Solomon King

Best remembered for the chart-topping single “She Wears My Ring,” vocalist Solomon King entered the world as Allen Levy in Lexington, Kentucky, during 1930. Immersed from childhood in pop standards alongside country music, he first stepped onto a stage at age ten and turned professional eleven years later. Standing an imposing 6'8", Levy initially performed under the name Randy Leeds, issuing obscure 45s such as “I’m Gonna Live Til I Die” and “My Oh My.” He nevertheless became the first white singer to share a bill with jazz icon Billie Holiday, an achievement that drew the attention of Canadian journalist Henny Lowy; the two married in 1960. For a period he also sang with Elvis Presley’s celebrated backing group the Jordanaires. After moving with Lowy to London in 1965, Levy revived his solo ambitions under the new identity Solomon King. Manager Gordon Mills, already guiding the careers of Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, took him on in 1967, leading to the recording of “She Wears My Ring”—a Boudleaux and Felice Bryant composition derived from Mexican composer Narciso Serradel Sevilla’s “La Golondrina (The Swallow).” Roy Orbison had cut the song five years earlier, yet King’s version soared across Europe, peaking at number three and lingering five months on the British charts. Stateside, however, the single failed to register on the Hot 100, while Ray Price’s Nashville recording achieved modest traction. The follow-up “When We Were Young” briefly entered the U.K. Top 40, but King’s momentum faded rapidly. Unwilling to adapt to shifting tastes, he filled his albums with Jewish standards such as “My Yiddishe Momma” and wartime anthems like “The White Cliffs of Dover,” underscoring his distance from mainstream pop audiences. Cabaret venues nonetheless remained loyal, and in 1971 he adopted the alias Levi Jackson for the gospel release “This Beautiful Day,” a track later revered on the Northern soul scene. One final bid for broader success came with the theme to the 1974 film The Doll Squad; thereafter he confined himself to club work, returning to the United States after his marriage to Lowy ended in 1980. King died in Oklahoma on January 21, 2005.