New Love Ltd was an American soul trio that sang on the 1978 album So Much to Talk About (Tudo Bem), recorded in São Paulo with funk sextet Interstate 95 and released on Brazilian small-press Giant Records. Two of the singers partook in the subsequent Ingram offshoot Philly Cream. Members: Robert Dunston (Jamil Ali Faraqan), […]
West Wing was an American soul group that released a self-titled album on 20th Century in 1975, produced by Barry White. Members: – West Wing was one of several mid-’70s projects overseen by musician and producer Barry White (Love Unlimited, Love Unlimited Orchestra, Tom Brock, White Heat). In 1973, he produced the foursome’s standalone single […]
Aalon were an American soul-funk band from Los Angeles that released the album Cream City on Arista in 1977. Namesake frontman/guitarist Aalon Butler hailed from the Eric Burdon Band. Members: Aalon Butler (guitar, vocals), Alvin Taylor (drums), Ron Hammond (drums), Al Roberts (bass), Luther Rabb (bass), Luis Cabaza (keyboards) Aalon William Butler (born Sept. 17, […]
Timeless Legend were an American soul group from Columbus, Ohio, that released sporadic singles on the small-press labels of manager/producer Carl Fagain. Their one album, Synchronized, appeared on lone-press Pendulum Records in 1976. Members: Butch Johnson, Allen B. Burney, Jackie Hogg, Donald Harmon, Michael Harmon Timeless Legend were discovered by Carl Fagain, who first recorded […]
Odyssey 5 were an American soul group that released the album First Time Around on BRC in 1975. Members: Carlotta Samuels, Catherine Rice, Glenda Wharton, Jackie Sinclair, Linda McCrae, Sylvania Wilson Odyssey 5 released their singular album, First Time Around, in 1975 on Brunswick-subsidiary BRC, which issued contemporary recordings by Exit 9 and The Eliminators. […]
Silk were an American soul trio that released two albums on Prelude Records in 1977. (Not to be confused with the seven-piece soul-funk Silk that evolved out of Anglo-Saxon Brown.) Members: Maurice Jackson, Eric Thomas, Arthur Reid Silk were formed in Los Angeles in 1976 by Chicago-born vocalist and songwriter Maurice Jackson. Singers Eric Thomas […]
Heaven & Earth were an American soul group from Chicago that released the album I Can’t Seem to Forget You on GEC in 1976, followed by two albums on Mercury in 1978/79 and a fourth on WMOT in 1981. Members: Keith Steward, Michael Brown (vocals, 1974-77), Dwight Dukes, James Dukes, Dean Williams (vocals, 1978), Greg […]
Black Ivory were an American soul trio from Manhattan that released two albums on Today Records in 1971/72, followed by three albums on Buddah between 1975 and 1979. The original group consisted of vocalists Russell Patterson, Stuart Bascombe, and Leroy Burgess. Their first two albums were recorded under the auspices of producer Patrick Adams. Members: […]
The Tavares were an American soul group from New Bedford, Mass., that released 10 albums on Capitol between 1974 and 1981, followed by a pair of titles on RCA in 1982/83. The group scored crossover hits with covers of songs by Hall & Oates (“She’s Gone”) and the Edgar Winter Group (“Free Ride”). In 1976, […]
Carolyn Crawford (born July 19, 1949) is an American soul singer from Detroit who cut three singles for Motown as a teenager during the mid-1960s and another three for PIR during the mid-1970s before finally releasing two albums on Mercury in 1978/79. She was briefly a fourth member of Hodges James & Smith for two […]
Billy Butler (June 7, 1945 — April 1, 2015) was an American soul singer from Chicago. He first emerged fronting the soul-trio Billy Butler & The Chanters, which issued five 1963–65 singles on soul-press Okeh under the auspices of writer Curtis Mayfield and arranger Johnny Pate. Between 1965 and 1967, Butler cut six solo singles […]
Ike & Tina Turner were the R&B/soul-rock duo of American guitarist/bandleader Ike Turner and his then-wife, singer Tina Turner. They came together in the late 1950s when Ike hired Tina as a backing vocalist for his band, the Kings of Rhythm. She first sang lead on the 1960 Sue Records single “A Fool In Love,” […]
Dianne Brooks (Jan. 3, 1939 — April 29, 2005) was an American jazz and soul singer who was active from the late 1950s to the early 1990s. Following a pair of late-’60s singles, she issued two albums during the 1970s. In 1957, the Jersey native launched her career as part of doo-wop act The Three […]
Retta Young is an American soul singer who was active between the late-1960s and late-1970s. Following a string of shortplayers with The Superbs and The Devotions, she issued a trio of singles and one album under her own name during the mid-1970s. Signed to Sylvia Robinson‘s All Platinum label in 1975, Young hit pay-dirt with […]
Rickie Boger is an American soul singer and songwriter who was active in the mid-1970s. Signed to Muse Records and equipped with the label’s formidable jazz/blues session players, she released the album Slow Down, Baby in 1976. With bass-emphasized fourth notes over a modest Gmaj–Amin progression, “Do You Like My Song?” finds Boger humble yet […]
Norma Jenkins is an American soul singer who was active between the mid-1960s and mid-1970s. She first appeared as the frontwoman for Norma Jenkins and the Dolls on the single “The Airplane Song,” released in 1966 on Detroit’s Maltese label. Several more singles followed on various labels over the next seven years. Contracted to Buddah […]
Weapons of Peace were an American soul/funk quintet active during the mid 1970s. The band released a lone, self-titled album on Playboy Records in 1976. Members: Finis Henderson (lead vocal, percussion), Andrew Hardy (guitar, backing vocals), David Johnson (bass, backing vocals), Lonnell Dantzler (keyboards), Bill Leathers (drums) Across the album’s eight songs, Weapons of Peace […]
Ben E. King (Sept. 28, 1938 — April 30, 2015) was an American soul singer who rose to prominence as the lead vocalist of doo-wopsters The Drifters, singing on their 1959/60 hits “Save the Last Dance for Me,” “There Goes My Baby,” and “This Magic Moment.” After going solo, he scored hits in 1961 with […]
The Chambers Brothers were an American soul-psych band from Los Angeles, formed in 1954. After a pair of mid-’60s albums on Vault, they released four albums on Columbia between 1967 and 1971. There biggest hit was an edit of their 11-minute album track “Time Has Come Today” from their 1967 release The Time Has Come. […]
Patrick Gammon (Jan. 15, 1956 — Oct. 28, 1996) was an American R&B singer, born in Seattle but based for most of his career in Munich, Germany. In 1978, he released the album Rawness on the German Gammarock label (issued on French Mercury as Effervescence.) His 1979 release, Don’t Touch Me , was issued stateside […]
