- Rescue-Me 2:54
At the start of my junior year in high school in the fall of 1965, a classmate from Chicago, Ralph Metcalfe Jr., one of the few people of color in my class, arrived talking excitedly about a newly released song that he said was going to be a SMASH hit…”Rescue Me” by Fontella Bass. He was right! “Rescue Me” reached #1 on the R&B charts and #4 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Ralph was the son of track Olympian Ralph Metcalfe Sr. In the early 1930s, Ralph Metcalfe was the prime U.S. sprinter, winning most of the national titles and tying the world records in the 100 and 200 meters. He competed in both the 1932 and 1936 Olympic Games, ending up with one gold medal, two silvers and a bronze.
Ralph was a senior proctor on my floor that year, and he was the one who introduced me to real R&B, Soul Music, and the Blues…most notably the Chicago Blues as played by Junior Wells, Buddy Guy, Willie Dixon, Howlin’ Wolfe, Muddy Waters, Little Walter, etc.
Ralph Jr. returned to Chicago after college to become “a father, teacher, community leader, Blues Man, Political Strategist, Archivist and one of the most profoundly beautiful spirits one could ever know.” As the historian for Willie Dixon’s Blues Heaven Foundation, he worked diligently to ensure that black Chicago’s pivotal role in the history of blues music was widely acknowledged and thoroughly documented. He was a passionate spokesman for the value of the blues as an African-American art form. Sadly Ralph died in 2020.