create, manufacture, and/ ...

on 11 December 1969. By 1970, sales of this song totaled 2.5 million. In the early 1970s, Greaves spent a lot of time in

Southern California Southern California (commonly shortened to SoCal) is a geographic and cultural region that generally comprises the southern portion of the U.S. state of California. It includes the Los Angeles metropolitan area, the second most populous urban ...

, and was often accompanied at live shows and on recordings by his longtime friends Phillip John Diaz, a

guitarist A guitarist (or a guitar player) is a person who plays the guitar. Guitarists may play a variety of guitar family instruments such as classical guitars, acoustic guitars, electric guitars, and bass guitars. Some guitarists accompany themselve ...

, and Michael “Papabax” Baxter, a songwriter and keyboardist. Greaves recorded a series of

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song relea ...

s as follow-ups, including

Burt Bacharach Burt Freeman Bacharach ( ; born May 12, 1928) is an American composer, songwriter, record producer and pianist who composed hundreds of pop songs from the late 1950s through the 1980s, many in collaboration with lyricist Hal David. A six-time Gr ...

's and

Hal David Harold Lane David (May 25, 1921 – September 1, 2012) was an American lyricist. He grew up in New York City. He was best known for his collaborations with composer Burt Bacharach and his association with Dionne Warwick. Early life David ...

's "

" and

Procol Harum Procol Harum () were an English rock band formed in Southend-on-Sea, Essex in 1967. Their best-known recording is the 1967 hit single "A Whiter Shade of Pale", one of the few singles to have sold over 10 million copies. Although noted for t ...

's "

A Whiter Shade of Pale "A Whiter Shade of Pale" is a song by the English rock band Procol Harum that was issued as their debut record on 12 May 1967. The single reached number 1 in the UK Singles Chart on 8 June and stayed there for six weeks. Without much promotion, ...

". Greaves left the label in the 1970s in favour of Sunflower Records, and then signed to Bareback Records. His only chart release for the latter label was "Margie, Who's Watching the Baby".

Death

Greaves died from

prostate cancer Prostate cancer is cancer of the prostate. Prostate cancer is the second most common cancerous tumor worldwide and is the fifth leading cause of cancer-related mortality among men. The prostate is a gland in the male reproductive system that su ...

Granada Hills, California Granada Hills is a suburban neighborhood in the San Fernando Valley region of the City of Los Angeles. The community has a sports program and a range of city recreation centers. The neighborhood has fourteen public and ten private schools. Hist ...

, on 27 September 2012 at the age of 68.

Discography

Albums

Singles

"—" denotes releases that did not chart or were not certified

References

External links

* * *
R. B. Greaves
at

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{{DEFAULTSORT:Greaves, R. B. 1943 births 2012 deaths American soul singers American rhythm and blues musicians Atco Records artists People from Georgetown, Guyana Deaths from prostate cancer Deaths from cancer in California People from Granada Hills, Los Angeles Burials at Forest Lawn Memorial Park (Hollywood Hills) 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers