Barbara George (16 August 1942 – 10 August 2006) was an American R&B singer and songwriter.

Biography

Born Barbara Ann Smith at Charity Hospital in New Orleans,

Louisiana Louisiana ( ; ; ) is a state in the Deep South and South Central regions of the United States. It borders Texas to the west, Arkansas to the north, and Mississippi to the east. Of the 50 U.S. states, it ranks 31st in area and 25 ...

, United States, she was raised in the 9th ward New Orleans, and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer Jessie Hill, who recommended her to

record producer A record producer or music producer is a music creating project's overall supervisor whose responsibilities can involve a range of creative and technical leadership roles. Typically the job involves hands-on oversight of recording sessions; ensu ...

Harold Battiste. Her first record on Battiste's AFO (All For One)

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

, the certified gold single "

I Know (You Don't Love Me No More) "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)" is an R&B song written and recorded by American singer Barbara George, released as her debut single in 1961. It became her signature song and her only major hit in United States, reaching No.1 on the ''Billbo ...

" (composed by her) was issued in late 1961 and topped the R&B chart and made number 3 on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, 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 repres ...

. It was later recorded by many other artists, including

Freddie King Freddie King (born Fred Christian; September 3, 1934December 28, 1976), also billed as Freddy King, was an American blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. He is considered one of the "Three Kings of the Blues Guitar" (along with Albert King a ...

Paul Revere & the Raiders Paul Revere & the Raiders (also known as Raiders) were an American rock band formed in Boise, Idaho, in 1958. They saw considerable U.S. mainstream success in the second half of the 1960s and early 1970s. The band was known for including Revolu ...

(1966), the Merseybeats,

Ike and Tina Turner Ike or IKE may refer to: People and fictional characters * Ike (given name), a list of people and fictional characters with the given name or nickname * Ike (surname), a list of people * Dwight D. Eisenhower (1890–1969), Supreme Commander of ...

, and

Bonnie Raitt Bonnie Lynn Raitt (; born November 8, 1949) is an American singer, guitarist, and songwriter. In 1971, Raitt released her Bonnie Raitt (album), self-titled debut album. Following this, she released a series of critically acclaimed Americana (mu ...

(1972). Her only album, 1961's ''I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)'' contains 12 tracks, 11 of which credit George as the writer. Two subsequent self-penned singles, "You Talk About Love" (on AFO) and "Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin')" (on

Sue Records ''Sue Records was also the name of a Louisiana-based record company which owned Jewel Records (Shreveport record label).'' Sue Records ("The Sound of Soul") was an American record label founded by Juggy Murray, Henry 'Juggy' Murray and Bobby Robins ...

), reached the ''Billboard'' Hot 100 later in 1962, but failed to match the national success of her first hit. Later recordings such as the 1979 Senator Jones-produced "Take Me Somewhere Tonight", met with more limited success, and George largely retired from the

music industry The music industry are individuals and organizations that earn money by Songwriter, writing songs and musical compositions, creating and selling Sound recording and reproduction, recorded music and sheet music, presenting live music, concerts, ...

by the early 1980s, with subsequent singles never achieving the success of "I Know". She sang on the

Willy DeVille Willy DeVille (born William Paul Borsey Jr.; August 25, 1950 – August 6, 2009) was an American singer and songwriter. During his thirty-five-year career, first with his band Mink DeVille (1974–1986) and later on his own, DeVille created song ...

album '' Victory Mixture'' (1990). George had three sons, Tevin, Albert, and Gregory. Tevin trained as a professional boxer and is listed as the United States 1986 winner of the

Golden Gloves The Golden Gloves of America is an organization that promotes annual competitions of amateur boxing in the United States, in which winners are awarded a belt and a ring, and the title of national champion. The organization currently owns 30 fr ...

award, subsequently going on to perform in the Olympic Trials. George died in August 2006 in Chauvin, Louisiana, where she had spent the last ten years of her life, six days before her 64th birthday.

Discography

Singles

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:George, Barbara 1942 births 2006 deaths African-American women songwriters American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters American soul musicians Rhythm and blues musicians from New Orleans Sue Records artists Singer-songwriters from Louisiana People from Terrebonne Parish, Louisiana 20th-century African-American women singers 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women