Bernard St. Clair Lee (April 24, 1944 – March 8, 2011) was an American

rhythm and blues Rhythm and blues, frequently abbreviated as R&B or R'n'B, is a genre of popular music that originated within African American communities in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predomina ...

vocalist with the band

The Hues Corporation The Hues Corporation was an American pop and soul trio, formed in Santa Monica, California in 1969. They are best known for their 1974 single " Rock the Boat", which sold over 2 million copies, hit number one, and helped establish disco as a ...

, which had a top ten record on the R&B and pop music charts called " Rock the Boat". The single went to number one in 1974 and sold over two million copies.

Background

Early life

Lee was born Bernard St. Clair Lee in San Francisco, California. It has often been erroneously stated that his full birth name was Bernard St. Clair Lee Calhoun Henderson, but he asserts in an interview that, while his ancestry included Calhouns and Hendersons, neither of these were ever part of his official name. When he was born, someone at the hospital mistakenly wrote "St. Clair" instead of his originally intended name, Sinclair. When he was a young man, he found out that the American Indian side of his family were

Blackfoot The Blackfoot Confederacy, ''Niitsitapi'', or ''Siksikaitsitapi'' (ᖹᐟᒧᐧᒣᑯ, meaning "the people" or " Blackfoot-speaking real people"), is a historic collective name for linguistically related groups that make up the Blackfoot or Bl ...

that had migrated down from Canada to

Oklahoma Oklahoma ( ; Choctaw language, Choctaw: , ) is a landlocked U.S. state, state in the South Central United States, South Central region of the United States. It borders Texas to the south and west, Kansas to the north, Missouri to the northea ...

. It was this discovery that led him to decide to wear his trademark

headband A headband or hairband is a clothing accessory worn in the hair or around the forehead, usually to hold hair away from the face or eyes. Headbands generally consist of a loop of elastic material or a horseshoe-shaped piece of flexible plast ...

. He attended

Santa Monica College Santa Monica College (SMC) is a Public university, public community college in Santa Monica, California. Founded as a Junior college#United States, junior college in 1929, SMC enrolls over 30,000 students in more than 90 fields of study. The coll ...

.Claire Nolan
News, notes and follow-ups
Los Angeles Times Blogs, March 9, 2011.

Personal life

In the late 1960s he was a surfer and was friends with Wally Holmes, a trumpeter, songwriter and surfer residing in Los Angeles who would later be instrumental in his music career.Marc Myers
Anatomy of a Song: 'Rock The Boat'
wsj.com; accessed July 19, 2015. He and his wife Arlene had one son. He also had two step-children. He lived in

Lake Elsinore, California Lake Elsinore is a city in western Riverside County, California, United States. Established as a city in 1888, it is on the shore of Lake Elsinore, a natural freshwater lake about in size. The city has grown from a small resort town in the ...

Career

Late 1960s to late 1970s

Prior to the formation of the Hues Corporation, he was the lead singer of a group called Brothers and Sisters which was formed by Wally Holmes in 1968. Brothers and Sisters were a group with two male and two female singers. Holmes hoped to book them into Las Vegas clubs with an eight-member backing group. The group had the wrong combination of singers and broke up. A trio was formed and it was named the Children of Howard Hughes which was renamed as The Hues Corporation. The Hues Corporation was formed in 1969, in Santa Monica and began playing frequently in

Palm Springs Palm Springs (Cahuilla language, Cahuilla: ''Séc-he'') is a desert resort city in Riverside County, California, United States, within the Colorado Desert's Coachella Valley. The city covers approximately , making it the largest city in Rivers ...

and

Las Vegas Las Vegas, colloquially referred to as Vegas, is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Nevada and the county seat of Clark County. The Las Vegas Valley metropolitan area is the largest within the greater Mojave Desert, and second-l ...

. In Vegas, Lee worked at Circus Circus. During this time, he worked on the same stages with

Frank Sinatra Francis Albert Sinatra (; December 12, 1915 – May 14, 1998) was an American singer and actor. Honorific nicknames in popular music, Nicknamed the "Chairman of the Board" and "Ol' Blue Eyes", he is regarded as one of the Time 100: The Most I ...

