Johnny Sayles

b. 9 February 1937, Winnsboro, Texas, USA, d. 17 August 1993, Chicago, Illinois, USA. Sayles was possibly one of the finest ‘tough-soul' singers of the earliest (early 60s) soul era, and several of his recordings for George Leaner's Chicago-based Mar-V-Lus label are as potent and telling as anything recorded by far better-known singers, such as Wilson Pickett and Otis Clay. Sayles only had four sides released at the time, but several others were reissued later on a superb Japanese album. At the age of 18, he moved to St. Louis and worked with Eugene Neal's Rocking Kings, Ike ...