Gene McDaniels

Gene McDaniels, who was most famous for the 1961 hit "A Hundred Pounds
Of Clay" and for writing the 1974 #1 hit "Feel Like Makin' Love" for
Roberta Flack,
died (July 29, 2011). He was 76.
Details are sketchy surrounding the circumstances of McDaniels' passing
at presstime. Word of McDaniels' passing came to this writer courtesy
of his good
radio friend, Dick Bartley, who in turn passed along information posted
on the web site of Ann Ruckert, The Music Business Guru. According to
Wikipedia,
McDaniels had been residing in Maine. It's believed he died in his
sleep. On her website, Ruckert (believed to be in the upper right hand
photo with Gene)
said, "His wife, Karen, told me he was working until the very end. They
went to bed last night, he was full of ideas and new projects, and this
morning,
she turned in bed to wake him and he was gone."
The son of the Reverend B.T. McDaniels, Eugene Booker McDaniels was
born February 12, 1935, in Kansas City and grew up in Omaha. According
to Joel Whitburn's
Record Research, he sang in church choirs and attended the Omaha
Conservatory Of Music. According to writer Norm N. Nite, he joined a
professional gospel
group at the age of 13, played saxophone in his high school band and
would eventually form his own vocal quartet. McDaniels had at least one
minor single
release in 1960 with "In Times Like These" before hitting the jackpot
with a song about God building the world.
The late Luther Dixon co-wrote "A Hundred Pounds Of Clay" along with
Bob Elgin and Eddie Snyder. Dixon's songwriting credits include "Big
Boss Man" and
"Doncha Think It's Time" for Elvis Presley, "Just Born (To Be Your
Baby)" for Perry Como and many of the Shirelles' hits like "Boys" and
"Soldier Boy."
"A Hundred Pounds Of Clay" reached #3 in the spring of 1961 and was
ranked #15 for the year by Cash Box magazine. After his followup
release, "A Tear",
reached #24, McDaniels had his only other Cash Box top 10 with the #9
"Tower Of Strength" in the fall of '61. McDaniels had three more top 40
hits in 1962
with "Chip Chip" (#16), "Point Of No Return" (#32) and "Spanish Lace"
(#38).
Although the solo hits stopped for McDaniels on the Liberty label after
1963, he was always into various music projects right up until the time
of his passing.
He produced for at least seven labels, including Capitol, Motown and
A&M. He wrote "Compared To What" in 1968 and it became a minor #96 hit
in early 1970
for Les McCann and Eddie Harris. The song made it onto the soundtracks
of eight movies, including "Ice Storm" and "Casino." McDaniels himself
appeared
in at least three movies: "It's Trad, Dad!" (released in 1962 in the
USA as "Ring-A-Ding Rhythm"), "The Young Swingers" (1963) and "Uptown
Saturday Night"
(1974). He recorded at least two albums in the 1970's, another in the
1980's and still another as recently as 2009.
Roberta Flack recorded the most Gene McDaniels-penned songs, including
"Feel Like Makin' Love," which was nominated for three Grammy Awards.
At the time
of his death, McDaniels was working with Mandy Bennett, an upcoming
singer-songwriter.
In eulogizing McDaniels on her website, Ruckert wrote, "Whenever Gene
came to New York, the joint was jumping. My house was filled with the
folks who loved
him and there was a lot of laughter."