Milton Berle Milton Berle (born Mendel Berlinger; ; July 12, 1908 – March 27, 2002) was an American actor and comedian. His career as an entertainer spanned over eight decades, first in silent films and on stage as a child actor, then in radio, movies and ...

Nancy Sinatra Nancy Sandra Sinatra (born June 8, 1940) is an American singer, actress, film producer and author. She is the elder daughter of Frank Sinatra and Nancy Sinatra ( Barbato) and is known for her 1965 signature hit " These Boots Are Made for Walki ...

and

Glen Campbell Glen Travis Campbell (April 22, 1936 – August 8, 2017) was an American country musician and actor. He was best known for a series of hit songs in the 1960s and 1970s, and for hosting ''The Glen Campbell Goodtime Hour'' on CBS television from ...

. When the band secured a record deal, Lee started to record and tour with the band regularly. Before their first big hit, they also contributed to the soundtrack of the

blaxploitation In American cinema, Blaxploitation is the film subgenre of action movie derived from the exploitation film genre in the early 1970s, consequent to the combined cultural momentum of the black civil rights movement, the black power movement, ...

film ''

Blacula ''Blacula'' is a 1972 American blaxploitation horror film directed by William Crain. It stars William Marshall in the title role about an 18th-century African prince named Mamuwalde, who is turned into a vampire (and later locked in a coffin) ...

''. The success of The Hues Corporation is greatly tied to the musicianship Lee worked with on their biggest selling album ''

Freedom For The Stallion ''Freedom For The Stallion'' is the debut album by The Hues Corporation released in 1973. The album includes the original recording of " Rock The Boat." A later re-mix version of this recording became one of the first Disco hits in 1974 and reac ...

''. In 1973, he was in the studio with some of

RCA RCA Corporation was a major American electronics company, which was founded in 1919 as the Radio Corporation of America. It was initially a patent pool, patent trust owned by General Electric (GE), Westinghouse Electric Corporation, Westinghou ...

's best talent, including: Jim Gordon,

Hal Blaine Hal Blaine (born Harold Simon Belsky; February 5, 1929 – March 11, 2019) was an American drummer and session musician, thought to be among the most recorded studio drummers in the music industry, claiming over 35,000 sessions and 6,000 singles. ...

, and Dennis Budimir, as well as

Larry Carlton Larry Eugene Carlton (born March 2, 1948) is an American guitarist who built his career as a studio musician in the 1970s and 1980s for acts including Steely Dan and Joni Mitchell. One of the most sought after guitarists of his era, Carlton has ...

Joe Sample Joseph Leslie Sample (February 1, 1939 – September 12, 2014) was an American jazz keyboardist and composer. He was one of the founding members of The Jazz Crusaders in 1960, whose name was shortened to "The Crusaders" in 1971. He remained a p ...

, and

Wilton Felder Wilton Lewis Felder (August 31, 1940 – September 27, 2015) was an American saxophone and bass player, and is best known as a founding member of the Jazz Crusaders, later known as the Crusaders. Felder played bass on the Jackson 5's hits "I Want ...

of The Crusaders – and many others. Touring with the band took Lee to Europe, South America, The Far East Australia and New Zealand. He performed for Queen Elizabeth at the same event with

Dionne Warwick Marie Dionne Warwick ( ; born Marie Dionne Warrick; December 12, 1940) is an American singer, actress, and television host. During her career, Warwick has won many awards, including six Grammy Awards. She has been inducted into the Hollywood Wa ...

. He performed with

The Jackson 5 The Jackson 5, later known as the Jacksons, are an American pop band composed of members of the Jackson family. The group was formed in Gary, Indiana in 1964, and originally consisted of brothers Jackie, Ti ...

Radio City Music Hall Radio City Music Hall (also known as Radio City) is an entertainment venue and Theater (structure), theater at 1260 Sixth Avenue (Manhattan), Avenue of the Americas, within Rockefeller Center, in the Midtown Manhattan neighborhood of New York C ...

