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Commercial aviation

Commercial aviation is the part of civil aviation that involves operating aircraft for remuneration or hire, as opposed to private aviation.

Definition
Commercial aviation is not a rigorously defined category. All commercial air transport and aerial work operations are regarded as commercial aviation, as well as some general aviation flights.

An aircraft operation involving the transportation of people, goods, or mail for payment or hiring is referred to as commercial air transport. Both scheduled and unscheduled air transport operations are included. An aircraft used for specialized services including agriculture, construction, photography, surveying, observation and patrol, search and rescue, advertising, etc. is referred to as aerial work.

General aviation includes commercial activities such as flight instruction, aerial work, and corporate and business aviation, as well as non-commercial activities such as recreational flying.

Most commercial aviation activities require at minimum a commercial pilot licence, and some require an airline transport pilot licence (ATPL). In the US, the pilot in command of a scheduled air carriers' aircraft must hold an ATPL. In the UK, pilots must hold an ATPL before they be pilot in command of an aircraft with 9 or more passenger seats.

Not all activities involving pilot remuneration require a commercial pilot licence. For example, in European Union Aviation Safety Agency states and the UK it is possible to become a paid flight instructor with only a private pilot licence. Nonetheless, in the UK, flight instruction is considered a commercial operation.

It is the purpose of the flight, not the aircraft or pilot, that determines whether the flight is commercial or private. For example, if a commercially licensed pilot flies a plane to visit a friend or attend a business meeting, this would be a private flight. Conversely, a private pilot could legally fly a multi-engine complex aircraft carrying passengers for non-commercial purposes (no compensation paid to the pilot, and a pro rata or larger portion of the aircraft operating expenses paid by the pilot).

Potential radiation exposure
The magnetosphere guides cosmic ray and solar energetic particles to polar latitudes, while high-energy charged particles enter the mesosphere, stratosphere, and troposphere. These energetic particles at the top of the atmosphere shatter atmospheric atoms and molecules, creating harmful lower-energy particles that penetrate deep into the atmosphere and create measurable radiation. All aircraft flying above 8 km (26,200 feet) altitude are exposed to these particles. The dose exposure is greater in polar regions than in mid-latitude and equatorial regions. When a space weather event causes radiation exposure to exceed the safe level set by aviation authorities, the aircraft's flight path is diverted.

While the most significant — but highly unlikely — health consequences of atmospheric radiation exposure include death from radiation-induced cancer due to long-term exposure, many lifestyle-degrading and career-impacting cancer forms can also occur. A cancer diagnosis can have significant career impact for a commercial pilot. A cancer diagnosis can ground a pilot temporarily or permanently. International guidelines from the International Commission on Radiological Protection (ICRP) have been developed to mitigate this statistical risk. The ICRP recommends effective dose limits of a 5-year average of 20 mSv per year with no more than 50 mSv in a single year for nonpregnant, occupationally exposed persons, and 1 mSv per year for the general public. Radiation dose limits are not engineering limits. In the U.S., they are treated as an upper limit of acceptability and not a regulatory limit.

Measurement of radiation at altitudes above 8 km (26,000 ft) has historically been done by instruments that record the data on board where the data are then processed later on the ground. However, a system of real-time radiation measurement has been developed through the NASA Automated Radiation Measurements for Aerospace Safety (ARMAS) program. ARMAS has flown hundreds of flights since 2013, mostly on research aircraft, and sent the data to the ground through Iridium satellite links. The goal is to assimilate this data into physics-based global radiation models, e.g., NASA's Nowcast of Atmospheric Ionizing Radiation System (NAIRAS), so as to provide the weather of the radiation environment rather than the climatology.

Origins
Harry Bruno and Juan Trippe were early promoters of commercial aviation.

The Air Commerce Act of 1926 began to regularize commercial aviation by establishing standards, facilitation, and promotion. An Aeronautical Branch was established in the Department of Commerce with William P. MacCracken Jr. as director. To promote commercial aviation, he told town fathers that "Communities without airports would be communities without airmail."

Writing for Collier's in 1929, he noted "Commercial aviation is the first industry inspired by hero-worship and built upon heros". He cited the promotion in South America by Herbert Dargue in early 1927. After his 1927 trans-Atlantic flight, Charles Lindbergh made a tour of the contiguous United States, paid for by the Daniel Guggenheim Foundation for the Promotion of Aeronautics. From that point, commercial aviation took off:

"Roads were choked on Sundays, for weeks afterward, by motorists trying to get to Lambert Field, Lindbergh's home port in Saint Louis, to buy their first air hop. Hundreds of thousands of you went aloft for the first time that summer."

The Aeronautical Branch was charged with issuing commercial pilot licenses, airworthiness certificates, and with investigating air accidents.

After 1945

After World War II, commercial aviation grew rapidly, using mostly ex-military aircraft to transport people and cargo. The experience used in designing heavy bombers such as the Boeing B-29 Superfortress and Avro Lancaster could be used for designing heavy commercial aircraft. The Douglas DC-3 also made for easier and longer commercial flights. The first commercial jet airliner to fly was the British de Havilland DH.106 Comet. By 1952, the British state airline British Overseas Airways Corporation had introduced the Comet into scheduled service. While a technical achievement, the plane suffered a series of highly public failures, including the crashing of BOAC Flight 781 and South African Airways Flight 201. By the time the problems were overcome, other jet airliner designs had already taken to the skies.

Pre-war
Inspired by the major players such as the United States, the Soviet Union, Russia, France and Britain in the aviation industry. In the 1910s, Brazil and Argentina were among the first Latin American countries to possess the instruments of aircraft that were not all locally made, yet the aircraft was locally congregated. At that time, many individuals were interested to be pilots in Latin American countries, yet there were not sufficient resources and funding to support and promote the best interests of the aviation industry. Amidst these obstacles, Argentina and the Dominican Republic made efforts in creating jet aviation rather than creating and using propeller planes. In 1944, the Chicago Convention on International Civil Aviation attended by all Latin American countries except Argentina drafted the clauses of aviation law. The introduction of the jet fighter F-80 by the US in 1945 pushed the Latin American countries even further away from development of aviation industry because it was simply expensive to recreate the sophisticated technology of F-80.

Post-war
The Latin American Civil Aviation Commission (LACAC) was formed in December 1973 "intended to provide civil aviation authorities in the region with an adequate framework for cooperation and coordination of activities related to civil aviation". In 1976, about seven percent of the world logged in the Latin American and Caribbean region. This contributed to the increase of average annual rate of air traffic. Subsequently, higher passenger load factor decided the profitability of these airlines.

According to C. Bogolasky, airline pooling agreements between Latin American airlines contributed to better financial performance of the airlines. The economic problems related to the "airline capacity regulation, regulation of non-scheduled operations, tariff enforcement, high operating costs, passenger and cargo rates."

Corporate social responsibility
Corporate social responsibility comprises an umbrella of responsibilities of an organization towards its community, stakeholders and shareholders. Organizations who are socially responsible fulfill their triple bottom line obligations and dedicate efforts to minimize negative impact on stakeholders and shareholders. According to "The Pyramid of Corporate Social Responsibility" by Archie B. Carroll, there are four steps of social responsibility. First, economic responsibility of an organization is to produce profit and maximize the growth of an organization. Second, legal responsibility of an organization is to be compliant with all the laws and regulations. Third, ethical responsibility of an organization to create and follow standards of right decision-making considering how it affects all the stakeholders. Fourth, philanthropic responsibility of an organization to help the community and stakeholders by "giving back". The extent of fulfilling the four responsibilities defines the corporate citizenship of an organization.

Delta and LATAM Airlines were the only two airlines listed on the Dow Jones Sustainability Index, LATAM being the only airline company in the world to achieve 100% scores for efficiency, reliability and climate strategy in their corporate sustainability assessment. LATAM promotes their corporate citizenship in their 2016 Sustainability report. LATAM is affiliated with 6 countries which are Argentina, Colombia, Brazil, Ecuador, Chile, and Peru. LATAM accounts for 95% of South America's air traffic.

title: Commercial aviation


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Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg

The Fieseler Fi 103R, code-named Reichenberg, was a German manned version of the V-1 flying bomb (more correctly known as the Fieseler Fi 103). It was developed towards the end of the Second World War and was intended to be used as a human-guided bomb in likely-suicidal attacks against the advancing Allies.

The Fi 103R started development in 1944 at a time when Germany was anticipating a major naval landing by the Allies in western Europe. It was believed that a disposable aircraft armed with 900 kg of explosives would potentially inflict heavy damage on important targets such as enemy shipping. However, these attacks would have very likely involved the death of the pilot, who was expected to exit the aircraft and parachute away mere moments before the aircraft's impact. These pilots were reportedly to be volunteers and aware of the risk to their own lives. The "Leonidas Squadron", V. Gruppe of the Luftwaffe's Kampfgeschwader 200, was established in early 1944 to conduct these attacks.

Initially, the development of a manned Fi 103 had been considered but passed over for the rival Messerschmitt Me 328 project. However, this aircraft had fundamental difficulties with its pulsejet propulsion, which led to officials opting to switch focus to the Fi 103R's development. Pilots were trained using gliders, including specially-adapted ones capable of high-speed diving, it was intended for the R-III, a twin-seat powered model of the Fi 103R, to be used for the latter stages of training. In September 1944, the maiden flight of the Fi 103R occurred, which resulted in a crash; a second aircraft flown on the next day also crashed. One month later, development was shelved at the direct order of Hitler, who had been encouraged by Albert Speer and Werner Baumbach not to pursue suicide attacks.

