Happy birthday to the R&B singer & dancer Alvin Cash, of Alvin Cash & The Crawlers, Alvin Cash & The Registers and Alvin Cash & The Hundred Dollar Bills fame.
Born Alvin Welch, he grew up in St Louis as one of eight children. He and some of his brothers started singing and tap-dancing and they went to school with the future Tina Turner, Luther Ingram and Billy Davis (of The Fifth Dimension). Cash and three of his brothers moved to Chicago in '61 and a few years later hooked up with producer Andre Williams and recorded "Twine Time" (credited to Alvin Cash & The Crawlers), which became a hit in '65. "The Philly Freeze" was another hit the next year. He recorded a ton of singles through the years: R&B, soul, pop, funk, boogaloo, disco, etc. The Northern Soul scene kept his name alive.
He also did some acting and was known as a snappy dresser. He recorded a bunch of tributes to Muhammad Ali.
Here's the 1965 Andre Williams-produced single that started it off:
Their 2nd record, "The Barracuda":
"Alvin's Boogaloo", from 1966:
The funky "Keep On Dancin" from '68 (Toddlin' Town Records). You may recognize it from DJ Shadow & Cut Chemist's Brainfreeze:
The '73 groover "Funky Washing Machine":
And one of his Ali tributes: