Sun Goddess - Ramsey Lewis (1974)

Ramsey Emmanuel Lewis, Jr. (born May 27th, 1935 in Chicago, Illinois) is an American jazz composer, pianist and radio personality. He has been referred to as 'the great performer', a title reflecting his performance style and musical selections which display his early gospel playing and classical training (Bach, Beethoven, Brahms, etc.) along with his love of jazz and other musical forms. Ramsey Lewis has recorded over 80 albums and has received five gold records and three Grammy Awards so far in his career. Lewis began taking piano lessons at the age of four. At 15 he joined his first jazz band, The Cleffs. The seven-piece group provided Lewis his first involvement with jazz and he would later join Cleffs drummer Isaac 'Redd' Holt and bassist Eldee Young to form the Ramsey Lewis Trio. The trio started as primarily a jazz unit and released their first album, "Ramsey Lewis And The Gentlemen Of Swing", in 1956. Following their 1965 hit "The In Crowd" (the single reached #5 on the pop charts, and the album reached #2), they concentrated more on pop material. Young and Holt left in 1966 to form the Young-Holt Trio and were replaced by Cleveland Eaton and Maurice White. White was replaced by Maurice Jennings in 1970 and later, Franky Donaldson and Billy 'The Bhudda' Dickens replaced Jennings and Eaton. By 1966, Lewis was one of the nation's most successful jazz pianists, topping the charts with "The In Crowd", "Hang On Sloopy", and "Wade In the Water". Many of his recordings attracted a large non-jazz audience. In the '70s, Lewis often played electric piano, although by later in the decade he was sticking to acoustic and using an additional keyboardist in his groups. After his classic acoustic albums in the 1960s, Ramsey Lewis wanted to head into a new direction in his music. He reunited in 1973 with Maurice White, who at that time was with his own band, Earth, Wind & Fire. These sessions, which resulted in the landmark 1974 album "Sun Goddess", also included White's brother Verdine and fellow EWF bandmates Philip Bailey, Don Myrick and Charles Stepney. The album became a huge crossover hit, charting #1 on the Billboard Black album chart as well as the Jazz album chart, and also charted #12 on the Pop chart. The song "Sun Goddess", released as a single, charted in the Black Singles, the Pop Singles, and the Disco Singles charts. This channel is dedicated to the classic jazz music you've loved for years. The smokin' hot, icy cool jams that still make you tap your feet whenever you hear them . . . Cool Jazz is here! For music videos of the Old School funk, go to: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloveoldschool To check out videos from The Roots Of Rap, go to: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloverootsrap If you love jamming to some great Classic Rock, check out: www.youtube.com/djbuddyloveclassicrr Check out my newer music videos and other fun stuff at: www.youtube.com/djbuddylove3000 If you like college football & other aspects of life at The Ohio State University, go to: www.youtube.com/DJBuddyLoveBuckeyes Check out my news videography stuff at: www.youtube.com/vonregandavis Also, check out my youngest daughter (the world's youngest video producer) at: www.youtube.com/daddyzgirl3000 To stay updated about all my projects, please join my Facebook fan page: www.facebook.com/pages/DJ-Buddy-Love/114720773004?ref=sgm And coming in 2012 . . . DJ Buddy Love presents LONGEVITY . . . A world record club DJ mixing marathon charity event . . . 121 hours nonstop to benefit cancer research . . . Live to the world via UStream, Facebook, YouTube & Twitter . . . More details coming soon . . . Enjoy!! ;~} Copyright 1974 Columbia Records All Rights Reserved

Added 31 Aug 2026