R.I.P. Terry Callier

Stereogum reports that Terry Callier, the Chicago singer and guitarist who blended folk, jazz, and soul, was found dead in his home today. He was 67.

Callier was born and raised in Chicago. He sang in doo wop groups, and at 17, recorded his debut single for Chess Records. Although he was invited to tour America with Chess artists Muddy Waters and Etta James, his mother denied him permission. During college, he discovered folk music and began playing coffee houses. Around that time, he also found influence in John Coltrane's A Love Supreme.

In the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s, Callier released a string of albums that defined his sound: The New Folk Sound of Terry Callier in 1968, Occasional Rain in 1972, What Color Is Love in 1973, and I Just Can't Help Myself in 1974. He was critically acclaimed but commercially unsuccessful, and he quietly retired from music in the early 1980s. (In 2004, Callier told The Guardian that he didn't touch a guitar between 1983 and 1998.)

By the early 1990s, British DJs were playing Callier's music. His work was reissued by Acid Jazz and he began touring once again. In 1998, he made his proper return to music with TimePeace, which won the United Nations' Time For Peace award. He continued making music throughout the 2000s, releasing several albums, a track for the 2001 Red Hot + Indigo compilation, and a 2009 collaboration with Massive Attack.

Watch a few highlights from Callier's career below.

"Live With Me" [with Massive Attack]:

"You Goin' Miss Your Candyman":

"TimePeace":