Don Bryant, the veteran Memphis Soul musician and songwriter, has died at the age of 83.
The news was shared by his family on Instagram on Friday (December 26), who wrote: “Don loved sharing his music and songs with all of you and it gave him such great joy to perform and record new music.”
“He was so appreciative of everyone who was part of his musical journey and who supported him along the way,” they added.
He is best remembered for his work alongside Ann Peebles, co-writing her timeless 1973 hit ‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’, among other tracks such as ‘I’m Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down’ and ‘Until You Came Into My Life’. Bryant and Peebles also married in 1974.
Born in Memphis on 16 March 1942, he was immersed in gospel music from a young age, before entering the music industry in the ‘60s. He quickly became associated with Hi Records in the city, a label run by Willie Mitchell.
Bryant was closely associated with the smooth, restrained sound of the label, conveying deeply felt emotional detail with an understated, bittersweet touch, in contrast to the harder sound of Memphis’ other major label at the time, Stax Records.
Although better known as a writer, he did release music under his own name, beginning with 1969 album ‘Precious Soul’, but it was the work he did creating tracks for the likes of Etta James, Solomon Burke and Albert King for which he made the most impact.
Bryant and Peebles remained together, and it was only when the latter withdrew from music after suffering a stroke in 2012 that Bryant decided to return to the stage. He released two further solo records, ‘Don’t Give Up’ in 2017 and ‘You Make Me Feel’ in 2020, to critical acclaim.
‘I Can’t Stand The Rain’ peaked at Number 38 on the American charts and was once named as “the best song ever” by John Lennon. It was also sampled by Missy Elliott for her 1997 single ‘The Rain (Supa Dupa Fly)’.