Barbara and the Browns were an American

soul In many religious and philosophical traditions, there is a belief that a soul is "the immaterial aspect or essence of a human being". Etymology The Modern English noun '' soul'' is derived from Old English ''sāwol, sāwel''. The earliest atte ...

and

gospel Gospel originally meant the Christian message (" the gospel"), but in the 2nd century it came to be used also for the books in which the message was set out. In this sense a gospel can be defined as a loose-knit, episodic narrative of the words a ...

vocal group A vocal group is a performing ensemble of vocalists who sing and harmonize together. The first well-known vocals groups emerged in the 19th century, and the style had reached widespread popularity by the 1940s. Types Vocal groups can come in s ...

, fronted by Barbara Brown (died 3 February 2010) who also recorded as a solo singer. The group were from

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in the U.S. state of Tennessee. It is the seat of Shelby County in the southwest part of the state; it is situated along the Mississippi River. With a population of 633,104 at the 2020 U.S. census, Memphis is the second-mos ...

, and originally comprised Barbara Brown with her sisters Roberta, Betty, Maurice, and brothers Walter and Richard writing some of their material. In 1963 they auditioned with Chips Moman, intending to record gospel music, but Moman persuaded them to record his secular song "Big Party". The song was released as a single on Wilmo Records, and after it became locally successful the master was leased to

Stax Records Stax Records is an American record company, originally based in Memphis, Tennessee. Founded in 1957 as Satellite Records, the label changed its name to Stax Records in 1961. It also shared its operations with sister label Volt Records. Stax was ...

. The record rose to # 97 on the '' Billboard'' Hot 100 during a period when no R&B chart was being published. Stax released two more singles by the group, "In My Heart" and "I Don't Want Trouble" in 1964–65, but neither were commercially successful. Barbara and the Browns at Allmusic.com/ref>Ace Records: Barbara Brown
Barbara and the Browns at SirShambling.com
/ref> The group were then signed by Gene Lucchesi to the XL label, who recorded the group - and, then, Barbara as a solo artist - using producer Charles Chalmers. Several singles were released on the Cadet, Atco and Tower labels, and on XL itself. Although subsequently highly regarded by critics and aficionados of

Southern soul Southern soul is a type of soul music that emerged from the Southern United States. The music originated from a combination of styles, including blues (both 12 bar and jump), country, early R&B, and a strong gospel influence that emanated ...

, the records sold poorly at the time. Barbara Brown did not record after 1972. A compilation of her recordings, ''Can't Find Happiness'', including several unreleased recordings, was issued by Kent Records in 2007. She died in

Detroit Detroit ( , ; , ) is the largest city in the U.S. state of Michigan. It is also the largest U.S. city on the United States–Canada border, and the seat of government of Wayne County. The City of Detroit had a population of 639,111 at t ...

Michigan Michigan () is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest, upper Midwestern United States. With a population of nearly 10.12 million and an area of nearly , Michigan is the List of U.S. states and ...

in 2010; she was in her seventies.

Discography

Singles

* "You Belong to Her" / "Big Party" (Wilmo, 1963) * "You Belong to Her" / "Big Party" (Stax, 1964) * "In My Heart" / "Please Be Honest with Me" (Stax, 1964) * "I Don't Want Trouble" / "My Lover" (Stax, 1965) * "I Don't Want to Have to Wait" / "Plenty of Room" (Cadet, 1966) * "Can't Find No Happiness" / "A Great Big Thing" (Atco, 1968) * "There's a Look on Your Face" / "Things Have Gone to Pieces" (Tower, 1968) * "You Don't Love Me" / "If I Can't Run to You I'll Crawl" (XL / Sounds of Memphis, 1971) * "Pity a Fool" / "If It's Good to You" (Sounds of Memphis, 1972) * "Big Party" / "Watch Dog" (Sounds of Memphis, 1972)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Barbara And The Brons African-American musical groups American rhythm and blues musical groups