Biography
Growing up in Chicago, Eugene Record developed an early fascination with music that began when he first took up the guitar. His older sister, a proficient pianist who rehearsed classical repertoire daily in the family living room, provided a significant influence, and those classical motifs would later surface in his songwriting and record productions. At 13 he shared his ambition of starting his own record company with fellow teenager Gus Redmond. While at Englewood High School he assembled the Chanteurs with Robert "Squirrel" Lester and Clarence Johnson; the ensemble cut a pair of singles, among them "You Did That to Me," for Leo Ostell's Renee Records in 1959.
Joining forces with Marshall Thompson and Creadel "Red" Jones of the Desideros turned the quintet into the Hi-Lites, which began recording for the Daran label owned by Thompson's cousin James Shelton. Their 1964 single "I'm So Jealous" enjoyed moderate success and was licensed to Chicago-based Mercury Records. Johnson exited that same year and later produced the 1972 gold-certified "Love Jones" by the Brighter Side of Darkness. Additional sides appeared on Mercury's Blue Rock subsidiary, while other singles surfaced on Ja-Wes and Darin, including Monk Higgins' "Go Go Gorilla."
Marshall Thompson's chance meeting with Otis Leavill on a city bus supplied the group's first major opening. Leavill urged the ensemble, now renamed the Chi-Lites, to audition for producer Carl Davis, who had recently launched his Dakar label. The Chi-Lites' debut Dakar single, "Price of Love," arrived in 1967. That year Davis encountered Nat Tarnapol, president of New York-based Brunswick Records, at a DJ and record-label convention. Having overseen Jackie Wilson's comeback hits "Whispers" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," Davis was recruited by Tarnapol to direct Brunswick's Chicago branch. From offices at 1449 S. Michigan, Davis signed the Chi-Lites to Brunswick in late 1968 and released their first national chart entry, "Give It Away," which reached number ten R&B in early 1969.
The double-sided follow-up paired "Let Me Be the Man My Daddy Was" with "The Twelfth of Never." Davis hired Record to write for his Jalynne publishing firm in the late 1960s. Collaborating with fellow Brunswick artist Barbara Acklin, whose 1968 Top Ten R&B/pop hit was "Love Makes a Woman," Record scored success with Peaches and Herb's "Two Little Kids." Around this period he and Acklin composed the enduring melancholy ballad "Have You Seen Her."
While surveying his catalog for a new album, Record noticed "Have You Seen Her" yet rejected it because its five-minute length far exceeded the standard three-minute 45. After Stax artist Isaac Hayes demonstrated the viability of extended tracks with Hot Buttered Soul, Davis included the song on the Chi-Lites' (For God's Sake) Give More Power to The People LP. Recognizing its potential, Baltimore combo Frankie and the Spindles and seven other acts rushed out cover versions. Soul and other radio stations disregarded the three-minute barrier and aired the long album cut; Brunswick then issued a single edit that went gold, held number one R&B for two weeks, and reached number three pop in 1971, delivering the Chi-Lites' first pop hit.
The hickory-flavored harmonica of Cy Touff, integrated into a rich Chicago soul framework, powered the group's most successful single to that point. Producer Carl Davis chose "Oh Girl" from a seven-song tape of Eugene Record originals. The session featured Record on guitar and bass, drummer Quinton Joseph, pianist Tom-Tom Washington, Touff, and engineer Bruce Swedien, who later worked with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and others. Although many Brunswick Chicago artists recorded at Murray Allen's Universal Recording Studios, the Chi-Lites were engineered by Swedien at the label's Chicago branch. A March 1972 appearance on Flip Wilson's top-rated NBC show launched the track, which went gold, topped the pop charts on May 27, 1972, and remained number one R&B for two weeks. Further hits followed, among them the Record/Acklin compositions "Stoned..." and "There Will Never..."
Record wrote and produced material for Jackie Wilson ("You Got Me Walking," "Don't Burn No Bridges" by Jackie Wilson and the Chi-Lites) and additional Brunswick artists. He composed "Raindrops"—distinct from Dee Clark's 1961 hit—for Barbara Acklin, her sole post-Brunswick release. In the early 1970s Record made song demos on a one-track recorder, performing every part himself on guitar and drums inside his small basement apartment. This facility proved useful when he occasionally substituted for unavailable group members during sessions; he later functioned as a "one-man band" on his solo albums.
In 1976 Record left the Chi-Lites and signed a solo deal with Warner Bros. The first of two Warner Bros. albums, The Eugene Record (February 1977), yielded the number 24 R&B hit "Laying Beside You"; the follow-up, Trying to Get to You, appeared the next year. He stayed active writing songs and producing former Lost Generation member Lowell Simon, known as Lowrell for "Mellow Mellow Right On," among many others. Record occasionally appeared onstage and on record with the Chi-Lites. Oakland rapper MC Hammer covered "Have You Seen Her" on his breakthrough second Capitol album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. The track quickly went gold and peaked at number four on both R&B and pop charts in summer 1990, benefiting songwriters Acklin and Record.
Record became a born-again Christian in 1988 and made a 1992 appearance on TV's The 700 Club. After sustained study and spiritual development, he released his first all-gospel album, Let Him In, on his own Evergreen Records label; childhood friend Gus Redmond handled promotion. In December 2003 Record rejoined the Chi-Lites to film the PBS special Superstars of Seventies Soul. The following year hip-hop again reached him when "Are You My Woman" supplied the foundation for Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," earning him a writing credit and his first Grammy Award. After a prolonged battle with cancer, Eugene Record died on July 22, 2005, at age 64; at the time he was engaged in ministry work and planning a re-release of his 1998 gospel album Let Him In.
