Barbara Mason
Encyclopedia
Barbara Mason is an American
R&B
/soul singer best known for her 1965 hit song, "Yes, I'm Ready".
when she entered the music industry in her teens
. As a performer, though, she had a hit single
in 1965 with her self-penned Top 10 hit, "Yes, I'm Ready" (number five pop, number two R&B), a fetching soul-pop
confection that spotlighted her high, girlish vocals. One of the first examples of the sweet, lush sound that came to be called Philly soul, she had modest success throughout the rest of the decade on the small Arctic label
, reaching the Billboard Hot 100
Top 40 again in 1965 with "Sad, Sad Girl", and "Oh How It Hurts" in 1967-68.
In the early and mid 1970s, Mason toughened her persona considerably, singing about sexual love and infidelity with a frankness that was uncommon for a female soul singer in songs like "Bed and Board," "From His Woman to You," and "Shackin' Up." Sweet soul continued to be her groove, and she continued to write some of her material. But the production, as it was throughout soul in the '70s, was more funk-oriented, and at times Mason would interrupt her singing to deliver some straight-talkin' raps
about romance. Curtis Mayfield
produced
her on a cover version
of Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love," which restored her to the pop Top 40 and R&B Top Ten in 1973; "From His Woman to You" (the response to Shirley Brown
's single "Woman to Woman") and "Shackin' Up" were also solid soul sellers in the mid '70s. After leaving Buddah Records
in 1975, she only dented the charts periodically, with "I Am Your Woman, She Is Your Wife" (1978), "Another Man" (1984) on West End Records
, and a couple of other singles
.
Mason was set to release a new CD
, Feeling Blue, on 18 September 2007.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
/soul singer best known for her 1965 hit song, "Yes, I'm Ready".
Career
A soul singer, Mason initially focused on songwritingSongwriter
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...
when she entered the music industry in her teens
Adolescence
Adolescence is a transitional stage of physical and mental human development generally occurring between puberty and legal adulthood , but largely characterized as beginning and ending with the teenage stage...
. As a performer, though, she had a hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
in 1965 with her self-penned Top 10 hit, "Yes, I'm Ready" (number five pop, number two R&B), a fetching soul-pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
confection that spotlighted her high, girlish vocals. One of the first examples of the sweet, lush sound that came to be called Philly soul, she had modest success throughout the rest of the decade on the small Arctic label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, reaching the Billboard Hot 100
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...
Top 40 again in 1965 with "Sad, Sad Girl", and "Oh How It Hurts" in 1967-68.
In the early and mid 1970s, Mason toughened her persona considerably, singing about sexual love and infidelity with a frankness that was uncommon for a female soul singer in songs like "Bed and Board," "From His Woman to You," and "Shackin' Up." Sweet soul continued to be her groove, and she continued to write some of her material. But the production, as it was throughout soul in the '70s, was more funk-oriented, and at times Mason would interrupt her singing to deliver some straight-talkin' raps
Rapping
Rapping refers to "spoken or chanted rhyming lyrics". The art form can be broken down into different components, as in the book How to Rap where it is separated into “content”, “flow” , and “delivery”...
about romance. Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Mayfield
Curtis Lee Mayfield was an American soul, R&B, and funk singer, songwriter, and record producer.He is best known for his anthemic music with The Impressions during the Civil Rights Movement of the 1960's and for composing the soundtrack to the blaxploitation film Super Fly, Mayfield is highly...
produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
her on a cover version
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...
of Mayfield's "Give Me Your Love," which restored her to the pop Top 40 and R&B Top Ten in 1973; "From His Woman to You" (the response to Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown
Shirley Brown is an American soul singer, best known for her million-selling single "Woman to Woman" which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975.-Woman to Woman:...
's single "Woman to Woman") and "Shackin' Up" were also solid soul sellers in the mid '70s. After leaving Buddah Records
Buddah Records
Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding...
in 1975, she only dented the charts periodically, with "I Am Your Woman, She Is Your Wife" (1978), "Another Man" (1984) on West End Records
West End Records
West End Records is a record label, which is known as one of the most prominent labels in dance music’s history along with Prelude Records, Salsoul Records and Casablanca Records.-History:...
, and a couple of other singles
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
.
Mason was set to release a new CD
Compact Disc
The Compact Disc is an optical disc used to store digital data. It was originally developed to store and playback sound recordings exclusively, but later expanded to encompass data storage , write-once audio and data storage , rewritable media , Video Compact Discs , Super Video Compact Discs ,...
, Feeling Blue, on 18 September 2007.
