Bobby McClure was an American

United States

The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...

  soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 singer. McClure was raised in St. Louis and sang in church and gospel groups in his youth. He sang with The Soul Stirrers

The Soul Stirrers

One of the most popular and influential gospel groups of the 20th century, the Soul Stirrers were pioneers in the development of the quartet style of gospel and, without intending it, in the creation of soul music, doo wop, and motown sound, some of the secular music that owed much to gospel.The...

 (then led by Sam Cooke

Sam Cooke

Samuel Cook, , better known under the stage name Sam Cooke, was an American gospel, R&B, soul, and pop singer, songwriter, and entrepreneur. He is considered to be one of the pioneers and founders of soul music. He is commonly known as the King of Soul for his distinctive vocal abilities and...

) in the 1950s, and moved into secular music soon after, singing with Bobby & the Vocals, Big Daddy Jenkins, and Oliver Sain

Oliver Sain

Oliver Sain was an American saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer....

. McClure, who recorded for Checker, a subsidiary of Chess Records

Chess Records

Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....

, scored two hit singles in the U.S. in 1965, and thereafter helped launch the careers of Little Milton

Little Milton

James Milton Campbell, Jr. , better known as Little Milton, was an American electric blues, rhythm and blues, and soul singer and guitarist, best known for his hit records "Grits Ain't Groceries" and "We're Gonna Make It."-Biography:Milton was born James Milton Campbell, Jr., in the Mississippi...

 and Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass

Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...

; during this time he also played with Otis Clay

Otis Clay

Otis Clay is an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music.-Life and career:...

 and Shirley Brown

Shirley Brown

Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...

. Perhaps his most powerful record is "Peak of Love," a soul hit that barely scraped the pop charts in late 1966.

McClure moved on from music in the 1970s, working in an Illinois jail as a corrections officer, though he recorded some singles in the 1980s. McClure suffered a brain aneurysm in 1992, and died of complications from a stroke

Stroke

A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...

soon after.

Charting singles

• "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" (1965) US #33, US Black Singles #5
• "You'll Miss Me (When I'm Gone)" (1965) US #91, US Black Singles #27
• "Peak of Love" (1966) US #97