Join us for Experience Talks Online, exclusive podcast interviews posted on our website. Carrying on the same tradition as our KPFK-FM/Pacifica Network syndicated radio show, the podcasts feature talented, creative people with experience worth talking about. Find our podcasts on the Listen Page of our website. They’ll post on an intermittent basis, so read this blog for updates about new podcasts as well as new Experience Talks radio shows. You can also like Experience Talks on Facebook and follow us on Twitter to get the latest news. ET Online is produced and hosted by John Semper Jr. and Cynthia Friedlob.
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This week: Host John Semper Jr. talks with legendary a cappella vocalist Jerry Lawson, now lead singer of Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town
Jerry Lawson fronted the legendary a cappella group, The Persuasions, for nearly 40 years. He led the celebrated quintet and recorded and toured with numerous artists such as Stevie Wonder, Ray Charles, Liza Minnelli, Joni Mitchell and Frank Zappa. Lawson sang lead on about 90 percent of The Persuasions albums, one of which, “Chirpin’,” was hailed by Rolling Stone as one of the top 100 LPs of the 1970s. His broad, warm baritone is regarded by many as one of the better kept secrets in popular music; a cappella being such a niche market. As music writer Rip Rense put it, “By any fair measure, Lawson is really one of the best singers of the last 50 years—up there with Sam Cooke, Brook Benton, Jerry Butler & Nat King Cole.”
Lawson is also responsible for the brilliant vocal arrangements on all 22 albums with The Persuasions. The last five of his highly original albums found acclaim from People Magazine to the Los Angeles Times.
After a very brief retirement, in 2004 Lawson was introduced to the members of the San Francisco-based a cappella group, Talk of the Town. He joined them as their lead singer and in 2007 they independently released their album, Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town. While certainly reminiscent of the Persuasions, the sound of TOTT was noticeably different, with more focus on a single lead singer and a smoother, tighter group harmony backing Lawson’s gruff leads.
Learn more about Jerry Lawson & Talk of the Town at their website.
