Barbara Acklin
Encyclopedia
Barbara Jean Acklin was an American
soul singer
and songwriter
who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" in 1968. As a songwriter, she is best known for co-writing "Have You Seen Her
" with Eugene Record
, lead singer of the Chi-Lites.
, and moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois in 1948. She was encouraged to sing as a child; by the age of 11, she sang regularly as a soloist at the New Zion Baptist Church, and as a teenager started singing at nightclubs in Chicago. After graduating from Dunbar Vocational High School
she worked as a secretary at St. Lawrence Records. Her first record was released on the subsidiary Special Agent label under the pseudonym Barbara Allen, and was produced by her cousin, producer and saxophonist Monk Higgins
. She also worked as a backing singer at Chess Records
on recordings by Etta James
, Fontella Bass
, Koko Taylor
and others produced by Higgins.
In 1966 she started working as a receptionist at Brunswick Records
' Chicago office, where she submitted demo recordings
of some of her own songs to producer Carl Davis
. One of her songs, "Whispers (Gettin' Louder)", which she had co-written with David Scott, formerly of The Five Du-Tones
, was recorded by Jackie Wilson
and became his biggest hit for three years, reaching no. 5 on the Billboard
R&B chart and no. 11 on the Hot 100. Wilson then helped secure her a recording contract with Brunswick. Her first two singles for the label were unsuccessful but her third, "Show Me the Way To Go", a duet with Gene Chandler
, made the R&B chart. She began writing songs with another Brunswick recording artist, Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites; some but not all sources state that they were later married. They co-wrote the Peaches and Herb hit "Two Little Kids", before Record and Davis co-wrote and produced Acklin's first and biggest solo hit, "Love Makes a Woman"; the other co-writers were arranger Sonny Sanders and guitarist Gerald Sims. The single reached no. 3 on the R&B chart and no. 15 on the US pop chart in July 1968 and won a BMI award.
Acklin continued to have a series of hits on Brunswick over the next four years, including "From the Teacher to the Preacher", another duet with Chandler, and solo hits "Just Ain't No Love" and "Am I the Same Girl
", produced by Record. The instrumental
backing track
of "Am I the Same Girl", with piano replacing Acklin's vocal, became a bigger hit when released as "Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited
. "Am I the Same Girl" was covered
in the UK
by Dusty Springfield
(UK
no. 43, 1969). Acklin also released several albums on the Brunswick label: Love Makes a Woman (1968), Seven Days of Night (1969), Someone Else's Arms (1970), I Did It (1971) and I Call It Trouble (1973).
At the same time, she continued her successful writing partnership with Eugene Record. Impressed by the monologues on Isaac Hayes
' album Hot Buttered Soul
, Record and Acklin wrote "Have You Seen Her", which was originally an album track on the Chi-Lites' 1971 album (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People
before being released as a single. It reached no. 1 on the R&B chart and no. 3 on the US pop chart, and twice made the UK top ten (no. 3 in 1972 and no. 5 in 1975). In 1990, the song became a top ten hit again, when recorded by MC Hammer
. Record and Acklin co-wrote several other successful songs for the Chi-Lites, including "Stoned Out of My Mind" (R&B no. 2, 1973), "Toby" (R&B no. 7, 1974), and "Too Good To Be Forgotten" (UK no. 10, 1975).
In 1974, Acklin moved to Capitol Records
. Her first single for the label, "Raindrops" - co-written by Acklin, and produced by Willie Henderson
- became her biggest hit on the R&B chart for six years, and she released an album, A Place in the Sun. However, later recordings met with less success and she was dropped by the label in 1975. She continued to tour as a solo artist, and as a backing singer for the Chi-Lites, Tyrone Davis
, and other acts. In 1980, she made some recordings for Carl Davis' Chi-Sound
label, and contributed backing vocals to Otis Clay
's 1993 album The Gospel Truth.
