Sondra "Blinky" Williams (born May 21, 1944) is an American R&B and

soul The soul is the purported Mind–body dualism, immaterial aspect or essence of a Outline of life forms, living being. It is typically believed to be Immortality, immortal and to exist apart from the material world. The three main theories that ...

singer-songwriter, probably best known for singing the female lead on the theme for the 1970s TV series, ''

Good Times ''Good Times'' is an American television sitcom that aired for six seasons on CBS, from February 8, 1974, to August 1, 1979. Created by Eric Monte and Mike Evans (actor), Mike Evans and developed by executive producer Norman Lear, it was televis ...

''.

Early life

Williams was born in

Oakland, California Oakland is a city in the East Bay region of the San Francisco Bay Area in the U.S. state of California. It is the county seat and most populous city in Alameda County, California, Alameda County, with a population of 440,646 in 2020. A major We ...

, United States, but later grew up in

Los Angeles Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

. The daughter of a pastor, she was active in church choirs since the age of six. Her two siblings are Diana Williams Witherspoon and Pastor Austin F. Williams.

Career

She recorded the album ''Hark the Voice'' on

Atlantic Records Atlantic Recording Corporation (simply known as Atlantic Records) is an American record label founded in October 1947 by Ahmet Ertegun and Herb Abramson. Over the course of its first two decades, starting from the release of its first recor ...

, then moved to

Motown Motown is an American record label owned by the Universal Music Group. Founded by Berry Gordy, Berry Gordy Jr. as Tamla Records on January 12, 1959, it was incorporated as Motown Record Corporation on April 14, 1960. Its name, a portmanteau ...

where she recorded (as "Blinky") five singles including her debut, the

Ashford & Simpson Ashford & Simpson were an American husband-and-wife songwriting, production and recording duo composed of Nickolas Ashford (May 4, 1941 – August 22, 2011) and Valerie Simpson (born August 26, 1946). Ashford was born in Fairfield, South Carol ...

penned single "I Wouldn't Change the Man He Is", (a song reportedly written about

Lovin' Spoonful Loving may refer to: * Love, a range of human emotions * Loving (surname) * ''Loving v. Virginia'', a 1967 landmark United States Supreme Court civil rights case Film and television * ''Loving'' (1970 film), an American film * ''Loving'' (1 ...

studio bass player James Killingsworth) in 1968, and thought she would find success when she recorded a duet album with

Edwin Starr Charles Edwin Hatcher (January 21, 1942 – April 2, 2003), known by his stage name Edwin Starr, was an American singer and songwriter. He is best remembered for his Norman Whitfield-produced Motown singles of the 1970s, most notably the num ...

entitled ''

Just We Two ''Just We Two'' is the title of a recording by the Norrie Paramor and his Orchestra, released 1956 in Australia on Columbia LP record 330S-1076 and 1959 in the United States on Capitol LP record T10111. For this album Paramor used a smaller grou ...

'', on the heels of his ''25 Miles''. However, they did not get the promotion that either the Marvin Gaye & Tammi Terrell or the Supremes-Temptations duets did, and success again eluded her when, after becoming a protégé of

Sammy Davis Jr. Samuel George Davis Jr. (December 8, 1925 – May 16, 1990) was an American singer, actor, comedian, dancer, and musician. At age two, Davis began his career in Vaudeville with his father Sammy Davis Sr. and the Will Mastin Trio, which t ...

, his deal with the label fell through. Blinky released two further singles for Motown in the early 1970s (on the company's California-based MoWest subsidiary) and has had several others scheduled for release that were not issued. She is also credited with singing the theme for the 1970s TV series, ''

'', along with

Jim Gilstrap James Gilstrap is an American singer and session musician. He is best known for his 1975 solo hit single " Swing Your Daddy", as well as singing co-lead to the theme from the TV series ''Good Times''. Career Gilstrap was born November 10, 1946 ...

. In February 1972, Blinky Williams traveled with

and other performers on a USO Show trip to Vietnam where they entertained US soldiers at various bases throughout South Vietnam.

Later career

Blinky's version of "God Bless the Child" appears on the album ''Rock Gospel: The Key to the Kingdom'' and her recording of " 'Tain't Nobody's Biz-ness if I Do" is on the soundtrack of '' Lady Sings The Blues'', the

Billie Holiday Billie Holiday (born Eleanora Fagan; April 7, 1915 – July 17, 1959) was an American jazz and swing music singer. Nicknamed "Lady Day" by her friend and music partner, Lester Young, Holiday made significant contributions to jazz music and pop ...

bio-pic starring

Diana Ross Diana Ross (born Diane Ernestine Earle Ross March 26, 1944) is an American singer and actress. Known as the "Queen of Motown Records", she was the lead singer of the vocal group the Supremes, who became Motown#Major divisions, Motown's most suc ...

. Most of her solo work, save for a few singles, remained unreleased until 2019, when Real Gone Music released a double CD compilation of tracks from the Motown vaults. She can be heard live on the ''Motortown Revue Live!'' CD. In addition, she was one of the original Cogic Singers, with Andraé Crouch, Sandra Crouch, Billy Preston, Edna Wright (lead singer of The Honey Cone), Frankie Karl, and Gloria Jones. Following her non-success with Motown, she returned to gospel music and resumed her given name. On October 31, 2009, Blinky appeared as a backup singer, along with Sharon Jones, performing

The Rolling Stones The Rolling Stones are an English Rock music, rock band formed in London in 1962. Active for over six decades, they are one of the most popular, influential, and enduring bands of the Album era, rock era. In the early 1960s, the band pione ...

' "Exile on Main Street", as part of the rock band

Phish Phish is an American rock band formed in Burlington, Vermont, in 1983. The band consists of guitarist Trey Anastasio, bassist Mike Gordon, drummer Jon Fishman, and keyboardist Page McConnell, all of whom perform vocals, with Anastasio being the ...

's musical costume at their Festival 8, which was held at the Empire Polo Grounds in Indio, California, from October 30, 2009 through November 1, 2009.

References

External links

Blinky
at

IMDb IMDb, historically known as the Internet Movie Database, is an online database of information related to films, television series, podcasts, home videos, video games, and streaming content online – including cast, production crew and biograp ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Blinky 1944 births Living people American women singer-songwriters Motown artists Singers from Oakland, California 21st-century American women