Luther Ingram

Luther Thomas Ingram, singer and songwriter: born Jackson, Tennessee 30 November 1937; married (two sons); died Belleville, Illinois 19 March 2007.

When Rod Stewart recorded the tortured ballad "If Loving You is Wrong (I Don't Want to be Right)" in 1980, he closely followed the template of the US version cut by the Southern soul singer Luther Ingram in 1972.

The song, written by Homer Banks, Carl Hampton and Raymond Jackson, was originally recorded by the girl group the Emotions and the Stax artist Veda Brown in 1970, though both their attempts were shelved. Ingram took the tale of infidelity, slowed the tempo right down, added a Wurlitzer and a wailing wah-wah guitar, and delivered an intense vocal performance which beautifully conveyed the sentiment of the lyrics. Ingram's recording of "If Loving You is Wrong (I Don't Want to be Right)" topped the R&B charts and reached No 3 in the US pop listings in 1972, inspiring smouldering cover versions by Bobby "Blue" Bland, Isaac Hayes, Millie Jackson, Tom Jones, Percy Sledge and the country singer Barbara Mandrell.

In 1947, the 10-year-old Ingram had formed a gospel group, the Midwest Crusaders, with several of his six siblings. His next group, the Gardenias, gigged throughout the Midwest and met Ike Turner, who produced their only release, "Flaming Love", in 1956.

After spending several years working on the McDonnell space programme in St Louis, Missouri, Ingram moved to New York in the mid-Sixties. A chance meeting led to an audition with Milt Gabler of Decca Records and a contract, but Ingram's "You Never Miss Your Water" (1965) sank without trace. He recorded the infectious "I Spy (For the F.B.I.)" with the G-Men - his brothers Jesse, Frank and Tommy - but their version was eclipsed by another by Jamo Thomas.

Ingram stuck around New York, doing backing vocals, writing songs and hustling for another deal, and at one point shared an apartment with the equally destitute Jimi Hendrix. His prospects improved dramatically when he signed to KoKo Records in 1968. Headed by Johnny Baylor, famed for his strong-arm tactics, the independent label soon secured distribution muscle from Stax Records, and Ingram scored R&B hits with "My Honey and Me" and "Pity for the Lonely" in 1969, "Ain't That Loving You (For More Reasons Than One)" and "To the Other Man" in 1970, and "Be Good to Me Baby" and "I'll Love You Until the End" in 1971.

During a conversation with the singer and songwriter Mack Rice in 1971, Ingram expressed the opinion that "black folk need to learn to respect themselves". This germ of an idea evolved into Staples Singers classic "Respect Yourself".

Ingram first heard Veda Brown's version of "If Loving You is Right (I Don't Want To Be Wrong)" while hanging around the Stax headquarters in Memphis. He was keen to work down at Muscle Shoals Sound studios in Alabama, where "it took us 45 minutes to cut a platinum record", he said:

Barry Beckett played the organ, did exactly what I needed, Shelton Clayton played the Wurlitzer with an Echoplex to get the real shrill vibrations. Jimmy Johnson was on rhythm guitar, he put his fills in. With the other guitar player [Pete Carr], I said, "I need some tears", so he got a crybaby wah-wah. And Roger Hawkins played the drums. He had started it off a bit fast. It has a tempo in the introduction that is faster than

when I come into it. "Drop it back a little bit," I said, and it fell just right in the pocket.

By now installed as sales manager at Stax, Baylor made sure "If Loving You is Wrong (I Don't Want To Be Right)" got maximum promotion and Ingram's single dominated the US airwaves throughout the summer of 1972. That August, the singer was scheduled to appear at the Wattstax benefit concert held in Los Angeles to raise funds to rebuild the Watts area of the city after the 1965 riots. The show ran late and Ingram's performance was eventually recorded on a soundstage and incorporated into the documentary Wattstax.

Ingram scored a hit in 1973 with "I'll Be Your Shelter (In Time of Storm)", but his career foundered after Stax declared bankruptcy at the end of 1975. The eponymous album he released on Profile in 1986 showed his simmering vocals could work in a more modern setting and his version of the Albert Hammond song "Don't Turn Around" again provided a blueprint for covers, by Neil Diamond and Ace of Base.

Pierre Perrone