Background
During the latter part of the Second World War, it was becoming increasingly clear that Germany was on the defensive against multiple powerful nations and that increasingly drastic measures would be needed just to maintain the status quo against the Allies. In February 1944, the Nazi leader Adolf Hitler was initially dismissive of the need to resort to tactics such as suicide attacks, as was advocated by figures such as Otto Skorzeny, Hanna Reitsch, and Hajo Herrmann, he did authorise the formation of a squadron to prepare for such missions. Accordingly, the Leonidas Squadron, a part of Kampfgeschwader 200, was established to be this suicide squadron. Volunteers for this squadron were required to sign a declaration which said, "I hereby voluntarily apply to be enrolled in the suicide group as part of a human glider-bomb. I fully understand that employment in this capacity will entail my own death."

The concept called for an aircraft that would be armed with a single 900 kg explosive device that would detonate upon impact with the target, which was typically envisioned to be Allied shipping. Two different aircraft were quickly considered to be the most suitable options available, the Messerschmitt Me 328 and the Fieseler Fi 103 (better known as the V-1 flying bomb), although both required development work. Officials opted to pass over the Fi 103 in favour of the Me 328. Being largely composed of wood and conceived of as potentially suitable for using multiple means of propulsion, the Me 328 had been worked on since 1941.

However, difficulties were encountered in the Me 328 during prototype testing, the vibration caused by its pulsejet engines having been a particular source of issues, leading to work being suspended. The project had also encountered political opposition from figures such as the head of the SS, Heinrich Himmler, who sought the programme's termination. The programme was placed under the supervision of the SS, but was not terminated at this point; instead, Skorzeny, who had been investigating the possibility of using crewed torpedoes against Allied shipping, was personally briefed by Hitler to revive the project.

Skorzeny played a key role in the programme's reappraisal, which included its reorientation towards the Fi 103. The project was given the codename "Reichenberg" after the capital of the former Czechoslovakian territory "Reichsgau Sudetenland" (present-day Liberec), while the aircraft themselves were referred to as "Reichenberg-Geräte" (Reichenberg apparatus). It has been claimed that one reason for the switch towards the Fi 103R was it ability to offer the pilot a slim chance of surviving the attack.

DFS development
In the summer of 1944, the Deutsche Forschungsanstalt für Segelflug (German Research Institute for Sailplane Flight) at Ainring took on the task of developing a crewed version of the Fi 103, an example was made ready for testing within days and a production line was established at Dannenberg.

The V-1 was transformed into the Reichenberg via the addition of a compact cockpit at the point of the fuselage that was immediately ahead of the pulsejet's intake, where the compressed-air cylinders were fitted on a standard V-1. This cramped cockpit was outfitted with only basic flight instrumentation, along with a bucket seat composed of plywood. The single-piece canopy incorporated an armoured front panel and opened to the side to allow entry. The two displaced compressed-air cylinders were replaced by a single one, fitted in the rear in the space which normally accommodated the V-1's autopilot. At no point was any landing gear fitted to the aircraft. The wings were fitted with hardened edges that would cut the cables of barrage balloons. The broader-chord forward support pylon for the Argus pulsejet, by coincidence, resembles the same airframe component used on the American clone of the uncrewed V-1, the Republic-Ford JB-2 Loon.

It was proposed that a He 111 bomber would carry either one or two Reichenbergs beneath its wings, releasing them close to the target. The pilots would then steer their aircraft towards the target, jettisoning the cockpit canopy shortly before impact and bailing out. It was estimated that the chances of a pilot surviving such a bailout were less than 1% due to the proximity of the pulsejet's intake to the cockpit.

Training
Trainees were initially prepared using ordinary gliders to get them used to handling unpowered flight; specially-adapted gliders with shortened wings would be used to provide more advanced training. Amongst other things, these adaptations enabled them to dive at speeds of up to 300 km/h. Once sufficient proficiency had been demonstrated, the last stage of training would be conducted using the dual-control R-II. According to Christopher, there was no shortage of volunteers for the programme despite the open acknowledgement that the mission involved their near-certain demise.

Training began on the R-I and R-II and, although landing them on a skid was difficult, the aircraft handled well and it was anticipated that the Leonidas Squadron would soon be using the machines. On 28 July 1944, Albert Speer wrote to Hitler, stating his opposition to the wasting of both men and machines on the Allies in France and suggested their deployment to be more worthwhile against Soviet power stations on the Eastern Front. These were not the only alternative targets that were proposed; other potential uses for the Fi 103R included ramming enemy bombers. Such was the interest in this latter role that formal evaluations were conducted in the final months of the conflict.

Test flights
During September 1944, the first real flight was performed at the Erprobungsstelle Rechlin, the Reichenberg being dropped from a Heinkel He 111. However, this flight ended in a crash, which was attributed to the pilot having lost control of the aircraft after accidentally jettisoning the canopy. The next day, a second flight was conducted that also ended in a crash. The technical department struggled to explain these losses, although there were suspicions that the Fi 103R's flight characteristics could make landing particularly challenging.

Seeking to avoid further accidents while also hoping to uncover the source of these difficulties, further test flights were carried out by Heinz Kensche and Hanna Reitsch, both of whom were particularly accomplished test pilots. Reitsch herself experienced several crashes, which she survived unscathed. On 5 November 1944, during the second test flight of the R-III, a wing detached from the aircraft due to the vibrations; Kensche managed to parachute to safety, albeit with some difficulty due to the cramped cockpit. It was concluded that the Fi 103R had a relatively high stall speed and that pilots, unaware of this, had been attempting to land at speeds that were too slow for the aircraft to maintain stable flight.

Cancellation
During October 1944, Werner Baumbach assumed command of KG 200, and quickly opted to shelve the Reichenberg in favour of the Mistel project. By this point, the Allies had consolidated their position in France and thus the value of attacking potential invasion fleets was no longer considered to be as pressing as dealing with land warfare. On 15 March 1945, in a meeting between Baumbach, Speer, and Hitler, the latter was convinced that suicide missions were not part of the German warrior tradition; later that same day, Baumbach ordered the disbandment of the Reichenberg unit.

Variants
There were five variants: By October 1944 about 175 R-IVs were ready for action.
 * R-I – The basic single-seat unpowered glider.
 * R-II – Unpowered glider; had a second cockpit fitted where the warhead would normally be.
 * R-III – A pulsejet-powered two-seater.
 * R-IV – The standard-powered operational model.
 * R-V  – Powered trainer for the Heinkel He 162 (shorter nose).

Aircraft on display

 * Flying Heritage Collection, Everett, Washington
 * Canadian War Museum (collected by Farley Mowat, under restoration 2009).
 * Lashenden Air Warfare Museum, Headcorn, Kent, (restored N° 85)
 * La Coupole, Saint-Omer, France., (restored N° 126)
 * Schweizerisches Militärmuseum Full, Full-Reuenthal, Switzerland, (restored N° 27)
 * Stinson Air Field, San Antonio, Texas, United States (replica).
 * National Military Museum (Soesterberg) Netherlands (restored N° 24)
 * Muzeum Molke, Ludwikowice Kłodzkie, Poland (replica)

license: Creative Commons - Attribution Share-Alike - https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/

title: Fieseler Fi 103R Reichenberg


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Solomon Burke

Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke (born James Solomon McDonald, March 21, 1940 – October 10, 2010) was an American singer who shaped the sound of rhythm and blues as one of the founding fathers of soul music in the 1960s. He has been called "a key transitional figure bridging R&B and soul", and was known for his "prodigious output".

He had a string of hits including "Cry to Me", "If You Need Me", "Got to Get You Off My Mind", "Down in the Valley", and "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love". Burke was referred to honorifically as "King Solomon", the "King of Rock 'n' Soul", "Bishop of Soul", and the "Muhammad Ali of Soul". Due to his minimal chart success in comparison to other soul music greats such as James Brown, Wilson Pickett, and Otis Redding, Burke has been described as the genre's "most unfairly overlooked singer" of its golden age. Atlantic Records executive Jerry Wexler referred to Burke as "the greatest male soul singer of all time".

Burke's most famous recordings, which spanned five years in the early 1960s, bridged the gap between mainstream R&B and grittier R&B. Burke was "a singer whose smooth, powerful articulation and mingling of sacred and profane themes helped define soul music in the early 1960s." He drew from his roots—gospel, jazz, country, and blues—as well as developing his own style at a time when R&B, and rock were both still in their infancy. Described as both "Rabelaisian" and also as a "spiritual enigma", "perhaps more than any other artist, the ample figure of Solomon Burke symbolized the ways that spirituality and commerce, ecstasy and entertainment, sex and salvation, individualism and brotherhood, could blend in the world of 1960s soul music."

During the 55 years that he performed professionally, Burke released 38 studio albums on at least 17 record labels and had 35 singles that charted in the US, including 26 singles that made the Billboard R&B charts. In 2001, Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a performer. His album Don't Give Up on Me won the Grammy Award for Best Contemporary Blues Album at the 45th Annual Grammy Awards in 2003. By 2005 Burke was credited with selling 17 million albums. Rolling Stone ranked Burke as No. 89 on its 2008 list of "100 Greatest Singers of All Time".

