Barbara George (16 August 1942 – 10 August 2006) was an American R&B singer and songwriter.

Biography

Born Barbara Ann Smith at Charity Hospital in New Orleans,

Louisiana Louisiana , group=pronunciation (French: ''La Louisiane'') is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It is the 20th-smallest by area and the 25th most populous of the 50 U.S. states. Louisiana is borde ...

, United States, she was raised in the 9th ward New Orleans, and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer

Jessie Hill Jessie Hill (December 9, 1932 – September 17, 1996) was an American R&B and Louisiana blues singer and songwriter, best remembered for the classic song "Ooh Poo Pah Doo". Life and career Hill was born in New Orleans, Louisiana, United Sta ...

, who recommended her to

record producer A record producer is a recording project's creative and technical leader, commanding studio time and coaching artists, and in popular genres typically creates the song's very sound and structure.Virgil Moorefield"Introduction" ''The Producer as ...

Harold Battiste Harold Raymond Battiste Jr. (October 28, 1931 – June 19, 2015) was an American music composer, arranger, performer, and teacher. A native of, and later community leader in, New Orleans, he is best known for his work as an arranger on record ...

. Her first record on Battiste's AFO (All For One)

record label A record label, or record company, is a brand or trademark of music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a publishing company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the produ ...

, the certified gold single "

I Know (You Don't Love Me No More) "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" is an R&B song written and recorded by American singer Barbara George, released as her debut single in 1961. It became her signature song and her only major hit in United States, reaching number-one on the ''Bi ...

" (composed by her) was issued in late 1961 and topped the R&B chart and made number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can represent tabu ...

. It was later recorded by many other artists, including

Freddie King Freddie King (September 3, 1934December 28, 1976) was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King and B.B. King, none of whom were blood related). Mos ...

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolu ...

(1966),

the Merseybeats The Merseybeats (also related vocal duo The Merseys) are an English beat band that emerged from the Liverpool Merseybeat scene in the early 1960s, performing at the Cavern Club along with the Beatles, Gerry and the Pacemakers, and other simila ...

Ike and Tina Turner Ike or IKE may refer to: People * Ike (given name), a list of people with the name or nickname * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of the Allied forces in Europe during World War II and President of the United States Surname ...

, and

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American blues singer and guitarist. In 1971, Raitt released her self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed roots-influenced albums that incorporated ...

(1972). Her only album, 1961's ''I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)'' contains 12 tracks, 11 of which credit George as the writer. Two subsequent self-penned singles, "You Talk About Love" (on AFO) and "Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin')" (on

Sue Records ''Sue Records was also the name of a Louisiana-based record company which owned Jewel Records (Shreveport record label).'' Sue Records ("The Sound of Soul") was an American record label founded by Henry 'Juggy' Murray and Bobby Robinson in 1957. ...

), reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 later in 1962, but failed to match the national success of her first hit. Later recordings such as the 1979 Senator Jones produced "Take Me Somewhere Tonight", met with more limited success, and George largely retired from the

music industry The music industry consists of the individuals and organizations that earn money by writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling recorded music and sheet music, presenting concerts, as well as the organizations that aid, train, ...

by the early 1980s, with subsequent singles never achieving the success of "I Know". She sang on the

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created orig ...

album ''

Victory Mixture ''Victory Mixture'' is a 1990 album by Willy DeVille. The album consists of cover versions of New Orleans R&B and soul classics by DeVille’s musical idols. Trouser Press said about the album, “A rootsy covers collection, ''Victory Mixture'' ...

'' (1990). George had three sons, Tevin, Albert, and Gregory. Tevin trained as a professional boxer and is listed as the United States 1986 winner of the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves is the name given to annual competitions for amateur boxing in the United States, where they are awarded a belt and a ring. And the title of nations champion is awarded. The Golden Gloves is a term used to refer to the Nation ...

award, subsequently going on to perform in the Olympic Trials. George died in August 2006 in

Chauvin, Louisiana Chauvin is a census-designated place (CDP) in Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana, United States. The population was 2,575 in 2020.. It is part of the Houma– Bayou Cane–Thibodaux metropolitan statistical area. Geography Chauvin is located at (29.44 ...

, where she had spent the last ten years of her life, six days before her 64th birthday.

Charted singles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Barbara 1942 births 2006 deaths African-American women songwriters American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul musicians Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Sue Records artists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana People from Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana 20th-century African-American women singers 21st-century American women