Fern Kinney (born Fern Kinney-Lewis, July 11, 1949), is an American R&B and

disco Disco is a genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the 1970s from the United States' urban nightlife scene. Its sound is typified by four-on-the-floor beats, syncopated basslines, string sections, brass and horns, electric pia ...

singer Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, who is best remembered for her releases, " Groove Me" and "

Together We Are Beautiful "Together We Are Beautiful" is a popular song by Fern Kinney. Written by Ken Leray and produced by Carson Whitsett, Wolf Stephenson and Tommy Couch, "Together We Are Beautiful" was originally recorded by Ken Leray in 1977, while a 1979 version by ...

Career

Born in

Jackson Jackson may refer to: People and fictional characters * Jackson (name), including a list of people and fictional characters with the surname or given name Places Australia * Jackson, Queensland, a town in the Maranoa Region * Jackson North, Qu ...

Mississippi Mississippi () is a state in the Southeastern region of the United States, bordered to the north by Tennessee; to the east by Alabama; to the south by the Gulf of Mexico; to the southwest by Louisiana; and to the northwest by Arkansas. Miss ...

, United States, Kinney originally sang in The Poppies with

Dorothy Moore Dorothy Moore (born October 13, 1946) is an American blues, gospel, and R&B singer best known for her 1976 hit song, "Misty Blue". Career Moore's parents were Mary Moore and Melvin Hendrex Senior. Her father performed under the stage name Melv ...

. In the early 1970s, she began working as a

session musician Session musicians, studio musicians, or backing musicians are musicians hired to perform in recording sessions or live performances. The term sideman is also used in the case of live performances, such as accompanying a recording artist on a ...

and

backing vocalist A backing vocalist is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists. A backing vocalist may also sing alone as a lead-in to the main vocalist's entry or to sing a counter-melody. Backing vocalists are us ...

. Among the songs she sang on were

King Floyd King Floyd (February 13, 1945 – March 6, 2006) was a New Orleans soul singer and songwriter, best known for his top 10 hit from 1970, " Groove Me". Early career King Floyd III was born in New Orleans in 1945. His musical career started as a ...

's " Groove Me", and her former "Poppie" bandmate Dorothy Moore's 1976 Top 10 single, "

Misty Blue Misty may refer to: Music * ''Misty'' (Ray Stevens album), an album by Ray Stevens featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Richard "Groove" Holmes album), an album by Richard "Groove" Holmes featuring the above song * ''Misty'' (Eddie "Lockjaw" ...

". By 1979, then having settled as a housewife, Kinney decided to attempt a comeback, and she recorded her own

version Version may refer to: Computing * Software version, a set of numbers that identify a unique evolution of a computer program * VERSION (CONFIG.SYS directive), a configuration directive in FreeDOS Music * Cover version * Dub version * Remix * ''Ve ...

of "Groove Me", but changed the rhythm on the song to turn it into a disco dance track. The song reached number 6 on the ''Billboard'' dance

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 ...

. Her next single "

", released in 1980 was another disco song, but with a slower and more sultry beat. It had been recorded by the

British British may refer to: Peoples, culture, and language * British people, nationals or natives of the United Kingdom, British Overseas Territories, and Crown Dependencies. ** Britishness, the British identity and common culture * British English, ...

vocalist Singing is the act of creating musical sounds with the voice. A person who sings is called a singer, artist or vocalist (in jazz and/or popular music). Singers perform music (arias, recitatives, songs, etc.) that can be sung with or without ...

, Steve Allan, eighteen months earlier. Kinney's effort failed to chart in the United States, but reached

number one Number One most commonly refers to: * 1 (number) Number One, No. 1, or #1 may also refer to: Music Albums * ''Number 1'' (Big Bang album), and the title song * ''No. 1'' (BoA album), and the title song * ''No.1'' (EP), by CLC * ''n.1 ...

in the

UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart (currently titled Official Singles Chart, with the upper section more commonly known as the Official UK Top 40) is compiled by the Official Charts Company (OCC), on behalf of the British record industry, listing the top-s ...

. Kinney's subsequent releases attempted to continue in the disco style, however by this time the disco fad had reached its peak and Kinney was unable to repeat her success. By 1983, she had returned to her earlier career as a backing vocalist. In 1994, Music Club released an album (MCCD 167) of Kinney's records called ''Chemistry The Best Of'' under the licence from

Malaco Records Malaco Records is an American independent record label based in Jackson, Mississippi, United States, that has been the home of various major blues and gospel acts, such as Johnnie Taylor, Bobby Bland, Mel Waiters, Z. Z. Hill, Denise LaSalle, La ...

, which contained 17 tracks.

Discography

Albums

*''Groove Me'' (1979) - AUS No. 86 *''Fern'' (1981) *''Sweet Music'' (1982)

Compilation albums

*''Fern Kinney'' (1988) *''Chemistry – The Best of Fern Kinney'' (1994)

Singles

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Kinney, Fern 1949 births Living people Musicians from Jackson, Mississippi American women pop singers American rhythm and blues singers American disco musicians 21st-century American women