James Jay Barnes (November 30, 1943 – December 10, 2022) was an American R&B singer and songwriter.

Biography

He recorded several singles, starting in 1960. His early releases including "Just One More Time" and "Please Let Me In", on the

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 ...

s Mickay and Ric-Tic, had relatively little success, but were subsequently picked up as Northern soul favorites in the UK. He was later signed to

Motown Records Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmant ...

, where he contributed as a songwriter but did not have any recordings released as a singer. Some of his Motown material has subsequently been released on the '' A Cellarful of Motown!'' compilation album series. Barnes was a member of the Holidays, a trio which also included

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. Starr was famous for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the number-on ...

and Steve Mancha. They had a #7 R&B hit in June 1966 with "I'll Love You Forever" (#43 in Canada). Barnes' biggest

hit single A hit song, also known as a hit record, hit single or simply a hit, is a recorded song or instrumental that becomes broadly popular or well-known. Although ''hit song'' means any widely played or big-selling song, the specific term ''hit record' ...

came in 1967 with "Baby Please Come Back Home" on the Groovesville label, which, like many of his

records A record, recording or records may refer to: An item or collection of data Computing * Record (computer science), a data structure ** Record, or row (database), a set of fields in a database related to one entity ** Boot sector or boot record, ...

, he co-wrote. The song reached No. 9 on the US ''

Billboard A billboard (also called a hoarding in the UK and many other parts of the world) is a large outdoor advertising structure (a billing board), typically found in high-traffic areas such as alongside busy roads. Billboards present large advertise ...

'' R&B

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 ...

, and No. 25 in Canada. However, subsequent singles on a variety of labels, including

cover Cover or covers may refer to: Packaging * Another name for a lid * Cover (philately), generic term for envelope or package * Album cover, the front of the packaging * Book cover or magazine cover ** Book design ** Back cover copy, part of co ...

s of "Black Ivory" on Today/Perception Records, failed to repeat the success. On the recommendation of his friend

, Barnes moved to England in the 1970s, becoming popular. Starr had arranged for Barnes to appear on a series of shows, which led to him signing a deal with Contempo Records. He became a favorite artist of the UK Northern soul scene, and performed frequently in the UK. Early recordings from Barnes, such as "Please Let Me In" and "Real Humdinger", were re-released in the UK on the

Tamla Motown Motown Records is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. It was founded by Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on June 7, 1958, and incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau of ''mot ...

label to cater for the buyers of Northern soul records. In the 1970s, Contempo Records released seven singles and an album, ''Sara Smile'' from Barnes, all without chart success. In the 1980s, he released five more records including a version of the Northern soul favorite by Frank Wilson, "

Do I Love You (Indeed I Do) "Do I Love You (Indeed I Do)" is a song and single by American soul singer Frank Wilson first pressed in 1965 on the Motown subsidiary label Soul. It is Wilson's only Motown single and is a prized item among collectors. Record history Approxima ...

", and he recorded with producer

Ian Levine Ian Geoffrey Levine (born 22 June 1953) is a British songwriter, producer, and DJ. A moderniser of Northern soul music in the UK, and a developer of the style of Hi-NRG, he has written and produced records with sales totalling over 40 million. ...

in the 1990s. His song "Chains of Love", originally the B-side of his 1967 hit "Baby Please Come Back Home", achieved further renown when it was covered by

the Dirtbombs The Dirtbombs are an American garage rock band based in Detroit, Detroit, Michigan, notable for blending diverse influences such as punk rock and Soul music, soul, while featuring a dual bass guitar, dual drum and guitar lineup. The Dirtbombs we ...

on their ''

Ultraglide in Black ''Ultraglide in Black'' is an album by the American rock music group The Dirtbombs. The album is mostly covers of soul and funk songs. Band leader Mick Collins stated that this album was his tribute to the black music he grew up with. The only ...

'' album in 2001. Barnes died on December 10, 2022, at the age of 79.Rizik, Chris. (December 10, 2022
"1960s R&B star J.J. Barnes dies at age 79"
''SoulTracks''. Retrieved December 11, 2022.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Barnes, J. J. 1943 births 2022 deaths 20th-century African-American male singers American rhythm and blues singers American soul singers American expatriates in the United Kingdom Motown artists Smash Records artists Northern soul musicians Buddah Records artists African-American songwriters Ric-Tic Records artists Songwriters from Michigan Singers from Detroit 21st-century African-American people American male songwriters