Mack Rice, American songwriter and singer, Died at 82

  Music, Writers

Bonny “Mack” Rice was born on November 10, 1933, in Clarksdale, Mississippi and died on June 27, 2016.

He was sometimes credited as Sir Mack Rice.

He was an American songwriter and singer.

Rice was best-known for compositions, and biggest hit as a solo performer, was “Mustang Sally.”

Mark also wrote “Respect Yourself” with Luther Ingram.

Rice started his work in the R&B field in the 1950s based in Detroit, performing with the Five Scalders in 1956 and with the Falcons, a group whose members included Eddie Floyd, Wilson Pickett and Joe Stubbs, from 1957 to 1963.

Mark performed as a solo vocalist in the years to follow, but his biggest successes were as songwriter for other artists on labels like Stax and others in the 1960s and following decades.

He started his solo vocalist career at Stax in 1967, recording on Atco Records beginning in 1968.

Rice was one of the few musicians whose career touched both Motown and Stax Records.

Whilst he was a solo recording artist, he had two chart hits: “Mustang Sally”, which reached number 15 on the Billboard R&B chart in 1965, and “Coal Man”, which reached number 48 on the soul music chart in 1969.

Other than “Mustang Sally”, which also became a major hit for Wilson Pickett in 1966, and “Respect Yourself”, a hit for the Staple Singers, his other songs include “Betcha Can’t Kiss Me (Just One Time)”, “Cheaper to Keep Her”, “Cadillac Assembly Line”, “Money Talks”, “Cold Women With Warm Hearts”, “Do the Funky Penguin, Pt. 1”, “It Sho Ain’t Me”, and “Santa Claus Wants Some Lovin'”.

Some of his compositions have been performed by many well-known artists, including the Staple Singers, Ike and Tina Turner, Albert King, Johnnie Taylor, Shirley Brown, Rufus Thomas, Etta James, Billy Eckstine, Eddie Floyd, Buddy Guy, The Rascals, The Kingsmen, Wilson Pickett, Albert Collins, Busta Rhymes, Lynyrd Skynyrd, Otis Clay and The Blues Brothers (in Blues Brothers 2000).

During 1992, backed by the soul band The Dynatones, Rice released his first solo album, Right Now on Blue Suit Records, recorded and mixed by Steve Scharren at Scharren Studios in Toledo, Ohio.

It contained a number of his hit songs along with a mixture of new tunes.

He continued to live in the Detroit area.

Rice died at home in Detroit.

Mack Rice passed away at 82 yrs old.