Bernard St. Clair Lee, who sang 'Rock the Boat' with Hues Corporation, dies at 66

Matthew Kruk

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Mar 10, 2011, 2:57:42 AM3/10/11

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Rock the boat:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=0jem7BRUEWk&feature=player_embedded

http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/afterword/2011/03/bernard-st-clair-lee-who-sang-rock-the-boat-with-hues-corporation-dies-at-66.html

Bernard St. Clair Lee, who sang 'Rock the Boat' with Hues Corporation,
dies at 66
March 9, 2011 | 5:06 pm

Bernard St. Clair Lee, 66, a baritone singer and original member of the
Hues Corporation, which had an early disco hit in 1974 with "Rock the
Boat," died Tuesday at his home in Lake Elsinore, said Ava Dupree, a
family spokeswoman. The Riverside County coroner's office confirmed that
the death was from natural causes.

The Hues Corporation, a soul trio whose name was a pun on Los Angeles
aviation giant Hughes Corp., was formed in 1969 by Lee, soprano Hubert
Ann Kelly and tenor Fleming Williams.

"Rock the Boat," written by band manager Waldo Holmes and performed in
the YouTube clip above, shot to No. 1 on the Billboard pop charts in
1974. The group followed with another top 20 hit that year in "Rockin'
Soul."

Kelly later left the group to become a minister, and Williams died. Lee
had recently been performing with Elaine Woodard and Bruce Glover as a
reformed Hues Corporation.

Lee was born in San Francisco in 1944 and attended Santa Monica College.

According to Dupree, he is survived by his wife, Arlene; his mother,
Jackie Austin; a son, Mark; two stepsons, Andre Goosby and Jody Benney;
and a sister, Michelle.

A memorial service will be held March 19 at 11 a.m. at Palisades
Lutheran Church, 15905 Sunset Blvd., Pacific Palisades. Kelly will give
the eulogy.

Bryan Styble

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Mar 10, 2011, 4:50:13 AM3/10/11

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I'm surprised there's no mention that this was the one-hit wonder
recording whose lyric-interstitial cross-talk* bequeathed American pop
culture the immortal phrase, "Rock on with your bad self."

Existentially,
BRYAN STYBLE/Orlando

* A clumsy phrase admittedly, but how else might one describe it,
given that it (presumably) wasn't part of the catchy tune's lyrics?

Michael O'Connor

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Mar 10, 2011, 6:43:43 AM3/10/11

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I have read where some music historians point to Rock the Boat as the
first Disco song. Rock the Boat came along in the summer of 1974, but
it wasn't until the following summer when Jive Talking and The Hustle
really got the Disco era going, so I always thought of Rock the Boat
as a pre-Disco Disco song. I thought it was one of the best pop songs
of the 70's, catchy lyrics and a strong beat to it.

Hawthorne

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Mar 10, 2011, 7:40:24 AM3/10/11

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On Mar 10, 2:50 am, Bryan Styble <radioactiveseat...@gmail.com> wrote:
> I'm surprised there's no mention that this was the one-hit wonder
> recording whose lyric-interstitial cross-talk* bequeathed American pop
> culture the immortal phrase, "Rock on with your bad self."
>
> Existentially,
> BRYAN STYBLE/Orlando

They really weren't a one-hit wonder as they also had another top 20
song that year as well as a few other Hot 100 and R&B/Dance singles
that charted.

Scott Brady

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Mar 10, 2011, 1:47:41 PM3/10/11

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I believe the term you're looking for is proto-disco.

Disco had already taken off in, well, discos. It took radio a while
to catch on.