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Artist
Cash McCall
12+ albums
about
Cash McCall (Morris Dollison Jr., January 28, 1941 - April 20, 2019) was an American electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He was best known for his 1966 R&B hit "When You Wake Up". Over his long career, his musical style evolved from gospel music to soul and blues. McCall was born in New Madrid, Missouri. He joined the United States Army and then settled in Chicago, where he had lived for a period as a child. In 1964, he played guitar and sang, alongside Otis Clay, with the Gospel Songbirds, who recorded for Excello Records. Cash later joined another gospel singing ensemble, the Pilgrim Jubilee Singers. Billed under his birth name, his debut solo single release was "Earth Worm" (1963). Three years later he co-wrote "When You Wake Up" with the record producer Monk Higgins. His initial soul-styled demo was issued by Thomas Records, which billed him as Cash McCall. The song reached number 19 on the US Billboard R&B chart. This led to McCall touring with Lou Christie and Mitch Ryder in Dick Clark's Caravan of Stars. However, subsequent releases for both Thomas and Checker Records failed to chart. These included the song "It's Wonderful to Be in Love". In 1967, McCall co-wrote "That's How It Is (When You're in Love)", a Top 30 R&B hit for Otis Clay. Under the tutelage of Willie Dixon, McCall went on to become a session musician and songwriter for Chess Records. In the late 1960s, McCall, along with Jimmy Dawkins and Johnny Twist, played guitar on some early recordin
