Don Cornelius' son says dad called before death

The music industry and his many fans are remembering "Soul Train's" creator, Don Cornelius.

Police say he shot himself to death at his home Wednesday morning.

He was 75 years old.

Tony Cornelius, who worked alongside his father Don Cornelius on "Soul Train" and other shows said his father called him on the day he died. Tony did not elaborate on the conversation, but said, "It was a call of urgency, and I came to his home immediately."

Don Cornelius, "Soul Train" creator, dies of suicide
Pictures: Don Cornelius, 1936-2012

Cornelius said his father was a private person and was "unhappy about some things" in his life. His father's health, also, he said, was failing.

"My father was extremely private and unfortunately, when you're a private person, you keep things inside," Cornelius told Gayle King on "CBS This Morning." "You know, it's hard to imagine that you would -- how you feel. You have to be in a person's shoes really to understand. Obviously, me being extremely close to him, I could tell that he was uncomfortable. But our family could never know that he would -- how uncomfortable he really was."

Cornelius said his father would want to be remembered as someone who worked hard at being a professional.

"He taught me everything I know about TV production and he just really wanted to serve," he said. "(My father) wanted to make a statement. I think he really worked extremely hard to make sure that he presented a project that people could really enjoy. ... I think his legacy would be that he really worked on the fine points. I mean, he's always taught me about it's the fine points that count and he wanted to achieve quality. He wanted to expose the masses to a new way of looking at black-oriented television. And he just worked really hard to make that happen."

For more with Cornelius on his father's legacy, click on the video above that begins with a look back at Don Cornelius' life, reported by Bill Whitaker.