Justine Washington (born October 13, 1940), usually credited as Baby Washington, but credited on some early records as Jeanette (Baby) Washington, is an American

soul music Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in African-American culture, African-American African-American neighborhood, communities throughout the United States in the late 1950s and early 1960s. Catchy rhythms, stressed by handclaps ...

vocalist Singing is the art of creating music with the voice. It is the oldest form of musical expression, and the human voice can be considered the first musical instrument. The definition of singing varies across sources. Some sources define singi ...

, who had 16 ''

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 advertis ...

'' R&B

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 ...

entries in 15 years, most of them during the 1960s. Her biggest hit, "That's How Heartaches Are Made" in 1963, also entered the Top 40 on the ''Billboard''

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 ...

Life and career

Washington was born in

Bamberg Bamberg (, , ; East Franconian German, East Franconian: ''Bambärch'') is a town in Upper Franconia district in Bavaria, Germany, on the river Regnitz close to its confluence with the river Main (river), Main. Bamberg had 79,000 inhabitants in ...

South Carolina South Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It borders North Carolina to the north and northeast, the Atlantic Ocean to the southeast, and Georgia (U.S. state), Georg ...

, United States, and raised in

Harlem Harlem is a neighborhood in Upper Manhattan, New York City. It is bounded roughly by the Hudson River on the west; the Harlem River and 155th Street on the north; Fifth Avenue on the east; and Central Park North on the south. The greater ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

. In 1956, she joined the vocal group

the Hearts The Jaynetts were an American girl group based in the Bronx, New York, who became a one-hit wonder in 1963 with the song "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", which reached No. 2 on the US ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career Beginnings In 1954, Bronx-native Z ...

, and also recorded for

J & S Records J & S Records was a New York record label started in 1956 and continued through to the early 1970s. The owner was Zelma "Zell" Sanders (1922–1976), one of the few woman label owners in the record business. In the early 1950s Sanders was managing ...

as a member of

the Jaynetts The Jaynetts were an American girl group based in the Bronx, New York State, New York, who became a one-hit wonder in 1963 with the song "Sally Go 'Round the Roses", which reached No. 2 on the US Billboard Hot 100, ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Career ...

("I Wanted To Be Free"/"Where Are You Tonight", J&S 1765/6). She first recorded solo, as Baby Washington, in 1957, on "Everyday" (J&S 1665). In 1958, she signed to Donald Shaw's

Neptune Records Neptune Records was a record label founded by Philadelphia writer-producers, Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff in 1969. The label, distributed by Chess Records, lasted for only two years, releasing 20 singles and three albums. It was the precursor to th ...

as a solo performer, and established herself as a soul singer with two

hits Hits or H.I.T.S. may refer to: Arts, entertainment, and media Music * '' H.I.T.S.'', 1991 album by New Kids on the Block * ''...Hits'' (Phil Collins album), 1998 * ''Hits'' (compilation series), 1984–2006; 2014, a British compilation album s ...

in 1959: "The Time" (

U.S. The United States of America (USA), also known as the United States (U.S.) or America, is a country primarily located in North America. It is a federal republic of 50 states and a federal capital district, Washington, D.C. The 48 contiguous ...

R&B No. 22) and "The Bells" (U.S. R&B No. 20). She followed up with the hit "Nobody Cares" (U.S. R&B No. 17) in 1961. Several of her

singles Singles are people not in a committed relationship. Singles may also refer to: Film and television * ''Singles'' (miniseries), a 1984 Australian television series * ''Singles'' (1992 film), written and directed by Cameron Crowe * ''Singles'' ...

on the Neptune and ABC labels were credited to Jeanette (Baby) Washington, which later led to confusion with an entirely different singer known as

Jeanette Washington Jeanette Washington is a funk vocalist best known as a member of the band Parliament. Washington appeared as a background singer on recordings by James Brown in 1975. That year, she joined Parliament with Debbie Wright, becoming the first femal ...

. She signed with ABC Paramount in 1961, but her two releases for the label were not hits, although the self-written "Let Love Go By" later became a notable

Northern soul Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged in Northern England and the Midlands in the early 1970s. It developed from the British Mod (subculture), mod scene, based on a particular style of African American music, Black American ...

single. Washington then moved to

Juggy Murray Juggy Murray (November 24, 1923 – February 8, 2005) was an American record label owner, producer and singer-songwriter. He co-founded Sue Records which launched the career of Ike & Tina Turner. Subsidiary labels under the Sue were Symbol, ...

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 ...

in 1962, scoring her only entry on the U.S. ''

Top 40 In the music industry, the Top 40 is a list of the 40 currently 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. "To ...

with "That's How Heartaches Are Made" in 1963. Two years later, she hit again on the U.S. R&B Top 10 with "Only Those In Love". Among her other Sue recordings were "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face", co-

written Writing is the act of creating a persistent representation of language. A writing system includes a particular set of symbols called a ''script'', as well as the rules by which they encode a particular spoken language. Every written language ...

Chip Taylor Chip Taylor (born James Wesley Voight; March 21, 1940) is an American songwriter and singer noted for writing " Angel of the Morning" and " Wild Thing". He is the paternal uncle of actress Angelina Jolie and former actor James Haven. He is the ...

and

Jerry Ragovoy Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy (September 4, 1930 – July 13, 2011) was an American songwriter and record producer who wrote several pop songs including the instrumental " Time Is on My Side" (under the pseudonym of Norman Meade for Kai Winding), which ...

, and "Careless Hands", penned by

Billy Myles William Myles Nobles (August 29, 1924 – October 9, 2005), known as Billy Myles, was an American R&B songwriter and singer active in the 1950s and 1960s. He is best known for writing "Tonight, Tonight" recorded by The Mello-Kings, "(You Were Mad ...

. Washington revived her career in the early 1970s covering

the Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, Inkster, Michigan in 1960, consisting of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was ...

' "Forever" (No. 30 R&B) as a

duet A duet (italian language, Italian: ''duo'') is a musical composition for two Performing arts, performers in which the performers have equal importance to the piece, often a composition involving two singers or two pianists. It differs from a har ...

with

Don Gardner Donald Gardner (May 9, 1931 – September 4, 2018) was an American rhythm and blues singer, songwriter, and drummer. His records included the 1962 hit " I Need Your Lovin'", with Dee Dee Ford. Biography Born in Philadelphia, Gardner started out ...

. Her solo release, "I've Got To Break Away", made number 73 on the R&B chart, after which the advent 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 ...

led to a decline in her popularity. She has never experienced great crossover recognition, although

Dusty Springfield Mary Isobel Catherine Bernadette O'Brien (16 April 1939 – 2 March 1999), better known by her stage name Dusty Springfield, was a British singer. With her distinctive mezzo-soprano voice, she was a popular singer of blue-eyed soul, Pop mus ...

once cited Washington as her all-time favorite singer, and recorded "That's How Heartaches Are Made" and "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face". Biography at MLC Cruises
Retrieved 18 January 2013 Washington is still active as a live performer, appearing several times a year on the East Coast and performing on cruise ships. She also performed at the

Prestatyn Prestatyn (; ) is a seaside town and community in Denbighshire, Wales. Historically a part of Flintshire, it is located on the Irish Sea coast, to the east of Rhyl. Prestatyn has a population of 19,085. Origin of name The name Prestatyn d ...

Soul Weekender festival in

Wales Wales ( ) is a Countries of the United Kingdom, country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by the Irish Sea to the north and west, England to the England–Wales border, east, the Bristol Channel to the south, and the Celtic ...

in 2004. Prestatyn Soul Weekender: Historic highlights
. Retrieved 18 January 2012 She performed with the Enchanters at a

Philadelphia Philadelphia ( ), colloquially referred to as Philly, is the List of municipalities in Pennsylvania, most populous city in the U.S. state of Pennsylvania and the List of United States cities by population, sixth-most populous city in the Unit ...

-area show in March 2008, and in

Baltimore Baltimore is the most populous city in the U.S. state of Maryland. With a population of 585,708 at the 2020 census and estimated at 568,271 in 2024, it is the 30th-most populous U.S. city. The Baltimore metropolitan area is the 20th-large ...

in June 2008. Washington was among the 2008 honorees in Community Works' Ladies Singing the Blues music series.

Discography

Chart singles

Note: Credited as Baby Washington unless stated otherwise.

Original studio albums

* ''That's How Heartaches Are Made'' (1963) Sue Records * ''Only Those in Love'' (1965) Sue Records * ''With You in Mind'' (1968) Veep Records (VPS 16528) * ''Lay a Little Lovin' on Me''—duet album with

(1973) * ''I Wanna Dance'' (1978) AVI Records (AVI 6038)

Compilation albums

* ''I've Got a Feeling'' (June 2005) Released by Stateside Records any songs featured are on CD for the first time with this release

References

External links

All Music Biography All or ALL may refer to: عرص Biology and medicine * Acute lymphoblastic leukemia, a cancer * Anterolateral ligament, a ligament in the knee * ''All.'', taxonomic author abbreviation for Carlo Allioni (1728–1804), Italian physician and profe ...

*
Baby Washington singles

* ttp://www.oldies.com/artist-view/Baby-Washington.html Justine "Baby" Washington via oldies.com* Huston, Bruce. Baby Washington Part Two: Her Soul Years. ''Soul Survivor'' magazine No. 10 (Spring 1989;

Toronto, Ontario Toronto ( , locally pronounced or ) is the List of the largest municipalities in Canada by population, most populous city in Canada. It is the capital city of the Provinces and territories of Canada, Canadian province of Ontario. With a p ...

Canada Canada is a country in North America. Its Provinces and territories of Canada, ten provinces and three territories extend from the Atlantic Ocean to the Pacific Ocean and northward into the Arctic Ocean, making it the world's List of coun ...

). Washington clears up confusion with

on page 15. {{DEFAULTSORT:Washington, Baby 1940 births Living people American soul musicians American women singers People from Bamberg, South Carolina Chess Records artists Sue Records artists 21st-century American women