Millie Jackson
- 100% match to Betty Wright
15 July 1944, Thompson, Georgia, USA. A former model, Millie Jacksons controversial singing career began professionally in 1964 at a club in Hoboken, New Jersey, USA. Her first recordings followed in 1970; over the next three years she made several excellent, if traditional, soul singles, which included two US R&B Top 10 entries, with Ask Me What You Want
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Ann Peebles
- 82% match to Betty Wright
27 April 1947, East St. Louis, Missouri, USA. An impromptu appearance at the Rosewood Club in Memphis led to Peebles recording contract. Band leader Gene Miller took the singer to producer Willie Mitchell, whose skills fashioned an impressive debut single, Walk Away (1969). Peebles style was more fully shaped with Part Time Love (1970), an
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Laura Lee
- 82% match to Betty Wright
Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A member of her adopted mothers, Ernestine Rundless, gospel group the Meditation Singers, Lees first secular recording was made for the Detroit-based Ric-Tic label. She was signed to Chess Records in 1966, who, after failing to find success with a Chicago-recorded single, sent her to Rick Halls F
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Gwen McCrae
- 78% match to Betty Wright
21 December 1943, Pensacola, Florida, USA. The wife of George McCrae, Gwen made her mark in the mid-70s with a delightful series of southern-style soul numbers produced by Steve Alaimo and Clarence Reid for Henry Stones Miami-based TK operation. She first found success with a remarkable remake of the old Bobby Bland gospel blues, Lead Me On (R&B number
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Tyrone Davis
- 60% match to Betty Wright
4 May 1938, Greenville, Mississippi, USA, d. 9 February 2005, Hinsdale, Illinois, USA. One of the great unsung talents of soul music, Davis was a consistent chart-maker for over 20 years. This former Freddie King valet was discovered working in Chicago nightclubs by pianist Harold Burrage, and began recording in 1965 as Tyrone The Wonder Boy. Can I Change My Mind
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Bettye Swann
- 58% match to Betty Wright
Betty Jean Champion, 24 October 1944, Shreveport, Louisiana, USA. This superior singer first recorded during the early 60s as a member of the Fawns. A Carolyn Franklin song, Dont Wait Too Long, provided Swann with a solo hit in 1965, but her career was more fully launched two years later with a US R&B chart-topper, the beautiful Make Me Yours
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22 March 1957, Brooklyn, New York, USA. Mills found early fame at the age of nine, winning an influential talent show at Harlems famous Apollo Theatre for six weeks running. Soon afterwards, she appeared on Broadway in the play Maggie Flynn. She toured with the Isley Brothers, and in 1973, recorded her debut, Movin In The Right Direction, for the Paramount label.
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Syl Johnson
- 52% match to Betty Wright
Sylvester Thompson, 1 July 1936, Holly Springs, Mississippi, USA. Johnson was the youngest of three children and his family moved to Chicago during the late 40s. An elder brother, Mac Thompson, played bass with the Magic Sam Blues Band. Having learned guitar and harmonica, Johnson began frequenting the citys southside blues clubs, playing alongside Howlin Wolf, M
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Theodore Pendergrass, 26 March 1950, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Pendergrass joined Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes in 1969, when they invited his group, the Cadillacs, to work as backing musicians. Initially their drummer, Pendergrass had become the featured vocalist within a year. His ragged, passionate interpretations brought distinction to such releases as I
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5 May 1938, Crawfordsville, Arkansas, USA, d. 31 May 2000, Dallas, Texas, USA. Having left home at the age of 15, Taylor surfaced as part of several gospel groups, including the Five Echoes and the Highway QCs. In 1956 he joined the Soul Stirrers, replacing Sam Cooke on the latters recommendation. Taylor switched to secular music in 1961; releases on Cookes Sar a
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Marlena Shaw
- 48% match to Betty Wright
Marlina Burgess, 22 September 1944, New Rochelle, New York, USA. At the age of 10 Shaw made a modestly successful appearance at the Apollo theatre but her mother ruled against the little girl going on tour with her uncle, trumpeter Jimmy Burgess. She began working in the New Rochelle area, developing into a cocktail lounge-type jazz singer who occasionally ventured onto the
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Teena Marie
- 48% match to Betty Wright
Mary Christine Brockert, 5 March 1957, Santa Monica, California, USA. A singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, arranger and producer, Teena Marie is rightly fêted as one of the few white artists to sustain a consistent career in the US soul market. Spotted by Motown Records Berry Gordy in the 70s, he linked her up with funk star and labelmate Rick James, and h
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Three brothers, OKelly (25 December 1937, d. 31 March 1986), Rudolph (b. 1 April 1939) and Ronald Isley (b. 21 May 1941), began singing gospel in their home-town of Cincinnati, USA, in the early 50s, accompanied by their brother Vernon, who died in a car crash around 1957. Moving to New York the following year, the trio issued one-off singles before being signed by the
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Candi Staton
- 45% match to Betty Wright
Candi Staton-Sussewell, 13 March 1940, Hanceville, Alabama, USA. A former member of the Jewel Gospel Trio, Staton left the group, and her first husband, for a secular career. She was then discovered performing at a club by Clarence Carter, who took the singer to the Fame Records label. Carter wrote her debut hit, the uncompromising Id Rather Be An Old Mans
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Artist matches
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