RIP :elpecor:
R&B Singer Luther Ingram Dies at 69
March 21, 2007
Associated Press
St. Louis -- Luther Ingram, the R&B singer and
songwriter best known for the 1972 hit "(If Loving
You Is Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right," has died.
He was 69. Ingram died Monday at a Belleville, Ill.,
hospital of heart failure, friend and journalist
Bernie Hayes said Tuesday. He had suffered for years
from diabetes, kidney disease and partial blindness,
his wife, Jacqui Ingram, said. Ingram performed with
Ike Turner at clubs in East St. Louis, roomed with
Jimi Hendrix in New York and was the opening act for
Isaac Hayes. He recorded through the 1980s and
performed in concert until the mid-1990s, when his
health began declining. "His instrument was his
voice; his heart and head were his inspiration,"
said Hayes, a St. Louis journalist, disc jockey and
author of "The Death Of Black Radio." Ingram was
born Nov. 30, 1937, in Jackson, Tenn. He started
writing music and singing as a boy in a group with
his siblings after his family moved to Alton, Ill.,
in 1947. He had a five-year association with
Memphis, Tenn.-based Stax Records during the height
of its success. In 1971, Ingram and songwriter-
performer Sir Mack Rice co-wrote "Respect Yourself"
for the Staple Singers, which turned into Stax's
biggest hit. Ingram recorded "(If Loving You Is
Wrong) I Don't Want To Be Right," in 1972 on Koko
Records, which Stax distributed. The song was No. 1
on Billboard magazine's R&B chart and was later a
hit for Barbara Mandrell. His other popular songs
include "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons
Than One)," "I'll Be Your Shelter," "You Never Miss
Your Water," "If It's All The Same To You" and the
Northern Soul standard "Exus Trek." "He was a soft-
spoken, quiet person that relished peace," said
Deanie Parker, who spent her career at Stax and
Soulsville. "He was a very intense singer; he took
it very seriously. When he was rehearsing, he'd go
over it and over it and seek perfection." A
"musical visitation" will be held Sunday at St.
Augustine Catholic Church in East St. Louis. He is
to be buried Monday at Mount Carmel Catholic
Cemetery in Belleville.
Accueil 
