Manabout Town / Various - Man About Town - A Chris Towns Retrospective (Mod) Music CD

A musician, songwriter, arranger, and composer for such artists as Johnny Mathis, Gloria Lynne, Dizzy Gillespie and Brook Benton, Chris Towns was also a recording artist in his own right, blessed with a powerfully soulful voice. As a pianist, Towns toured with Jackie Wilson, Etta Jones, Chuck Jackson and performed with Otis Blackwell on original demos of material for Elvis Presley. Towns spent his later years teaching music at Central Harlem's Senior Citizen center, where he received awards for his work with the center's choir. His body of work and the diversity of his early productions clearly demonstrates what a great singer, producer, and arranger he was. As with many of the talented, often uncredited, behind the scenes characters of the emerging pop music scene of the late 1950s and early 60s, Towns is not a household name, yet the quality and creativity of his productions and musicianship hold a special place in the history of pop music culture. Presented here is a career retrospective that focuses on his early years in the music business from the late 50s through the early 60s - featuring tracks from some lesser known yet talented artists that he produced, arranged, or had written for, as well as some rare recordings featuring Chris as an artist.