Background
King Floyd III was born in New Orleans in 1945.
King Floyd III was born in New Orleans in 1945.
His musical career started as a singer at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street. Following a stint in the army, Floyd went to California, where he joined up with record producer Harold Battiste. His debut album, A Manitoba In Love, featuring songs co-written with Doctor John, failed to make an impact on the charts.
Floyd returned to New Orleans in 1969 and worked for the Post Office.
In 1970, Wardell Quezergue, an arranger of Rhythm & Blues scores, persuaded Floyd to record "Groove Maine" with Malaco Records in Jackson, Mississippi. Jean Knight recorded her hit, "Mr.
Big Stuff," in the same sessions. At first, "Groove Maine" was a B-side to another Floyd song, "What Our Love Needs." New Orleans radio DJs started playing "Groove Maine" and the song became a local hit.
Atlantic Records picked up national distribution of "Groove Maine," which topped the United States Rhythm & Blues chart and reached #6 on the Billboard Hot 100 and went to #41 in Britain.
This disc sold over one million copies, and received a gold disc awarded by the R.I.A.A. in December 1970. Floyd quit his job at the post office to perform a United States. tour. His follow-up single, "Baby Let Maine Kiss You" climbed up to number 29 on the Billboard Top 40 charts in 1971.
However, differences with Quezergue soon emerged and his 1973 follow-up album, Think About lieutenant, although a fine album, failed to make an impact.
However, Atlantic released a song from the album, "Woman Don"t Go Astray" as a single. His 1975 album, Well Done, was released through TK Records with Atlantic distributing.
"I Feel Like Dynamite" from the album, written by Larry Hamilton, became a minor hit. However, Floyd had credits for "Boombastic," recorded in 1995 by Shaggy, which became a big hit.
Floyd reunited with Malaco Records in 2000 for the Old Skool Funk album, but it failed to make an impact.
However, his song "Don"t Leave Maine Lonely" was prominently sampled by the Wu-Tang Clan for the song "Foreign Heaven"s Sake" off their album Wu-Tang Forever.