Barbara Randolph
Encyclopedia
Barbara Randolph was an African American
singer and actress who recorded for Motown Records
in the 1960s.
She was born in Detroit
, Michigan
, and was adopted by the actress Lillian Randolph
, who appeared in It's a Wonderful Life
and many other movies. Barbara's show business career began - under the name Barbara Ann Sanders, having taken the name of Lillian's second husband - when she was eight years old, playing the part of Tanya in Bright Road
with Harry Belafonte
and Dorothy Dandridge
. In 1957, both she and her mother Lillian briefly joined her uncle, Steve Gibson's, vocal group, The Red Caps, as singers. She also appeared in her mother's and uncle's nightclub acts, using her mother's maiden (and stage) name of Randolph by 1958.
Barbara Randolph first recorded as a solo singer for RCA Records
in 1960. In 1964 she joined The Platters
, replacing singer Zola Taylor
, but left after a year and an album (The New Soul of the Platters). She also continued to work as an actress, taking the part of Dorothy in the 1967 movie Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
, starring Spencer Tracy
, Sidney Poitier
and Katharine Hepburn
. In the same year, she signed with Motown Records, but only released two singles for the company on its subsidiary Soul label - "I Got A Feeling" / "You Got Me Huntin' All Over" (Soul 35038), followed a year later by a version of "Can I Get a Witness
" (Soul 35050), using the same B-side. Neither record was commercially successful, but Randolph was sufficiently highly regarded to tour with Marvin Gaye
as a replacement for Tammi Terrell
after Tammi became ill. Randolph also toured with The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Hugh Masekela
as part of the "Motown Sound" show in 1968. She was reportedly also considered as a replacement for Florence Ballard
in 1967 for the Supremes, and Diana Ross
in The Supremes
in 1969. Randolph used the year 1970 for entertaining US forces in Vietnam
, returning to paid performances the next year.
She married Eddie Singleton, who had previously been married to Berry Gordy
's ex-wife, Raynoma Liles Gordy
. They opened a production company together, and Barbara Randolph retired from singing, except to re-record a version of "I Got A Feeling" for the Nightmare
label in the UK in 1989. By that time, the track - and other recordings by Randolph during her brief recording career - had achieved considerable popularity in Britain
on the Northern soul
dance scene, and since the 1980s has been reissued on several compilation albums. A collection of her recordings, most of which dated from 1969 but had not been issued previously, was released by Spectrum Records in 2003.
Barbara Randolph died from cancer
in South Africa
in 2002, at the age of 60.
African American
African Americans are citizens or residents of the United States who have at least partial ancestry from any of the native populations of Sub-Saharan Africa and are the direct descendants of enslaved Africans within the boundaries of the present United States...
singer and actress who recorded for Motown Records
Motown Records
Motown is a record label originally founded by Berry Gordy, Jr. and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation in Detroit, Michigan, United States, on April 14, 1960. The name, a portmanteau of motor and town, is also a nickname for Detroit...
in the 1960s.
She was born in Detroit
Detroit, Michigan
Detroit is the major city among the primary cultural, financial, and transportation centers in the Metro Detroit area, a region of 5.2 million people. As the seat of Wayne County, the city of Detroit is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan and serves as a major port on the Detroit River...
, Michigan
Michigan
Michigan is a U.S. state located in the Great Lakes Region of the United States of America. The name Michigan is the French form of the Ojibwa word mishigamaa, meaning "large water" or "large lake"....
, and was adopted by the actress Lillian Randolph
Lillian Randolph
Lillian Randolph was an American actress and singer, a veteran of radio, film, and television. An African American, she worked in entertainment from the 1930s well into the 1970s, appearing in hundreds of radio shows, motion pictures, short subjects, and television shows.-Early years:Born...
, who appeared in It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life
It's a Wonderful Life is a 1946 American Christmas drama film produced and directed by Frank Capra and based on the short story "The Greatest Gift" written by Philip Van Doren Stern....
and many other movies. Barbara's show business career began - under the name Barbara Ann Sanders, having taken the name of Lillian's second husband - when she was eight years old, playing the part of Tanya in Bright Road
Bright Road
Bright Road is a 1953 low-budget film adapted from the Christopher Award-winning short story "See How They Run" by Mary Elizabeth Vroman. Directed by Gerald Mayer and featuring a nearly all-black cast, the film stars Dorothy Dandridge as an idealistic first-year elementary school teacher trying to...
with Harry Belafonte
Harry Belafonte
Harold George "Harry" Belafonte, Jr. is an American singer, songwriter, actor and social activist. He was dubbed the "King of Calypso" for popularizing the Caribbean musical style with an international audience in the 1950s...
and Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Dandridge
Dorothy Jean Dandridge was an American actress and popular singer, and was the first African-American to be nominated for an Academy Award for Best Actress...
. In 1957, both she and her mother Lillian briefly joined her uncle, Steve Gibson's, vocal group, The Red Caps, as singers. She also appeared in her mother's and uncle's nightclub acts, using her mother's maiden (and stage) name of Randolph by 1958.
Barbara Randolph first recorded as a solo singer for RCA Records
RCA Records
RCA Records is one of the flagship labels of Sony Music Entertainment. The RCA initials stand for Radio Corporation of America , which was the parent corporation from 1929 to 1985 and a partner from 1985 to 1986.RCA's Canadian unit is Sony's oldest label...
in 1960. In 1964 she joined The Platters
The Platters
The Platters were a vocal group of the early rock and roll era. Their distinctive sound was a bridge between the pre-rock Tin Pan Alley tradition and the burgeoning new genre...