Early life and career
Burke was born James Solomon McDonald, according to some sources on March 21, 1936, in the upper floor of his grandmother Eleanor Moore's home, a row house in West Philadelphia. Other sources give a similar date and month, but with the year as 1939 or 1940.

Burke was the child of Josephine Moore and an absentee father. His mother Josephine was a nurse, schoolteacher, concert performer and pastor. Burke was consecrated a bishop at birth by his grandmother in the Solomon's Temple, a congregation of the United House of Prayer for All People, which she founded at her home in Black Bottom, West Philadelphia. When Burke was nine, his mother married rabbi and butcher Vincent Burke and had his name changed to Solomon Vincent McDonald Burke. Burke's friends and family called him "Sol". Burke was the godson of Daddy Grace.

Burke credited his grandmother as his main spiritual and musical influence. He learned how to sing all forms of music from his grandmother's coaching him to listen to music on the radio. Burke began preaching at the age of seven at the Solomon's Temple. He was described in his young preaching years as a "frantic sermonizer" and "spellbinding in his delivery", and was soon nicknamed the "Boy Wonder Preacher" for his charismatic preaching in the pulpit. Burke became a pastor of the congregation at the age of 12, appeared on the radio station WDAS, and later hosted a gospel show on WHAT-AM, mixing songs and sermons in broadcasts from Solomon's Temple. On weekends he traveled with a truck and tent, to Maryland, Virginia, and the Carolinas to carry on the spiritual crusade of his church. Influenced by Superman, "the first sign of a royal persona was evident in the cape that he wore only on Sundays, made from his "blankie" by his grandmother.

Burke had six younger siblings – a sister, Laurena Burke-Corbin (born June 23, 1946), and five brothers: Elec Edward "Alec" (born February 16, 1948), Vladimir H. "Laddie" (born July 31, 1949), Mario "Chuck" (born September 13, 1953), Daniel S. "Danny" (born March 10, 1955), and Jolester R. M. Burke (born September 24, 1958). From an early age Solomon Burke worked to supplement his family's income. He recalled: "I used to deliver grocery orders in a little wagon I made out of fish boxes. When I was seven, I sold newspapers out of my own newsstand on the corner of 40th and Lancaster. I had the first 99-cent car wash, which was located at 40th and Wallace outside Al's Barber Shop. We had it there because he was the only one who would let us use his water. We could wash your car in 20 minutes. I had four or five guys, gave 'em each a nickel for each car." Another briefly held early job was as a hot dog seller at Eddie's Meat Market, where his friend Ernest Evans, later known as Chubby Checker, also worked. Burke eventually graduated from John Bartram High School. He first became a father at 14.

During high school, Burke formed and fronted the quartet, the Gospel Cavaliers. He received his first guitar from his grandmother, later writing his first song, "Christmas Presents". The Cavaliers began performing in churches. It was around this time that Burke met Kae "Loudmouth" Williams, a famed Philadelphia deejay with help from Williams' wife, Viola, who saw Burke and the Cavaliers perform at church. Before entering a gospel talent contest in which a record deal was first prize, the group split up.

Burke entered the contest, held at Cornerstone Baptist Church, as a solo artist and won the contest against eleven other competitors. Soon, several labels including Apollo, Vee-Jay Records and Peacock Records pursued the 15-year-old. Before pursuing the deal, Burke signed Kae Williams as his manager. Williams then took him to Apollo Records introducing him to Bess Berman, who signed him to the label. The move was made after Williams added four years to Burke's age, which led to confusion from the press about his age.

Early recordings
Burke signed with Apollo Records in late 1955, following the departure of gospel singer and the label's primary star Mahalia Jackson to Columbia. After he signed with Apollo, the label's founder Bess Berman and its handlers were reportedly trying to make Burke "the next Harry Belafonte".

Burke recorded nine singles for the label during his two-year tenure, releasing his first single, "Christmas Presents", on Christmas Eve of 1955.

He recorded with musicians including King Curtis and Lester Young. His other Apollo recordings during this early period included "I'm in Love", "I'm All Alone" and "No Man Walks Alone", later collected as his first long-player, Solomon Burke. These early records did not sell well, although the self-titled album was re-released in 1964 after Burke had experienced some chart success.

Burke gained some notoriety for the Apollo single, "You Can Run (But You Can't Hide)", which he wrote with Charles Merenstein. Due to the song's title borrowing from Joe Louis' quote, "he can run, but he can't hide", Louis was credited as co-writer. Louis helped promote the song by having Burke appear on the Steve Allen Show in early 1957. Burke was abruptly dropped from Apollo following a violent argument with manager Kae Williams over performance royalties; Burke claimed Williams had him "blackballed" from the industry following this move. After releasing a few singles for other labels, Burke briefly returned to Apollo under the pseudonym "Little Vincent", releasing one song in 1961, and the label issued a self-titled album in 1962.

Following his initial Apollo departure, Burke struggled to record or get club dates, and an argument with his mother left him homeless. He later moved into a home owned by Ohella Thompson, after Thompson accidentally hit him with her car outside a club.

During this time, Burke studied the Islamic faith and married, but the marriage was annulled. Soon afterwards, he married Delores Clark, Thompson's niece, and soon had seven children.

As his family grew, Burke trained for a while to be a mortician at Eckels College of Mortuary Science, graduating from mortuary science, and finding work at a funeral home. Burke later had his own mortuary business in Los Angeles.

Burke was briefly signed to Herb Abramson's Triumph Records. However, Burke could not record for the label because his contract with Apollo had not yet been dissolved.

In 1959, Philadelphia businessman Marvin Leonard "Babe" Chivian (1925-1972), a "body-and-fender man" and real estate speculator, offered Burke a red Lincoln Continental convertible if he would agree to a management contract with him. Chivian arranged for Burke to be signed to Singular Records, a Philadelphia-based label that was owned by WPEN disc jockey Edwin L. "Larry" Brown and vocal coach Arthur "Artie" Singer, who had a distribution deal with Chess Records. Burke released just two singles for Singular, "Doodle Dee Doo" and "This Little Ring", written by Delores Burke and Marvin Chivian"; neither song charted.

Work with Atlantic Records
In November 1960, he signed with Atlantic Records. According to Burke, he signed with the label within ten minutes of entering Jerry Wexler's office, reportedly signing a "handshake deal" with Wexler and Ahmet Ertegun.

At the time of Burke's signing, two of Atlantic Records' major stars, Bobby Darin and Ray Charles, had left the label for better deals with Capitol and ABC respectively. According to Alex Halberstadt, "Salvation arrived in the person of Solomon Burke, a soul singer of overwhelming charisma and remarkable stylistic range. ... Wexler and Burke created a string of hits that carried the label financially and represented the first fully realized examples of the classic soul sound." Burke reportedly helped keep Atlantic Records solvent from 1961 to 1965 with his steady run of hit records.

Burke recorded thirty-two singles with Atlantic, most of which hit both the pop and R&B charts. Burke's second single for the label was the country single, "Just Out of Reach (Of My Two Open Arms)", which became his first charted single, reaching No. 24 on the Billboard Hot 100 and peaking at No. 7 on the R&B charts. The song also became Burke's first million-seller. His next hit came with "Cry to Me", which reached No. 5 on the R&B chart in 1962 and was described as one of the first songs to mix country, R&B and gospel. After the release of "Cry to Me", Burke was one of the first artists to be referred to as a "soul artist". Other hits included Wilson Pickett's "If You Need Me"; "You're Good for Me"; his co-written classic, "Everybody Needs Somebody to Love"; his only number-one single, "Got to Get You Off My Mind"; and "Tonight's the Night". Burke became the first R&B artist to cover a Bob Dylan song with his cover of "Maggie's Farm", which became the B-side of "Tonight's the Night". In 1965, Atlantic released his fifth album, The Best of Solomon Burke, which peaked at No. 22 on the US charts.

Branding
Almost immediately after signing to Atlantic, Wexler and Burke clashed over his branding and the songs that he would record. According to Burke, "Their idea was, we have another young kid to sing gospel, and we're going to put him in the blues bag." As Burke had struggled from an early age with "his attraction to secular music on the one hand and his allegiance to the church on the other," when he was signed to Atlantic Records he "refused to be classified as a rhythm-and-blues singer" due to a perceived "stigma of profanity" by the church, and R&B's reputation as "the devil's music". Burke indicated in 2005: "I told them about my spiritual background, and what I felt was necessary, and that I was concerned about being labeled rhythm & blues. What kind of songs would they be giving me to sing? Because of my age, and my position in the church, I was concerned about saying things that were not proper, or that sent the wrong message. That angered Jerry Wexler a little bit. He said, 'We're the greatest blues label in the world! You should be honored to be on this label, and we'll do everything we can – but you have to work with us.'"

To mollify Burke, it was decided to market him as a singer of "soul music" after he had consulted his church brethren and won approval for the term. When a Philadelphia DJ said to Burke, "You're singing from your soul and you don't want to be an R&B singer, so what kind of singer are you going to be?", Burke shot back: "I want to be a soul singer." Burke's sound, which was especially popular in the South, was described there as "river deep country fried buttercream soul." Burke is credited with coining the term "soul music", which he confirmed in a 1996 interview.

Despite his initial reluctance, shared with several former gospel singers including Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, Burke was "molded into a more secular direction when he signed with Atlantic in the '60s", and became one of "the "backsliders", artists who "preferred a secular acclaim to the gospel obscurity".

