Real name: Ernest Irving Shelby Jr.

Effective period / Period of releases: 1964 - 2011

American soul singer, songwriter, & athlete.
Born April 14, 1937 in Los Angeles, California, USA.
Often worked as songwriting duo with Dick Cooper.
He charted seven times in the U.S. as a songwriter between 1968-74, mostly on the R&B charts. His top charter was "Carry Me" by Joe Simon; in 1974 it hit #12 on the R&B chart.
In college, he was an All American and national-champion long jumper in the late 1950's. He was the first African-American team captain of the Kansas men's track & field team, which won their first NCAA Outdoor National Championship in 1959. He also won the World Championships in the event in 1958.