Acklin later lived in Omaha, Nebraska
. She had begun recording a new album in 1998, when she fell ill and died from pneumonia
at the age of 55. She had a son and a daughter.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
soul singer
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
who was most successful in the 1960s and 1970s. Her biggest hit as a singer was "Love Makes a Woman" in 1968. As a songwriter, she is best known for co-writing "Have You Seen Her
Have You Seen Her
"Have You Seen Her" is a song recorded by the soul vocal group, The Chi-Lites, and released on Brunswick Records in 1971. Composed by the lead singer Eugene Record and Barbara Acklin, the song was included on the group's 1971 album Give More Power to the People.-Song:The Chi-Lites recorded "Have...
" with Eugene Record
Eugene Record
Eugene Record was the American lead vocalist of the Chicago, Illinois based band, The Chi-Lites, during the 1960s and 1970s.He was born Eugene Booker Record in Chicago...
, lead singer of the Chi-Lites.
Life and career
She was born in Oakland, CaliforniaOakland, California
Oakland is a major West Coast port city on San Francisco Bay in the U.S. state of California. It is the eighth-largest city in the state with a 2010 population of 390,724...
, and moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois in 1948. She was encouraged to sing as a child; by the age of 11, she sang regularly as a soloist at the New Zion Baptist Church, and as a teenager started singing at nightclubs in Chicago. After graduating from Dunbar Vocational High School
Dunbar Vocational High School
Dunbar Vocational High School is a public 4-year vocational high school located in the Bronzeville neighborhood of Chicago, Illinois. It is named in honor of the African-American poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. Dunbar opened in 1942, and it is located on a 12 acre campus in the historic Bronzeville...
she worked as a secretary at St. Lawrence Records. Her first record was released on the subsidiary Special Agent label under the pseudonym Barbara Allen, and was produced by her cousin, producer and saxophonist Monk Higgins
Monk Higgins
Milton Bland better known as Monk Higgins, was an American musician and saxophonist who was born in Menifee, Arkansas....
. She also worked as a backing singer at Chess Records
Chess Records
Chess Records was an American record label based in Chicago, Illinois. It specialized in blues, R&B, soul, gospel music, early rock and roll, and occasional jazz releases....
on recordings by Etta James
Etta James
Etta James is an American blues, soul, rhythm and blues , rock and roll, gospel and jazz singer. In the 1950s and 1960s, she had her biggest success as a blues and R&B singer...
, Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass
Fontella Bass is an American soul singer, who is best known for the 1965 R&B hit "Rescue Me", which she also co-wrote.-Early life:...
, Koko Taylor
Koko Taylor
Koko Taylor sometimes spelled KoKo Taylor was an American Chicago blues musician, popularly known as the "Queen of the Blues." She was known primarily for her rough, powerful vocals and traditional blues stylings....
and others produced by Higgins.
In 1966 she started working as a receptionist at Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records
Brunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
' Chicago office, where she submitted demo recordings
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
of some of her own songs to producer Carl Davis
Carl Davis (record producer)
Carl H. Davis is an American record producer and music executive, who was particularly active in Chicago in the 1960s and 1970s when he was responsible for hit R&B records by Gene Chandler, Major Lance, Jackie Wilson, The Chi-Lites, Barbara Acklin, Tyrone Davis and others.-Life and career:He was...
. One of her songs, "Whispers (Gettin' Louder)", which she had co-written with David Scott, formerly of The Five Du-Tones
The Five Du-Tones
The Five Du-Tones Were Robert Hopkins , Willie Guest, Frank McCurrey, LeRoy Joyce, James West, and Andrew Butler. They formed at Patrick Henry High School in St. Louis, Missouri, in 1957....
, was recorded by Jackie Wilson
Jackie Wilson
Jack Leroy "Jackie" Wilson, Jr. was an American singer and performer. Known as "Mr. Excitement", Wilson was important in the transition of rhythm and blues into soul. He was known as a master showman, and as one of the most dynamic singers and performers in R&B and rock history...
and became his biggest hit for three years, reaching no. 5 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B chart and no. 11 on the Hot 100. Wilson then helped secure her a recording contract with Brunswick. Her first two singles for the label were unsuccessful but her third, "Show Me the Way To Go", a duet with Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler
Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene...
