Ann Lee Peebles (born April 27, 1947)
is an American retired singer and songwriter who gained popularity for her
Memphis soul albums of the 1970s while signed to
Hi Records. Her most successful singles include "
I Can't Stand the Rain", which she wrote with her husband
Don Bryant and radio broadcaster Bernie Miller,
[ and " I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down". In 2014, she was inducted into the ]Memphis Music Hall of Fame
The Memphis Music Hall of Fame, located in Memphis, Tennessee, honors Memphis musicians for their lifetime achievements in music. The induction ceremony and concert is held each year in Memphis. Since its establishment in 2012, the Hall of Fame has ...
.
Biography
She was born in Kinloch, Missouri
Kinloch is a city in St. Louis County, Missouri, St. Louis County, Missouri. The population was 263 as of the 2020 census.
The oldest African-American community to be incorporated in Missouri, Kinloch was home to a vibrant and flourishing black c ...
, the seventh child of eleven. As a child she began singing in the choir of her father's church and with the family's group, the Peebles Choir,[Dorian Lynskey]
"Ann Peebles: the girl with the big voice"
''The Guardian'', February 20, 2014. Retrieved June 30, 2014. who regularly opened shows for gospel
Gospel originally meant the Christianity, Christian message ("the gospel"), but in the second century Anno domino, AD the term (, from which the English word originated as a calque) came to be used also for the books in which the message w ...
stars including Mahalia Jackson
Mahalia Jackson ( ; born Mahala Jackson; October 26, 1911 – January 27, 1972) was an American gospel music, gospel singer, widely considered one of the most influential vocalists of the 20th century. With a career spanning 40 years, Jackson was ...
and the Soul Stirrers featuring Sam Cooke
Samuel Cooke (; January 22, 1931 – December 11, 1964) was an American singer and songwriter. Considered one of the most influential soul music, soul artists of all time, Cooke is commonly referred to as the "King of Soul" for his distin ...
. She was also influenced by R&B performers, including Muddy Waters
McKinley Morganfield (April 4, 1913April 30, 1983), better known as Muddy Waters, was an American blues singer-songwriter and musician who was an important figure in the post-World War II blues scene, and is often cited as the "father of moder ...
, Mary Wells
Mary Esther Wells (May 13, 1943 – July 26, 1992) was an American singer, who helped to define the emerging sound of Motown in the early 1960s.
Along with the Supremes, the Miracles, the Temptations, Martha Reeves and the Vandellas, and the F ...
and Aretha Franklin
Aretha Louise Franklin ( ; March 25, 1942 – August 16, 2018) was an American singer, songwriter and pianist. Honored as the "Honorific nicknames in popular music, Queen of Soul", she was twice named by ''Rolling Stone'' magazine as the Roll ...
.[Miss FunkyFlyy]
"Ann Peebles"
Retrieved June 30, 2014.
She began performing in clubs in St. Louis, and in the mid-1960s joined a revue
A revue is a type of multi-act popular theatre, theatrical entertainment that combines music, dance, and sketch comedy, sketches. The revue has its roots in 19th century popular entertainment and melodrama but grew into a substantial cultural pre ...
led by bandleader Oliver Sain
Oliver Sain Jr. (March 1, 1932 – October 28, 2003) was an American saxophone, saxophonist, songwriter, bandleader, drummer and record producer, who was an important figure in the development of rhythm and blues music, notably in St Louis, Mi ...
. While visiting Memphis in 1968, she sang in a club with trumpeter Gene "Bowlegs" Miller, a popular local bandleader known for helping other musicians, such as the members of the Hi Rhythm Section who played on Peebles' recordings, get their start in the Memphis music industry. Miller introduced her to Hi Records producer Willie Mitchell, who quickly offered her a recording contract.[Steve Huey, "Artist Biography" Allmusic.com. Retrieved June 29, 2014.][
Her first record, "Walk Away", written by Sain, reached the ]R&B chart
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 ...
