JOE HAYWOOD

 

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Biography  in https://www.last.fm/music/Joe+Haywood/+wiki

Joe Haywood ( 1939 - november 1996) was an American soul singer and songwriter from Spartanburg, South Carolina. Haywood wrote Percy Sledge's hit “Warm and Tender Love".

Joe Dean Haywood had a music career that spanned more than 30 years. He recorded multiple songs under several record labels.

He was the oldest of eight children born to Foster and Sarah Loease Haywood Hughes in Cowpens, according to his daughter, Deborah Haywood Stewart. She also said he sang in the J.W. Sanders Gospel Chorus.

“His mother could sing, and daddy could sing,” Stewart said. “Everybody who knew daddy, knew he could sing.”

During his school days, Haywood learned to play drums. Later, his daughter said he sang with several local bands, including The Fabulous Dobbs, The Yaks and The Dynamic Twisters.

Jessie “Shack” Johnson, the bass player and a founding member of The Dynamic Twisters, describes Haywood's singing voice as similar to Cooke's. Music historians have described Cooke's voice as a blend of spiritual and soul.

“He sounded better than Sam Cooke, and he had his own style,” Johnson said.

When The Dynamic Twisters formed in the late 1950s, Johnson said it got its name from tornado twisters. At the same time, Hank Ballard recorded “The Twist” and created the dance that later became famous by South Carolina native Chubby Checker.

“Our drums were supposed to have three twisters on it, but everybody thought our name had to do with ‘The Twist,'” Johnson said. “We just went along with it because we played more because people thought it had something to do with the song ‘The Twist.'”

Joe Bennett of the Sparkletones. He remembers Haywood and his band entering a contest at the Spartanburg Memorial Auditorium in 1957. Bennett was amazed when he heard Haywood singing.

In a book about Spartanburg's music legacy titled “Hub City Music Makers” by Peter Cooper, Bennett was quoted as saying Haywood “sang like Sam Cooke, only better.”

Haywood later left Spartanburg and went to New York City to establish his music career. He recorded several songs, including “Warm and Tender Love.” The song was released several times under different record labels. Haywood's version was released twice in the early '60s. Sledge recorded the song after his 1966 hit “When A Man Loves A Woman,” and it climbed to the top 10 on the R&B charts.

After “Warm and Tender Love” became a hit for Sledge, Haywood's version was released again. Haywood's version didn't have the success of Sledge's.

Johnson and Bobby Young, manager for Back In The Day, remember Haywood writing and performing his own songs. They said one of the songs Haywood wrote was “Warm and Tender Love.”

However, there are claims that Union native Bobby Robinson, a former record producer and songwriter, who died last year, wrote “Warm and Tender Love” and then sold it to Sledge's producer. His name appears on some of the record labels for the song.

Stewart, Haywood's daughter, claims her father wrote the song for her when she was born. She said in January 1960, her father met and fell in love with her mother, Rose Head. Stewart was born about 10 months later.

“My daddy wrote the song for me when I was born in 1960,” Stewart said. “People have always thought it was a love song, but he actually wrote it because he was so happy when I was born. It was his signature song.”

Stewart said her father became addicted to drugs after he moved to New York City. She said he was able to kick his drug habit without rehabilitation, but he became an alcoholic.

“He (Haywood) was hurt about what happened (to ‘Warm and Tender Love'), and he was very angry with Bobby Robinson,” Stewart said. “He wasn't upset with Percy Sledge.”

Red Kelly, a New York musician, has created a blog to find out more about unknown artists called Soul Detective. He started researching Haywood several years ago. Kelly said Haywood wasn't just another singer trying to imitate Sam Cooke. He said Haywood had a great deal of talent.

“After Sam Cooke was killed in 1964, there was a scramble to find the next Sam Cooke because he was a money maker,” Kelly said. “Joe Dean Haywood put out some great records. Every record he made was fantastic.”

Kelly said several years after Sledge recorded “Warm and Tender Love, ” the name Clara Thompson was added to the record label as a songwriter. Kelly is trying to find out more information about the woman and how her name got on the record.

“She (Thompson) must have had a song that sounded similar to ‘Warm and Tender Love,' ” Kelly said. “People can't blame Bobby Robinson too much for putting his name on the record because he was just doing what everybody else was doing at the time.”

Kelly's research discovered that Haywood's version of “Warm and Tender Love” was mentioned as a “Record to Watch” in December 1964 on Billboard by John Richbourg.

Even though there is some controversy about the actual writer of “Warm and Tender Love,” Kelly said Robinson and Haywood continued to work with each other from the 1960s into the '70s.

‘I don't know if Bobby Robinson was trying to redeem himself or he felt guilty, but he kept putting out records by Joe Dean Haywood,” Kelly said. “Joe Dean Haywood also kept going back to Bobby Robinson, and he put out some great records. They hold up to the test of time.”

Haywood's memory lives on through his music, his daughter and three grandchildren, Santiago Head, Bobby Brown Jr. and Sabreena Stewart. His grandson, Santiago Head, also is a singer and songwriter.

“My mother told me about my grandfather singing with The (Fabulous) Dobbs,” Head said. “When I talk about my singing and songwriting, my mother tells me that I got that from my grandfather. It's amazing to me.”

Kelly's website has generated more interest in Haywood and his music. Some residents believe Haywood should be remembered on the Spartanburg Music Trail featuring musicians with local roots.

“His name (Haywood) is on the long list of people to be considered on the trail at some point,” said Betsy Teter, a member of the Music Trail selection nomination committee. “The mission of the Music Trail is to recognize musicians who have made a national or international impact in the world of music. Joe, of course, seeing he influenced an artist the magnitude of Percy Sledge, had a clear impact.”

When Joe Dean Haywood died in November 1996, his death was barely noticed.

His obituary listed him as a former driver for Yellow Deluxe Cab Co., before mentioning he was a professional singer and songwriter. He was buried in an unmarked grave in the old Island Creek Baptist Church cemetery near Cowpens. He died at age 57.

Few people knew then or now about this man with a singing voice that rivaled the legendary Sam Cooke, or that he once appeared on the stage of the historic Apollo Theater in Harlem.