Titus Turner born 1 May 1933

Titus Lee Turner (May 1, 1933 – September 13, 1984) was an American R&B and East Coast blues singer and songwriter. His best-remembered recordings are "We Told You Not to Marry" and "Sound-Off". He also wrote "Leave My Kitten Alone", "Sticks and Stones" and "Tell Me Why". 

Turner was born in the Grady Homes Projects on Decatur Street, Atlanta, Georgia. His father was a Pentacostal bishop and his mother, Essie, sang in the church choir. In his family of three brothers and six sisters, only Titus showed remarkable musical talent at an early age. While still attending the David T. Howard high school, Turner had walked off with top honors in several annual amateur contests, known as 'Stunt Night Shows'. This led to an audition at the Royal Peacock and signing on as `Mr. T.' Because of his age, he was allowed to perform on weekends only, but in 1950 he was signed by Aladdin Records and left on a cross-country tour with Amos Milburn and Charles Brown. 

                                   

His debut single, "Where Are You", was released in 1950, credited to Mr. T and his Band. Another single, "Stop Trying to Make a Fool of Me", was released by Regal Records in 1951. A year later he recorded eight tracks for Okeh Records, including "Got So Much Trouble". He then recorded for Wing, an imprint of Mercury Records, but he was not commercially successful until 1955, when Little Willie John recorded Turner's "All Around the World". Another version, retitled "Grits Ain't Groceries", was by Little Milton. 

Turner and John then co-wrote "Leave My Kitten Alone", subsequently recorded by Johnny Preston, the Beatles, and Elvis Costello. In 1959, King Records issued Turner's first hit single, "The Return of Stagolee", an answer song to Lloyd Price's "Stagger Lee", followed by "We Told You Not to Marry", an answer to Price's "I'm Gonna Get Married". Ray Charles recorded Turner's song "Sticks and Stones" in 1960 with many cover versions released over the years. By 1961 Turner had his biggest solo success with "Sound-Off", which came from the only album he ever released. The track was described by Joel Whitburn in Top Pop Singles 1955–2002 as a "popular US Army marching drill chant", which had been a number 3 hit for Vaughn Monroe in 1951. 

Later singles failed to find a market, and Turner recorded for many labels throughout the 1960s without further tangible success. These included "Eye to Eye" (Okeh, 1966). During the 1970s he recorded only sporadically ; his last release came out in 1976. 

Turner died in Atlanta, Georgia on September 13, 1984, aged 51. His name is better remembered than a lot of his more successful contemporaries thanks to the lasting popularity of his best written material for others rather than his own artistic output. 

(Edited from Wikipedia, Bear Family Records & This Is My Story)