, replacing singer Zola Taylor
Zola Taylor
Zola Taylor, born Zoletta Lynn Taylor was an American singer. She was the original female member of The Platters from 1954 to 1962, when the group produced most of their popular singles....
, but left after a year and an album (The New Soul of the Platters). She also continued to work as an actress, taking the part of Dorothy in the 1967 movie Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner
Guess Who's Coming to Dinner is a 1967 American drama film starring Spencer Tracy, Sidney Poitier and Katharine Hepburn, and featuring Hepburn's niece Katharine Houghton...
, starring Spencer Tracy
Spencer Tracy
Spencer Bonaventure Tracy was an American theatrical and film actor, who appeared in 75 films from 1930 to 1967. Tracy was one of the major stars of Hollywood's Golden Age, ranking among the top ten box office draws for almost every year from 1938 to 1951...
, Sidney Poitier
Sidney Poitier
Sir Sidney Poitier, KBE is a Bahamian American actor, film director, author, and diplomat.In 1963, Poitier became the first black person to win an Academy Award for Best Actor for his role in Lilies of the Field...
and Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Hepburn
Katharine Houghton Hepburn was an American actress of film, stage, and television. In a career that spanned 62 years as a leading lady, she was best known for playing strong-willed, sophisticated women in both dramas and comedies...
. In the same year, she signed with Motown Records, but only released two singles for the company on its subsidiary Soul label - "I Got A Feeling" / "You Got Me Huntin' All Over" (Soul 35038), followed a year later by a version of "Can I Get a Witness
Can I Get a Witness
"Can I Get a Witness" is a 1963 hit song by Marvin Gaye on the Tamla label. Written and produced by Motown songwriting and producing team Holland–Dozier–Holland, the song was built among gospel-styled music and heralded Gaye's beginnings in the church with a rhythm and blues/rock and roll setting...
" (Soul 35050), using the same B-side. Neither record was commercially successful, but Randolph was sufficiently highly regarded to tour with Marvin Gaye
Marvin Gaye
Marvin Pentz Gay, Jr. , better known by his stage name Marvin Gaye, was an American singer-songwriter and musician with a three-octave vocal range....
as a replacement for Tammi Terrell
Tammi Terrell
Thomasina Winifred Montgomery, known as Tammi Terrell was an American singer-songwriter most notable for her association with Motown and her duets with Marvin Gaye. As a teenager she recorded for the Scepter–Wand, Try Me and Checker record labels. She signed with Motown in April 1965 and enjoyed...
after Tammi became ill. Randolph also toured with The Four Tops, Gladys Knight and the Pips and Hugh Masekela
Hugh Masekela
Hugh Ramopolo Masekela is a South African trumpeter, flugelhornist, cornetist, composer, and singer.-Early life:Masekela was born in Kwa-Guqa Township, Witbank, South Africa. He began singing and playing piano as a child...
as part of the "Motown Sound" show in 1968. She was reportedly also considered as a replacement for Florence Ballard
Florence Ballard
Florence Glenda Ballard Chapman was an American singer and a founding member of the Motown group The Supremes. From 1963 until 1967, Ballard sang on 16 Top 40 hit Supremes' singles, ten of which hit number-one on the Billboard Hot 100. In 1967, Motown CEO Berry Gordy decided to remove Ballard from...
in 1967 for the Supremes, and Diana Ross
Diana Ross
Diana Ernestine Earle Ross is an American singer, record producer, and actress. Ross was lead singer of the Motown group The Supremes during the 1960s. After leaving the group in 1970, Ross began a solo career that included successful ventures into film and Broadway...
in The Supremes
The Supremes
The Supremes, an American female singing group, were the premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s.Originally founded as The Primettes in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959, The Supremes' repertoire included doo-wop, pop, soul, Broadway show tunes, psychedelic soul, and disco...
in 1969. Randolph used the year 1970 for entertaining US forces in Vietnam
Vietnam
Vietnam – sometimes spelled Viet Nam , officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam – is the easternmost country on the Indochina Peninsula in Southeast Asia. It is bordered by China to the north, Laos to the northwest, Cambodia to the southwest, and the South China Sea –...
, returning to paid performances the next year.
She married Eddie Singleton, who had previously been married to Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy
Berry Gordy, Jr. is an American record producer, and the founder of the Motown record label, as well as its many subsidiaries.-Early years:...
's ex-wife, Raynoma Liles Gordy
Ray Singleton
Ray Mayberry Liles Gordy Singleton is an American R&B producer, songwriter and vocalist, best known for her association with ex-husband Berry Gordy during the early days of Motown.-Early life:...
. They opened a production company together, and Barbara Randolph retired from singing, except to re-record a version of "I Got A Feeling" for the Nightmare
Motorcity Records singles discography
-Nightmare 12" singles:Singles with the MARE-prefix released on Ian Levine's label Nightmare Records before the label was re-named Motorcity Records. Subsequent 12" singles carried the MOTC-prefix...
label in the UK in 1989. By that time, the track - and other recordings by Randolph during her brief recording career - had achieved considerable popularity in Britain
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...
on the Northern soul
Northern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
dance scene, and since the 1980s has been reissued on several compilation albums. A collection of her recordings, most of which dated from 1969 but had not been issued previously, was released by Spectrum Records in 2003.
Barbara Randolph died from cancer
Cancer
Cancer , known medically as a malignant neoplasm, is a large group of different diseases, all involving unregulated cell growth. In cancer, cells divide and grow uncontrollably, forming malignant tumors, and invade nearby parts of the body. The cancer may also spread to more distant parts of the...
in South Africa
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
in 2002, at the age of 60.