Leon Haywood

about

Otha Leon Haywood (February 11, 1942 – April 5, 2016) was an American funk and soul singer, songwriter and record producer. He is best known for his 1975 hit single "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You", which has been much sampled by Dr. Dre and others. Born in Houston, he listened to the blues as a child and started playing piano at the age of three. In his teens, he performed with a local group and worked as an accompanist to blues musician, Guitar Slim. In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, California, where he worked with saxophonist Big Jay McNeely. McNeely arranged for him to record his first single, "Without a Love", an instrumental on the small Swingin' record label. After that, he joined Sam Cooke's band as keyboardist until the singer's death. Haywood next recorded two singles for Fantasy Records, and subsequently moved to Imperial Records, where he recorded the single "She's with Her Other Love", which made the R&B charts in 1965. He was also part of two session bands organized by Los Angeles disc jockey Magnificent Montague which issued the instrumental hits "Hole in the Wall" (R&B #5/Pop #50, 1965) under the name of The Packers, and "Precious Memories" (R&B number 31, 1967) as the Romeos. In 1967, Haywood secured his first solo hit with "It's Got to Be Mellow" (R&B #21 and Pop #63) on Decca Records. He played on further recording sessions with the Packers and Dyke & the Blazers, then returned to recording under his own name. He also established in 1967 a

top songs

albums

Keep It In The Family (Expanded Edition)

The Best Of Leon Haywood

Come and Get Yourself Some

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Classic Funk - Universal Masters

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True Funk [3 CD Set]

Funked! : Volume 2 1973-1977

80s Soul (International Version)

Back To Stay + Keep It In The Family (2 Albums On 1 + Bonus Tracks)

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True Disco (3 CD Set)

Keep It In The Family

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Gold - Old School Jams

The Legacy

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