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Ramsey Lewis

 


The Ramsey Lewis Trio | Chess Records | Image restored by Google | tc1081

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. was born in Chicago, Illinois, on May 27, 1935. The Ramsey Lewis Trio were Lewis, Isaac “Redd” Holt and Eldee Young. Their first album was released in 1956 but by 1964 they found success jazzing up pop tunes, especially “The In Crowd”. In 1966 Holt and Young left and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White (who later left to found Earth Wind and Fire).

Hang on Sloopy, The In Crowd and Wade in the Water sold a million copies each and were awarded gold discs. Ramsey Lewis went on to record many albums and has introduced many listeners of pop, R&B and soul music to jazz. He also has had five albums achieve gold discs. A gold album disc is awarded for 500,000 units.

The In Crowd, Hold it right there and Hang on Sloopy won Grammy awards.

Ramsey Lewis died from natural causes in his sleep in Chicago, Illinois, on 12 September 2022.

Redd Holt, drums, born in Rosedale, Mississippi, on 16 May 1932, died in Chicago, Illinois, from lung cancer on 23 May 2023.

Eldee Young, bass, born in Chicago, Illinois, on 7 January 1936, died from a heart attack in Bangkok, Thailand, on 12 February 2007.


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