Today’s Soul Birthdays – January 27

Bobby Blue Bland – American blues singer. Bland developed a sound that mixed gospel with the blues and R&B.

L. J. Reynolds – Powerful baritone voiced singer L.J. Reynolds is best known as the lead singer of the Dramatics, a role he has held for more than three decades.

Bobby Hutcherson – American jazz vibraphone and marimba player. “Little B’s Poem”, from the 1966 Blue Note album Components, is one of his best-known compositions. Hutcherson influenced younger vibraphonists including Steve Nelson, Joe Locke, and Stefon Harris.

Thom Bell – Jamaican-born American singer, songwriter, arranger, and record producer, known as one of the creators of Philadelphia soul in the 1970s. Bell is best known for his success with the Philadelphia sound in the 1970s, particularly with the Delfonics, Stylistics and Spinners.