Don Covay is an R&B singer and songwriter with a smooth voice who was
quite active in the 50's, 60's and 70's. He put a number of records on
the R&B and pop charts in those years, two of which managed to reach
the pop top forty.
Born Donald Randolph in Orangeburg, South Carolina in 1938, he moved
to Wa****ngton, D.C. with his family as a child. He sang in a family
gospel group known as the Cherry Kays and later, in 1955, he joined a
mainstream group known as the Rainbows. Some re****ts list Marvin Gaye
and Billy Stewart as members of the Rainbows at one time or another.
Adopting the name Don Covay, his career progressed to the point where
he served as the opening act in a show that featured established star
Little Richard. Covay recorded his first single Bip Bop Bip under the
name Pretty Boy with the aid of Little Richard, for whom Covay also
served as a chauffeur. Bip Bop Bip was released on the Atlantic label
in 1957.
Covay proceeded to record for many different record labels. In 1960 he
formed a group and named it the Goodtimers, and it was this group that
came up with his first hit, a song written by Covay titled Pony Time,
which went to number 60 in 1961. That same year Chubby Checker's
recording of Pony Time was a solid number one hit. Recording under his
own name, Covay had some minor hits on labels such as Cameo and
Rosemart. Recording as Don Covay and the Goodtimers, he finally had
his first top forty pop hit Mercy, Mercy for Rosemont in 1964, before
that label was acquired by Atlantic. Performing on the guitar on
Mercy, Mercy was 21-year-old Jimi Hendrix. From 1964 to 1970 Covay
managed to put four hits on the R&B chart, one of which was a song
that Don co-wrote with Steve Cropper titled See Saw -- later a hit for
Aretha Franklin. Aretha turned another song written by Covay, Chain Of
Fools, into a top ten hit in 1967-68. Other songs written by this fine
composer that are associated with other artists who recorded them
include Solomon Burke's I'm Hanging Up My Heart For You, Jerry
Butler's You Can Run (But You Can't Hide), and Gladys Knight & The
Pips' Letter Full of Tears.
In 1973 Don recorded his biggest hit, this time on the Mercury label.
I Was Checkin' Out She Was Checkin' In went to number 29 pop. It was
the second of his two pop top forty hits. His last charted song came
in 1974 with It's Better To Have (And Don't Need).
Don suffered a stroke in 1992 from which he recovered, and he released
an album as late as the year 2000. Many have heard his songs but
remain unaware of the contributions he has made to music. His most
notable song from the 1960's, and the only one he recorded that made
the top forty in pop that decade, is Mercy, Mercy.
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