About Chuck Cissel
Hometown
Tulsa, OK, United States
Born
October 3, 1948
Genre
R&B/Soul
Chuck Cissel's career took off like a Stealth Bomber, everything the native of Tulsa, Oklahoma tried, he obtained. He sang and danced throughout his adolescent years, and landed a part in his high school's production of South Pacific. In which, he impressed a local philanthropist so much that the giver financed Cissel's college education.
He left Tulsa for New York, NY in 1971 and landed parts on Broadway performing in Hello Dolly, Purlie, Don't Bother Me I Can't Cope, Chorus Line, and others. In Chrous Line, Chuck played Butch Burton, an African-American dancer/singer with an attitude.
He cut his first record Swept Away, on MCA Records via his Broadway connections (it was produced by Michael Bennett from Chorus Line). He assembled Chuck Cissel and New Concept and toured an abbreviated chitlin' circuit with other fledging artists. Chuck recorded again in 1977 under the supervision of guitarist Rudy Stevens, but hit his first wall when he shopped the material around New York so he flew to California in 1979 to try his luck. Larkin Arnold, who at the time worked for Arista Records, proved a godsend, Arnold signed Chuck to a deal and secured the talents of Skip Scarborough and Dave Crawford to produced his first LP Cisselin' Hot.
"Cisselin Hot," "Forever," and a duet with Marva Hicks "If I Had The Chance Today," enjoyed popularity in some areas, but the overall sales were disappointing. Oddly, other than a few background appearances on sessions, i.e., Elton John (1981), and others, Chuck's blazing career extinguished as swiftly as it began. ~ Andrew Hamilton
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