Eugene McDaniels

Gene McDaniels
Gene McDaniels, 2010 (Photo by Frank Beacham)
Background information
Birth name	Eugene Booker McDaniels
Also known as	Eugene McDaniels, The Left Reverend McD
Born	(1935-02-12)February 12, 1935 Kansas City, Missouri, United States
Died	July 29, 2011(2011-07-29) (aged 76) Kittery Point, Maine
Genres	Jazz, pop, political
Occupation(s)	Singer, songwriter, producer
Instruments	Vocals
Years active	1960–2011
Labels	Liberty, London, Columbia, RCA, Atlantic, Ode
Website	genemcdaniels.com

Eugene Booker McDaniels (February 12, 1935 – July 29, 2011), who recorded as Gene McDaniels early in his career, was an African-American singer and songwriter. He had his greatest recording success in the early 1960s, and had continued success as a songwriter with songs including "Compared to What" and Roberta Flack's "Feel Like Makin' Love".

Born in Kansas City, Kansas, United States, McDaniels grew up in Omaha, Nebraska. As well as singing gospel music in church, he developed a love of jazz, and learned to play the saxophone and trumpet. After forming a singing group, the Echoes of Joy, later known as the Sultans, in his teens, he studied at the University of Omaha Conservatory of Music before joining the Mississippi Piney Woods Singers, with whom he toured in California. There, he began singing in jazz clubs, achieving note with the Les McCann Trio, and came to the attention of Sy Waronker of Liberty Records.

After recording two unsuccessful singles and an album, he was teamed with producer Snuff Garrett, with whom he recorded his first hit, "A Hundred Pounds of Clay", which reached number 3 in the Billboard Hot 100 chart in early 1961 and sold over one million copies, earning gold disc status. Its follow-up, "A Tear", was less successful but his third single with Garrett, "Tower of Strength", co-written by Burt Bacharach, reached number 5 and won McDaniels his second gold record. "Tower of Strength" reached number 49 in the UK Singles Chart, losing out to Frankie Vaughan's chart-topping version.