Song: Oh, Be My Love
Album:Soulsville Sings Hitsville:Stax Sings Songs Of Motown Records
Barbara Lewis had a couple of big hits in the 60s. By the time she recorded Oh, Be My Love for the Stax subsidiary Enterprise, she was through as a hitmaker. But it's a good record and you don't want to overlook it. And this various artists comp is great too. She was born Feb. 9, 1943 in South Lyon, MI. She started recording as a teen with producer Ollie McLaughlin. He was an Ann Arbor DJ best known for discovering Del Shannon. Barbara wrote all the songs on her debut album and her 1963 debut single Hello Stranger reached #3 on the pop singles chart. Follow up singles didn't do as well and she went to New York to work with Atlantic Records producers Jerry Wexler & Bert Burns. Barbara's other big hit was the Van McCoy song Baby I'm Yours which reached #11 on the pop singles chart. Her music probably isn't as gritty as other soul singers and that's why she is overlooked. You can get her Atlantic hits on the 1994 Rhino comp Hello Stranger: The Best Of Barbara Lewis. She left Atlantic in 1968 and reunited with Ollie McLaughlin for the 1970 album The Many Grooves Of Barbara Lewis on Enterprise Records. Oh, Be My Love is a cover of a Smokey Robinson song. That album is a little grittier than her other records but it didn't sell and though Barbara Lewis still tours the oldies circuit, that was her final recording. The Many Grooves Of Barbara Lewis was released on CD in 1993 with bonus tracks but I don't know if it's available right now. But you can get this great various artists comp. Here's Barbara Lewis performing Baby I'm Yours on Hullabaloo in 1965.
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