Eddy Giles

Elbert Wiggins came into the world on March 17, 1938, near Shreveport, Louisiana, and stayed rooted in the Shreveport region throughout his life, where he performed with neighborhood gospel ensembles. Secular singing was never his intended path, yet the soul, R&B, and pop sides he cut in the 1960s for Dee Marais’ revival of the Murco Records imprint remain vintage collectable Southern soul gems. His style carried little of the characteristic Louisiana swamp sound, leaning instead toward the cleaner, sharper Memphis R&B approach while still harboring abundant deep funk, which yielded several popular regional hits for Marais and enough tracks for a complete LP. His final secular date took place in 1977 at the local Custom Sound label and produced only a single 45. After that he stepped away from pop and soul altogether, returning to sacred music as a pastor in Shreveport and a gospel DJ at the area station KOKA.