King Floyd III, 61; R&B; Singer Best Known for His 1970 Hit ‘Groove Me’

King Floyd III, 61, the R&B; singer and songwriter best known for his 1970 hit “Groove Me,” died March 6 of complications from a stroke and diabetes, his record label said. The New Orleans Times-Picayune reported that Floyd died in California, where he was living in the wake of Hurricane Katrina. Efforts to reach his family were unsuccessful.

Born in New Orleans, Floyd began performing at age 11. As a young man, he sometimes sang with the house band at the Sho-Bar on Bourbon Street.

After serving in the Army, he tried to launch a career as an entertainer. On the West Coast, Floyd met Harold Battiste, a fellow New Orleans expatriate who was an established producer and bandleader.

Battiste produced Floyd’s debut album, “A Man in Love,” which featured songs written with Mac “Dr. John” Rebennack. The album did not fare well, and in 1969 Floyd returned to New Orleans and took a post office job to support his family.

A year later, Wardell Quezergue, an arranger of R&B; scores, took Floyd to the office of Malaco Records in Jackson, Miss., where he recorded a song he had written, “Groove Me,” during the same session when Jean Knight recorded her classic “Mr. Big Stuff.”

Atlantic Records picked up the song and promoted it nationally. It reached No. 1 on the R&B; chart and No. 6 on the pop chart.