Tami Lynn -

Tami Lynn — aka Gloria Brown (born 1942) — is an American soul singer from New Orleans who released the 1972 album Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone.

Background

Tami Lynn was born Gloria Jean Brown on January 25, 1939, in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana. Brown attended R.T. Danneel #2 Elementary School, where she studied music beside Allen Toussaint and Ellis Marsalis Jr. She sang spirituals with a church group and joined the Clara Ward Singers during New Orleans visits. Lynn appeared on Dr. Daddy-O’s Sunday gospel program on WMRY and later sang in a school production of Show Boat.

Alvin “Red” Tyler brought Lynn into rhythm-and-blues work at the Joy Tavern after the club singer missed several dates. Tyler’s band hired Lynn after an audition at the club. The AFO Executives began playing the Joy Tavern and moved her into Harold Battiste’s AFO Records roster. AFO issued Lynn’s first single in March 1963: “Baby” / “Where Can I Go?” on the AFO 310 single.

AFO also placed Lynn with the AFO Executives for A Compendium, a studio album recorded by the label’s house musicians during the same early-sixties period. Lynn sings with trumpeter Mel Lastie, saxophonist Alvin “Red” Tyler, bassist Chuck Badie, drummer John Boudreaux, and pianist-saxophonist Harold Battiste. Lynn toured with AFO artists and took New York bookings at Birdland, where she opened for John Coltrane, Miles Davis, and Ella Fitzgerald.

Jerry Wexler heard Lynn at a deejay convention and cut “I’m Gonna Run Away From You” with her for Atco in New York. Atco paired the Bert Berns song with “The Boy Next Door,” a Brown–Melvin Lastie composition, on a 1965 single. Lynn rejoined Battiste’s Los Angeles network for commercials, Sonny & Cher sessions, King Floyd work, and early Dr. John recordings. John Abbey brought Lynn to Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, where Wardell Quezergue helped cut new album material after the British success of “I’m Gonna Run Away From You.” Cotillion combined those Malaco sessions with earlier Atlantic material for Lynn’s debut album, Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone.

Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone

Tami Lynn released her debut album, Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone, in the United States in 1972 on Cotillion.

The album presents a split design: side one pairs four L. Dinsdale monologues with country-soul and orchestral soul readings, while side two collects six standalone titles from Berns, Resnick–Levine, McNealy, Lynn, Williams–Paul–Paul, and Bartholomew–King–Steinman. Lynn recites the spoken passages in measured phrases, then sustains the songs over string parts, horn accents, and clipped backbeat figures. The album contains one Lynn original, four Dinsdale monologues, and nine outside songs.

Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone starts as a spoken-break suite, with Lynn’s close-held lead placed between recitative monologues and slow breakup ballad forms. “Wings Upon Your Horn” sways through countrified phrasing and a guarded vocal line. “Love Here and Now You’re Gone” lingers on spoken asides, sustained strings, and a drawn-out title refrain. “Can’t Last Much Longer” tightens the cadence with terse New Orleans pulse. “That’s Understanding” struts through a rousing backbeat and firm response pattern.

“Ain’t No Soul (Left in These Old Shoes)” slows under orchestral ache. “Never No More” rebounds with clipped vocal turns and a brisker dance cadence. “Mojo Hannah” drives the back half with rougher rhythmic bite and sharper vocal pressure.

A1. “Monologue: Introduction to a Love Affair” / “Wings Upon Your Horn” (5:52) – L. Dinsdale / Loretta Lynn
A2. “Monologue: Hoping” / “Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone” (6:03) – L. Dinsdale / Eddie Holland, Lamont Dozier, Brian Holland
A3. “Monologue: Final Attempt” / “Can’t Last Much Longer” (3:33) – L. Dinsdale / Allen Toussaint
A4. “Monologue: The Next Time!” / “That’s Understanding” (5:20) – L. Dinsdale / Dave Crawford, Willie Martin

B1. “I’m Gonna Run Away from You” (2:48) – Bert Berns
B2. “Ain’t No Soul (Left in These Old Shoes)” (2:19) – Arthur Resnick, Joseph Levine
B3. “A World You Left Behind You” (4:44) – Jane McNealy
B4. “Never No More” (2:52) – Tami Lynn
B5. “Mo Jo Hanna” (3:25) – Andre Williams, Barbara Paul, Clarence Paul
B6. “One Night of Sin” (2:53) – Dave Bartholomew, Pearl King, Anita Steinman

Sessions occurred at Malaco Studios in Jackson for A1 through A4 and B2 through B4 with Wardell Quezergue and John Abbey producing and Jerry Puckett and Tommy Couch engineering. Bert Berns produced “I’m Gonna Run Away from You” at A&R Recording Studios in New York with Tom Dowd engineering and Ray Ellis arranging. Jerry Wexler and Brad Shapiro produced “Mo Jo Hanna” and “One Night of Sin” at Atlantic South-Criteria Studios in Miami with Ronnie Albert and Howie Albert engineering.

Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone uses a purple front sleeve with a yellow-framed portrait of Lynn in profile, title lettering above the image, and a promotional sticker in the upper-right corner.

Mojo issued “I’m Gonna Run Away from You” in the United Kingdom in April 1971 (b/w “The Boy Next Door”), and the single reached No. 4 on the Official Singles Chart.

Cotillion issued “Mo Jo Hanna” in the United States in July 1971 (b/w “One Night of Sin”), then paired “Mo Jo Hanna” with “How Many Tears” in September 1971. Mojo issued “That’s Understanding” in the United Kingdom in October 1971 (b/w “Never No More”).

Discography: