Judy Guion, 12 September 1938, St. Paul, North Carolina, USA, d. 19 July 2001, Fayetteville, North Carolina. Guion began singing in church in St. Paul at a very early age, before moving to Fayetteville, North Carolina, to be raised by her grandmother. A move to Brooklyn in the early 50s saw her join a church choir that also sang on Sunday night radio broadcasts. After her gr
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Sarah Jean Perkins, 15 March 1947, Columbus, Georgia, USA. Carn was raised in Atlanta, where her parents encouraged her at the age of four to sing in the church choir and to take piano lessons. Indeed, to this day, she is an accomplished performer on piano, clarinet and bassoon. She first revealed her formidable musical talents as a teenager on a morning radio talk show, Tod
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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
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1954, New York City, New York, USA. Browne started to learn the piano at the age of 11 and continued his studies at the Manhattan School of Music and Art. Later, he graduated in physics from Kingsborough College. It was listening to an Ornette Coleman album that sparked his interest in jazz. His first gig was with the Weldon Irvine Group in 1975, followed by stints with Sonn
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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. &
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Freda Charcilia Payne, 19 September 1945, Detroit, Michigan, USA. Schooled in jazz and classical music, this urbane singer attended the Institute Of Musical Arts and worked with Pearl Bailey prior to recording her debut album in 1963 for MGM Records. Payne signed to Holland/Dozier/Holland’s label Invictus Records and her first recording, ‘The Unhooked Generation
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Although the group was led by Paolo Granolio (guitar) and David Romani (bass), this was ostensibly a studio creation by producers Jacques Fred Petrus and Mauro Malavasi, who first linked to form Goody Music in 1975. With material recorded in Bologna (where the producers’ own 24-track studio was based) and New York, The Glow Of Love launched the group on a high note, with s
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Eddie Harris
- 11% match to The Valentine Brothers
20 October 1936, Chicago, Illinois, USA, d. 5 November 1996, Los Angeles, California, USA. Harris’ apprenticeship was served with Gene Ammons before army service took to him to Europe. He had a surprise hit in 1961 with an arrangement of Ernest Gold’s Exodus theme, and followed with three further hit records (in the USA) over the next decade, the most notable being
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