Carlton "King" Coleman (January 20, 1932 – September 11, 2010) was an American rhythm and blues singer, , musician, disc jockey, actor and Baptist minister, known for providing the vocals for the 1959 hit single, "(Do The) Mashed Potatoes", recorded with James Brown's band.
He was born Carlton Coleman in a tough quarter of Tampa, Florida, where he learned to rhyme from his mother and grandmother. After winning a local talent show at the age of 15, he joined the Charles Taylor Bronze Mannequin Revue, which toured the south as part of a carnival show. By the time he was drafted in 1952, Coleman had also sung with the jazz vibraphone player Lionel Hampton's band. Leaving the army, he returned to Florida and acquired the nickname "King Coleman" as a DJ. He had a reputation for extemporising rhyming couplets and became known as the King of Rhythm and Rhyme. Some critics have hailed Coleman as a forerunner of the Miami rap scene and detected a link between his vocal intonations and the 1980s Miami genre known as bass or booty music.
When James Brown's band visited Miami in 1959, the local music mogul Henry Stone decided to make a recording of their crowd-pleasing song (Do the) Mashed Potatoes. For contractual reasons, Brown was unable to sing lead vocals on the track, so Coleman took over. The track was credited to Nat Kendrick and the Swans and became a Top 10 r'n'b hit in 1960, leading to other Mashed Potatoes recordings by Brown, Dee Dee Sharp and others. Now known as "The Mashed Potato Man", Coleman recorded a number of singles in the 60s, including songs celebrating the Shimmy, Hully Gully and Booga Lou dances.
Coleman, who was in demand as a compere of national package tours by black artists, was radicalised by the civil rights movement. A heated argument with Bobby Schiffman, the white owner of the Apollo theatre in Harlem, New York, led to Coleman being barred from the leading black music venue for a year. After surviving a serious car crash in 1967, Coleman decided to devote himself to religion. He was ordained and recorded an album of gospel songs. He spent the late 1970s and early 80s in California, preaching, doing charity work, running a security business and acting. He appeared in the television sitcom Welcome Back, Kotter (1975-79) and in several films including Claudine (1974) and Up the Academy (1980).
In 1985 Coleman returned to Miami and eventually rejoined his former radio station, WMBM, which by then had a gospel format. He hosted Nothing But Love, a daily six-hour programme, until shortly before his death. He performed on stage as recently as 2005 on a tour of the U.S. East Coast, headlining the WFMU record fair in New York City. He remained prominent in the local black community, writing letters to the press in rhyming couplets.
He died from heart failure at a Miami hospice on September 11, 2010 at the age of 78.
Coleman was also the father of the drummer and recording artist, Tony Coleman, who had often performed with B.B. King. He paid tribute to his father, saying: "He was one of the originals. He was one of the roots, and I'm one of his fruits."
(Edited mainly from Dave Laing obit @ The Guardian)