, made the R&B chart. She began writing songs with another Brunswick recording artist, Eugene Record, lead singer of the Chi-Lites; some but not all sources state that they were later married. They co-wrote the Peaches and Herb hit "Two Little Kids", before Record and Davis co-wrote and produced Acklin's first and biggest solo hit, "Love Makes a Woman"; the other co-writers were arranger Sonny Sanders and guitarist Gerald Sims. The single reached no. 3 on the R&B chart and no. 15 on the US pop chart in July 1968 and won a BMI award.
Acklin continued to have a series of hits on Brunswick over the next four years, including "From the Teacher to the Preacher", another duet with Chandler, and solo hits "Just Ain't No Love" and "Am I the Same Girl
Am I the Same Girl
"Am I the Same Girl" is a popular soul song written by Eugene Record and Sonny Sanders. First recorded in 1968 by Barbara Acklin, "Am I the Same Girl" charted most successfully in the US as a 1992 release by Swing Out Sister...
", produced by Record. The instrumental
Instrumental
An instrumental is a musical composition or recording without lyrics or singing, although it might include some non-articulate vocal input; the music is primarily or exclusively produced by musical instruments....
backing track
Backing track
A backing track is an audio or MIDI recording that musicians play or sing along to in order to add parts to their music which would be impractical to perform live.-Uses:...
of "Am I the Same Girl", with piano replacing Acklin's vocal, became a bigger hit when released as "Soulful Strut" by Young-Holt Unlimited
Young-Holt Unlimited
Young-Holt Unlimited were an American soul and jazz instrumental musical ensemble from Chicago, Illinois.Drummer Isaac "Red" Holt and bassist Eldee Young, formerly members of Ramsey Lewis' jazz trio, formed a new outfit called the Young-Holt Trio with pianist Don Walker in 1966...
. "Am I the Same Girl" was covered
Cover version
In popular music, a cover version or cover song, or simply cover, is a new performance or recording of a contemporary or previously recorded, commercially released song or popular song...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
by Dusty Springfield
Dusty Springfield
Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'BrienSources use both Isabel and Isobel as the spelling of her second name. OBE , known professionally as Dusty Springfield and dubbed The White Queen of Soul, was a British pop singer whose career extended from the late 1950s to the 1990s...
(UK
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
no. 43, 1969). Acklin also released several albums on the Brunswick label: Love Makes a Woman (1968), Seven Days of Night (1969), Someone Else's Arms (1970), I Did It (1971) and I Call It Trouble (1973).
At the same time, she continued her successful writing partnership with Eugene Record. Impressed by the monologues on Isaac Hayes
Isaac Hayes
Isaac Lee Hayes, Jr. was an American songwriter, musician, singer and actor. Hayes was one of the creative influences behind the southern soul music label Stax Records, where he served both as an in-house songwriter and as a record producer, teaming with his partner David Porter during the...
' album Hot Buttered Soul
Hot Buttered Soul
Hot Buttered Soul was Isaac Hayes' second studio album. Released in 1969, it is recognized as a landmark in soul music.-Album history:The album almost never came to be...
, Record and Acklin wrote "Have You Seen Her", which was originally an album track on the Chi-Lites' 1971 album (For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People
(For God's Sake) Give More Power to the People
Give More Power to the People is the third studio album by American soul group The Chi-Lites, produced and largely written by lead singer Eugene Record. The album was released in 1971 on the Brunswick label.-History:...
before being released as a single. It reached no. 1 on the R&B chart and no. 3 on the US pop chart, and twice made the UK top ten (no. 3 in 1972 and no. 5 in 1975). In 1990, the song became a top ten hit again, when recorded by MC Hammer
MC Hammer
Stanley Kirk Burrell , better known by his stage name MC Hammer , is an American rapper, entertainer, business entrepreneur, dancer and actor. He had his greatest commercial success and popularity from the late 1980s until the mid-1990s...
. Record and Acklin co-wrote several other successful songs for the Chi-Lites, including "Stoned Out of My Mind" (R&B no. 2, 1973), "Toby" (R&B no. 7, 1974), and "Too Good To Be Forgotten" (UK no. 10, 1975).
