Tom King born 13 July 1942

Thomas R. King (July 13, 1942 – April 23, 2011) was an American songwriter, guitarist, and arranger. He founded the 1960s rock band The Outsiders, and co-wrote the band's biggest hit song, "Time Won't Let Me".

He was 15 years old when he formed his first group, the Starfires, at Shaw High School in Cleveland in 1958. At the time, he was more familiar with classical music than with rock & roll, but he knew what he liked and was proficient enough as a guitarist to lead the quintet he assembled, writing occasional original numbers as well as arranging and producing their sound. He also had his uncle, Patrick Connelly, in his corner -- Connelly owned a local recording outfit called Pama Records and had enough contacts to get the band a radio audition that landed them numerous on-air appearances. The Starfires loved hard R&B and earned a good living playing the local clubs, emulating the sound of James Brown's band and specializing in hot instrumentals with the occasional vocal contribution from King.

By early 1965 the band's membership consisted of King on rhythm guitar, Bill Bruno on lead guitar, Mert Madsen on bass, and Jim Fox (later of James Gang) on drums. Later that year, Fox departed for college and was replaced by Ronnie Harka. The advent of the British Invasion led to a change in public taste and a drying up of some of their work -- at around the same time, King had lost much of his vocal ability in the wake of a tonsillectomy. The group added lead singer Sonny Geraci to the line-up and retooled its sound as more of a lean, horn-based outfit, similar to the Buckinghams.

The group was under contract with Pama Records, which was owned by King's uncle, Patrick Connelly, and in late 1965 that they recorded "Time Won't Let Me" for the label. As they recorded it, the song is a simple, catchy, and danceable tune. Its basic arrangement was augmented by a horn section, applied in an unobtrusive manner as not to not detract from the band's fundamental sound, which on this occasion features a signature riff from a twelve string electric guitar by Al Austin with added sax by Sonny’s brother Mike Geraci.

Sufficiently impressed upon hearing it, Capitol Records signed the band on the strength of the song, and shortly thereafter King changed the band's name from the Starfires to the Outsiders, possibly at the urging of the new label and enjoyed a number five single with their debut, "Time Won't Let Me" (co-authored by King), early in 1966.

                             

The Outsiders promoted their hit single with about a year of nationwide touring, as it stayed on the national charts for 15 weeks (although their music was released in other countries, the band never toured overseas). The band first toured with Paul Revere and the Raiders and then with Chad and Jeremy. Later, the Outsiders were part of a six-week tour of one-night stands headed by Gene

Pitney, which included seven or eight other acts, among them Len Barry, B.J. Thomas and Bobby Goldsboro. Afterwards, the Outsiders joined a four-week tour with several garage rock and psychedelic rock bands

A short-lived but memorable cover of the Isley Brothers' "Respectable" from Album No. 2 reached No. 15 in early September 1966. The Outsiders had performed "Respectable" during their earlier years as the Starfires.

Though none of their subsequent records made the Top Ten, the group enjoyed a three-year run of success that ended with King's departure from the band in the early spring of 1968.

The line-up disintegrated soon after, and in 1970, anticipating the spate of lawsuits over name ownership that would become common in the '90s, King and Geraci each claimed the name the Outsiders. Both ended up in court, where King won the use of the name, forcing Geraci to rechristen the group that he and Walter Nims had formed, from the Outsiders to Climax, which subsequently enjoyed a number three national hit with Nims' song "Precious and Few."

Meanwhile, King turned to production work and management, handling acts such as country vocalist Lisa Butler. By the '90s, with '60s music in vogue again and "Time Won't Let Me" having been established as one of the most popular records of the decade to have come out of Cleveland, he also began fronting a re-formed Outsiders with Walter Nims, which released a live album.

In the late '90s, more than 40 years after entering rock & roll professionally, King had been included in the Cleveland exhibit of the Rock & Roll Hall of Fame, based in that city. King won a BMI award for “Time Won’t Let me,” the song having been played on the radio over four million times.

King died at a nursing home in Wickliffe, Ohio on April 23, 2011 at the age of 68. He suffered from congestive heart failure. 

(Edited mainly from AllMusic bio by Bruce Eder with help from Wikipedia & waybackattack)