Freda Payne › Similar Artists

Honey Cone - 100% match to Freda Payne

Chairmen Of The Board - 68% match to Freda Payne

Briefly known as the Gentlemen, this Detroit-based quartet was instigated by General Norman Johnson (23 May 1943, Norfolk, Virginia, USA). A former member of the Showmen, he left that group in 1968 intent on a solo path, but instead joined Danny Woods (b. 10 April 1944, Atlanta, Georgia, USA), Harrison Kennedy (b. Canada) and Eddie Curtis (b. Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA) Read more

Al Wilson - 52% match to Freda Payne

Allen LaMar Wilson, 19 June 1939, Meridian, Mississippi, USA, d. 21 April 2008, Fontana, California, USA. Wilson was a former member of the Jewels, and also the Rollers, a San Bernardino, California-based quartet who scored a hit in 1961 with ‘The Continental Walk’. He was later signed as a solo act to Soul City, a short-lived label owned by singer Johnny Rivers. & Read more

Laura Lee - 51% match to Freda Payne

Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois, USA. A member of her adopted mother’s, Ernestine Rundless’, gospel group the Meditation Singers, Lee’s 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 Hall’s F Read more

Arthur Conley - 37% match to Freda Payne

4 January 1946, Atlanta, Georgia, USA, d. 17 November 2003, Ruurlo, the Netherlands. Recalled as something of a one-hit-wonder, this Otis Redding protégé remains underrated. Conley first recorded for the Atlanta-based NRC label as Arthur And The Corvets. After signing to his mentor Otis Redding’s Jotis label, further singles were leased to Volt and Stax Re Read more

Charles Wright - 35% match to Freda Payne

1940, Clarksdale, Mississippi, USA. Wright was raised in Los Angeles, California, and from the age of 12 began playing music in high school where he was attracted strongly to the blues, having previously heard gospel music in church. Early influences included soul and blues artists such as Jesse Belvin, James Brown, Little Walter, Curtis Mayfield, Otis Redding, Jimmy Reed, M Read more

Maxine Nightingale - 35% match to Freda Payne

2 November 1952, Wembley, London, England. Although Nightingale made her recording debut in 1968, early acclaim was garnered from a series of roles in the stage productions of Hair, Jesus Christ Superstar and Godspell. She resumed a solo career during the 70s, achieving an international hit with the compulsive ‘Right Back Where We Started From’. This infectious per Read more

R. Dean Taylor - 32% match to Freda Payne

Toronto, Canada. Taylor remains the most successful white artist to emerge from the Motown Records stable. The protégé of writer/producer Brian Holland, he worked on many of the mid-60s hits produced by the Holland / Dozier / Holland partnership, and later claimed to have helped to compose several songs credited to them. He began his recording career in 1965 wi Read more

Kim Weston - 31% match to Freda Payne

Agatha Natalie Weston, 20 December 1939, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Kim Weston received her musical education with the Wright Specials gospel group, an influence that survived throughout her subsequent career. Torn between pursuing music or acting, she was persuaded to join the Motown Records label in the early 60s by Johnny Thornton, the cousin of two of the label’s top Read more

Major Lance - 31% match to Freda Payne

4 April 1939 (1941 is also cited), Winterville, Mississippi, USA, d. 3 September 1994, Decatur, Georgia, USA. A former amateur boxer and a dancer on the Jim Lounsbury record-hop television show, Lance also sang with the Five Gospel Harmonaires and for a brief period with Otis Leavill and Barbara Tyson in the Floats. His 1959 Mercury Records release, ‘I Got A Girl’, Read more

The Tams - 31% match to Freda Payne

This US group was formed in 1952 as the Four Dots in Atlanta, Georgia, USA. Their line-up featured Joseph Pope (6 November 1933, d. 16 March 1996), Charles Pope (b. 7 August 1936), Robert Lee Smith (b. 18 March 1936) and Horace Kay (b. 13 April 1934). Although such an early origin suggests longevity, it was not until 1960 that the group emerged with a single on Swan. Now dub Read more

Billy Paul - 30% match to Freda Payne

Paul Williams, 1 December 1934, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. Although Paul had been an active singer in the Philadelphia area since the 50s, singing in jazz clubs and briefly with Harold Melvin And The Blue Notes, it was not until he met producer Kenny Gamble that his career prospered. After signing to the Neptune label, he enjoyed a successful spell on the Philadelphia Read more

The Velvelettes - 30% match to Freda Payne

Two pairs of sisters, Millie and Cal Gill, and Bertha and Norma Barbee, formed the original Velvelettes line-up in 1961 at Western Michigan State University. After recording a one-off single, ‘There He Goes’, for IPG Records in 1963, they were signed to Motown Records, where they were placed in the hands of fledgling producer Norman Whitfield. This partnership spawned Read more

Diana Ross - 29% match to Freda Payne

26 March 1944, Detroit, Michigan, USA. While still in high school Ross became the fourth and final member of the Primettes, who recorded for Lu-Pine in 1960, signed to Motown Records in 1961 and then changed their name to the Supremes. She was a backing vocalist on the group’s early releases, until Motown boss Berry Gordy insisted that she become their lead singer, a r Read more

The Five Stairsteps - 29% match to Freda Payne

A Chicago group comprised of Burke family members Clarence Jnr. (1951), James (b. 1952), Aloha (b. 1950), Kenneth (b. 1954) and Dennis (b. 1953). Discovered and produced by Curtis Mayfield, this young quintet enjoyed a consistent run of R&B chart success, with releases on the Windy C, Curtom and Buddah labels. The unit’s material - ‘You Waited Too Long’ (1 Read more