Lloyd Price

Although most of Lloyd Price's hits occurred in the late 1950s and early 1960s, he actually had his first hit in 1952, with "Lawdy Miss Clawdy", which became a major R&B hit. However, his budding career came to a quick halt in 1954 when he was drafted into the army. Because of his musical background, though, he was placed into the Special Services (entertainment) branch, where he was put in charge of a large dance band that played "swing" music to entertain the troops. It was here that Price got the idea for what was to become his trademark style: combining a lush, full orchestra with the grittier, rawer tempos and vocals of R&B. After completing his hitch, Price made the rounds of record companies trying to convince them of the soundness of his idea, but he got nowhere. Frustrated, he started his own label, Kent Records. His first record on Kent, 1957's "Just Because", became a regional hit on the East Coast, but Kent, like other small labels, found it difficult to distribute national