In 1974, Acklin moved to Capitol Records
Capitol Records
Capitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
. Her first single for the label, "Raindrops" - co-written by Acklin, and produced by Willie Henderson
Willie Henderson (musician)
Willie Henderson is an American soul musician. Henderson moved to Chicago with his family while still a child, and began playing the baritone saxophone. He gigged with Otis Rush, Syl Johnson, Alvin Cash, and Harold Burrage while in his twenties, and began working for Brunswick Records in 1968...
- became her biggest hit on the R&B chart for six years, and she released an album, A Place in the Sun. However, later recordings met with less success and she was dropped by the label in 1975. She continued to tour as a solo artist, and as a backing singer for the Chi-Lites, Tyrone Davis
Tyrone Davis
Tyrone Davis , born Tyrone Fettson, was a leading American soul singer with a distinctive style, recording a long list of hit records over a period of more than 20 years. He had three no...
, and other acts. In 1980, she made some recordings for Carl Davis' Chi-Sound
Chi Sound Records
Chi-Sound Records is an independent record label set up in 1976 by established Chicago record producer Carl Davis. He had been involved in the music industry since the early 1960s working with locally-based labels including Vee-Jay and Okeh, a subsidiary of the major Columbia Records. He produced...
label, and contributed backing vocals to Otis Clay
Otis Clay
Otis Clay is an American R&B and soul singer, who started in gospel music.-Life and career:...
's 1993 album The Gospel Truth.
Acklin later lived in Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha, Nebraska
Omaha is the largest city in the state of Nebraska, United States, and is the county seat of Douglas County. It is located in the Midwestern United States on the Missouri River, about 20 miles north of the mouth of the Platte River...
. She had begun recording a new album in 1998, when she fell ill and died from pneumonia
Pneumonia
Pneumonia is an inflammatory condition of the lung—especially affecting the microscopic air sacs —associated with fever, chest symptoms, and a lack of air space on a chest X-ray. Pneumonia is typically caused by an infection but there are a number of other causes...
at the age of 55. She had a son and a daughter.
Discography
Albums
- 1968: Love Makes a Woman (BrunswickBrunswick RecordsBrunswick Records is a United States based record label. The label is currently distributed by E1 Entertainment.-From 1916:Records under the "Brunswick" label were first produced by the Brunswick-Balke-Collender Company...
) – US #146, R&B #4 - 1969: Seven Days of Night (Brunswick)
- 1970: Someone Else's Arms (Brunswick)
- 1971: I Did It (Brunswick) – R&B #28
- 1973: I Call It Trouble (Brunswick)
- 1975: A Place in the Sun (CapitolCapitol RecordsCapitol Records is a major United States based record label, formerly located in Los Angeles, but operating in New York City as part of Capitol Music Group. Its former headquarters building, the Capitol Tower, is a major landmark near the corner of Hollywood and Vine...
) - 2002: 20 Greatest Hits (Brunswick)
Chart singles
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
|||
| 1968 | "Show Me The Way To Go" Gene Chandler Gene Chandler Gene Chandler also known as "The Duke of Earl" or simply "The Duke", is an American R&B and soul singer-songwriter, producer and record executive. He is one of the leading exponents of the 1960s Chicago soul scene... and Barbara Acklin |
- | 30 | |
| "Love Makes A Woman" | 15 | 3 | ||
| "From the Teacher To The Preacher" Gene Chandler and Barbara Acklin |
57 | 16 | ||
| "Just Ain't No Love" | 67 | 23 | ||
| 1969 | "Am I the Same Girl Am I the Same Girl "Am I the Same Girl" is a popular soul song written by Eugene Record and Sonny Sanders. First recorded in 1968 by Barbara Acklin, "Am I the Same Girl" charted most successfully in the US as a 1992 release by Swing Out Sister... " |
79 | 33 | |
| "After You" | - | 30 | ||
| 1970 | "I Did It" | 121 | 28 | |
| 1971 | "Lady, Lady, Lady" | - | 44 | |
| 1972 | "I Call It Trouble" | - | 49 | |
| 1974 | "Raindrops" | - | 14 | |
| 1975 | "Special Loving" | - | 73 | |
| "Give Me Some Of Your Sweet Love" | - | 98 | ||
Further reading
- Pruter, Robert. Chicago Soul. Chicago: University of Illinois Press. ISBN 978-025206259-9