Joining forces with Marshall Thompson and Creadel "Red" Jones of the Desideros turned the quintet into the Hi-Lites, which began recording for the Daran label owned by Thompson's cousin James Shelton. Their 1964 single "I'm So Jealous" enjoyed moderate success and was licensed to Chicago-based Mercury Records. Johnson exited that same year and later produced the 1972 gold-certified "Love Jones" by the Brighter Side of Darkness. Additional sides appeared on Mercury's Blue Rock subsidiary, while other singles surfaced on Ja-Wes and Darin, including Monk Higgins' "Go Go Gorilla."
Marshall Thompson's chance meeting with Otis Leavill on a city bus supplied the group's first major opening. Leavill urged the ensemble, now renamed the Chi-Lites, to audition for producer Carl Davis, who had recently launched his Dakar label. The Chi-Lites' debut Dakar single, "Price of Love," arrived in 1967. That year Davis encountered Nat Tarnapol, president of New York-based Brunswick Records, at a DJ and record-label convention. Having overseen Jackie Wilson's comeback hits "Whispers" and "(Your Love Keeps Lifting Me) Higher and Higher," Davis was recruited by Tarnapol to direct Brunswick's Chicago branch. From offices at 1449 S. Michigan, Davis signed the Chi-Lites to Brunswick in late 1968 and released their first national chart entry, "Give It Away," which reached number ten R&B in early 1969.
The double-sided follow-up paired "Let Me Be the Man My Daddy Was" with "The Twelfth of Never." Davis hired Record to write for his Jalynne publishing firm in the late 1960s. Collaborating with fellow Brunswick artist Barbara Acklin, whose 1968 Top Ten R&B/pop hit was "Love Makes a Woman," Record scored success with Peaches and Herb's "Two Little Kids." Around this period he and Acklin composed the enduring melancholy ballad "Have You Seen Her."
While surveying his catalog for a new album, Record noticed "Have You Seen Her" yet rejected it because its five-minute length far exceeded the standard three-minute 45. After Stax artist Isaac Hayes demonstrated the viability of extended tracks with Hot Buttered Soul, Davis included the song on the Chi-Lites' (For God's Sake) Give More Power to The People LP. Recognizing its potential, Baltimore combo Frankie and the Spindles and seven other acts rushed out cover versions. Soul and other radio stations disregarded the three-minute barrier and aired the long album cut; Brunswick then issued a single edit that went gold, held number one R&B for two weeks, and reached number three pop in 1971, delivering the Chi-Lites' first pop hit.
The hickory-flavored harmonica of Cy Touff, integrated into a rich Chicago soul framework, powered the group's most successful single to that point. Producer Carl Davis chose "Oh Girl" from a seven-song tape of Eugene Record originals. The session featured Record on guitar and bass, drummer Quinton Joseph, pianist Tom-Tom Washington, Touff, and engineer Bruce Swedien, who later worked with Michael Jackson, Quincy Jones, and others. Although many Brunswick Chicago artists recorded at Murray Allen's Universal Recording Studios, the Chi-Lites were engineered by Swedien at the label's Chicago branch. A March 1972 appearance on Flip Wilson's top-rated NBC show launched the track, which went gold, topped the pop charts on May 27, 1972, and remained number one R&B for two weeks. Further hits followed, among them the Record/Acklin compositions "Stoned..." and "There Will Never..."
Record wrote and produced material for Jackie Wilson ("You Got Me Walking," "Don't Burn No Bridges" by Jackie Wilson and the Chi-Lites) and additional Brunswick artists. He composed "Raindrops"—distinct from Dee Clark's 1961 hit—for Barbara Acklin, her sole post-Brunswick release. In the early 1970s Record made song demos on a one-track recorder, performing every part himself on guitar and drums inside his small basement apartment. This facility proved useful when he occasionally substituted for unavailable group members during sessions; he later functioned as a "one-man band" on his solo albums.
In 1976 Record left the Chi-Lites and signed a solo deal with Warner Bros. The first of two Warner Bros. albums, The Eugene Record (February 1977), yielded the number 24 R&B hit "Laying Beside You"; the follow-up, Trying to Get to You, appeared the next year. He stayed active writing songs and producing former Lost Generation member Lowell Simon, known as Lowrell for "Mellow Mellow Right On," among many others. Record occasionally appeared onstage and on record with the Chi-Lites. Oakland rapper MC Hammer covered "Have You Seen Her" on his breakthrough second Capitol album Please Hammer, Don't Hurt 'Em. The track quickly went gold and peaked at number four on both R&B and pop charts in summer 1990, benefiting songwriters Acklin and Record.
Record became a born-again Christian in 1988 and made a 1992 appearance on TV's The 700 Club. After sustained study and spiritual development, he released his first all-gospel album, Let Him In, on his own Evergreen Records label; childhood friend Gus Redmond handled promotion. In December 2003 Record rejoined the Chi-Lites to film the PBS special Superstars of Seventies Soul. The following year hip-hop again reached him when "Are You My Woman" supplied the foundation for Beyonce's "Crazy in Love," earning him a writing credit and his first Grammy Award. After a prolonged battle with cancer, Eugene Record died on July 22, 2005, at age 64; at the time he was engaged in ministry work and planning a re-release of his 1998 gospel album Let Him In.
Albums
