Ed Townsend

Singer/songwriter Ed Townsend wrote and produced the Impressions' number one R&B hit "Finally Got Myself Together (I'm a Changed Man)." In the mid-'70s, he co-wrote with Marvin Gaye the singer's classic number one R&B/pop hit "Let's Get It On." Townsend also had his own R&B/pop hit single, "For Your Love" in 1958. Born April 16, 1929, in Fayetteville, TN, Townsend was very active in his minister father's church. He was an education major at Wilberforce University and graduated from Arkansas State College. He taught briefly before joining the Marine Corps and spending two years in Korea. When he returned to the U.S., he got a job hosting a TV show in Los Angeles. His songs were recorded by Nat "King" Cole, Etta James, and others, publishing them through his music-publishing firm. He also had his own record label. While playing a song demo for Joe Zerga of Capitol Records, the record exec suggested that Townsend record the song himself. "For Your Love" b/w "Over and Over Again" went to number seven R&B in the summer of 1958. The follow-up, a cover of Glenn Gray's 1935 number one hit, "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" b/w "You Are My Everything" made it to number 59 Pop in the fall of 1958. Townsend recorded other Capitol singles: "Be My Love" b/w "With No One to Love," "Hold On" b/w "This Little Love of Mine," "Lover Come Back to Me" b/w "Don't Ever Leave," "Richer Than I" b/w "Getting By Without You," and "What Shall I Do?" b/w "Please Never Change." He recorded two 1959 Capitol LPs with Nelson Riddle, "Glad to Be Here" and "New in Town." "For Your Love" and "When I Grow Too Old to Dream" would be his only two charting singles. Townsend's other records include 1957's "Tall Grows the Sycamore Trees" b/w "MY Need for You" on Dot Records, "Who Would Deny Me" b/w "Mommy's...