. Lee also shared bills with

The Commodores Commodores, often billed as The Commodores, are an American funk and Soul music, soul group. The group's most successful period was in the late 1970s and early 1980s when Lionel Richie was the co-lead singer. The members of the group met as m ...

, The Spinners,

Dolly Parton Dolly Rebecca Parton (born January 19, 1946) is an American singer, songwriter, musician, actress, and philanthropist, known primarily as a country music, country musician. After achieving success as a songwriter for others, Parton's debut album ...

and

Dinah Shore Dinah Shore (born Frances Rose Shore; February 29, 1916 – February 24, 1994) was an American singer, actress, television personality, and the chart-topping female vocalist of the 1940s. She rose to prominence as a recording artist during the ...

. After a second moderate success ("Rockin' Soul") with the band and a few more records, The Hues Corporation disbanded sometime around 1980. Whereas some sources claim the year of disbanding as early as 1978,Hues Corporation
soulwalking.co.uk; accessed July 19, 2015. archive footage of a television special for the Chilean TV in 1979 promoting their performance at the

Viña del Mar International Song Festival The Viña del Mar International Song Festival () is an annual international music festival held every third week of February in Viña del Mar, Chile. Started in 1960 it is the oldest and largest music festival in Latin America, and one of the long ...

proves the opposite. Furthermore, in 1980 the Hues Corporation released one last single in the US and a sixth album in at least New Zealand, Argentina and South Africa. Professionally he has also been referred to as Bernard "St. Clair Lee" Henderson and Bernard Henderson.

Later years

Lee was responsible for the reactivation of the group and the recruiting of two new members, Elaine Woodard and Bruce Glover. He continued to tour and perform with the band up until his death.

Death

Lee died at his home in Lake Elsinore, aged 66. According to a coroners news release, he was found unresponsive in his home at around 8:30 am, March 8, 2011. His death was due to natural causes. He was survived by his wife, sister, mother, a son and two stepsons. A memorial service was held at the Palisades Lutheran Church, 15905 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades at 11 am on March 19. Former bandmate Hubert Ann Kelley delivered the eulogy.

Legacy

The song "Rock the Boat", by The Hues Corporation, has been included on hundreds of soundtracks and

compilation album A compilation album comprises Album#Tracks, tracks, which may be previously released or unreleased, usually from several separate recordings by either one Performing arts#Performers, performer or by several performers. If the recordings are from ...

s since the early 1990s.

Discography

With The Hues Corporation

* 1978: ''Your Place or Mine'' -

Warner Bros. Warner Bros. Entertainment Inc. (WBEI), commonly known as Warner Bros. (WB), is an American filmed entertainment studio headquartered at the Warner Bros. Studios complex in Burbank, California and the main namesake subsidiary of Warner Bro ...

BSK 3196 * 1977: ''I Caught Your Act'' - Warner Bros. BS 3043 * 1977: ''The Best of the Hues Corporation''

RCA Victor RCA Records is an American record label owned by Sony Music Entertainment, a subsidiary of Sony Group Corporation. It is one of Sony Music's four flagship labels, alongside Columbia Records (its former longtime rival), Arista Records and Epic ...

APL1 2408 * 1976: ''Rock The Boat'' - RCA Victor * 1975: ''Love Corporation'' - RCA Victor APL 0938 * 1974: ''Rockin' Soul'' - RCA Victor APL 0175 * 1973: ''Freedom for the Stallion'' - RCA APL1 0323

Compilation - various artists

* 1984: ''Ultra Dance'' - RCA AFLI-5322 Billboard October 27, 198
Page 55 News Dance Trax
/ref>

References

External links

Gary James' Interview With St. Clair Lee of The Hues Corporation with Comments

St. Clair Lee, American musician (Hues Corporation) died, he was 66
{{DEFAULTSORT:Lee, St. Clair 1944 births 2011 deaths American soul singers American male pop singers Singers from San Francisco 20th-century African-American male singers 20th-century American male singers 20th-century American singers