Richard A. Allen (January 6, 1935 – May 29, 2005)Juke Blues no.59, 2005, Obituaries, p.68 was an American blues singer from Chicago. Background He was born in Nashville, Tennessee, and began his singing career as a member of a church choir in his home town. He relocated to Chicago in 1960, and received a recording contract one year later at Age Records. He had a local hit with "You Better Be Sure" and, in 1963, his hit "Cut You A-Loose" reached Number 20 in Billboard'''s R&B chart. Some of his recordings of the 1960s, such as "It's A Mess I Tell You" and "I Can't Stand No Signifying", portended the emerging soul-blues style of the 1970s. Career Allen recorded "I Ain't Never" bw "Hurt Look on My Face", which was released on USA 858 in 1966. It was a Billboard R&B Spotlight Chart record for the week of 17 December.Soulful Kinda Music - Ricky Allen, Ricky Allen, USA 858 - Ain't Never / Hurt Look On My Face - 1966Billboard, December 17, 1966 - Page 16 SPOTLIGHT SINGLES, R & B SPOTLIGHTS, CHART, RICKY ALLEN -1 Ain't Never (Cedesnood, SMI). U. S. A. 858 Later years After his retirement from the music industry in the early 1970s, he ran a laundry and a limousine service.
In 2001, he performed at the Mönsterås Festival in Sweden, and the following year at the Chicago Blues Festival. He died in 2005, aged 70.
References
Komara, Edward (ed.) (2006), Encyclopedia of the Blues, Routledge
External links Obituary, Jazz News'', 2005