He decided eventually that "secular music was not the antithesis of the church but, rather, 'a new avenue, a new dimension to spread the gospel.'" Despite this, "leaving gospel for secular music, as well as integrating secular music into gospel performances, was controversial."

Noted blues scholar Paul Oliver maintains that when Sam Cooke and Burke "turned from gospel singing to the blues", unlike others who had done so previously, "they took the gospel technique with them"; "even the words often secularized gospel songs", and this was coupled with a "screaming delivery, the exploitation of emotional involvement, [and] the frenetic displays of dancing singers."

For Burke, "gospel influences were pervasive. Gospelly chord progressions, organ accompaniment and a style of singing which can only be described as "preaching" have now spread widely into much black popular music." Music critic Mark Deming described Burke as having: "one of the finest voices in popular music, that possessed a churchly authority that was the ideal match for his material which balanced the pleasures of the flesh with the price of the transgression."

"Burke sounded like a Baptist preacher in a country church, and for [Jerry] Wexler he was the first and possibly the greatest of all '60s soul men." Wexler, who considered Burke to be "the greatest male soul singer of all time", pronounced him a "vocalist of rare prowess and remarkable range. His voice is an instrument of exquisite sensitivity." Wexler also described the young Burke's vocal style as "churchy without being coarse."

In 2000, Wexler indicated: "Solomon was beautiful, baby. He sounded just like Dean Martin." In 2003 Wexler assessed Burke: "I rate him at the very top. Since all singing is a trade-off between music and drama, he's the master at both. His theatricality. He's a great actor." Despite his admiration for Burke, Wexler also described Burke as "a piece of work: wily, highly intelligent, a salesman of epic proportions, sly, sure-footed, a never-say-die entrepreneur", while also branding him "a card-carrying fabulist. Solomon has told so many versions of the same happening that it's unreal."

Impact
After a string of a dozen hit records, by November 1963 Burke had agreed to be crowned the "King of Rock 'n' Soul" in a ceremony at the Royal Theatre in Baltimore by local deejay Fred Robinson, known professionally as "Rockin' Robin", who also gave him a cape and crown that he always wore on stage. Burke accepted the appellation the "King of Rock 'N' Soul", indicating "without soul, there'd be no rock and without rock, there'd be no soul." The ceremony was repeated each night during the week Burke performed in Baltimore.

According to Gerri Hirshey: "Title agreed upon, Solomon added the trappings: a crown, a scepter, a cape, robe, dancing girls, and colored lights." Burke's crown was an exact replica of "the crown jewels of London" and the cape was trimmed with real ermine. Burke, whose shows were tours de force of riveting soul and unashamed hokum", "ticked every box from low comedy through country pleading to the kind of magisterial rock'n'roll that brought the house down", and he "became known as much for his showmanship as he did his voice. He would often take the stage in a flowing, 15-foot-long cape and bejeweled crown, his stage theatrics predating those of such legendary showman as James Brown. According to David Hepworth, Burke "once employed a midget who was secreted under his cape. When it was thrown off the cape would disappear stage left as of its own volition."

After the success of his "Papa's Got a Brand New Bag" in late 1965, James Brown, believing he deserved to be crowned "King of Soul", hired Burke to perform for one night in Chicago, but ended up paying not to perform but rather to watch him perform instead, expecting Burke also to surrender his crown and title to him. According to Burke, "He paid me $7,500 to stand onstage and hand him my robe and crown. It was a great gig: I got paid and I didn't have to sing a note." Burke accepted Brown's money, but retained his title and regal paraphernalia.

As he increased in weight, "Burke's sheer bulk meant that he could never be a dancer like James Brown, but like Brown, his act was full of showmanship." Consequently, over the years Burke "evolved a fervently demonstrative stage act", that were often compared with religious revival meetings. Burke and black performers like James Brown, Aretha Franklin and Wilson Pickett, "would adopt the 'house-wrecking' tactics of black preachers, and their shows functioned in much the same way as black religious events in that performer and audience became immersed in the music, arriving together at an ecstatic state that allowed them to feel a deep intensity of experience." According to Weldon McDougal, Burke "turned theatres like the Apollo and the Uptown into churches, he had folk running down the aisles to be saved by his music." Cliff White described a show in the UK where "with head thrown back and one hand cupped to his mouth like an Alpine yodeller he cried out with such overwhelming passion that he left the spellbound audience wrung out and exhausted like so many limp rags."

Decline with Atlantic
After 1965, the "biggest year of his career", Burke settled as "at best a middle-of-the-pack chart performer". Due to failing chart numbers and the rise of several performers including Aretha Franklin, Wilson Pickett and Otis Redding, Burke was described by David Cantwell in this period as "a King without a kingdom". Burke's position in Atlantic dropped by 1968 as other Atlantic artists replaced him as the label's primary artists. Burke tried to regain his early Atlantic success by recording at Memphis, working on the album I Wish I Knew at Chips Moman's American Sound Studio. The album included the songs "Get Out of My Life Woman" and a cover of "I Wish I Knew How It Would Feel to Be Free", his first recording that provided social commentary. It was later dedicated to Martin Luther King Jr., and Atlantic gave up 5% of royalties on the single to King's family. It reached only No. 32 R&B and No. 68 pop. Burke later met his next manager Tamiko Jones at the Memphis studio. Burke and Jones recorded several duets on Jones' album, I'll Be Anything for You. Following a failed collaboration with other soul artists as the Soul Clan, Burke decided to leave the label. His reasons for leaving Atlantic were for not "being treated properly" and that Atlantic "just wasn't home anymore, wasn't family".

Later recordings
After leaving Atlantic, Burke signed with Bell Records where he released five singles in the next eighteen months. In 1969 he had a small hit with his second release for Bell, a reworking of Creedence Clearwater Revival's "Proud Mary" b/w "What Am I Living For" (Bell 783). This was co-produced by Tamiko Jones, who was being rehabilitated after a bout of polio, and was at the time Burke's manager. Burke recorded a cover of "Proud Mary" prior to Ike & Tina Turner's version, and according to Burke was the one who convinced the duo to record it. The song became a brief hit reaching No. 15 R&B and No. 45 pop. All but four of the tracks Burke recorded during an 18-month stay with Bell Records were packaged on the Proud Mary LP. After this album and the two following singles—his own "Generation of Revelations", and the Mac Davis song "In the Ghetto", which had previously been a hit for Elvis Presley—failed to chart, his contract was not renewed.

Through the efforts of his manager, Buddy Glee, by November 1970 Burke signed with Mike Curb's MGM label, and formed MBM Productions, his own production company. Burke's record debut for MGM, "Lookin' Out My Back Door", another Creedence Clearwater Revival song, had disappointing sales. His first MGM album, Electronic Magnetism, also failed to chart. In 1972 Burke had a No. 13 R&B hit for MGM with "Love Street and Fool's Road" (MGM 14353). In 1972, he recorded the soundtrack to two films, Cool Breeze and Hammer. He left MGM for ABC-Dunhill Records in 1974, recording the album, I Have a Dream, which produced the No. 14 R&B hit, "Midnight and You". By 1975 Burke was signed to Chess Records. He recorded two albums for Chess: Music to Make Love By and Back to My Roots, and had a top 20 R&B hit in 1975 with "You And Your Baby Blues". However, his follow-up single "Let Me Wrap My Arms Around You" reached only No. 72 on the R&B chart. In 1978 Burke released an album Please Don't Say Goodbye To Me, which was produced by Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams, though Amherst Records. On September 23, 1978, Burke charted for the 31st and last time when "Please Don't Say Goodbye to Me" reached No. 91 on the R&B chart. He released the album Sidewalks, Fences and Walls on Infinity Records in 1979 (reissued as Let Your Love Flow in 1993 by Shanachie Records).

Between 1979 and 1984, Burke recorded four gospel albums for Savoy Records, starting with the album, Lord I Need a Miracle Right Now. He was nominated for his first Grammy in the Best Male Gospel Soul category for his rendition of "Precious Lord, Take My Hand", but complained later that he did not receive royalties from his Savoy work. He then recorded for smaller labels such as Rounder, MCI/Isis, Bizarre/Straight, Black Top, Point Blank and GTR Records. Burke was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame on March 19, 2001, in New York City by Mary J. Blige, after eight previous nominations since 1986.

Final recordings
In 2002, Burke signed with Fat Possum Records and released the album, Don't Give Up on Me. Many of the songs were previously unreleased tunes, some written for him by top writers including Tom Waits, with whom he had a discussion over whether to sing about a mint julep, which was against Solomon's principles at the time. Burke agreed to sing the line. The album became critically acclaimed and later resulted in Burke's first Grammy Award win. In 2004 Burke appeared on the Italian singer Zucchero Fornaciari's Zu & Co., a duets album. He also performed at the Royal Albert Hall for the beginning of the Zu & Co. Tour, from which Zu & Co live at the Royal Albert Hall was recorded.

Burke later signed with Shout! Factory to release the album Make Do With What You Got, which became another critically acclaimed success. In 2006, Burke returned to his country roots with the album, Nashville. In 2008, he received another Grammy nomination for the album, Like a Fire. That year, Rolling Stone ranked Burke as No. 89 on its list of the "100 Greatest Singers of All Time". In 2010, Burke came out with the Willie Mitchell-produced Nothing's Impossible for E1 Entertainment. Later in 2010, he released his final album, Hold on Tight, a collaboration album with De Dijk, a Dutch band.

