Family remembers Grammy winning singer/songwriter Richard Spencer

WADESBORO, N.C. — Grammy award-winning Richard Lewis Spencer passed away on Sunday, December 27.

The service for Spencer is scheduled for Sunday, Jan. 3 at Smith’s Funeral Home on Salisbury Street in Wadesboro.

Visitation is at 1:30 pm. A memorial will follow at 2 p.m.

As part of The Winstons, Spencer provided vocals for the hit song “Color Him Father,” but he also wrote it. Spencer won a Grammy Award for R&B Songwriter of the Year in 1969.

“He was a prodigy,” said Spencer’s brother, Rodney Spencer. “He was a great guy and a great musician.”

Spencer was born in Wadesboro in May 1942. He studied classical piano at the Beckwith Piano School in Charlotte. Then, at age 13, he became the organist and pianist for the late Bishop J.H. Sherman of The Church of God in Christ.

With money he earned from performing, Spencer helped his mother support his younger brothers and sisters. He also taught his siblings how to play instruments of their own.

“Richard gave more than what he got. He loved his sisters and brothers,” said Rodney. “That’s a good role model. God gave us a good brother.”

In 1962, Spencer moved to Washington, D.C., where he worked with various bands, including Leroy Taylor and The Four Kays.

“Color Him Father” was released in 1969 and became a hit for The Winstons, reaching number 4 on the Billboard Hot 100 and number 1 on the Billboard R&B chart. The song was also recorded by Linda Martell. That version reached number 14 on the Billboard country chart.

“The fame, to him, it was not like you would imagine today,” said Rodney. “He just loved people. He loved life.”

After leaving the music business in 1970, Spencer earned a degree in political science.

He studied for a M.Ed. at the University of Phoenix and the University of North Carolina. Spencer also completed the course work for a Ph.D. at Howard University.

Spencer retired from the Washington Metro system in 2000 and became a licensed Baptist Minister and high school teacher in Montgomery County, Maryland.

Even though Spencer left the recording industry, he never left his music behind. He continued teaching others how to play.

In March 2015, Spencer received the “DC Legendary Musicians Award.”

He was then inducted into the NC Music Hall of Fame as part of the 2017 class alongside Jim Lauderdale, The Sensational Nightingales, Bucky Covington, Anthony Hamilton and the Steep Canyon Rangers.

In February 2020, Spencer was honored with a “Lifetime Achievement” plaque at the South Piedmont Community College in Wadesboro.

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