Linda Lyndell (born as Linda Rowland, November 22, 1946) is 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 ...

singer from Gainesville, Florida. Lyndell sang in

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 ...

churches as a child; though she was

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, she sang in both white and black churches, and eventually began singing with R&B groups as a teenager.Jason Ankeny, Linda Lyndellat

Allmusic AllMusic (previously known as All Music Guide and AMG) is an American online music database. It catalogs more than three million album entries and 30 million tracks, as well as information on musicians and bands. Initiated in 1991, the databa ...

In the 1960s she sang as a support act with James Brown and

Ike & Tina Turner Ike & Tina Turner were an American musical duo consisting of husband and wife Ike Turner and Tina Turner. From 1960 to 1976, they performed live as the Ike & Tina Turner Revue, supported by Ike Turner's band the Kings of Rhythm and backing voca ...

, and in 1967

Atlanta Atlanta ( ) is the capital and most populous city of the U.S. state of Georgia. It is the seat of Fulton County, the most populous county in Georgia, but its territory falls in both Fulton and DeKalb counties. With a population of 498,715 ...

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Dave Crawford introduced her 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 ...

producers Isaac Hayes and David Porter. They recorded her first single, "Bring Your Love Back to Me", in December 1967 and released it on

Volt 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 ...

, but the song did not become a hit. In 1968 she did a second session, cutting the tune "What a Man"; this song reached No. 50 on the Billboard R&B charts. In response to the release of her single, she received threats from

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groups such as the Ku Klux Klan, and retired from performance soon after. She remained out of music and lived in Gainesville for the next 25 years. Linda recorded songs at Fuller Studios in Tampa, Florida, in the sixties with Gene Middleton and the Soul Survivors. In 1993,

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group Salt-n-Pepa

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" What a Man" for their hit single "

Whatta Man "What a Man" is a song written by Dave Crawford, and originally recorded for Stax Records' Volt imprint by Linda Lyndell, whose recording reached number 50 on the '' Billboard'' R&B chart in 1968. The song was sampled and reinterpreted as "Wha ...

", which was a massive hit. In the wake of the single's success, Lyndell began performing again, and in 2003, at the opening of the Stax Museum, she performed "What a Man" live for the first time ever. In 2011, the German singer Lena Meyer-Landrut (credited as Lena) covered the song while retaining the original title and lyrics.

Discography

*"Bring Your Love Back to Me"/"Here Am I" (1967) *" What a Man"/"I Don't Know" (1968)

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Lyndell, Linda American soul musicians American women singers Musicians from Gainesville, Florida Living people 1946 births 21st-century American women