Entrepreneurship
From an early age Burke was "always an enterprising personality". In addition to his recording career, Burke ran funeral homes, owned two drugstores and a popcorn business in Philadelphia, and later had the first Mountain Dew franchise in Philadelphia.

Burke's entrepreneurial activities included cooking and selling barbecued chicken sandwiches backstage, as well as sandwiches, soft drinks, and fried chickens at increasingly inflated prices to other performers who were refused service at restaurants on the Chitlin' Circuit in the "Jim Crow" South. According to Sam Moore of the soul duo Sam & Dave, "He gave me one pork chop, one scoop of macaroni and cheese, and one spoonful of gravy. I said, 'Is that it?' And he'd say, "That's it, brother. I'm doing you a favor, so take it or leave it." Trombonist Fred Wesley was one who was critical of Burke's business practices. Burke demanded and operated the concessions at the Apollo Theater when he performed there in 1966. This was very profitable for him but so enraged the owner Frank Schiffman that he was banned from performing at the Apollo for life. After playing at the reopening of The Cavern Club in Liverpool in July 1966, Burke said: "The Cavern was a great place to play. The groove was there, the people were there, and it was wonderful. I remember them selling hot Pepsis. What a mistake—you gotta put ice in those things. Think of how many more they could have sold with ice in them."

Burke owned funeral parlors in California, Pennsylvania, and North Carolina, and two of his children have turned the mortuary business into a franchise. Additionally, Burke owned and operated a limousine service. Burke continued to operate companies that supplied theaters and stadiums with his own brand of fast food—Soul Dogs and Soul Corn until at least 2004.

Bishopric and community work
From the early 1970s, after having moved to Los Angeles, Burke concentrated on his episcopal duties, preaching from a crimson throne on the third Sunday of the month at the Prayer Assembly Church of God in Christ, his church at 226 North Market St., Inglewood, California. Within three decades his church grew to have about 170 missions and 40,000 members. By 2000, Burke's Solomon's Temple: The House of God for All People had over 300 ordained ministers whose job is to "feed the hungry, educate the uneducated and be God's workers in the vineyard", and 40,000 parishioners in close to 200 churches across the USA, Canada, and Jamaica. At the time of his death, there were about 180 churches that were established under the charter of his denomination, with Burke indicating: "We're non-sectarian, non-denominational. Ours is an open door." In 2008 Burke acknowledged his Christian methodology differed from that of his maternal uncle, Pastor Harry R. Moore (1933–1982), the founder and pastor of Our First Temple of Faith, at Front and Susquehanna Streets, Philadelphia: "Mine was more: God, money and women, hey hey hey; truth, love, peace and get it on." While pursuing other interests, Burke was also deeply involved in community work, assisting The Crippled Children's Foundation for blind and underprivileged children, while personally being responsible for more than 120 adopted children.

Burke was also a mentor to up-coming Soul and Blues musicians, including a young Reggie Sears.

Personal life
Burke was married four times. In total he fathered 21 children (fourteen daughters and seven sons). He had seven step-children, 90 grandchildren and 19 great-grandchildren at the time of his death.

Burke was married to Doris P. Williams for two months; the marriage was annulled by August 1958, though it resulted in the birth of one child, Valerie Doris Gresham (born 1957).

Burke's second wife was Delores Clark Burke, with whom he had seven children, including Eleanor Alma (born 1958),  Dr. Melanie Burke-McCall (born March 1960), Solomon Vincent Jr. (born 1961), Carolyn J. Burke (born 1962), Prince Solomon (JFK) Burke, Gemini C. Burke (born 1964), and Lillian (born 1966).

Burke's third wife was Bernadine Burke. In 2012 Court documents BP Case 126258 (Solomon McDonald Burke) it proved that Burke had never divorced Arch Bishop Bernadine Turner Burke in 1970 before marrying Frances Szeto, Court records shows no divorce from Bernadine McDonald Burke or Delores Burke. Burke's fourth wife was Frances Szeto Burke McDonald (born 1951), Marriage License dated December 1977; she was living with Burke and live in lover/manager and caregiver Jane Margolis Vickers when Burke died, Frances had three children with Burke.

In a 2006 interview Burke admitted having his first child at age 14: "being a father at age 14 maybe been a little early, but I don't regret one moment, one second, one day, or one hour. My only regrets are the loss of my twins and my first son." Burke's twin sons were James and David, who both died in infancy. By 1961, Burke had "three kids on the outside, and about four at home", including Eleanor A. H. Burke (born 1958) Melanie Burke (born 1960), Solomon Vincent Burke Jr. (born 1961). In an open letter to his children, Burke wrote: "Your love and your strength, and the love of your mothers, have made me the strongest-minded father in the world. I may not be the best father. Maybe I haven't done everything that I should do, could do, or would do…or desire to do, but by the grace of God, and your prayers, we will make it. Every day is a new way. None of us are perfect and God knows, I have made many mistakes." Burke admitted serial infidelity during his marriages: "I was young. Girls were coming from every angle. I couldn't love them all. But I tried."

Burke stated: "I realized in later years that money didn't solve problems. I realized too that maybe the reason I had problems with my marriages was because I didn't spend enough time with my children, my family. I thought that sending money home and buying pretty cars and redoing houses, and ordering food by the hundreds of dollars a day, would keep my family together, keep my children happy.... Not being there all the time, being on the road 250 days out of the year, was too much. I was gaining the world and losing my children. And my wife. My love life."

Family members
Several of Burke's family have had successful careers in various facets of show business. In the mid-1960s two of Burke's younger brothers, Alex (born 1948 in Philadelphia). and Laddie (born 1949 in Philadelphia), joined with fellow Germantown High School students, brothers Earl and Timmy Smith to form The Showstoppers, who had a couple of local hit singles in Philadelphia on Showtime Records in 1968, including a No. 11 hit on the UK Singles Chart with "Ain't Nothin' But a Houseparty" b/w "How Easy Your Heart Forgets Me" (Heritage HE-800), which peaked at No. 87 on the Billboard chart in 1968, which was later a discothèque hit (No. 33) in 1971, just before the group disbanded after a series of flops.

Burke's daughter Melanie Burke-McCall, a neo soul singer is an artist as well as a freelance background recording artist with companies including Daxwood Records, Casablanca, A&M and Rawkus Records. She is a studio artist for groups Billy Preston, Peacock (Anna Gayle group), and Leslie Uggams, and toured with Chaka Khan, and wrote and produced Trouble Don't Last Play and LP with Family, & Friends, a 14-song original soundtrack, which was released in 2003, she opened for Jocelyn Brown, Jaheim, Norman Connors, and Angela Bofill, as well as for her father at the Kimmel Center for the Performing Arts in Philadelphia in 2006. In 1972 Burke-McCall was signed along with her siblings The Sons & Daughters of Solomon to MGM Records. Her son is Novel, who released his first studio album The Audiobiography in October 2008, and wrote movie soundtracks for Tyler Perry's Diary of a Mad Black Woman, Step Up, and 21. Her youngest son, Solomon, also has started recording.

Burke's granddaughter Candy Burke (born 1977) was a backing singer at many of Burke's performances, including the July 2008 Juan-les-Pins concert, where she performed a rendition of "I Will Survive". She also appears in the 2003 North Sea Jazz Festival DVD with her grandfather who raised her as his daughter.

Burke's grandson Novel Stevenson has written the hit "Bossy" for Kelis, as well as songs for artists including India.Arie, Leona Lewis, Fantasia, Justin Timberlake, Dr. Dre, Ashanti, Joss Stone, Stacie Orrico, and Monica. In 2013 Novel was featured along with his grandfather, as writer and singer on the Grammy award winning CD Gravity by Lacrae. Novel has up and coming nomination with Gospel LP Smokey Norful latest Album "FOREVER YOURS" Novel songs are Nothing is Impossible and He Loves Me.

Rapper Raeneal T. Quann (known as Q-Don) (born about 1978), who was accidentally shot and killed by robbers on April 26, 2000, outside the Club Evolution in Philadelphia, was also a grandson of Burke.

Declining health
For many years Burke struggled with his health, with his "weight estimated somewhere between 300 and 400 pounds" in 2006. New York Times writer Ben Sisario wrote of Burke: "Wide-shaped in his youth, he grew into Henry VIII-like corpulence, and in his later years had to be wheeled to his throne." In the later years of his life, "arthritis and weight ... limited his mobility" and made him reliant on a wheelchair.

In an interview in 2008, Burke said that "God put me in this wheelchair", and that God's message to him was: "'You are too fat!'" Burke denied having an eating disorder: ... I guess God let me develop into what I am now and allowed me to live. It's not an eating disorder. If I had an eating disorder, I wouldn't travel." In 2006 Burke acknowledged: "It's very rough. I love to eat and I love to cook—as you can see. But my hip has to be replaced and a knee has to be replaced and I've got to lose 150 pounds before they can do that. And that's a lot. But it's NOT! God knows I've enjoyed every kind of food there is, all around the world. It's not like I'm going to miss any of it. Because I've had it all!" Despite his efforts, at the time of his death, Burke's weight still exceeded 350 pounds.

