Bobby Powell

Blind pianist/singer Bobby Powell -- born in Baton Rouge in 1941 -- started out as a gospel singer in the 1950s. By the outset of the 1960s, however, he'd switched to singing R&B and was signed to Whit Records, where he succeeded right out of the box with "What Are You Trying to Do to Me" b/w "Red Sails in the Sunset" -- the latter didn't chart nationally but was good and popular enough locally to get picked up by Jewel Records for national distribution. He did even better with his second single, a version of "C.C. Rider" b/w "That Little Girl of Mine," which topped the nation...