Song:It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day)
Album:Night Train To Nashville: Music City Rhythm & Blues 1945-1970
It's hard to believe that over his long career as an R & B shouter, Earl Gaines only had one significant chart hit and it wasn't even under his own name. But Gaines was a fixture on the Nashville music scene until his death last year. He was born Aug. 19, 1935 in Decatur, AL and moved to Nashville as a teen. He worked as a singer and drummer with songwriter producer Ted Jarrett and met Louis Brooks in a club. Louis Brooks & His Hi-Toppers were an instrumental group but they had a contract with Excello Records. Gaines joined the group and It's Love Baby was their first single in 1955. It reached #2 on the R & B singles chart and it may have been Excello's first hit. The song was written by R & B legend Hank Ballard. It appears that Brooks was content with being a local group. It doesn't seem like he wanted to tour. So Excello turned Gaines into a solo artist and sent him on the 1955 R & B Caravan Of Stars tour. Gaines performed at Carnegie Hall in New York. But none of his singles caught on and he eventually became lead singer for organist Bill Doggett and played drums on sessions. Gaines had a top 40 hit with Best Of Luck To You in 1966 and continued to record until he quit the music business in 1975 to drive a truck. He returned to music in 1989 and had a lot of success touring the blues circuit and recording until his death Dec. 31, 2009 at age 74. This 2CD comp from Lost Highway won a Grammy in 2005 and is a must for fans of obscure R & B. Here's Earl Gaines performing It's Love Baby (24 Hours A Day) on the Nashville TV show The !!!! Beat 1966.
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