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Artist
R.B. Greaves
12+ albums
soul60srhythm and bluesrnbpop
about
Ronald Bertram Aloysius "R. B." Greaves III (November 28, 1943, Georgetown, Guyana, - September 27, 2012) was a singer who had chart success in 1969 with the pop single "Take a Letter Maria". A #2 hit on the Billboard Hot 100, this single sold one million copies and earned a gold certification from the Recording Industry Association of America. Greaves also had a Top 40 pop hit a year later with "Always Something There to Remind Me". Greaves was born in 1943 on the United States Air Force base at Georgetown, Guyana. A nephew of Sam Cooke, he grew up on a Seminole Indian reservation in the United States, but moved to England in 1963. Greaves had built a career both in the Caribbean and in Great Britain, where he performed under the name Sonny Childe with his group The TNTs. His debut single "Take a Letter Maria", released under the name R.B. Greaves, had been recorded by both Tom Jones and Stevie Wonder before the author recorded it himself at the insistence of Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegün, who produced it. The song is the story of a man who learns of his wife's infidelity the night before and dictates a letter of separation to Maria, his ostensibly Hispanic secretary. The song has a distinct Latin flavor, complete with a mariachi-style horn section. This disc stayed in the Billboard chart for 15 weeks, selling a million copies with the gold record from the R.I.A.A. on 11 December 1969. By 1970 sales of the record totalled 2.5 million. Greaves recorded a series o
top songs
albums
R.B. Greaves
Rock And Roll
R. B. Greaves
The Adventures of Priscilla, Queen of the Desert
Atlantic Unearthed: Soul Brothers
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R.B. Greaves (US Release)
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Atlantic Top 60: Sweat-Soaked Soul Classics
His Very Best
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Echoes of Time
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The Wonderful World Of The 70's - 100 Hit Songs
Come Together: Black America Sings Lennon & McCartney
The Ultimate Sixties Collection