Earl Grant (January 20, 1931 – June 10, 1970) was an American pianist,
organist, and vocalist popular in the 1950s and 1960s.
Career
Grant was born in
Idabel, Oklahoma. Though he would be known later for his keyboards and vocals, Grant also played trumpet and drums. Grant attended four music schools, eventually becoming a music teacher. He augmented his income by performing in clubs during his
army service, throughout which he was stationed in
Fort Bliss, Texas.[1][2]
Grant signed with
Decca Records in 1957 and his first single "
The End" reached number 7 on the
Billboard Hot 100charts on October 13, 1958. The album Ebb Tide (And Other Instrumental Favorites) sold over one million copies, gaining
gold disc status.[1] He
recorded six more singles that made the charts, including "Swingin' Gently" (from Beyond the Reef), and six additional albums (on the Decca label) through 1968. He also recorded the album Yes Sirree! and the
instrumental album Trade Winds, single-tracked on the
Hammond organ and piano, featuring the love theme from the film El Cid and
Chaplin's "
Eternally". This album featured some realistic-sounding "tropical bird calls" produced by his electric organ. "House of Bamboo" was another big-selling single. Grant recorded 30 albums for Decca, mostly on the Brunswick label, a subsidiary of Decca.[2]
Several of his albums featured tenor saxophonist
Plas Johnson.[3]
He died instantly in a car accident in
Lordsburg, New Mexico, at the age of 39[1] when the car he was driving ran off
Interstate 10.[2] He was driving from Los Angeles to an intended destination in
Ciudad Juárez, Mexico, for an appearance at the La Fiesta nightclub. His 17-year-old cousin, Roosevelt Woods III, was also killed in the accident.[8]
^"Silver Bells" did not chart on the Hot 100 but charted on Billboard'sChristmas Singles chart for 6 non-consecutive years: 1966 (#15), 1967 (#4), 1968 (#8), 1969 (#3), 1970 (#4), 1972 (#8).[9][10][11][12]