Leon Otha Haywood, born on February 11, 1942, in Houston, Texas, was an American singer and songwriter. He began playing piano at age three and performed with local groups during his teens, including working as an accompanist for blues musician Guitar Slim. In the early 1960s, he moved to Los Angeles, where he worked with saxophonist Big Jay McNeely and recorded his first single, "Without a Love", on the Swingin' label. He joined Sam Cooke's band as keyboardist until Cooke's death and subsequently released several singles for Fantasy Records and Imperial Records, including "She's with Her Other Love" which charted in 1965. Leon Haywood secured his first solo hit with "It's Got to Be Mellow" on Decca Records in 1967. He established the production company Evejim and continued recording under various labels, achieving notable success in the 1970s with hits like "I Want'a Do Something Freaky to You" (1975), which peaked at number 7 on the R&B charts and number 15 on the pop charts, "Strokin' (Pt. II)" (1976), a R&B Top 15 entry, and "Don't Push It, Don't Force It" (number 12 in the UK in 1980). Leon Haywood's work was frequently sampled by other musicians, notably Dr. Dre for his 1992 hit "Nuthin' But a 'G' Thang". He also produced the 1981 hit "She's a Bad Mama Jama" by Carl Carlton. Throughout the 1980s and beyond, Leon Haywood continued to release albums and produce blues records on his Evejim label, including Freaky Man (1994) and The Legacy of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. (There Ain't Enough Hate Around) (1996). He passed away in his sleep on April 5, 2016, at the age of 74.
