Felix Cavaliere

Felix Cavaliere was the organist and one of the lead singers in the Young Rascals (later the Rascals), a successful pop/rock group of the mid-'60s. Since the group's demise, he has pursued a solo career. Cavaliere studied classical piano as a child and joined the Stereos in his hometown of Pelham, NY, before attending Syracuse University, where he formed the Escorts. He then moved to New York City and got his professional start as a backup musician for Sandy Scott and later Joey Dee & the Starliters. Other future members of the Young Rascals were also in the Starliters, and the group was launched with performances in the New York metropolitan area during 1965. They were signed to Atlantic Records and began releasing records by the end of the year. From then through 1969, the Rascals were one of the biggest groups in the country, their hits including the Cavaliere-sung "Good Lovin'," "Groovin'," "A Girl Like You," "A Beautiful Morning," and "People Got to Be Free," as they evolved from blue-eyed soul (a term coined to describe them) to psychedelic pop and jazz fusion. Their fortunes declined thereafter, and they disbanded in 1972. Cavaliere then went solo and has since released several solo albums without matching the group's commercial appeal. He has also participated in oldies shows and Rascals reunions and produced other artists. That situation changed with the release of the affirming Nudge It Up a Notch, a project recorded with Stax guitar legend Steve Cropper and tracked at Jon Tiven's Hormone Studio in Nashville, on the revitalized Stax Records imprint in 2008. A second collaboration between Cropper and Cavaliere, Midnight Flyer, appeared in 2010.