Death and funeral
On October 10, 2010, Burke died at Amsterdam Schiphol Airport while on a plane from Washington Dulles International Airport that had just landed. He had been due to perform with De Dijk in Amsterdam on October 12. The cause of death was not immediately clear; according to his family, Burke died of natural causes. At a 2012 probate court hearing of Burke's will, Burke's manager/companion of 16 years, Jane Margolis Vickers, stated that doctors at Reston Hospital suspected that Burke had a pulmonary embolism and had urged him not to travel. Burke decided to leave the hospital "against medical advice" and proceed to Dulles for his flight to Amsterdam. There was no autopsy after his death, but the general assumption is that Burke died as a result of a pulmonary embolism.

On October 21 a wake and meditation service was held at the Pierce Brothers Valley Oaks Griffin Mortuary at Westlake Village. Burke's funeral was at 10:00 am on October 22, 2010, at the City of Refuge in Gardena, California and was open to the public. It was simulcast on the internet and at a memorial service held at the Sharon Baptist Church in Philadelphia, that was led by Minister Lester Fields and Solomon's younger sister, Apostle Laurena Burke Corbin, the pastor of Our First Temple of Faith Mt. Deborah Pentecostal Church on Haverford Avenue in Philadelphia, and attended by Burke's extended East Coast family.

Joe Henry described the funeral, which was "2 and a half hours long, included many eulogies, some spontaneous gospel singing; some shouting, some wailing, a fainting, and a daughter who hopped on the balls of her feet and spoke in tongues as punctuation to her scripted remarks. The highlight for me was Rudy [Copeland]'s bluesy Hammond B-3 instrumental of Tommy Dorsey's "Precious Lord (Lead Me On)". He played it like Ray [Charles] would have, kicking it heavy on the bass foot pedals, and shouting his own encouragement: 'Tell the story, son!' The whole service climaxed with a rousing version of "When the Saints Go Marching In", which included the choir, a 2nd-line-style brass band marching through the isles [sic], and everyone in the pews clapping and singing along."

Burke is buried at Lot 4037, Space 1, in the Murmuring Trees section of the Forest Lawn Memorial Park in the Hollywood Hills, at 6300 Forest Lawn Drive, Los Angeles, California.

Neil Portnow, President/CEO of The Recording Academy, praised Burke soon after his death: "GRAMMY-winning soul singer Solomon Burke was revered as one of music's greatest vocalists and a pioneer of the genre. A deeply spiritual man, his love and passion for his craft kept him touring and performing to sold-out audiences right up to his final days. Few artists have had careers as long, rich and influential as his, and he leaves a larger-than-life legacy as powerful and soulful as he was. The music industry has lost one of its most distinctive voices."

title: Solomon Burke


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Curtis Mayfield

Curtis Lee Mayfield (June 3, 1942 – December 26, 1999) was an American singer-songwriter, guitarist, and record producer, and one of the most influential musicians behind soul and politically conscious African-American music. Dubbed the "Gentle Genius", he first achieved success and recognition with the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame-inducted group the Impressions during the civil rights movement of the late 1950s and the 1960s, and later worked as a solo artist.

Mayfield started his musical career in a gospel choir. Moving to the North Side of Chicago, he met Jerry Butler in 1956 at the age of 14, and joined the vocal group The Impressions. As a songwriter, Mayfield became noted as one of the first musicians to bring more prevalent themes of social awareness into soul music. In 1965, he wrote "People Get Ready" for The Impressions, which was ranked at no. 24 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time. The song received numerous other awards; it was included in the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame's "500 Songs that Shaped Rock and Roll", and was inducted into the Grammy Hall of Fame in 1998.

After leaving The Impressions in 1970 in the pursuit of a solo career, Mayfield released several albums, including the soundtrack for the blaxploitation film Super Fly in 1972. The soundtrack was noted for its socially conscious themes, mostly addressing problems surrounding inner city minorities such as crime, poverty and drug abuse. The album was ranked at no. 72 on Rolling Stone's list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Mayfield was paralyzed from the neck down after lighting equipment fell on him during a live performance at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York, on August 13, 1990. Despite this, he continued his career as a recording artist, releasing his final album New World Order in 1996. Mayfield won a Grammy Legend Award in 1994 and a Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1995. He is a double inductee into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, as a member of The Impressions in 1991, and again in 1999 as a solo artist. He was also a two-time Grammy Hall of Fame inductee. He died from complications of type 2 diabetes at the age of 57 on December 26, 1999.

Early life
Curtis Lee Mayfield was born on Wednesday, June 3, 1942, in Cook County Hospital in Chicago, Illinois, the son of Marion Washington and Kenneth Mayfield, one of five children. Mayfield's father left the family when Curtis was five; his mother (and maternal grandmother) moved the family into several Chicago public housing projects before settling in Cabrini–Green during his teen years. Mayfield attended Wells Community Academy High School before dropping out his second year. His mother taught him piano and, along with his grandmother, encouraged him to enjoy gospel music. At the age of seven he sang publicly at his aunt's church with the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers.

Mayfield received his first guitar when he was ten, later recalling that he loved his guitar so much he used to sleep with it. He was a self-taught musician, and he grew up admiring blues singer Muddy Waters and Spanish guitarist Andres Segovia.

When he was 14 years old he formed the Alphatones when the Northern Jubilee Gospel Singers decided to try their luck in downtown Chicago and Mayfield stayed behind. Fellow group member Sam Gooden was quoted "It would have been nice to have him there with us, but of course, your parents have the first say."

Later in 1956, he joined his high school friend Jerry Butler's group The Roosters with brothers Arthur and Richard Brooks. He wrote and composed songs for this group who would become The Impressions two years later.

The Impressions
Mayfield's career began in 1956 when he joined the Roosters with Arthur and Richard Brooks and Jerry Butler. Two years later the Roosters, now including Sam Gooden, became the Impressions. The band had two hit singles with Butler, "For Your Precious Love" and "Come Back My Love", then Butler left. Mayfield temporarily went with him, co-writing and performing on Butler's next hit, "He Will Break Your Heart", before returning to the Impressions with the group signing for ABC Records and working with the label's Chicago-based producer/A&R manager, Johnny Pate.

Butler was replaced by Fred Cash, a returning original Roosters member, and Mayfield became lead singer, frequently composing for the band, starting with "Gypsy Woman", a Top 20 Pop hit. Their hit "Amen" (Top 10), an updated version of an old gospel tune, was included in the soundtrack of the 1963 United Artists film Lilies of the Field, which starred Sidney Poitier. The Impressions reached the height of their popularity in the mid-to-late-'60s with a string of Mayfield compositions that included "Keep On Pushing," "People Get Ready", "It's All Right" (Top 10), the up-tempo "Talking about My Baby"(Top 20) and "Woman's Got Soul".

He formed his own label, Curtom Records in Chicago in 1968 and the Impressions joined him to continue their run of hits including "Fool For You," "This is My Country", "Choice Of Colors" and "Check Out Your Mind". Mayfield had written much of the soundtrack of the Civil Rights Movement in the early 1960s, but by the end of the decade, he was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Mayfield's "We're a Winner" was their last major hit for ABC. Reaching number 14 on Billboard's pop chart and number one on the R&B chart, it became an anthem of the black power and black pride movements when it was released in late 1967,  much as his earlier "Keep on Pushing" (whose title is quoted in the lyrics of "We're a Winner" and also in "Move On Up") had been an anthem for Martin Luther King Jr. and the Civil Rights Movement.

Mayfield was a prolific songwriter in Chicago even outside his work for the Impressions, writing and producing scores of hits for many other artists. He also owned the Mayfield and Windy C labels which were distributed by Cameo-Parkway, and was a partner in the Curtom (first independent, then distributed by Buddah then Warner Bros and finally RSO) and Thomas labels (first independent, then distributed by Atlantic, then independent again and finally Buddah).

Among Mayfield's greatest songwriting successes were three hits that he wrote for Jerry Butler on Vee Jay ("He Will Break Your Heart", "Find Another Girl" and "I'm A-Tellin' You"). His harmony vocals are very prominent. He also had great success writing and arranging Jan Bradley's "Mama Didn't Lie". Starting in 1963, he was heavily involved in writing and arranging for OKeh Records (with Carl Davis producing), which included hits by Major Lance such as "Um, Um, Um, Um, Um, Um" and "The Monkey Time", as well as Walter Jackson, Billy Butler and the Artistics. This arrangement ran through 1965.

Solo career
In 1970, Mayfield left the Impressions and began a solo career. Curtom released many of Mayfield's 1970s records, as well as records by the Impressions, Leroy Hutson, the Five Stairsteps, the Staples Singers, Mavis Staples, Linda Clifford, Natural Four, The Notations and Baby Huey and the Babysitters. Gene Chandler and Major Lance, who had worked with Mayfield during the 1960s, also signed for short stays at Curtom. Many of the label's recordings were produced by Mayfield.