Studio albums
| Year | Album | Chart positions | Record label | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Billboard 200 The Billboard 200 is a ranking of the 200 highest-selling music albums and EPs in the United States, published weekly by Billboard magazine. It is frequently used to convey the popularity of an artist or groups of artists... |
US R&B Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums Top R&B/Hip-Hop Albums is a chart published by Billboard magazine that ranks R&B and hip hop albums based on sales compiled by Nielsen SoundScan. The name of the chart was changed from Top R&B Albums in 1999... |
|||
| 1965 | Yes, I'm Ready' | 129 | — | Arctic |
| 1968 | Oh How It Hurts | — | 42 | |
| 1970 | If You Knew Him Like I Do | — | — | National General National General Pictures National General Pictures was a Distribution and Film production company which was active between 1967 and 1973. NGP produced nine motion pictures inhouse and was the distributor of eighty films.... |
| 1973 | Give Me Your Love | 95 | 17 | Buddah Buddah Records Buddah Records was founded in 1967 in New York City. The label was born out of Kama Sutra Records, an MGM Records-distributed label, which remained a key imprint following Buddah's founding... |
| 1974 | Lady Love | — | 29 | |
| Transition | — | — | ||
| 1975 | Love's the Thing | 187 | 42 | |
| 1977 | Locked in This Postition (with Bunny Sigler Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Sigler is a pop and R&B songwriter and record producer who has done extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and who was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s. He is nicknamed "Mr... ) |
— | — | Curtom Curtom Records Curtom Records was a record label started by Curtis Mayfield of The Impressions along with Impressions associate Eddie Thomas in 1968 although the name was used as early as 1963. The labels name was a combination of Mayfields first name and Thomas' surname... |
| 1978 | I Am Your Woman, She Is Your Wife | — | — | Prelude Prelude Records (record label) Prelude Records was a New York-based dance independent record label, active from 1976 to 1986. At one time, François Kevorkian held an A&R position at Prelude. The label owner was Marvin Schlachter.-History:... |
| 1980 | A Piece of My Life | — | — | WMOT WMOT Records WMOT Records, an independent recording company in Philadelphia, produced a number of singles in the "Philadelphia sound" soul tradition... |
| 1984 | Another Man | — | — | West End West End Records West End Records is a record label, which is known as one of the most prominent labels in dance music’s history along with Prelude Records, Salsoul Records and Casablanca Records.-History:... |
| 2007 | Feeling Blue | — | — | Sunswept |
| "—" denotes the album failed to chart | ||||
Singles
| Year | Single | Chart positions | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| US 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,... |
UK 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,... |
||||
| 1964 | "Trouble Child" | — | — | — | ||
| 1965 | "Girls Have Feelings Too" | — | 31 | — | ||
| "Yes, I'm Ready" | 5 | 2 | — | |||
| "Sad, Sad Girl" | 27 | 12 | — | |||
| "If You Don't (Love Me, Tell Me So)" | 85 | — | — | |||
| 1966 | "Is It Me?" | 97 | — | — | ||
| "I Need Love" | 98 | 25 | — | |||
| "Poor Girl in Trouble" | — | — | — | |||
| 1967 | "You Can Depend on Me" | — | — | — | ||
| "Oh, How It Hurts" | 59 | 11 | — | |||
| 1968 | "I Don't Want to Lose You" | — | — | — | ||
| "(I Can Feel Your Love) Slipping Away" | 97 | — | — | |||
| "I'm No Good for You" | — | — | — | |||
| 1969 | "Take It Easy (With My Heart)" | — | — | — | ||
| "You Better Stop It" | — | — | — | |||
| 1970 | "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head "Raindrops Keep Fallin' on My Head" is B. J. Thomas's #1 song, written by Hal David and Burt Bacharach for the 1969 film Butch Cassidy and the Sundance Kid. It won an Academy Award for Best Original Song. David and Bacharach also won Best Original Score. It was recorded in seven takes, after... " (A-side) |
112 | 38 | — | ||
| "If You Knew Him Like I Do" (B-side) | — | |||||
| "Just a Little Lovin'" | — | — | — | |||
| "When You Look at Me" | — | — | — | |||
| "I Can't Help It" | — | — | — | |||
| 1971 | "Pow Pow Song (Sorry Sorry Baby)" | — | — | — | ||
| 1972 | "Bead and Board" | 70 | 24 | — | ||
| "Woman and Man" | — | — | — | |||
| "Give Me Your Love" | 31 | 9 | — | |||
| 1973 | "Yes, I'm Ready" (re-recorded version) | 125 | — | — | ||
| "Children of Tomorrow" | — | 79 | — | |||
| "Caught in the Middle (Of a One Sided Love Affair)" | — | — | — | |||
| 1974 | "World War Three" | — | — | — | ||
| "The Devil Is Busy" | — | — | — | |||
| "Half Brother, Half Sister" | — | — | — | |||
| "From His Woman to You" | 28 | 3 | — | |||
| 1975 | "Shackin' Up" | 91 | 9 | — | ||
| "We Got Each Other" (with The Futures) (A-side) | — | 38 | — | |||
| "Make It Last" (with The Futures) (B-side) | — | 35 | — | |||
| 1977 | "Love Song" (with Bunny Sigler Bunny Sigler Walter "Bunny" Sigler is a pop and R&B songwriter and record producer who has done extensive work with the team of Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff, and who was instrumental in creating the "Philly Sound" in the early 1970s. He is nicknamed "Mr... ) |
— | — | — | ||
| 1978 | "I Am Your Woman, She Is Your Wife" | — | 14 | — | ||
| "Darling Come Back Home" | — | — | — | |||
| 1980 | "I'll Never Love the Same Way Twice" | — | 54 | — | ||
| 1981 | "She's Got the Papers (But I Got the Man)" | — | 29 | — | ||
| "On and Off" | — | — | — | |||
| 1984 | "Another Man" | — | 68 | 45 | ||
| "Don't I Ever Cross Your Mind Sometime" | — | — | — | |||
| "—" denotes the single failed to chart | ||||||
External links
- [ Profile of Barbara Mason On AMG]
- Barbara Mason on Soul Patrol
- Barbara Mason Page
- Barbara Mason Myspace Page