How did Robin McNamara die? 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me' singer called it 'X-rated'
Singer-songwriter Robin McNamara, known for his '70s hit 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me', and his run in the Broadway show 'Hair' has died at 74. An update shared to McNamara's website revealed that he died on October 21. His cause of death, however, has not been disclosed.
"On October 21, 2021, Robin McNamara gained his angel wings," the update read. "This gentlest of gentle souls was predeceased by his loving wife, Suzie, who departed the earthly plane on May 16, 2018. Robin and Suzie are now reunited for all eternity. Robin will be greatly missed, for his talent but especially for his kind and loving spirit."
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Back in 1970, McNamara's signature track 'Lay a Little Lovin' on Me' had reached the No 11 spot on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. The musician in July took to Facebook to discuss the song's origin, noting that he wrote it with Jimmy Cretecos, who was his writing partner at that time. "A lot of people have asked how did the writing of “Lay A Little Lovin On Me” come about. I started writing it at the time with my writing partner Jimmy Cretecos and basically all we had was the hook and the basic chord progression and then we brought it to Jeff Barry and he liked where it was going but was leery of the song's title at first. He thought it might be a little too raunchy even after I pointed out the success Bob Dylan was having with "Lay Lady Lay," which was currently in the Top Ten. "Yeah, but that's Dylan," Jeff responded," he wrote in the Facebook post.
"So we actually renamed the song “Take A Little Time To Know Me” and it stayed that way for about a week but we all began to realize how bland it sounded and we went back to the original title. When we decided to do that I’ll never forget Jeff saying “ok if we're going to go in that direction." He then started banging on his desk, searching for a rhythm and then came up with the first line “Can't you see that I am HUNG........ on your love” and then we all paused looked at each other and started laughing. We then proceeded to finish the song together. Most lead sheets of the song don’t use the word “hung” I think at the time they were afraid of it. They say something like “Can’t you see that I am all for love” or something like that. People don’t realize how rated X the song really is," he added.
McNamara was born and raised in Newton, Massachusetts. He formed his first band in high school, and before he eventually moved to New York, he toured New England. "I'd pick up the trade papers like The Village Voice and there would be ads in there for a singer for this or for that and I'd go and audition," he said in an interview shared to his website. He later received an offer from a management company and subsequently auditioned for 'Hair'.
"I had no clue. I said, "What's Hair?" [A secretary] told me it was a Broadway show and they're looking to replace some of the cast," he recalled. "I went down and auditioned and I had about three auditions for that and they finally hired me to do the show."
From 1969 through 1971, the music legend played the lead role of Claude in 'Hair'. He continued to write and record through the years, in recent years even performing in a show called 'Stuck In the Sixties'. "It's just a flashback and we have a wonderful light show and sound system and smoke machines," he said. "It's a lot of fun. I'm having a lot of fun with it." McNamara married wife Suzie in 1998, who died in 2018.