James Emanuel Laskey was born on June 20, 1945, in Detroit, Michigan. His mom, Eva, was the first grandchild of Delia Williams. Delia’s younger brother was Milton Kendrick.
My Uncle Darius, Eva’s dad, married Ora Dee Rucker in 1926. Ora’s sister Lola was married to my Great Uncle Milton Kendrick.
We call my cousin Eva, ‘Aunt Eva’ because she was the oldest of my cousins and deserving a different level of respect. She was born in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania in 1927. Eva married James Laskey on July 24, 1944, and they had three boys: James Emanuel, Charles Edward, and Timothy.
Eva raised her boys on the east side of Detroit in a neighborhood called Black Bottom, where a lot of our family also lived. Aunt Eva was an excellent singer and frequent soloist at my father’s church in Detroit. This love of singing was passed on to her son Jimmy.
Jimmy and Charles attended Eastern High School, before the family moved to the west side, where they went to Northwestern High. Jimmy sang in the choir ensemble and Glee Club.
As a teen, Jimmy also hung out at The Village, a club on the east side where lots of singers and musicians met up.
It didn’t take long for Jimmy to get noticed by Richard Street, who’d later join the Temptations, and producer Don Davis. They were signed to Thelma Records, run by Berry Gordy, Jr.’s ex-wife’s parents, Robert and Hazel Coleman.
Jimmy signed with Thelma Records in 1962, which was conveniently located right across from Northwestern High School on Grand River.
Jimmy used his middle name, Emanuel, as his stage name because he felt it sounded more like a performer’s name. His first song, “Welfare Cheese,” came out in September 1963, Thelma Gordy and Richard Street got credit for writing it.
We had this record at home and played it sometimes. I only saw Jimmy a couple of times, always dressed up, probably for a show. Everybody in the family was proud of Jimmy. Moma Delia had a poster of Emanuel Laskey performing at the 20 Grand Night Club. I remember it leaning near the back door as you entered the kitchen.
I asked Aunt Eva about him, and she said he was hanging out with other entertainers in the Palmer Park area. Palmer Park was an affluent area of Detroit where the Temptations, Four Tops and other singers lived before Motown relocated to Los Angeles back in the late ’60s.
Emanuel’s second record, “I Need Somebody,” was released in February 1964. Over two years, he made about six records. He toured the South, and played in clubs all over, including Detroit, Ypsilanti, Cleveland, Buffalo, New York, and Baltimore.
Thelma Records closed down in 1966 when Motown took over; however, Motown didn’t sign any of Thelma’s artists. Emanuel kept making music with smaller labels but never got the support to become nationally known. By 1977, he’d recorded over 30 songs.
Aunt Eva said that Emanuel eventually moved to Los Angeles with Motown. He was always close to the Gaye family and even dated Anna Gordy before she married Marvin Gaye. Emanuel stayed with Marvin and his brother Charles in 1975.
In 1978, Anna Gaye invited him back to California to record some tracks with Mel Bolton and Marvin at Robert Gordy’s studio. He signed a contract, but the music wasn’t released in the U.S.
Aunt Eva also shared that Emanuel had become more popular in England as a Northern Soul artist. Northern Soul was a music and dance style that started in the early ’70s in Northern England, with fast-paced Black American soul music.
Two of Emanuel’s unreleased songs were recently remastered and released in the UK by Hayley Records. These songs, “In the Hall of Fame” and “A Different Kind of Different,” were his last and showed his signature style of emotional singing and smart songwriting. “(Put Your Name) In The Hall Of Fame” was written with Marvin Gaye, and was never released in the U.S. while Emanuel was alive.
Emanuel’s last recording written with Marvin Gaye and Mel Bolton.
Emanuel’s music touched many lives on both sides of the ocean. Much more of his music has appeared on the internet in recent years as several people have reflected on how he touched their lives.
Emanuel died of cancer on June 23, 2006.
References
| Emanuel Lasky – Soulful Detroit.com | https://soulfuldetroit.com/web14-Lasky/text-Lasky/index.html |
| This is his story – Soul-Source.co.uk | https://www.soul-source.co.uk/articles/soul-artists/emanuel-laskey-this-is-his-story-by-rob-moss-r1696/ |
| This is his story by Rob Moss. Put Your Name in the Hall of Fame | https://www.facebook.com/soulsourcesoul/posts/1083718369663104/?paipv=0&eav=AfajxTokSTFsvseS1AKGisjqUY4lw-kvG-OzpmY4RdZgkmH575Jwu4QvoAXsPuNlct0&_rdr |
Leave a Reply