King Floyd

King Floyd III or King Floyd (born February 13 1945 - died March 6, 2006) was a New Orleans soul singer and songwriter best known for his top ten hit from 1970 "Groove Me".

Early career

Floyd was born in New Orleans in 1945. His musical career started as a singer at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street. Following a stint in the army, Floyd went to California, where he joined up with producer Harold Battiste. His debut album, "A Man In Love," featuring songs co-written with Dr. John, failed to make an impact on the charts. Floyd returned to New Orleans in 1969 and worked for the Post Office.

Recording Success

In 1970, Wardell Quezergue, an arranger of R&B scores, persuaded Floyd to record "Groove Me" with Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi. Jean Knight recorded her hit, "Mr. Big Stuff," in the same sessions.

At first, "Groove Me" was a B-side to another Floyd song, "What Our Love Needs." New Orleans radio DJ's started playing "Groove Me" and the song became a local hit. Atlantic Records picked up national distribution of "Groove Me," which topped the R&B charts and reached #6 on the pop charts. [http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/pop/1403AP_Obit_Floyd.html] . The record went gold by the end of the year and Floyd quit his job at the post office to perform a U.S. tour. His follow-up single, "Got to Have your Love," went into the Top 10 in 1971.

However, differences with Quezerque soon emerged and his follow-up album, "Think About It", failed to make much impact. However, Atlantic released a song from his 1971 "King Floyd" album, "Woman Don't Go Astray" in 1973. His 1975 album, "Well Done", was released through TK Records with Atlantic distributing. "I Feel Like Dynamite" from the album became a minor hit.

ubsequent career

None of his subsequent songs achieved the same, as disco dominated the charts for the remainder of the 1970s. However, Floyd had credits for "Boombastic," recorded in 1995 by Shaggy, which became a big hit. [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:6aq3g4hmtv4z~T3] Floyd reunited with Malaco Records in 2000 for the "Old Skool Funk" album, but it failed to make an impact. However, his song "Don't Leave Me Lonely" was prominently sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan for the song "For Heaven's Sake" off the album Wu-Tang Forever, making Floyd a part of the development of a distinct production style in the genre of hip-hop music.

He died on March 6, 2006 from complications of a stroke and diabetes.

References

* [http://www.allmusic.com/cg/amg.dll?p=amg&sql=11:0c6jtr69kl4x~T1 Allmusic.com King Floyd article] Picayune--King Floyd III, soul singer, songwriter]