DJ Dirrty

(Phoenix, Arizona) Drew Verbis interviews Lou Pride:

  May, 2004:  Listen to Interview
 
Lou Pride has a classic blues/soul voice that has found its way onto at least four solo albums, a slew of singles, and countless performances as an in-demand blues performer renowned for his electrifying stage presence and Bobby Bland ish growl to whisper to shout delivery. Lou Pride grew up on the north side of the Windy City into gospel roots; he attended First Baptist Church pastored by Reverend E. J. Cole, Nat King Cole’s father.  He cut his first album, Very Special, in 1979 while living in Albuquerque, NM, for Black Gold Records. It spawned 45s and even a 12″ single (an oddity for a blues performer) and kept Pride out there burning rubber. A second Black Gold album, Gone Bad for a Very Special Reason that dropped in 1988, was a virtual track-by-track reissuing of the 1979 LP. 

Later, he befriended Reverend Charles L. Fairchild who introduced him to Curtis Mayfield, the connection resulted in Gone Bad Again on Curtom Records. Recordings were almost a sideline for Pride; performing live was his focus, and the soulful singer mesmerized rooms with a voice that could serve as a Southern soul paradigm embodying the greatness of Bobby “Blue” Bland, Z. Z. Hill, Bobby Rush, Little Milton, Johnny, and Johnnie Taylor. Pride’s road resume include performing gigs with Clarence Carter, Betty Wright, Ko Ko Taylor, Kool & the Gang, and B. B. King. Other 1970s’ singles include: “Look Out on Love,” “We’re Only Fooling Ourselves,” “You’ve Got to Work for Love,” and “Been Such a Long Time.”

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