Obituary for Maurice Wynn (Gone But Not Forgotten)

Daddy B. Nice's #54 ranked Southern Soul Artist

"What She Don't Know (Won't Hurt Her)"

Obituary for Maurice Wynn (Gone But Not Forgotten)

Composed by Maurice Wynn

August 23, 2021:

North Carolina's Maurice Wynn, whose song "What She Don't Know (Won't Hurt Her)" became a southern soul classic, has passed away.

Daddy B. Nice's Original Critique:

--Daddy B. Nice

About Obituary for Maurice Wynn (Gone But Not Forgotten)

Maurice Wynn performed, produced, arranged, engineered and wrote all the material for his debut CD, Better Safe Than Sorry (Suzie Q, 2000). The CD was generally dismissed, but the radio single, "What She Don't Know," caught on with deejays of the Deep South and proved amazingly durable, evolving over the space of a few years into a classic "golden oldie" of chitlin' circuit R&B.

Five years after the release of "What She Don't Know," Hardway Connection, the first bona fide Southern Soul R&B group of the new era, recorded a cover version of Maurice Wynn's song (Hot Ticket, Wilbe, 2005), giving composer credit to Stacy P. Yook. The song was by and large faithful to the original, substituting a muted violin section for the keyboard, yet the Hardway vocal couldn't hold a candle to the focus and intensity of the Wynn original.

(Coincidentally, the same album by Hardway Connection reprised fellow Suzie Q artist David Brinston's "Party 'Til The Lights Go Out" with similar results.)

Wynn remains one of the most obscure of Southern Soul performers.

Song's Transcendent Moment

"What she don't know
Won't hurt her,
It won't hurt her,
Or hurt me."

Tidbits

1. Author's Update: April 26, 2008.

Maurice Wynn's first and only album, Better Safe Than Sorry, remains out of print, but earlier this year I was contacted by Chessboy Records CEO Shelia Cauthen on Wynn's behalf. It was the first and only communication on this obscure Southern Soul artist I have ever received.

She had one interesting piece of biographical information on the shadowy performer: namely, that Maurice Wynn attended Boston's prestigious Berklee College of Music, an unlikely destination for such a chitlin' circuit-sounding artist.

But the more significant news was that after an absence of eight years Wynn was scheduled to release a second CD entitled--aptly enough--Better Safe Than Sorry II.

Anticipation sometimes approaches dread when an artist "comes back" after such a long absence. Will it be something really great and unique, yet distinctly Maurice Wynn-sounding? Or will it be weak, derivative, imitative, a letdown?

We shouldn't have to wait long. Better Safe Than Sorry, according to Cauthen, is scheduled for a Spring 2008 release.

DBN.

2.

October 1, 2010.

This item of interest to fans of Maurice Wynn came through e-mail not long ago and was posted in Daddy B. Nice's "Mailbag":

RE: OMITTING MAURICE WYNN

Dear Daddy B Nice,

You surely omitted a great southern soul artist when you did not list Mr. Maurice Wynn, out of North Carolina. Please post his concert dates, for I want to see his show many many more times. He is a must see.

I'm new here and I really love your site.

Much thanks,

DJ from Raleigh, NC

Daddy B. Nice replies:

Thanks, DJ, I'm glad you found me.

I'm not sure what you mean by "omitting" Maurice Wynn. I presume you're aware he's the subject of a Daddy B. Nice Artist Guide--Maurice Wynn--and his "What She Don't Know (Won't Hurt Her)" the number 54-ranked song on the Top 100 Southern Soul Song chart.

But your letter reminded me that I had been contacted by his people awhile back regarding an upcoming album (see the artist guide), which never came out, I guess. It's been two years since.

In doing a little research I did find a new Maurice Wynn website, and that's where I discovered Wynn is playing--quote--"every Thursday night at Gwendolyn's night club in Raleigh NC."
Understand, DJ, that in order to put the dates in the Concert Calendar (which I think is your real question) I'd still have to get some advance notice that the dates were really going to be played.

That would have to come from some source, Maurice or his people, a news media outlet, or--if you had all the facts: date, time, venue, address, city/state--even yourself, should you decide to take on that function.

(Other fans have.)

Sometimes I'll put an artist's "regular" function in a small section underneath the regular Calendar. (I did this with Nellie Travis and a couple of other acts last year.)

I believe more artists should take advantage of publicizing their local gigs and I'm more than willing to do it.

Hope this helps clarify things,

Daddy B. Nice

Postscript: No response ever arrived.

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3.

November 8, 2014:

October 1, 2010:

Here is yet another Southern Soul classic, long out of print and unavailable, and now just a click away on the flourishing musical world-wide web.

"What She Don't Know (Won't Hurt Her)" by Maurice Wynn

For years, only a handful of people had copies of this song, and it was so frustrating to attempt to describe something which no one else could hear. YouTube and other music-streaming sites are changing the way we listen to music, and it all bodes well for the long-marginalized Southern Soul genre.

--Daddy B. Nice

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