Mick Hartley

The smoothest voice in American music, with the possible exception of Nat King Cole. And he can go way down low. Brook Benton with his breakthrough 1959 hit:

He had a couple of hits dueting with Dinah Washington, including Baby (You've Got What it Takes). It's worth reading what the uploader of that track has to say about the fraught relationship between the two:

Dinah resisted the notion of doing a duet album with Brook before the recording session even took place simply because she viewed herself at this point in her career as a "jazz" artist and Brook simply as "pop" or "rhythm and blues". If you listen closely to the lyrics of "Baby (You've Got What It Takes)", you'll notice a point where Dinah remarks "you're in my spot, baby", which, of course, was aimed at Brook who mistakenly started singing Dinah's part of the song. The error was nearly seamless so the producers left it alone which was just as well since Dinah had already stormed out of the studio after the recording refusing to sing any further with Brook and ending a planned album of duets.

Kiddio was one of his biggest UK hits, from 1960. There was a comeback in 1970 with A Rainy Night in Georgia. Here's a live version from 1982.

Not just a pretty voice: his songwriting credits include Clyde McPhatter's A Lover's Question.

He died in 1988, aged 56.