Otis Leavill
| Otis Leavill | |
|---|---|
Otis Leavill in 1970.
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Otis Leavill Cobb |
| Born |
February 8, 1937 Dewey Rose, Elbert County, Georgia |
| Died | July 17, 2002 (aged 65) Chicago, Illinois |
| Genres | Soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, record producer |
| Instruments | Vocals |
| Years active | 1958–2002 |
| Labels | Okeh, Atlantic |
| Associated acts | The Chi-Lites, Tyrone Davis, Hamilton Bohannon, Chaka Khan. |
Otis Leavill (February 8, 1937 – July 17, 2002) was an American R&B singer, songwriter and record company executive.
Otis Leavill Cobb was born in Dewey Rose, Elbert County, Georgia, and moved with his family to the West Side of Chicago at the age of two. His father was pastor of the First Church of Deliverance on South Wabash Avenue, and he started singing in the family's gospel group, the Cobb Quartet. In his teens, he took part in amateur boxing with his friend Major Lance, graduated from Crane High School, and attended college. With Lance and Barbara Tyson, he formed a short-lived vocal group, The Floats, who recorded an unreleased demo record in 1958/59.
He released his first record, "Rise Sally Rise" coupled with "I Gotta Right To Cry" - written by another friend, Curtis Mayfield - on the small Lucky label in 1963, and then issued two singles on the Limelight label. His fourth record, "Let Her Love Me", written by Billy Butler, produced by Major Lance, and with The Impressions on backing vocals, was issued by Blue Rock Records in late 1964, and rose to # 31 on the Billboard R&B chart, its success leading to Leavill touring with Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. However, follow-up records on Blue Rock were unsuccessful, and he moved to on to record in the 1960s for several other labels.
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