Cash McCall (musician)

Cash McCall
Cash McCall in 1978
Background information
Birth name	Morris Dollison Jr.
Born	(1941-01-28) January 28, 1941 (age 75) New Madrid, Missouri, United States
Genres	Electric blues
Occupation(s)	Guitarist, singer, songwriter
Instruments	Guitar, vocals
Years active	1963-present

Cash McCall (born Morris Dollison Jr., January 28, 1941) is an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is best known for his 1966 R&B hit, "When You Wake Up". McCall's long career has seen him evolve in musical styles from gospel to soul to the blues.

McCall was born in New Madrid, Missouri. He joined the United States Army, and then settled in Chicago where he had lived for a period as a child. In 1964, he played guitar and sang, alongside Otis Clay, with the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded for Excello Records. Cash later joined another gospel singing ensemble, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers.

Billed under his birth name, his debut solo single release was "Earth Worm" (1963). Three years later he co-wrote "When You Wake Up" with the record producer, Monk Higgins. His initial soul styled demo was issued by Thomas Records, who chose to call him Cash McCall. The song reached #19 on the US Billboard R&B chart. This led to McCall touring with Lou Christie and Mitch Ryder in Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. However, subsequent releases for both the Thomas and Checker labels failed to chart. These included the song, "It's Wonderful To Be In Love". In 1967, McCall co-wrote "That's How It Is (When You're in Love)", a Top 30 R&B hit for Otis Clay.