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Singer and songwriter Gene McDaniels passes away

Singer and songwriter Gene McDaniels passes away

THE SINGER and songwriter Gene McDaniels has passed away. He was 76.

Mr. McDaniels enjoyed his success in the pop market with early hits in the 1960s including A Hundred Pounds Of Clay (see below) and Tower Of Strength.

But he pinned his hopes on his songwriting abilities and spent practically all of his money in establishing a publishing company to handle his work.

Mr. McDaniels admitted that at times he did wonder if he had done the right thing because for months after setting-up the venture he suffered financially and at one point had to spend several days sleeping in a park.

But his luck changed when Les McCann released a recording in 1969 of McDaniels’ song Compared To What. The song was on an album which McCann had recorded at the Montreux Jazz Festival.

The song was then picked-up by other artists. Compared To What has been covered more than 270 times.

The royalties gave Mr. McDaniels an important degree of creative freedom and he was able to release a number of albums.

Among the songs he wrote at this time were Feel Like Makin’ Love.

In recent years his work was picked up and sampled by hip-hop artists who brought his work to a new generation.

This was a source of great pride to Mr. McDaniels.

To see Gene McDaniels perform A Hundred Pounds of Clay click here.

 

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