LATIMORE

 

Benjamin William Lattimore (born September 7, 1939) known professionally as Latimore, is an American blues and R&B singer, songwriter and pianist.In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame.

Latimore was born in Charleston, Tennessee,and was influenced by country music, his Baptist church choir, and the blues. His first professional experience came as a pianist for various Florida-based groups including Steve Alaimo. He first recorded around 1965 for Henry Stone's Dade record label in Miami, Florida.In the early 1970s, he moved to the Glades label, and had his first major hit in 1973 with a jazzy reworking of T-Bone Walker's "Stormy Monday", which reached No. 27 on the R&B chart.

Latimore's first national hit was "If You Were My Woman," a gender-modified cover of "If I Were Your Woman" (written by Pam Sawyer, Clay McMurray and Gloria Jones and first popularized by Gladys Knight & the Pips), which reached No. 70 on the R&B chart. His biggest success came in 1974, with "Let's Straighten It Out", a No. 1 R&B hit, which also reached No. 31 on the US Billboard Hot 100 chart. He followed it up with more hits, including "Keep The Home Fire Burnin'" (No. 5 R&B, 1975) and "Somethin' 'Bout 'Cha" (No. 7 R&B, 1976). The hits dissipated in the late 1970s.

"He likes what he's singing so much that he doesn't have to go for the simulated high emotion of some fancy vocal embellishment—he just puts those lyrics across, intelligent and matter-of-fact, as if you've never heard them before, which maybe you haven't."

—More More More Latimore review in Christgau's Record Guide: Rock Albums of the Seventies (1981)

Latimore moved to Malaco Records in 1982,releasing seven albums of modern blues music with that label. He briefly left the label in 1994 and released a song for the J-Town label, Turning Up The Mood, before returning to Malaco in 2000 with You're Welcome To Ride. Next, Latimore recorded an album with Mel Waiters' label, Brittney Records, called Latt Is Back.

Later, Latimore collaborated with Henry Stone on a new record label called LatStone; which released his first new album in six years, Back 'Atcha.

He has continued to work as a session pianist. He appeared most recently on Joss Stone's albums, The Soul Sessions (2003) and Mind Body & Soul (2004), along with fellow Miami music veterans Betty Wright, Timmy Thomas and Willie Hale, and made an appearance in May 2014 on The Tonight Show Starring Jimmy Fallon.

In 2017, Latimore was inducted in to the Blues Hall of Fame

BENNY LATTIMORE