Full Text of HR0865 94th General Assembly
HR0865 94TH GENERAL ASSEMBLY
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| HOUSE RESOLUTION
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| WHEREAS, State Representative Monique D. Davis, together | 3 |
| wit the members of the House of Representatives of the State of | 4 |
| Illinois, learned with sadness of the death of Lou Rawls, | 5 |
| legendary gospel, jazz, and pop singer, formerly of Chicago, on | 6 |
| Friday, January 6, 2006; and
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| WHEREAS, He was born on December 1, 1933, in Chicago and | 8 |
| reared by his grandmother, Evelyn Beal; he began singing at the | 9 |
| age of seven in his church choir at the Greater Mount Olive | 10 |
| Baptist Church; his singing became known around town, and he | 11 |
| sang in a group called the Teenage Kings of Harmony with his | 12 |
| friend, Sam Cooke; and
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| WHEREAS, During the 1950s, he sang with such groups as the | 14 |
| Holy Wonders, the Highway QC's, the Chosen Gospel Singers, and | 15 |
| the Pilgrim Travelers; in 1955, he enlisted in the U.S. Army, | 16 |
| serving as a paratrooper in the 82nd Airborne Division, the All | 17 |
| Americans; three years later, he left the service with the rank | 18 |
| of Sergeant and rejoined the Pilgrim Travelers as a lead | 19 |
| singer; and
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| WHEREAS, It was during a tour of the South with Sam Cooke | 21 |
| and the Travelers that a serious car accident nearly ended Mr. | 22 |
| Rawls' career and his life; one passenger was killed, Mr. Cooke | 23 |
| was slightly injured, and Mr. Rawls was pronounced dead on the | 24 |
| way to the hospital; although he slipped into a coma for nearly | 25 |
| six days, suffered memory loss, and didn't recover completely | 26 |
| for a year, Mr. Rawls survived; he often referred to that time | 27 |
| as a turning point in his life, when he began to learn | 28 |
| acceptance, direction, understanding, and perception; it gave | 29 |
| him many reasons to live; and
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| WHEREAS, By the late 1950s, both Mr. Rawls and Mr. Cooke | 31 |
| were leaning more toward secular music; Lou sang on a number of |
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| Sam's records and in 1959, having recorded some singles of his | 2 |
| own for the Candix label, he was performing at Pandora's Box in | 3 |
| West Hollywood, when he was spotted by producer Nick Venet, who | 4 |
| soon signed him to Capitol Records; and | 5 |
| WHEREAS, In 1963, his Capitol debut was "I'd Rather Drink | 6 |
| Muddy Water", which became the first of more than 20 albums | 7 |
| recorded on that label within a decade; it was "Love Is a | 8 |
| Hurtin' Thing" in 1966 which sent him to the top; the album was | 9 |
| nominated for two Grammy awards, Best R&B Recording Artist and | 10 |
| Best R&B Vocal Performance; and | 11 |
| WHEREAS, In his performances during the 1960s, he became | 12 |
| famous for his monologues, called "pre-rap" by some, when he | 13 |
| would talk over music leading into and away from a song's | 14 |
| refrain; he won his first Grammy, Best R&B Vocal Performance, | 15 |
| for his song "Dead End Street", which used the pre-rap style; | 16 |
| and
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| WHEREAS, The 1970s began with Mr. Rawls winning a second | 18 |
| Grammy for "Natural Man", and he won the Downbeat magazine poll | 19 |
| for favorite male vocalist, beating perennial champion Frank | 20 |
| Sinatra; Mr. Rawls then signed with Philadelphia | 21 |
| International, the label run by producers and songwriters Kenny | 22 |
| Gamble and Leon Huff, and in 1976, the team made Mr. Rawls' | 23 |
| signature recording, "You'll Never Find (Another Love Like | 24 |
| Mine)", which sold a million copies as a single and reached | 25 |
| number one on the Billboard R&B charts; and
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| WHEREAS, That same year, he became a spokesman for | 27 |
| Anheuser-Busch; it was his voice heard intoning the slogan | 28 |
| "When you say Budweiser, you've said it all"; in 1980 he | 29 |
| started the Lou Rawls Parade of Stars Telethon, a yearly | 30 |
| television event that raised hundreds of millions of dollars | 31 |
| for the United Negro College Fund; "An Evening of Stars" | 32 |
| continues today, and through his tireless efforts he has helped |
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| more than 65,000 students obtain higher education; and
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| WHEREAS, Mr. Rawls also acted, appearing in about 20 films, | 3 |
| including "Leaving Las Vegas" and "Blues Brothers 2000", and in | 4 |
| many television series; he lent his voice to children's | 5 |
| television shows, including "Garfield", "Hey Arnold!", and | 6 |
| "The Rugrats", and provided the voice of the grandfather on | 7 |
| Bill Cosby's animated series "Fatherhood"; and
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| WHEREAS, The passing of the great Lou Rawls has been deeply | 9 |
| felt by many, especially his wife, Nina; his children, Aiden, | 10 |
| Kendra, Lou Jr., and Louanna; and his grandchildren, Louis, | 11 |
| Chayiel, Jonathan, and Katrina; therefore, be it
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| RESOLVED, BY THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES OF THE | 13 |
| NINETY-FOURTH GENERAL ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that | 14 |
| we mourn the passing of Lou Rawls, legendary gospel, jazz, and | 15 |
| pop singer, and we extend our deepest sympathy to his family, | 16 |
| friends, and all who knew and loved him; and be it further
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| RESOLVED, That a suitable copy of this resolution be | 18 |
| presented to his family as an expression of our sincerest | 19 |
| condolences.
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