George McCurn
| George McCurn | |
|---|---|
| Born | January 21, 1920 |
| Died | April 1985 (aged 64–65) |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Labels | A&M |
| Associated acts | Kings of Harmony, Gospel Harps, The Fairfield Four, Pilgrim Travelers |
George McCurn (born January 21, 1920 in Chicago – September 1985) was a bass singer who started off singing gospel and switched to pop in the 1960s. He had a hit in 1963 with "I'm Just A Country Boy".
In 1948, he joined the vocal quartet Kings of Harmony, replacing their bass singer Isaac "Dickie" Freeman. In the early days he was also a member for a brief period of West Coast-based group the Gospel Harps. In 1950, he joined Fairfield Four and replaced Isaac Freeman who had previously replaced in Kings of Harmony. In October 1950, he recorded with the group and this marks the period of his first time recording. In 1954, he joined the Pigrim Travellers, replacing their original bass singer, Rafael Taylor. At one stage when he was in the Pigrim Travellers, the other members at the time were Jesse Whittaker, Ernest Booker, Louis Rawls, and J.W. Alexander.
In early 1963, he had his I'm Just a Country Boy single released on A&M Records. It was listed in the February 23 issue of Billboard as a regional breakout single which though at that time, not on the Billboard Hot 100, but selling strongly. By April 6, the single had climbed from 64 in the Hot 100 to 56.
His album Country Boy Goes to Town was a special merit pick in the June 1 edition of Billboard. It was reported in the June 29 edition of Billboard, following Festival Records exec director Frederick C. Marks signing a 5-year deal with A&M, the album was going to be rush released in Australia.
In March 1964, the single "Guess Who" which was written by JoAnn Belvin was released. It was backed with "One More Time For The Poor Man", which was written by Sonny Knight and Thora Johnson. "Guess Who" also appeared on the Vault Records label with the cat no V.R. 002. The other side "At The Of A Rainbow" had the cat no V.R. 001., which indicates that it was probably the B side.
In 1966, the single "Too Many Tears" bw ": You Say You Don't Want Me" was released on Reprise.
In later years McCurn did some recording session work as a backing vocalist. Along with Delia Gartnell, Gwenn Roberts, and Herman Hitson, he was one of the backing vocalist on the Truth album by King Hannibal, released in 1973. He was also one of the backing vocalists on Ry Cooder's Paradise and Lunch album which was released on Reprise Records in 1974.
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