Remembering Twin Cities soul singer Sonny Knight, who found fame in his 60s

I've heard a lot of complaints from musicians about Austin's South by Southwest Music Conference over the years, but the one Sonny Knight told me in 2014 — after he powered through eight performances in five days — made all the rest seem so namby-pamby.

"Having fought in Vietnam, I don't like being in a chaotic crowd," the great Twin Cities soul singer said, describing his flashback-like nervousness during the oversized industry festival. "That's how it was everywhere there."

Probably no one else but Knight, then 65, could tie together the experience of serving in the Vietnam War and being in a hot new SXSW buzz band. The Mississippi-birthed, St. Paul-raised frontman for Sonny Knight and the Lakers already was a hero in the truer sense of the word before he became one within the Twin Cities music scene around 2014.

Knight lost his battle with cancer last weekend at age 69. His memorial service — billed as "a celebration of life" — is set for Tuesday at 2 p.m. at Hennepin Avenue United Methodist Church, 511 Groveland Av., Minneapolis (across from Walker Art Center). He will be buried at Fort Snelling National Cemetery afterward.

A singer with the heavily polyestered psychedelic groove band Haze in the mid-'70s and assorted other groups in the '60s, Knight got his first big break in his singing career's great second wave in 2012 with the Twin Cities Funk & Soul All-Stars. The veteran crew was put together by the younger team at Secret Stash Records to promote its killer 2012 anthology "Twin Cities Funk & Soul: Lost R&B Grooves From Minneapolis/St. Paul 1964-1979."

Knight wasn't even one of the top-billed singers at the shows, but he made a good impression on the crowds and the house band, the latter of whom soon became the Lakers and picked him. Drummer and Secret Stash co-founder Eric Foss said at the time that Knight's affable personality played as much of a role in their chemistry as did his talent.

"Obviously, he's a great singer and entertainer first and foremost," said Foss, "but he's also very likable and easy to get along with. That's important when it's a long-term, full-fledged band."

Knight's upbeat attitude was one of the things I admired most about him, too. After four decades of paying the bills with a trucking job, he really didn't expect the attention that came to him as a singer. That may be why he seemed to enjoy it so much — more than most of the musicians who do expect it.

When we went to interview and photograph him at Secret Stash's recording studio for the cover of the Star Tribune's Friday Variety section in January 2014, the typically stylish performer showed up in flannel and a knit winter hat and remained frustratingly low-key. He didn't seem to understand we were there for him, not his young crew — which, it should be said, was such an impressively funky unit, it would be a shame to see them stop performing now.

After the story ran, Knight gave me a burly bro-hug the next time I saw him and said, "I really had no idea."

A lot bigger and better unexpected surprises came Knight's way once he and the Lakers took off. They toured Europe and America, packed First Ave and headlined block parties back home, and earned critical accolades and radio play far beyond Minnesota. They bottled their lightning-like energy beautifully on the 2015 concert album "Do It Live," the recording of which will go down as one of my all-time favorite shows at the Dakota.

Knight and the Lakers also made a pair of enthralling studio albums, the highlights of which were original tunes rather than oldie retreads. One of the best of those was the title track to the 2014 LP, "I'm Still Here," in which he recalled returning from Vietnam (where he served in the Army) to the tumult of the late 1960s. "I'm still waiting for that change that's gonna come," he intones, but then relishes the fact that at least he's survived.

Making it to 69 is indeed a pretty good run. It nonetheless felt like Knight was taken from us too soon. But that's on us for not discovering him sooner. One of the many lessons he leaves behind: Don't discount performers just because they're not famous before 40.

Random mix

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chrisr@startribune.com

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