Here's a birthday shout-out to the singing mailman, King Floyd. "Groove Me" was the big hit for this New Orleans soul singer, produced by Wardell Quezerque (and recorded at the same session that yielded "Mr Big Stuff" by Jean Knight!). After writing and singing "Groove Me" (originally a b-side) and a few others for the Atlantic stable, he made some records for T.K., but was largely quiet. Still, the tune remains a much-loved classic soul hit.
Born King Floyd III, he was childhood pals with Willie Tee and Earl King and started playing professionally in '61 with local blues shouter Joe "Mr Google Eyes" August. By '63 he had started writing songs and trying his hand as his own act, first in NYC and then moving to Los Angeles, where he formed a partnership with fellow NOLA man Harold Battiste. He cut his first record in '65 ("Walkin' & Thinkin") with Original Sound. His few records met with little success and he found himself back in NOLA by the end of the '60s, taking a job with the post office.
In 1970 he and Quezerque went to Mississippi to record Floyd's tune "Groove Me" in just one take. The tune became a #1 R&B smash for Malaco and he signed with Atlantic for an LP and did a national tour. "Got To Have Your Love" was another hit in '71. He had only some minor success into the mid-'70s when the disco boom took the wind out of his sails. He did do a tour in Apartheid-era South Africa in '83 but was largely quiet until releasing an album in 2000. His tunes were famously sampled by Shaggy and Wu-Tang Clan, but he remained only a moderate name in popular music, aside from his one lasting classic. But it's a sweet one!
Ace tune:
And then there's that time that Homer got his groove back: