Born in Spartanburg, South Carolina on January 2, 1929, Arthur Prysock displayed equal comfort across jazz, blues, and R&B, yet his silky baritone established him as an underrecognized pop crooner shaped most directly by Billy Eckstine. His brother, saxophonist Red Prysock, pursued a parallel musical path. During his teenage years he settled in Hartford, Connecticut, balancing daytime work in aviation with nighttime appearances alongside local ensembles. Jump blues leader Buddy Johnson discovered him in 1944, secured him as principal male vocalist, and took him to Harlem.
Prysock contributed to several Decca successes with Johnson before launching his solo career in 1952, which included regular tours of the Chitlin' Circuit, sometimes joined by his sibling. He soon scored an R&B hit with “I Didn't Sleep a Wink Last Night” and built his reputation among Black listeners as a deeply expressive ballad singer. In the 1950s he recorded for assorted smaller labels while his concert popularity steadily increased his visibility. A sustained partnership with Old Town produced R&B chart entries such as “I Worry 'Bout You” in 1958, Ray Noble's enduring ballad “The Very Thought of You” in 1960, and “It's Too Late Baby, It's Too Late” in 1965. That year he realized a longtime ambition by cutting an album with Count Basie for Verve, the imprint that anchored most of his output through the remainder of the decade. He performed at Carnegie Hall in 1966 and briefly hosted his own television program. By the late 1960s he had returned to Old Town, issuing several albums while continuing to work the club circuit.
An unexpected disco success arrived in 1976 with “When Love Is New,” though he otherwise kept a low profile. He resumed active recording in 1985 with the widely praised Milestone album A Rockin' Good Way and performed the well-known Lowenbrau beer jingle. Two further Milestone releases followed—This Guy's in Love with You in 1986 and Today's Love Songs, Tomorrow's Blues in 1987—before he again withdrew from the spotlight. He died on June 21, 1997.
