{{Short description|American singer (1942–2015)}} {{about|the singer|other uses|Charles Whitehead (disambiguation)}} {{Infobox musical artist | name = Charlie Whitehead | image = | caption = | image_size = | birth_name = Charles Whitehead | alias = Raw Spitt | birth_date = {{Birth date|mf=yes|1942|9|6}} | origin = Norfolk, Virginia, U.S. | death_date = {{Death date and age|mf=yes|2015|6|26|1942|9|6}} | death_place = Brooklyn, New York, U.S. | genre = R&B, soul | occupation = Singer, songwriter | years_active = | label = Dynamo, Canyon, United Artists, Stone Dogg, Fungus, Island, Ace | website = }}
'''Charlie Whitehead''' (September 6, 1942 – June 26, 2015) was an American soul singer from Newsoms, Virginia.
==Life and career== Whitehead was born on September 6, 1942.<ref>{{Cite journal |last=Tomko |first=Gene |date=October 2010 |title=Charlie Whitehead: Rediscovering Raw Spitt |url= |journal=Living Blues Magazine |volume=41. #5 |issue=209 |pages=12–13}}</ref> He moved to New York City in 1962 and was subsequently signed to Musicor's R&B subsidiary, Dynamo Records, by Charlie Foxx. At Dynamo, Whitehead was paired with Jerry Williams, Jr., and the two wrote songs (often with Gary U.S. Bonds) for artists such as Dee Dee Warwick and Doris Duke, including Warwick's 1970 hit, "She Didn’t Know (She Kept on Talking)".<ref>[https://archive.today/20120721052253/http://repertoire.bmi.com/title.asp?blnWriter=True&blnPublisher=True&blnArtist=True&page=1&keyid=1321645&ShowNbr=0&ShowSeqNbr=0&querytype=WorkID "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)" songwriting credits], BMI database.</ref><ref>[https://www.billboard.com/charts/1970-06-27/hot-100 "She Didn't Know (She Kept on Talking)" (Hot 100 chart)], ''Billboard'', June 27, 1970.</ref>
Releasing only one single on Dynamo, Whitehead followed Williams when he left for Canyon Records. In 1970, using the name Raw Spitt, Whitehead released a self-titled album, produced and mostly written by Williams. An additional song recorded for, but not included on the album, "Songs to Sing" was also released as a single on United Artists.
Whitehead released some material under his own name on Williams' Stone Dogg Records and in 1973, the album ''Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band'' on Williams' Fungus Records.
In 1975, he made the ''Billboard'' R&B chart with "Love Being Your Fool" on Island Records.<ref>[{{AllMusic|class=artist|id=p21946/biography|pure_url=yes}} Charlie Whitehead biography], Allmusic.</ref> He released one more album, 1977's ''Whitehead at Yellowstone'' before dropping from view.
A CD compiling ''Raw Spitt'', ''Charlie Whitehead and the Swamp Dogg Band'', and various non-album tracks—called ''Songs to Sing: The Charlie Whitehead Anthology''—was released by Ace Records in 2006.
Whitehead died in Brooklyn, New York, on June 26, 2015, at the age of 72.<ref>{{cite web |title=Charles Whitehead |url=https://www.tributearchive.com/obituaries/11989069/charles-whitehead |website=Tribute Archive |access-date=28 September 2024}}</ref>
==References== {{Reflist}}
==External links== *{{Discogs artist}}
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Whitehead, Charlie}} Category:1942 births Category:2015 deaths Category:American soul singers Category:Songwriters from Virginia Category:People from Franklin, Virginia Category:Alive Naturalsound Records artists Category:African-American male songwriters Category:20th-century African-American male singers Category:20th-century American male singers Category:20th-century American singers