Arthur Conley

Arthur Lee Conley (January 4, 1946 – November 17, 2003) was an American soul singer, best known for the 1967 hit, 'Sweet Soul Music'. It shot to the number two spot on both the pop and R&B charts, earning Conley the number eleven male artist ranking for 1967. The song paid homage to other soul singers like Lou Rawls, Wilson Pickett and James Brown. Conley was born in McIntosh County, Georgia and grew up in Atlanta. He first recorded in 1959 as the lead singer of Arthur & the Corvets. With this group, he released three singles in 1963 and 1964 ('Poor Girl', 'I Believe' and 'Flossie Mae') on the Atlanta-based record label, National Recording Company.

In 1964, he moved to a new label, Ru-Jac Records and released 'I'm a Lonely Stranger'. When Otis Redding heard this, he asked Conley to record a new version, which was released on Redding's own fledgling label Jotis Records, as only its second release.

Conley met Redding in 1967, but after this meeting Redding took Conley under his care and taught him the finer points of the music industry. Together they re-wrote the Sam Cooke song 'Yeah Man' into 'Sweet Soul Music', which at Redding's insistence, was released on the Atco-distributed label Fame Records. It proved a massive hit and went to the number two position on the US charts and the Top Ten across much of Europe. It is said that Conley never accepted Redding's death in December 1967.

He died after a long battle with intestinal cancer in the Netherlands at the age of 57 in November 2003.