Mayfield's first solo album, Curtis, was released in 1970, and hit the top 20, as well as being a critical success. It pre-dated Marvin Gaye's album, What's Going On, to which it has been compared in addressing social change. The commercial and critical peak of his solo career came with Super Fly, the soundtrack to the blaxploitation Super Fly film, which topped the Billboard Top LPs chart and sold more than 12 million copies. Unlike the soundtracks to other blaxploitation films (most notably Isaac Hayes' score for Shaft), which glorified the ghetto excesses of the characters, Mayfield's lyrics consisted of hard-hitting commentary on the state of affairs in black, urban ghettos at the time, as well as direct criticisms of several characters in the film. Bob Donat wrote in Rolling Stone magazine in 1972 that while the film's message "was diluted by schizoid cross-purposes" because it "glamorizes machismo-cocaine consciousness... the anti-drug message on [Mayfield's soundtrack] is far stronger and more definite than in the film." Because of the tendency of these blaxploitation films to glorify the criminal life of dealers and pimps to target a mostly black lower class audience, Mayfield's album set this movie apart. With songs like "Freddie's Dead", a song that focuses on the demise of Freddie, a junkie that was forced into "pushin' dope for the man" because of a debt that he owed to his dealer, and "Pusherman", a song that reveals how many people in the ghetto fell victim to drug abuse, and therefore became dependent upon their dealers, Mayfield illuminated a darker side of life in the ghetto that these blaxploitation films often failed to criticize. However, although Mayfield's soundtrack criticized the glorification of dealers and pimps, he in no way denied that this glorification was occurring. When asked about the subject matter of these films he was quoted stating "I don't see why people are complaining about the subject of these films", and "The way you clean up the films is by cleaning up the streets."

Along with What's Going On and Stevie Wonder's Innervisions, this album ushered in a new socially conscious, funky style of popular soul music. The single releases "Freddie's Dead" and "Super Fly" each sold more than one million copies, and were awarded gold discs by the R.I.A.A.

Super Fly brought success that resulted in Mayfield being tapped for additional soundtracks, some of which he wrote and produced while having others perform the vocals. Gladys Knight & the Pips recorded Mayfield's soundtrack for Claudine in 1974, while Aretha Franklin recorded the soundtrack for Sparkle in 1976. Mayfield also worked with The Staples Singers on the soundtrack for the 1975 film Let's Do It Again, and teamed up with Mavis Staples exclusively on the 1977 film soundtrack A Piece of the Action (both movies were part of a trilogy of films that featured the acting and comedic exploits of Bill Cosby and Sidney Poitier and were directed by Poitier).

In 1973 Mayfield released the anti-war album Back to the World, a concept album that dealt with the social aftermath of the Vietnam War and criticized the United States' involvement in wars across the planet. One of Mayfield's most successful funk-disco meldings was the 1977 hit "Do Do Wap is Strong in Here" from his soundtrack to the Robert M. Young film of Miguel Piñero's play Short Eyes. In his 2003 biography of Curtis Mayfield, People Never Give Up, author Peter Burns noted that Mayfield has 140 songs in the Curtom vaults. Burns indicated that the songs were maybe already completed or in the stages of completion, so that they could then be released commercially. These recordings include "The Great Escape", "In The News", "Turn up the Radio", "What's The Situation?" and one recording labelled "Curtis at Montreux Jazz Festival 87".Two other albums featuring Curtis Mayfield present in the Curtom vaults and as yet unissued are a 1982/83 live recording titled "25th Silver Anniversary" (which features performances by Mayfield, the Impressions, and Jerry Butler) and a live performance, recorded in September 1966 by the Impressions titled Live at the Club Chicago.

In 1982, Mayfield decided to move to Atlanta with his family, closing down his recording operation in Chicago. The label had gradually reduced in size in its final two years or so with releases on the main RSO imprint and Curtom credited as the production company. Mayfield continued to record occasionally, keeping the Curtom name alive for a few more years, and to tour worldwide. Mayfield's song "(Don't Worry) If There's a Hell Below, We're All Going to Go" has been included as an entrance song on every episode of the drama series The Deuce. The Deuce tells of the germination of the sex-trade industry in the heart of New York's Times Square in the 1970s. Mayfield's career began to slow down during the 1980s.

In later years, Mayfield's music was included in the movies I'm Gonna Git You Sucka, Hollywood Shuffle, Friday (though not on the soundtrack album), Bend It Like Beckham, The Hangover Part II and Short Eyes, where he had a cameo role as a prisoner.

Social activism
Mayfield sang openly about civil rights and black pride, and was known for introducing social consciousness into African-American music. Having been raised in the Cabrini-Green projects of Chicago, he witnessed many of the tragedies of the urban ghetto first hand, and was quoted saying "With everything I saw on the streets as a young black kid, it wasn't hard during the later fifties and sixties for me to write my heartfelt way of how I visualized things, how I thought things ought to be."

Following the passing of the Civil Rights Act of 1964, his group the Impressions produced music that became the soundtrack to a summer of revolution. It is even said that "Keep On Pushing" became the number one sing along during the Freedom Rides. Black students sang their songs as they marched to jail or protested outside their universities, while King often used "Keep On Pushing", "People Get Ready" and "We're A Winner" because of their ability to motivate and inspire marchers. Mayfield had quickly become a civil rights hero with his ability to inspire hope and courage.

Mayfield was unique in his ability to fuse relevant social commentary with melodies and lyrics that instilled a hopefulness for a better future in his listeners. He wrote and recorded the soundtrack to the 1972 blaxploitation film Super Fly with the help of producer Johnny Pate. The soundtrack for Super Fly is regarded as an all-time great body of work that captured the essence of life in the ghetto while criticizing the tendency of young people to glorify the "glamorous" lifestyles of drug dealers and pimps, and illuminating the dark realities of drugs, addiction, and exploitation.

Mayfield, along with several other soul and funk musicians, spread messages of hope in the face of oppression, pride in being a member of the black race and gave courage to a generation of people who were demanding their human rights. He has been compared to Martin Luther King Jr. for making a lasting impact in the civil rights struggle with his inspirational music. By the end of the decade Mayfield was a pioneering voice in the black pride movement, along with James Brown and Sly Stone. Paving the way for a future generation of rebel thinkers, Mayfield paid the price, artistically and commercially, for his politically charged music. Mayfield's "Keep On Pushing" was actually banned from several radio stations, including WLS in his hometown of Chicago. Regardless of the persistent radio bans and loss of revenue, he continued his quest for equality right until his death.

Mayfield was also a descriptive social commentator. As the influx of drugs ravaged through black America in the late 1960s and 1970s his bittersweet descriptions of the ghetto would serve as warnings to the impressionable. "Freddie's Dead" is a graphic tale of street life, while "Pusherman" revealed the role of drug dealers in the urban ghettos.

Personal life
Mayfield was married twice. He had 10 children from different relationships. At the time of his death he was married to Altheida Mayfield. Together they had six children.

Accident
On August 13, 1990, Mayfield became paralyzed from the neck down after stage lighting equipment fell on him while he was being introduced at an outdoor concert at Wingate Field in Flatbush, Brooklyn, New York. Afterwards, he sang the second verse of a remake of "Let's Do It Again" being produced by Gary Katz by the Repercussions for All Men Are Brothers: A Tribute to Curtis Mayfield, while lying on his back in the recording studio. Although he was unable to play the guitar, he continued to compose and sing, which he found he could do by lying down and letting gravity pull down on his chest and lungs. The 1996 album New World Order was recorded in this way, with vocals sometimes recorded in lines at a time.

Final years and death
Mayfield received the Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award in 1994. In February 1998, he had to have his right leg amputated due to diabetes. He was inducted into the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame on March 15, 1999. Health reasons prevented him from attending the ceremony, which included fellow inductees Paul McCartney, Billy Joel, Bruce Springsteen, Dusty Springfield, George Martin, and 1970s Curtom signees and labelmates the Staple Singers.

Mayfield's last appearance on record was with the group Bran Van 3000 on the song "Astounded" for their 2000 album Discosis, recorded just before his death and released in 2001. However, his health had steadily declined following his paralysis, so his vocals were not new but were instead lifted from archive recordings, including "Move On Up".

Mayfield died from complications of type 2 diabetes at 7:20 EST (12:20 GMT) on Sunday, December 26, 1999, at the North Fulton Regional Hospital in Roswell, Georgia. He was survived by his wife, Altheida Mayfield; his mother, Mariam Jackson; 10 children; two sisters, Carolyn Falls and Judy Mayfield; a brother, Kenneth Mayfield; and seven grandchildren.

Influence
Mayfield was among the first of a new wave of mainstream black R&B performing artists and composers injecting social commentary into their work. This "message music" proved immensely popular during the 1960s and 1970s.

Mayfield taught himself how to play guitar, tuning it to the black keys of the piano, giving the guitar an open F-sharp tuning that he used throughout his career. He primarily sang in falsetto register. His guitar playing, singing, and socially aware song-writing influenced a range of artists, including Jimi Hendrix, Bob Marley, Tracy Chapman, Sly Stone, Marvin Gaye, Stevie Wonder and Sinéad O'Connor.

In 2017, it was reported that Lionel Richie had secured the rights to produce a biographical film about Mayfield. Richie said, "I'm so grateful to be working closely with [Mayfield's widow] Altheida Mayfield, [son] Cheaa Mayfield and the Curtis Mayfield Estate and couldn't be happier to be moving forward on this amazing project about a one-of-a-kind music genius."

Accolades

 * The Impressions' 1965 hit song "People Get Ready," composed by Mayfield, has been chosen as one of the Top 10 Best Songs Of All Time by a panel of 20 top industry songwriters and producers, including Paul McCartney, Brian Wilson, Hal David, and others, as reported to Britain's Mojo music magazine.
 * In 2019, Super Fly was selected by the Library of Congress for preservation in the National Recording Registry for being "culturally, historically, or aesthetically significant".

