HOME

TheInfoList



OR:

"Woman to Woman" is the title of a 1974
deep 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 fro ...
single recorded by
Shirley Brown Shirley Brown (born January 6, 1947, West Memphis, Arkansas) is an American R&B singer, best known for her million-selling single " Woman to Woman", which was nominated for a Grammy Award in 1975. Biography Brown was born in West Memphis, but ...
for whom it was a #1 R&B hit. The song was written by James Banks, Eddie Marion and Henderson Thigpen, who had previously written hits for
Little Milton James Milton Campbell Jr. (September 7, 1934 – August 4, 2005), better known as Little Milton, was an American blues singer and guitarist, best known for his number-one R&B single " We're Gonna Make It". His other hits include " Baby, I Love ...
,
the Bar-Kays The Bar-Kays are an American funk band formed in 1964. The band had dozens of record chart, charting single (music), singles from the 1960s to the 1980s, including "Soul Finger" (US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100 number 17, Hot R&B/Hip ...
and other
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 ...
artists. According to Thigpen, he and Banks were brainstorming ideas for songs at Stax Studio (quote:)"trying to come up with...something different. When people get serious, they say: 'Hey, let's talk man to man'...We thought it would be interesting to have a song with somebody coming up
ith The Ith () is a ridge in Germany's Central Uplands which is up to 439 m high. It lies about 40 km southwest of Hanover and, at 22 kilometres, is the longest line of crags in North Germany. Geography Location The Ith is immediatel ...
'Hey, let's talk woman to woman'." Thigpen had recently overheard his wife on the phone arguing with a friend about an involved couple of their acquaintance, and – with Eddie Marion – Thigpen and Banks completed their "Woman to Woman" song structuring it as a phone call from a wife to her husband's mistress. "Woman to Woman" was first offered to
Inez Foxx Inez Foxx (September 9, 1937 – August 25, 2022) and her elder brother Charlie Foxx (October 23, 1933 – September 18, 1998) were an American rhythm and blues and soul duo from Greensboro, North Carolina. Inez sang lead vocal, while Charli ...
, then signed to Stax's
Volt The volt (symbol: V) is the unit of electric potential, electric potential difference (voltage), and electromotive force in the International System of Units (SI). It is named after the Italian physicist Alessandro Volta (1745–1827). Defi ...
label, who turned it down because – according to Banks – she didn't want to do the spoken intro, feeling that format could only work for a male singer. Around this time Shirley Brown was introduced to Stax president Jim Stewart by
Albert King Albert Nelson (April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), known by his stage name Albert King, was an American guitarist and singer who is often regarded as one of the greatest and most influential blues guitarists of all time. He is perhaps b ...
in whose live revue she'd performed while a teenager: Stewart was impressed enough by Brown to himself produce her Stax debut recording – Stewart's first production task in two years – of "Woman to Woman" (Stewart co-produced the track with
Al Jackson Jr. Albert J. Jackson Jr. (November 27, 1935 – October 1, 1975) was an American drummer, producer, and songwriter. He was a founding member of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, a group of session musicians who worked for Stax Records and produced their ...
) with Brown cutting her vocal in a single take. Brown would state in a 1975 interview (quote:)"The guys who wrote Woman to Woman'sang it through to me and I felt it needed a rap to begin it, so I wrote one off the top of my head"; however the song's co-writer James Banks has stated that the spoken intro was part of the song when it was offered to Inez Foxx, whose dislike of the "rap" caused her to turn the song down. Reportedly selling a million units in its first eight weeks of release, "Woman to Woman" spent two weeks at #1 on ''
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 ...
'' magazine's
Hot Soul Singles The Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs chart ranks the most popular R&B and hip hop songs in the United States and is published weekly by ''Billboard''. Rankings are based on a measure of radio airplay, sales data, and streaming activity. The chart had 100 p ...
chart in November 1974 and crossed-over to the
Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is the current, 40 most-popular songs in a particular genre. It is the best-selling or most frequently broadcast popular music. Record charts have traditionally consisted of a total of 40 songs. "Top 40" or " con ...
of the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, peaking there at #22. The song is notable for being the last big hit for
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 ...
.


Chart history


Answer song

In 1975
Barbara Mason Barbara Mason (born August 9, 1947, in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States) is an American soul singer with several R&B and pop hits in the 1960s and 1970s, best known for her self-written 1965 hit song "Yes, I'm Ready". She has released ...
had a hit with "From His Woman to You" which was an
answer song An answer song, response song or answer record, is a song (usually a recorded track) made in answer to a previous song, normally by another artist. The concept became widespread in blues and R&B recorded music in the 1930s to the 1950s. Answer son ...
to "Woman to Woman", the line "Barbara this is Shirley" from Brown's recording being spliced on to the opening of Mason's recording. The song debuted on the charts four weeks following Brown's hit, peaking at #28 (U.S.).''Joel Whitburn's Top Pop Singles 1955–1990'' – On the R&B chart, it reached #3.


Cover versions

In 1978, a C&W rendition of "Woman to Woman" provided a hit for
Barbara Mandrell Barbara Ann Mandrell (born December 25, 1948) is an American country music singer and musician. She is also credited as an actress and author. During the late 1970s and early 1980s, she was considered among country's most successful music artist ...
, peaking at #4 on the ''Billboard'' magazine C&W chart and crossing over to #92 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100, marking Mandrell's first Hot 100 appearance ("Woman to Woman" was also Mandrell's first single to rank on the ''Billboard'' Adult Contemporary (aka Easy Listening) chart, where it peaked at #49). Mandrell's rendition maintained the spoken intro as heard on Brown's, with the modification that as spoken by Mandrell the intro mentions no personal names whereas Brown had opened with: "Hello may I speak to Barbara? Barbara, this is Shirley". In 1994, a cover by Jewell featured on the soundtrack to the film ''
Murder Was the Case ''Murder Was the Case'' is a 1994 short film and soundtrack album starring and performed by Snoop Doggy Dogg. The 18 minute film was directed by Dr. Dre and Fab Five Freddy and chronicles the fictional death of Snoop Dogg and his resurrection afte ...
'' starring
Snoop Dogg Calvin Cordozar Broadus Jr. (born October 20, 1971), known professionally as Snoop Dogg (previously Snoop Doggy Dogg and briefly Snoop Lion), is an American rapper. His fame dates back to 1992 when he featured on Dr. Dre's debut solo single, " ...
. Jewell's version sampled Shirley Brown's original and peaked at #16 on the R&B chart and #72 on the Billboard Hot 100.


References

{{Barbara Mandrell songs 1974 singles 1978 singles Barbara Mandrell songs Songs written by Homer Banks Stax Records singles 1974 songs