Lenny Welch - Songs

ABOUT

Lenny Welch (b. May 31, 1940) is a veteran pop singer with smooth crooner vocals who became famous during the early 1960s. He is best known for his smash cover of the bluesy, lovelorn romantic ballad, "Since I Fell For You" (1963), an extensively-covered jazz/pop standard written in 1945 by Buddy Johnson.

Born Leon Welch in New York City and raised in Asbury Park, New Jersey, he began singing in high school as part of a group that performed mainly songs by such then-popular acts as The Clovers, The Coasters, The Drifters, and Willie Winfield & The Harptones. He moved back to New York City in 1957 and, while still in his teens, made his first recordings with Decca where he began developing a style reminiscent of Johnny Mathis and other traditional pop balladeers. In 1960, Archie Bleyer signed Welch to his label, Cadence Records, where he remained until its dissolution in 1964 when he then joined Kapp Records.

Lenny Welch debuted in 1960 on both the Pop/Rock and R&B charts with the Cindy Walker-penned country pop standard, "You Don't Know Me," as made famous by Eddy Arnold and Ray Charles. His fame took off in late 1963 with "Since I Fell For You," which reached #2 on the Adult Contemporary chart, made the Top 5 on the Pop/Rock and R&B charts, and soon after became a million-seller. This smash was followed by a string of hits on all three main charts through the early 1970s that included "If You See My Love" (1964), "Darling Take Me Back" (1965), "Run To My Lovin' Arms" (1965), covers of such traditional pop standards as "Ebb Tide" (1964), "Two Different Worlds" (1965), and "A Sunday Kind Of Love" (1972), and an older-styled rendition of Neil Sedaka's pop rocker, "Breaking Up Is Hard To Do," which inspired a similarly-styled 1975 remake by Sedaka. Other songs for which Welch became well known also include a sung version of "A Taste Of Honey" (1962) and the theme to the 1967 CBS drama series, "Coronet Blue."

Since his peak in commercial fame in the 1960s, Lenny Welch has continued to perform actively to the present day throughout the U.S., Europe, South America, and the Virgin Islands on cruise ships and at many top venues. Over his long career, he has appeared numerous times on such TV shows as "American Bandstand," and his voice can be heard in commercial jingles for Coca-Cola, Mini-Oreos, M&M's, and Subaru. Welch is also a trained actor whose credits include several appearances on ABC's "General Hospital."

LINKS

MERCHANDISE

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SONGS

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Lenny Welch

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