Barrett Strong Similar Artists

The Flirtations - 64% match to Barrett Strong

A British-based R&B female group, who originally came from New York City, New York, USA. The Supremes were extremely popular during the late 60s, and record companies were keen to record any female groups who sounded like them. The Flirtations were the beneficiaries of this phenomenon. The members were sisters Shirley and Earnestine Pearce and Viola Billups. The Pearce sist Read more

Martha & The Vandellas - 61% match to Barrett Strong

Martha Reeves - 61% match to Barrett Strong

18 July 1941, Alabama, USA. Reeves was schooled in both gospel and classical music, but it was vocal group R&B that caught her imagination. She began performing in the late 50s under the name Martha Lavaille, briefly joining the Fascinations and then the Del-Phis. In 1961 she joined the fledgling Motown Records organization in Detroit, where she served as secretary to Wi Read more

Smokey Robinson & The Miracles - 57% match to Barrett Strong

The Miracles - 57% match to Barrett Strong

Of all the R&B vocal groups formed in Detroit, Michigan, USA, in the mid-50s, the Miracles proved to be the most successful. They were founded at the city’s Northern High School in 1955 by Smokey Robinson (William Robinson, 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Emerson Rogers, Bobby Rogers (b. 19 February 1940, Detroit, Michigan, USA), Ronnie White (b. 5 April Read more

The Coasters - 52% match to Barrett Strong

The illustrious career of the Coasters, the pre-eminent vocal group of the early rock ‘n’ roll era, was built on a remarkable body of cleverly comic R&B songs for Atco Records fashioned by their producers, Leiber And Stoller. Under their direction, the Coasters exchanged the crooning of ballads favoured by most groups of the era for robust and full-throated R& Read more

The Contours - 49% match to Barrett Strong

The Contours formed as an R&B vocal group in Detroit in 1959, featuring lead vocalist Billy Gordon, Billy Hoggs, Joe Billingslea and Sylvester Potts. Hubert Johnson (14 January 1941, d. 11 July 1981) joined the line-up in 1960, and it was his cousin Jackie Wilson who secured the group an audition and then a contract with Motown Records in 1961. Initial singles proved uns Read more

Jimmy Ruffin - 48% match to Barrett Strong

7 May 1939, Collinsville, Mississippi, USA. The son of a minister, Ruffin was born into a musical family: his brother, David Ruffin, and cousin, Melvin Franklin, both became mainstays of the Temptations. Ruffin abandoned his gospel background to become a session singer in the early 60s, joining the Motown Records stable in 1961 for a one-off single before he was drafted for Read more

Jr. Walker & The All Stars - 46% match to Barrett Strong

The Marvelettes - 46% match to Barrett Strong

The Marvelettes’ career epitomized the haphazard progress endured by many of the leading girl-groups of the early 60s. Despite enjoying several major US hits, they were unable to sustain a consistent line-up, and their constant shifts in personnel made it difficult to overcome their rather anonymous public image. The group was formed in the late 50s by five students at Ink Read more

Four Tops - 43% match to Barrett Strong

Mary Wells - 43% match to Barrett Strong

13 May 1943, Detroit, Michigan, USA, d. 26 July 1992, Los Angeles, California, USA. At the age of 17, Mary Wells composed ‘Bye Bye Baby’, a song which she offered to R&B star Jackie Wilson. His producer, Berry Gordy, was sufficiently impressed to offer her a contract with the newly formed Motown Records label, and Wells’ rendition of her song became one of Read more

Box Tops - 42% match to Barrett Strong

The Box Tops - 42% match to Barrett Strong

Formed in 1965, and originally known as the Devilles, this Memphis, Tennesse, USA-based quintet - Alex Chilton (William Alexander Chilton, 28 December 1950, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; guitar/vocals), Gary Talley (b. 17 August 1947, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; lead guitar), Bill Cunningham (b. 23 January 1950, Memphis, Tennessee, USA; bass/keyboards), John Evans (b. 18 June 1948, Read more

Sam & Dave - 41% match to Barrett Strong

Samuel David Moore (12 October 1935, Miami, Florida, USA) and David Prater (b. 9 May 1937, Ocilla, Georgia, USA, d. 9 April 1988). Sam And Dave first performed together in 1961 at Miami’s King Of Hearts club. Moore originally sang in his father’s Baptist church before joining the Melonaires, while Prater, who had worked with the Sensational Hummingbirds, was also g Read more