Rolling Stone rankings

 * The Impressions hits, "People Get Ready" and "For Your Precious Love" are both ranked on Rolling Stone′s list of the 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, as No. 24 and No. 327 respectively.
 * Mayfield is ranked No. 34 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
 * Mayfield is ranked no. 38 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 200 Greatest Singers of All Time.
 * Mayfield is ranked No. 40 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Singers of All Time.
 * Mayfield is ranked No. 48 on Rolling Stone's list of the 250 Greatest Guitarists of All Time.
 * Mayfield's album Super Fly is ranked No. 72 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time''.
 * Mayfield is ranked No. 78 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 100 Greatest Songwriters of All Time.
 * In 2004, Rolling Stone ranked Mayfield No. 98 on their list of the 100 Greatest Artists of All Time.
 * The Impressions' album/CD The Anthology 1961–1977 is ranked at No. 179 on Rolling Stone magazine's 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.
 * Mayfield's eponymous album Curtis is ranked No. 275 on Rolling Stone′s list of the 500 Greatest Albums of All Time.

Awards and nominations
In 1972, the French Academy of Jazz awarded Mayfield's debut solo album Curtis the Prix Otis Redding for best R&B record.

Hall of Fame

 * 1991: Along with his group the Impressions, he was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame.
 * 1999: Mayfield was inducted into The Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a solo artist making him one of the few artists to become double inductees.
 * 1999: Mayfield was inducted into the Songwriters Hall of Fame just prior to his death.
 * 2003: As a member of the Impressions, he was posthumously inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame.

Grammy Awards
Mayfield was nominated for eight Grammy Awards during his career. He is a winner of the prestigious Grammy Legend Award and Grammy Lifetime Achievement Award.
 * 1964
 * "Keep On Pushing"
 * Best R&B Performance
 * Nominated
 * 1972
 * "Freddie's Dead"
 * Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
 * Nominated
 * 1972
 * "Freddie's Dead"
 * Best R&B Song
 * Nominated
 * 1972
 * "Junkie Chase"
 * Best R&B Instrumental Performance
 * Nominated
 * 1972
 * Super Fly
 * Best Score Written for Motion Picture or Television Special
 * Nominated
 * 1994
 * Himself
 * Legend Award
 * Won
 * 1995
 * Himself
 * Lifetime Achievement Award
 * Won
 * 1996
 * New World Order
 * Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
 * Nominated
 * 1997
 * "New World Order"
 * Best R&B Song
 * Nominated
 * 1997
 * "Back to Living Again"
 * Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
 * Nominated
 * 1997
 * "New World Order"
 * Best R&B Song
 * Nominated
 * 1997
 * "Back to Living Again"
 * Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
 * Nominated
 * Best R&B Vocal Performance, Male
 * Nominated

Grammy Hall of Fame

 * 1998
 * "People Get Ready" (with the Impressions)
 * Hall of Fame (Single)
 * Inducted
 * 1998
 * Super Fly
 * Hall of Fame (Album)
 * Inducted
 * 2019
 * "Move On Up"
 * Hall of Fame (Single)
 * Inducted
 * "Move On Up"
 * Hall of Fame (Single)
 * Inducted

Discography

 * Curtis (1970)
 * Roots (1971)
 * Super Fly (1972)
 * Back to the World (1973)
 * Claudine (with Gladys Knight & the Pips) (1974)
 * Sweet Exorcist (1974)
 * Got to Find a Way (1974)
 * Let's Do It Again (1975)
 * There's No Place Like America Today (1975)
 * Give, Get, Take and Have (1976)
 * Sparkle (with Aretha Franklin) (1976)

 * Never Say You Can't Survive (1977)
 * Short Eyes (1977)
 * Do It All Night (1978)
 * Heartbeat (1979)
 * Something to Believe In (1980)
 * The Right Combination (with Linda Clifford) (1980)
 * Love Is the Place (1982)
 * Honesty (1983)
 * We Come in Peace with a Message of Love (1985)
 * Take It to the Streets (1990)
 * New World Order (1996)

Filmography

 * Super Fly (1972) as himself
 * Save the Children (1973) as himself
 * Short Eyes (1977) as Pappy
 * Sgt. Pepper's Lonely Hearts Club Band (1978) as Guest

title: Curtis Mayfield


text:
Little Willie John

William Edward "Little Willie" John (November 15, 1937 – May 26, 1968) was an American R&B singer who performed in the 1950s and early 1960s. He is best known for his successes on the record charts, with songs such as "All Around the World" (1955), "Need Your Love So Bad" (1956), "Talk to Me, Talk to Me" (1958), "Leave My Kitten Alone" (1960), "Sleep" (1960), and his number-one R&B hit "Fever" (1956). An important figure in R&B music of the 1950s, he faded into obscurity in the 1960s and died while serving a prison sentence for manslaughter.

John was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996. In 2022, John was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame.

Biography
John was born in Cullendale, Arkansas, on November 15, 1937. He was one of ten children born to Lillie (née Robinson) and Mertis John. Many sources erroneously give his middle name as Edgar. His family moved to Detroit, Michigan, when he was four, so that his father could find factory work. In the late 1940s, the eldest children, including Willie, formed a gospel singing group. Willie also performed in talent shows, which brought him to the notice of Johnny Otis and, later, the musician and producer Henry Glover. After seeing him sing with the Paul "Hucklebuck" Williams orchestra, Glover signed him to a recording contract with King Records in 1955. He was nicknamed "Little Willie" for his short stature.

John's first recording, a version of Titus Turner's "All Around the World", was a hit, reaching number 5 on the Billboard R&B chart. He followed up with a string of R&B hits, including the original version of "Need Your Love So Bad", co-written with his elder brother Mertis John Jr. One of his biggest hits, "Fever" (1956) (Pop number 24, R&B number 1), sold over one million copies and was awarded a gold disc. A famous cover version was recorded by Peggy Lee in 1958. Another song, "Talk to Me, Talk to Me", recorded in 1958, reached number 5 on the R&B chart and number 20 on the Pop chart. It also sold over one million copies. A few years later it was a hit once again in a cover version by Sunny & the Sunglows. On December 23, 1959, John also recorded "I'm Shakin'", by Rudy Toombs, "Suffering with the Blues", "My Love Is," and "Sleep" (1960, Pop number 13). In all, John made the Billboard Hot 100 a total of fourteen times. A cover version of "Need Your Love So Bad" by Fleetwood Mac was also a hit in Europe. Another of his songs to be covered was "Leave My Kitten Alone" (1959), recorded by The Beatles in 1964 and intended for their Beatles for Sale album. However, the track was not released until 1995.

John performed for the famed Cavalcade of Jazz concert produced by Leon Hefflin Sr. held at the Shrine Auditorium in Los Angeles on August 3, 1958. The other headliners were Ernie Freeman and his Band, Ray Charles, Sam Cooke, The Clark Kids and Bo Rhambo. Sammy Davis Jr. was there to crown the winner of the Miss Cavalcade of Jazz beauty contest. The event featured the top four prominent disc jockeys of Los Angeles.

John was involved in the civil rights fight against segregation. He performed a benefit concert for the NAACP in 1964, telling Jet magazine: "As entertainers, we can no longer sit and wait for the Sammy Davis' and Harry Belafonte's to raise all of the money."

John was also known for his short temper and propensity to abuse alcohol. He was arrested multiple times for charges that include narcotics, swindling, and grand larceny. John was dropped by his record company, King Records, in 1963. In 1965, he was convicted of manslaughter for the 1964 stabbing of Kendall Roundtree in Seattle. He was sent to Washington State Penitentiary in Walla Walla. John appealed the conviction and was released on probation while the case was reconsidered, during which time he recorded what was intended to be his comeback album. Due to contractual disputes and the decline of his appeal, it was not released until 2008 (as Nineteen Sixty Six).

John died at Washington State Penitentiary on May 26, 1968. Despite counterclaims, the cause of death stated on his death certificate was a heart attack. His interment was in Detroit Memorial Park East, in Warren, Michigan.

John was survived by his wife Darlynn (née Bonner), whom he married on May 25, 1957; two children, William Kevin John (b. February 3, 1958) and Darryl Keith John (b. January 25, 1960); his mother; five brothers; three sisters. One of his sisters was Mable John, who recorded for Motown and Stax and was member of The Raelettes, the vocal quartette backing Ray Charles. His son Keith John is a backing vocalist for Stevie Wonder.

Legacy and honors
John was posthumously inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1996, presented by Stevie Wonder.

James Brown, who early in his career had opened shows for John, recorded a tribute album, Thinking About Little Willie John and a Few Nice Things.

The guitarist and songwriter Robbie Robertson, formerly of The Band, mentioned John in the song "Somewhere Down the Crazy River", on his 1987 self-titled album. John was also mentioned in Tom Russell's "Blue Wing" and Mark Lanegan's "Like Little Willie John", from his 2004 album Bubblegum. The Swedish singer songwriter Peter LeMarc recorded a song entitled "Little Willie John" in 1991.

A biography, Fever: Little Willie John, a Fast Life, Mysterious Death and the Birth of Soul, by Susan Whitall with Kevin John (another of his sons), was published by Titan Books in 2011.

Little Willie John was posthumously inducted into the Rhythm and Blues Music Hall of Fame in 2014 as a singer and in 2016 as a songwriter.

In June 2016, Little Willie John was inducted into the Michigan Rock and Roll Legends Hall of Fame.

In 2022, John was inducted into the Blues Hall of Fame. His induction citation noted "... John was a sharply attired and exciting showstopper, recalled by fellow singers as mischievous, fun-loving, and generous".

title: Little Willie John