in 1969, as did the follow-up, "Give Me Some Credit", and she released an album, ''This Is Ann Peebles''. All her early records on Hi were produced by Mitchell, and featured the signature sound of the Hi Rhythm Section and Memphis Horns. In 1970, her single " Part Time Love" - a version of Little Johnny Taylor's 1963 hit - reached no. 7 on the R&B chart, and no.45 on the pop chart, and she began working with the Hi label's songwriter Don Bryant, with whom she began a relationship and married in 1974. One of the first songs he wrote for her was "99 Pounds" in 1971.[
She continued to have R&B hits in the early 1970s, including " I Pity the Fool," "Slipped, Tripped and Fell in Love," " Breaking Up Somebody's Home" (a ]Hot 100
The ''Billboard'' Hot 100, also known as simply the Hot 100, is the music industry standard record chart in the United States for songs, published weekly by ''Billboard'' magazine. Chart rankings are based on sales (physical and digital), o ...
hit in 1973 for Albert King
Albert King ( Nelson; April 25, 1923 – December 21, 1992), 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 best known for his popular and ...
and later recorded by Bette Midler
Bette Midler ( ;''Inside the Actors Studio'', 2004 born December 1, 1945) is an American actress, comedian, singer, and author. Throughout her five-decade career Midler has received List of awards and nominations received by Bette Midler, numero ...
), "Somebody's on Your Case," and " I'm Gonna Tear Your Playhouse Down" (later a hit for Paul Young). She was also the only female singer on Hi to release a string of albums, including ''Straight from the Heart'' and '' I Can't Stand the Rain'', which contained many tracks that she co-wrote with Bryant. The title track of the latter album, written by Peebles and Bryant with DJ Bernard Miller, was her biggest commercial success, reaching no. 6 on the R&B chart
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 ...
and no. 38 on the pop chart in 1973.[
Although she continued to have hit R&B singles and to release albums on Hi, none matched the success of "I Can't Stand the Rain". Mitchell later said: "She was the girl with the big voice who could have really gone further... But I don't think Ann spent enough time thinking about what she needed to do. I don't think she put as much energy into her career as a singer as some of the rest of these people."][
After Hi Records closed in 1979, and with the rise of ]disco
Disco is a music genre, genre of dance music and a subculture that emerged in the late 1960s from the United States' urban nightclub, nightlife, particularly in African Americans, African-American, Italian-Americans, Italian-American, LGBTQ ...
music, Peebles took a break from the music industry to spend more time with her family. She returned in 1989 with the album ''Call Me'', again produced by Willie Mitchell and released on his own Waylo label. During the 1990s, she released albums on Rounder Records
Rounder Records is an independent record label founded in 1970 in Somerville, Massachusetts, by Marian Leighton Levy, Ken Irwin, and Bill Nowlin. Focused on American roots music, Rounder's catalogue of more than 3000 titles includes records by A ...
' Bullseye Blues subsidiary label.[ She continued to perform, and in 2006 she released the album ''Brand New Classics'', which consisted of re-recordings of some of her songs in an acoustic style. Peebles also joined ]Cyndi Lauper
Cynthia Ann Stephanie Lauper ( ; born June 22, 1953) is an American singer, songwriter and actress. Known for her distinctive image, featuring a variety of hair colors and eccentric clothing, and for her powerful four-octave vocal range;Jerome, ...
on a recording of " Rollin' and Tumblin'" on Lauper's 11th studio album, ''Memphis Blues
The Memphis blues is a style of blues music created from the 1910s to the 1930s by musicians in the Memphis area, such as Frank Stokes, Sleepy John Estes, Furry Lewis and Memphis Minnie. The style was popular in vaudeville and medicine sho ...
''. She gave up performing after a stroke in 2012.[
]
Discography
Studio albums
Compilation albums
Live albums
Singles
In popular culture
Her name appears in the lyrics of the Le Tigre
Le Tigre (, ; French for "The Tiger") is an American art punk and riot grrrl band formed by Kathleen Hanna (of Bikini Kill), Johanna Fateman and Sadie Benning in 1998 in New York City. Benning left in 2000 and was replaced by JD Samson. ...
song "Hot Topic
Hot Topic, Inc. is an American fast-fashion company specializing in counterculture-related clothing and accessories, as well as licensed music. The stores are aimed towards an audience interested in rock music and video gaming, and most of the ...
".
Notes
References
External links
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{{DEFAULTSORT:Peebles, Ann
1947 births
Living people
Songwriters from Missouri
American soul singers
Singers from St. Louis
Hi Records artists
Fat Possum Records artists
African-American women songwriters
20th-century African-American women singers
20th-century American women singers
20th-century American singers