Frederick Knight

Frederick Knight (born in Birmingham, Alabama, USA on 15 August 1944) is an American R&B and soul singer / songwriter / producer. Knight recorded with Mercury and Capitol in New York before signing with Stax Records in 1972. He had his only UK hit single, "I've Been Lonely For So Long," in 1972. The song was on the chart for 10 weeks and reached number 22. Lack of further chart activity leaves him labeled as a one-hit wonder. However, Knight did appear in the documentary film, Wattstax, which was released in 1973. After Stax's demise Knight launched Juana Records, writing and producing The Controllers, and he had a UK Number 1 chart credit with Anita Ward's "Ring My Bell" in 1979. Knight cut "I've Been Lonely for So Long" in Birmingham, Alabama, with a seasoned southern soul crew behind him, and hit again in 1975 with "I Betcha Didn't Know That." The song "Be For Real", written by Knight and originally performed by Marlena Shaw, was covered by Leonard Cohen for his album The Future and subsequently by The Afghan Whigs for the movie Beautiful Girls. He only released 4 albums under his name; 1987's "Knight Kap" being the last.