Biography
Gene McDaniels earned recognition first and foremost as a pop and R&B singer whose polished yet fervent recordings appeared during the early and middle 1960s, precisely when the genre was shifting toward soul. His strong, clear voice powered several stylish successes such as “A Hundred Pounds of Clay,” “Tower of Strength,” and “Chip Chip.” Beyond performing, he carved out a separate identity as a composer and session leader, penning the chart-topping “Feel Like Makin’ Love” for Roberta Flack as well as the incisive and frequently interpreted “Compared to What,” while also overseeing dates for Nancy Wilson, Melba Moore, Jimmy Smith, and Lenny Williams. Listeners seeking an overview of his Liberty years can turn to the anthology A Hundred Pounds of Clay: The Best of Gene McDaniels, whereas his more daring, socially conscious 1970s output is captured on the 1971 underground favorite Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse.
Eugene Booker McDaniels entered the world in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1935 and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, as the child of a minister. Early surroundings steeped him in gospel music and scriptural language, with the Soul Stirrers and the Swan Silvertones among his earliest models. Around the same period he encountered jazz amid the rise of bebop and quickly became an admirer of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. Singing came naturally to him, supported by a four-octave range, yet he also gained facility on saxophone and trumpet.
At age eleven he formed the Echoes of Joy, later renamed the Sultans, a group devoted at first exclusively to gospel material; popular numbers were gradually introduced into its sets. After distinguishing himself in a citywide vocal contest, he began to regard music as a vocation and enrolled at the Omaha Conservatory of Music rather than pursuing conventional schooling. His first professional work came with the Mississippi Piney Woods Singers, whose travels carried him to the West Coast; there he started performing jazz as a solo act. Appearances alongside his idol Les McCann at the short-lived club The Lamp helped build enough local notice to attract the attention of Liberty Records.
Sy Waronker signed him and initially assigned him to producer Felix Slatkin, but the resulting singles and album met with little commercial response. The turning point arrived when Snuff Garrett assumed production duties. Although Slatkin possessed formidable skills as a musician, violinist, and conductor, Garrett’s ear for material proved decisive, securing the song that became McDaniels’ breakthrough, “A Hundred Pounds of Clay.” McDaniels himself disliked the number, finding it too elementary after years of jazz singing, yet the single climbed to number three in spring 1961 and earned a gold record. Follow-up “A Tear” registered only modestly, but the next release, “Tower of Strength,” co-written by Burt Bacharach, reached number five and likewise received gold certification.
Steady chart presence continued for the next three years, and McDaniels appeared in the 1962 jukebox film It’s Trad, Dad, directed by Richard Lester, performing “Another Tear Falls.” Over time, however, his smoother approach yielded ground to the rawer soul style advanced by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave. He departed Liberty in 1965 and recorded briefly for Columbia and several smaller imprints. After the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., McDaniels left the United States for three years in Denmark and Sweden, devoting himself to writing. The new material reflected greater sophistication than his earlier Liberty work; among the results were “Compared to What,” a pointed political commentary that became a hit for Les McCann & Eddie Harris, and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” a sensuous soul track that Roberta Flack, one of his preferred vocalists, carried high on the charts.
Returning in 1970, he joined Atlantic Records and resumed recording under the name Eugene McDaniels. His debut for the label, Outlaw, arrived that year and mixed funk, jazz, and rock behind politically charged lyrics and his own dramatic delivery. The follow-up, 1971’s Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse, proved still more emphatic; a copy reportedly reached the White House, prompting Richard Nixon’s displeasure and Spiro Agnew’s attempt to persuade Atlantic to withdraw the album. Also in 1971 McDaniels participated in the MGM release Vol. One by the group Universal Jones. After that project he stepped back from issuing his own records for an extended period, though he remained active writing and producing for Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Floaters, Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Smith, and actor Richard Roundtree. A final solo album, Screams & Whispers, appeared on his own Genepool Records imprint in 2004. Gene McDaniels died in his sleep at his home in Maine on July 29, 2011.
Eugene Booker McDaniels entered the world in Kansas City, Kansas, in 1935 and grew up in Omaha, Nebraska, as the child of a minister. Early surroundings steeped him in gospel music and scriptural language, with the Soul Stirrers and the Swan Silvertones among his earliest models. Around the same period he encountered jazz amid the rise of bebop and quickly became an admirer of Charlie Parker and Miles Davis. Singing came naturally to him, supported by a four-octave range, yet he also gained facility on saxophone and trumpet.
At age eleven he formed the Echoes of Joy, later renamed the Sultans, a group devoted at first exclusively to gospel material; popular numbers were gradually introduced into its sets. After distinguishing himself in a citywide vocal contest, he began to regard music as a vocation and enrolled at the Omaha Conservatory of Music rather than pursuing conventional schooling. His first professional work came with the Mississippi Piney Woods Singers, whose travels carried him to the West Coast; there he started performing jazz as a solo act. Appearances alongside his idol Les McCann at the short-lived club The Lamp helped build enough local notice to attract the attention of Liberty Records.
Sy Waronker signed him and initially assigned him to producer Felix Slatkin, but the resulting singles and album met with little commercial response. The turning point arrived when Snuff Garrett assumed production duties. Although Slatkin possessed formidable skills as a musician, violinist, and conductor, Garrett’s ear for material proved decisive, securing the song that became McDaniels’ breakthrough, “A Hundred Pounds of Clay.” McDaniels himself disliked the number, finding it too elementary after years of jazz singing, yet the single climbed to number three in spring 1961 and earned a gold record. Follow-up “A Tear” registered only modestly, but the next release, “Tower of Strength,” co-written by Burt Bacharach, reached number five and likewise received gold certification.
Steady chart presence continued for the next three years, and McDaniels appeared in the 1962 jukebox film It’s Trad, Dad, directed by Richard Lester, performing “Another Tear Falls.” Over time, however, his smoother approach yielded ground to the rawer soul style advanced by Otis Redding and Sam & Dave. He departed Liberty in 1965 and recorded briefly for Columbia and several smaller imprints. After the 1968 assassination of Dr. Martin Luther King, Jr., McDaniels left the United States for three years in Denmark and Sweden, devoting himself to writing. The new material reflected greater sophistication than his earlier Liberty work; among the results were “Compared to What,” a pointed political commentary that became a hit for Les McCann & Eddie Harris, and “Feel Like Makin’ Love,” a sensuous soul track that Roberta Flack, one of his preferred vocalists, carried high on the charts.
Returning in 1970, he joined Atlantic Records and resumed recording under the name Eugene McDaniels. His debut for the label, Outlaw, arrived that year and mixed funk, jazz, and rock behind politically charged lyrics and his own dramatic delivery. The follow-up, 1971’s Headless Heroes of the Apocalypse, proved still more emphatic; a copy reportedly reached the White House, prompting Richard Nixon’s displeasure and Spiro Agnew’s attempt to persuade Atlantic to withdraw the album. Also in 1971 McDaniels participated in the MGM release Vol. One by the group Universal Jones. After that project he stepped back from issuing his own records for an extended period, though he remained active writing and producing for Gladys Knight & the Pips, the Floaters, Nancy Wilson, Jimmy Smith, and actor Richard Roundtree. A final solo album, Screams & Whispers, appeared on his own Genepool Records imprint in 2004. Gene McDaniels died in his sleep at his home in Maine on July 29, 2011.
Albums
Singles
