Biography

Between 1966 and 1975, Philadelphia soul singer Ronnie Walker released nine singles on almost as many labels. In the late '60s, a couple of his singles -- 1967's "Really, Really Love You" and 1969's "It's a Good Feelin'" -- did well enough locally to make the charts of Philadelphia soul radio stations, without making noise on a national level. Like a number of other male Philly soul singers of the time, Walker, still in his teens when he began making records, had a rich falsetto voice. The records, like many other Philadelphia soul singles famous and obscure, boasted full, sumptuous production, and echoing doo wop in some aspects of the harmonies and song construction. However, they were quite modern in the textural arrangements, combining horns, strings, organs, female backup singers, and such in a polished manner. His singles were not top-level Philly soul in the manner of Brenda & the Tabulations, the Delfonics, Eddie Holman, and so on, but were respectable, and worth finding by fans of the aforementioned artists who want more in the same vein. All but one of the songs from Walker's seven 1966-1972 singles, along with ten previously unreleased songs, were issued by Philly Archives on the 2000 CD Someday. Walker, incidentally, also wrote or co-wrote songs that were recorded by several other artists, ranging from a 1966 single by the Agents to some material in the late '70s, including one song by Esther Phillips. His most famous songwriting credit, however, is attached to a song that has little to do with his own Philly soul recordings: Charo's "Cuchi Cuchi." ~ Richie Unterberger