Ephraim Lewis

Ephraim Lewis (27 November 1967 – 18 March 1994) was an English soul and R&B singer and songwriter. He died after falling from a balcony after being tasered during a police pursuit, with only one album to his name, Skin, that spawned a minor hit with "Drowning in Your Eyes" in 1992.

Career Hailing from Wolverhampton, Ephraim Lewis starting singing gospel when he was young,

As an adult in Sheffield, Lewis met Jonathan Quarmby and the two co-wrote most of the music for Lewis's debut album Skin. Following a live audition of the song "Summer Lighting", Elektra Records signed Lewis to a worldwide deal in 1991,

In 1992, Elektra released "It Can't Be Forever" as the first single from the album, as well as number 80 on the Hot R&B Singles chart and number 12 on the Hot Adult Contemporary chart. The music video for the song was in heavy rotation on the broadcast channel VH1 and the song was top ten on radio in the Houston area. In Australia, "Drowning in Your Eyes" peaked at number 145 on the ARIA Charts. "Poised between retro and techno, the young man just lets his emotions fly."

Retrospective reviews have praised Lewis's work, with music writer Michael A. Gonzales calling Skin "brilliant" and "one of the best soul albums of the 1990s". Silverman describes Lewis's voice as "absolutely beautiful, rising up from the bottom of the sea to the most glorious of falsettos with ridiculous ease".

Following the relative lack of success of Skin, Elektra was interested in a more commercial-friendly sound for Lewis and had him part ways with Quambry and Bacon.

Death

On 18 March 1994, Los Angeles Police Department (LAPD) responded to reports of a "naked black man acting crazy" at 1710 Fuller Avenue, the apartment where Lewis was living. They reported that Lewis had tried to escape the officers, and began climbing the outside balconies. When he reached the top floor there was an altercation. While on the top balcony, the police had used a taser on Lewis three times.

Naomi Hobbs, Lewis's cousin, who is a barrister, said:

Skin

Charts +Weekly chart performance for Skin Chart (1992) Peakposition Australia (ARIA) 185

Personnel

Musicians and Vocalists Ephraim Lewis – vocals, backing vocals Jonathan Quarmby – keyboards, programming Hussein Boon – guitars (1, 4) Kevin Bacon – bass (3, 5, 8, 10) Barry Zeli – bass (7) Trevor Murrell – drums (1, 9) Eddy Hackett – drums (3) Caroline Bowden – drums (4, 10) Darren Ford – drums (6) Colin Elliot – percussion (1, 3–5, 7, 9, 10) Michael Ward – saxophone (1) Steve Buckley – saxophones (4, 8, 10) Dave Bitelli – saxophones (9) Henrik Linnemann – flute (9) Ashley Slater – trombone (4, 8, 9), trumpet (10) Chris Batchelor – trumpet (3, 4, 8–10) Paul Miro – additional backing vocals (4, 10) Mark Sheridan – additional backing vocals (4), guitars (8, 10) Heather Allen – additional backing vocals (6, 10)

Production Mick Cater – executive producer Kevin Bacon – producer Jonathan Quarmby – producer Pete Stewart – assistant engineer Robin Hancock – additional mixing (1, 3–6) Tony Dawsey – mastering at Masterdisk (New York City, New York, USA) Vaughan Oliver – art direction, design V23 – art direction Nina Schultz – cover photography Kevin Westenberg – other photography David Harper Management Ltd. – management