Death of a King

Yet another great New Orleans artist has died - this time King Floyd, who died in California of a stroke on March 6. He was 61. Floyd had a sweet, high soulful voice (and an excellent grunt which he used to good effect on several tracks) and is best known for Groove me, which was recorded by Wardell Quezerque in 1971 and sold two million copies. It was released on Chimneyville but was the first big hit to come out of Malaco and led to that label's later success. Amazingly it was recorded at the same session as Jean Knight's Mr Big Stuff - it must have been quite a session. Hos first eponymous album was followed by Think about it and Well done, both high quality LPs with a good number of self-penned tracks. His later Body English is probably better known among followers of disco, but all his material is worth a listen. I saw King Floyd only once - at the House of Blues in New Orleans - and he was excellent: not particularly dynamic but a great voice. So sad that the King is dead at such a young age.