Lauren called me today to tell me that Lou Rawls, the legendary, silk-throated crooner, had succumed to brain and lung cancer at the age of 72. Rawls passed early yesterday morning in Los Angeles. Lauren had just seen the news on TV and called to alert me to the passing of one of the men whose music defines our early childhood. My father is/was a great fan of Rawls, and the unmistakable, mentholated baritone end of his vocal range, as heard in his smash hit, "You'll Never Find," provides a backdrop to many of our childhood memories and tales of woe.
Why, I recall Lauren getting grounded for three weeks for desacrating the face of her "Baby Beth" doll with permanant markers and cutting her hair into a Joan Jett shag to Rawl's catchy gospel tune, "Love is a Hurtin' Thing." As for me, I can recall settling in to do my math homework on many a night with Rawl's grammy winning, "Dead End Street" spilling forth from my dad's turntable.
The point I'm trying to make here is that along with musical legends, Tom Jones, Engelbert Humperdink and Johnny Mathis, Lou Rawls plays a prominent role in my childhood memories. In fact, if I were to compile a "soundtrack of The Childhood of Nancy and Lauren", Rawls would certainly be one of the first performers whose music I would look to feature on the album.
You know, I won't pretend that I've thought about Rawls religiously every day for the past 32 years, or that I even currently own any of his albums, but I will say that I always thought fondly of the man and am definitely sorry to see the old dude leave this earth.
The sad thing is that, when I was watching the news a few weeks ago, I caught the tail end of a story about Rawls' declining health. I heard something about brain cancer that had spread to his lungs. Not having heard the first part of the story, but being fully aware of the seriousness of such illness, I figured Rawls had passed away. I mourned him in my own, private way. When Lauren called me today to leave this message, I was perplexed. I thought Rawls had already passed, and I called her to check the facts. "No" she said. She had seen the same story as I a few weeks ago, but as I said, I had missed the beginning part of the report. Apparently, that report was simply broadcast to let the public know that Rawls was very ill and had entered into a comatose state. He remained in the coma until early yesterday, when he finally passed away.
Now I have to go through mourning all over again. I can't just shut off my feelings and say, "Well, I already mourned Rawls' passing, so I can move on now." No, I am saddened anew and will repeat my mourning phase.
Lou Rawls...we'll miss you, Brother.
2 comments:
I was surprised myself because I also thought this legendary crooner expired weeks ago. I am even more surprised that I was able to catch real news on tv. I usually don't hear of what's going on in the world unless Elmo is behind the anchor desk. Why is it that the news we could care less about (Simpson and Lachey's break up, Hillary Duff's bulemia, and the never dying Tomkat stories) are in our face 24 hours a day but real news is hard to hear about. I'd love to turn on the tv one day to catch the local weather without hearing about Emanuel Lewis on "Dancing with the Stars". Who cares about this nonsense????
I tried to block out the "Baby Beth doll" incident. I can't forget the image of the wig. It was a mullet for sure and it was circa the "Crimson and Clover" days of Joan Jett and the Blackhearts, yikes!
Listen to NPR. They broadcast real news. Although they were probably too busy rattling on about Sharone's heart condition to broadcast the all-important story of Rawls' demise.
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