Pioneering radio DJ recalled as ‘a mountain of soul’
As one of Houston’s most popular radio DJs and the proprietor of a funeral home, Skipper Lee Frazier tended to Houston’s spiritual well-being in life and death.
Frazier was a figure of inestimable cultural importance in the city, starting with his work at KCOH in the 1960s, where he was part of a hub for the city’s African American community. He also played a significant role in the creation of what is perhaps the defining pop single from this city, Archie Bell and the Drells’ “Tighten Up.” With Frazier’s death on Friday at age 89, the city loses a towering figure from its past, one best described in his own words: He was a “Mountain of Soul.”
Bell called him “an important figure in Houston, a pioneer.”
And Wash Allen, a pillar of Houston radio who worked with Frazier at KCOH said, “Skipper Lee really was an icon in this town. He was such a heavy figure in the industry that people knew him all around the world. He was a big character, with a personality that was bigger than life. He was smart, he was nice, he was cordial. He was Skipper Lee, and people loved him for it.”
The phrase “mountain of soul” was repeated in Frazier’s iconic radio signer, a brilliant piece of oratory delivered in Frazier’s low, sonorous voice. In terms spiritual, poetic and opaque, he described his journey from the little East Texas town of Magnolia Springs to the big city:
“People say to me, ‘Skipper Lee, tell us your story,’ ” he said. “‘When did you come to Houston? And why did you come to Houston?’ This is my story. Last night, as I tried to sleep, it seemed as if I could hear voices. And those voices kept telling me, ‘Skipper Lee, steal away and carry a mountain of soul to Houston.’
“Over and over again. I kept hearing the same voices. ‘Skipper Lee, steal away! And carry a mountain of soul to Houston.’ Over and over again, I kept hearing those voices. So I called my mother in, and I kissed her goodbye. I called my father in and shook his hand as I walked out the door. My bags in my hand. I knelt down and kissed my little sister.
“Then I began the long, lonesome journey to carry a mountain of soul to Houston. Because I could not ignore those voices. Over and over again. I kept hearing those same voices. ‘Skipper Lee, steal away and carry a mountain of soul to Houston.’ Have mercy. Have mercy. So here I am, Houston. Here I am, Houston! I brought a mountain of soul to this city. Have mercy. Have mercy.”
Lee Jay Frazier’s long, lonesome journey started in 1927. His grandparents were farmers in Jasper County. His father worked in a sawmill. Frazier said his father wanted him to be a doctor, but instead he studied at Southern University in Baton Rouge, La., intending to be a tailor. That pursuit was short-lived.
He spent a short time in Los Angeles, before bring drafted into the Army during the Korean War and later discharged. Frazier moved to Houston where he worked as a mail carrier. Before hauling a mountain of soul, he worked hauling furniture and appliances.
Frazier found a part-time job around 1954 at KYOK playing gospel. When a position opened at KCOH — one of the first radio stations in the state that customized programming for African-American listeners — he took it in 1959 and held on for more than 20 years. There Frazier acquired the moniker that stuck with him for life, Skipper Lee. He’d found his calling.
“He had that big voice,” Allen said. “He didn’t even need a microphone. But he loved a microphone. If there was one around, Skipper Lee wanted to be near it.”
Frazier became part of the city’s cultural foundation, projecting his voice across Houston at a time when AM radio was king. Musicians from out of town would visit KCOH and Frazier’s show, and he’d also MC or promote shows for acts like James Brown and B.B. King.
Frazier also began working with local talent as a manager. Among his clients were the TSU Toronadoes, a tight, talented local R&B band. He also courted Archie Bell and the Drells, a dynamic young vocal group he’d heard at talent shows around the city.
Frazier facilitated a collaboration between the two, built upon an irresistible instrumental track cooked up by the Toronadoes. Accounts differ as to the authorship of the lyrics for “Tighten Up.” Frazier had claimed to have come up with them. Bell told the Chronicle he and bandmate Billy Butler wrote them. Bell and Butler are the credited authors on the album, but Frazier, the song’s producer, still got his cut.
“Tighten Up” gained regional traction in early 1968 and was picked up by Atlantic Records, which turned it into a No. 1 pop hit in April of that year. With its joyous shout-out to Houston in the opening seconds, “Tighten Up” was a local anthem that projected nationally. It spent more than three months in the Top 40.
“He thought we had potential,” Bell said. “And with that song we put Houston on the world map. You can go anywhere in the world and if you bring up ‘Tighten Up’ they’ll know you’re talking about Houston, Texas.”
Frazier diversified his business interests extended beyond music and radio. He owned motels and did production and promotion for events around the city including the KOOL Jazz Festival. Eventually he’d host his own TV variety show.
A funeral service for Frazier will be held at 11 a.m. on Friday at Jones Memorial United Methodist Church 2504 Almeda-Genoa.