Just a Mortal Man

"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, and Nat King Cole." -Music writer Rip Rense

With a capella group The Persuasions, Jerry Lawson made album after album (22 over 40 years), blending R&B, soul, pop, psychedelic rock, standards, doo-wop, jazz, and folk with voices alone. The Persuasions sang with Ray Charles, Stevie Wonder, Joni Mitchell, Chuck Berry, Rod Stewart, and dozens more stars in the firmament of popular music - helping keep a cappella singing alive, while setting a new standard for the genre. Lawson's sweet and smoky lead baritone and his electrifying stage charisma defined the group s sound.

Now, at age 71, Lawson is finally releasing an album of music under his own name: a solo debut, titled Just a Mortal Man, to be released on East Nashville label Red Beet Records. With the help of Grammy-nominated producer Eric Brace, Lawson transforms a selection of new and classic songs with his astonishingly rich voice. This is a chance for the world to hear one of the greatest singers ever, front and center, as he has never been heard before.

"What Persuasions fans don't know is that all my life I've been wanting to record with instruments, says Lawson. Now I'm finally getting the chance." On Just a Mortal Man, Lawson covers songs recorded by soul greats David Ruffin and Bobby Blue Bland, as well as songs by Brace, Peter Cooper, Phil Lee, Ayo, Robert Hunter, and Paul Simon. The record features The McCrary Sisters and Jim Lauderdale as special guests.