Solomon King born August 13, 1930

Solomon King (August 13, 1930 – January 20, 2005) was an American 1960s and 1970s popular music singer. He is best remembered for his 1968 British hit single, "She Wears My Ring", which charted in 40 countries.

Born Allen Verner Levy in Lexington, Kentucky and was raised with a love of popular standards and country music. He grew up in Toledo, Ohio, where he became a local choir soloist. As a teenager he attended the Cincinnati Conservatory of Music, and was offered a scholarship to study Cantatorial Music by Jan Peerce. He first started singing professionally in 1952. Under his first pseudonym, Randy Leeds, his records such as "I'm Gonna Live Til I Die" did not sell. King was the first white singer taken on tour by Billie Holiday, as well as working with Elvis Presley's backing group the Jordanaires, whom he used as his own backing group when recording his first version of "She Wears My Ring" in Nashville, Tennessee.

In 1960 Levy married a Canadian journalist, Henny Lowy, after she had interviewed him, and they had four children. In 1965, he decided that the best place to make his mark would be in England and he spent his time in London around Denmark Street, hoping for a record deal. He assumed one of the best of all stage names, Solomon King, although he was reluctant to admit it was a stage name and it suited his ego. The rock manager Gordon Mills had created a market for macho, big-voiced singers with Tom Jones and Engelbert Humperdinck, and he thought King, who was six foot eight with a 50-inch chest, was another possibility.

                                     

"She Wears My Ring", based on La Golondrina ("The Swallow)" by the Mexican composer Narciso Serradel Sevilla, was written by the Nashville husband-and-wife team Boudleaux and Felice Bryant. Although it was recorded by Roy Orbison for his 1962 LP Crying, its potential had not been spotted and it had not been released as a single. Solomon King's 1968 recording, which was produced by Peter Sullivan, went to No 3 and was on the UK charts for five months. The record could only manage No 117 in the US, where it was eclipsed by a country-music version by Ray Price. Also in 1968, "When We Were Young", written by songwriting duo Les Reed and Barry Mason was a number 21 hit in the UK Singles Chart, but King's other singles were not as successful.

He performed in Blackpool for a summer season in 1968 and was subject to jokes about his size, his shape and how out of touch he was. He was furious when his co-star, the one-man band Don Partridge, introduced him as "the Alabama Elephant". He responded to the criticism in Disc magazine, People say I should stop singing ballads and do rock'n'roll but I am not a teenybopper. I am the father of four kids and in my time I have sung rock, blues, jazz and bop and how many hippies can say that? King was best suited to cabaret and summer seasons, where he could converse with his audiences. He was a meticulous performer, always wanting to know the age, clothes and sex of his audience so that he could plan his programme. For example, he would not sing about drinking during a matinée as there would be children listening.

The compere at the She club in Liverpool, the radio DJ Billy Butler recalls, I'd heard about Solomon King appearing in other clubs and closing his act with "God Save the Queen" and I couldn't believe that he would go down well at the She, which was a rough, tough club. When he came to the end of his act, he went into the national anthem and he paused before he hit that final note, which he then belted out. The audience loved him. He was so grateful to the British audiences for accepting him and this was his way of saying thank you.

King claimed to be born in 1940 but his choice of songs belied that. His albums She Wears My Ring (1968), King of Song (1969) and You'll Never Walk Alone (1971) were unlikely affairs, making little effort to be contemporary in their choice of material. King would sing Jewish favourites ("My Yiddishe Momma"), wartime morale-boosters ("The White Cliffs of Dover") and hits of the early Fifties ("Stranger in Paradise", "Be My Love"). In 1970, he released "This Wonderful Day" (under the name "Levi Jackson") on the Columbia record label which is still popular on the Northern soul scene.

He had recorded a gospel song, "This Beautiful Day", under a different pseudonym, Levi Jackson, and, although the single sank without trace in 1971, it was reactivated in 1978 and became popular on the Northern Soul circuit. In 1972, he released the single "When You've Gotta Go", written by Lynsey de Paul and Ron Roker on the Polydor label and it made the Australian chart, as well as the Dutch "Tipparade", where it peaked at number 17. In 1974 King recorded the title song for the feeble film The Doll Squad, starring Francine York, which is now seen as a prototype for Charlie's Angels.

King and his wife Henny Lowy spent 20 years living in Higher Crumpsall, Manchester, England. But in 1980 they divorced he moved back to the United States, where he wed a further two times. He  continued singing in clubs in the United States. At 6 feet 8 inches (2.0 m) tall, some television interviewers refused to have him on their shows unless he sat down.

King died in Norman, Oklahoma, of cancer, on January 20, 2005, at the age of 74. A war veteran, he served in the United States Air Force. On his passing, he was buried with full military honours in Arlington National Cemetery, in Arlington, Virginia, under his birthname of Allen Verner Levy.

(Edited from The Independent, AllMusic & Wikipedia)