Ed Townsend
b. 16 April 1929, Fayetteville, Tennessee, USA. Townsend was an R&B balladeer who placed one lasting single on the US charts, For Your Love, in 1958. Townsend, whose father was a minister, sang in his church choir but received his first real performing experience while serving in the US Marine Corps in Korea, where he joined a troupe of travelling minstrels. Upon his return to civilian life, he hosted a television programme in Los Angeles and wrote songs which were recorded by Nat King Cole, Etta James and others. In 1958 he signed to Capitol Records and recorded his composition For Your Love (no relation to the later Yardbirds song). A lush ballad sung in a vocal style reminiscent of Jerry Butler, it reached the US Top 20. None of Townsend's follow-up recordings for Capitol or Warner Brothers Records sold appreciably and Townsend switched over to the production and writing side of the business. Among his credits were records by the Impressions, Shirelles, Chuck Jackson and Marvin Gaye's Let's Get It On.