Mable John Biography
3 November 1930, Bastrop, Louisiana, USA. The elder sister of Little Willie John, Mable John was an early signing to Berry Gordy's Motown Records label. She appeared on the first Motortown Revue in 1959, and recorded four singles for the company. After an interlude working in a small Chicago outlet, Four Brothers, she signed to Stax Records in 1966. Here she specialized in "deep' ballads, pitting her emotive pleas against a complementary Booker T. And The MGs/Mar-Keys backing. 1966"s "Your Good Thing (Is About To End)", a tale of infidelity and the consequences thereof, which Lou Rawls later took into the pop chart, was the first of seven releases. In 1967, John joined Ray Charles' Raeletts, and ceased performing as a solo artist for many years. Her distinctive voice is audible on several of the group's Tangerine recordings. She subsequently worked as an advisor on Lady Sings The Blues, Berry Gordy's film biography of Billie Holiday. Mable John left the Raeletts in 1976 to attend ministry school, later becoming an associate pastor at the Sanctuary of Praise Church in Los Angeles and working tirelessly with homeless charity organisations in the city. Her first gospel album, Where Can I Find Jesus?, was released in 1992. A year later Stax released an excellent compilation of her 60s recordings.
Source: The Encyclopedia of Popular Music by Colin Larkin. Licensed from Muze.
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