Geno Washington

During his early 1960s Air Force posting to England, Indiana-born Geno Washington, an American soul shouter whose raw delivery recalled deep soul testifiers such as Wilson Pickett and Don Covay, fronted the British outfit the Ram Jam Band on a string of modest U.K. chart entries between 1966 and 1967. While stationed in East Anglia, he built a local reputation by filling in at London gigs. Guitarist Pete Gage caught one such appearance in 1965 and recruited him for a new ensemble featuring bassist John Roberts, drummer Herb Prestige, organist Jeff Wright, tenor saxophonist Lionel Kingham, and baritone saxophonist Buddy Beadle.

After leaving the service, Washington remained in England, where the band drew Southeast crowds with high-energy shows that crammed dozens of brisk R&B and soul numbers into half-hour sets. Piccadilly signed the group by early 1966, and they scraped into the Top 40 with “Water.” Though that single proved their biggest hit, Geno Washington and the Ram Jam Band returned to the charts three more times over the next year with “Hi-Hi Hazel,” a version of “Que Sera Sera,” and “Michael.” Their first two albums, Hand Clappin' Foot Stompin' Funky-Butt...Live! and Hipsters, Flipsters, Finger-Poppin' Daddies!, captured the band more convincingly and both reached the British Top Ten. Washington cut only two further albums with the Ram Jam Band before the lineup dissolved around 1970. Gage later joined Vinegar Joe.

Washington resurfaced in 1976 with Geno's Back!. Four years afterward he scored his lone number-one success of any kind when Dexys Midnight Runners sent the tribute song “Geno” to the top of the charts. He released one more LP, Put Out the Cat, in 1981 and kept up sporadic touring through the 1980s and 1990s, often mixing a blues approach with a hypnotism routine.