Alvin Cash (February 15, 1939 – November 21, 1999) was an American pop singer and actor.
Born Alvin Welch in St. Louis, Missouri, and a graduate of St. Louis's Sumner High School (also attended by Luther Ingram, Billy Davis, Jr., and Tina Turner), he and three brothers moved to Chicago, where they sang and danced while in search of a recording contract. Andre Williams saw them perform as The Crawlers and had them record a tune, "Twine Time", which was a rewrite of Williams' 1957 hit song, "Bacon Fat". The tune became a pop hit in 1965, and whereas 'The Crawlers' proper (Cash's brothers) did not play on the track, The Nightliters did contribute as the backing band. "Twine Time" became popular in the UK in the Northern soul scene in the 1970s. [1]
Soon after the success of the single, The Nightliters changed their name to The Crawlers and began touring with Cash; they would later change their name again to The Registers.
Cash went solo after a few further singles, and recorded an album in tribute to Muhammad Ali; he also acted in several blaxploitation films, such as Petey Wheatstraw and Black Jack. He continued performing in the Chicago area into the 1990s, and died from ulcer complications in 1999.[2]