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Post by Emerald City on Jan 4, 2005 13:09:52 GMT -5
The oldest sister of famed crooner Little Willie John (best known for writing and recording “Fever” which was covered by Peggy Lee), John was raised in Detroit and was Berry Gordy’s best buddy long before he founded Tamla/Motown Records in 1959. She used to spend the day helping Gordy peddle his songs to New York publishers. “He had no money and no way of getting around, but he had these people who wanted to hear his songs, so I drove him around,” John says. One of those tunes, “Lonely Teardrops” eventually became a hit for Jackie Wilson and Gordy’s career was on the way. He took John along for the ride.
When one of his songs "Got A Job” didn’t attract a buyer, Gordy decided to produce the record himself and then get a major label to distribute it. Recorded by Smokey Robinson & the Miracles, it was released via End Records, but bombed due to a lack of promotion. But, John and Robinson thought the record would do well if Gordy started his own label and marketed the records right. They worried him into founding Tamla/Motown in 1958 and the rest is history.
John was the first female to record for the label, although, many critics have erroneously stated that Mary Wells was the first. Wells was the first female on Motown proper, but Tamla preceded Motown. John, who had shared a bill with Billie Holiday two weeks before the singer’s death, sang bluesy songs on which she was often backed up by the Primettes (The Supremes). In fact, backing John was their audition. John didn’t recall their being especially talented but determined to impress Gordy, particularly Diana Ross. Their ambition attracted Gordy and he signed them on.
Although, none of John’s singles for Tamla ever hit the national charts, she developed a strong following and repeatedly sold-out shows at the Apollo in Harlem, the Howard Theater in Washington, etc. Sensing that Tamla/Motown was more geared towards popcorn soul than to the blues she was most comfortable singing, John left the label in 1964. As the Motown sound soared John says, “I didn’t feel that Motown was a place where I could survive.” In conference with Gordy, John explained her dilemma, reassured him of their friendship, and asked for her contract release. They both cried. Gordy gave John some roses, a thousand dollars shopping money, and her release.
Soon John finally came into her own when she joined Stax Records in late 1965 and put her bluesy style to good use. When she arrived in Memphis, Issac Hayes and David Porter, who had been assigned to write for John, had nothing for her to record. Half the time, she had to track them down as they were usually chasing women and drag them into the studio. She collaborated on almost every song they wrote for her and they usually reflected some event in her life such as her 1966 million-seller, “Your Good Thing Is About To End.” It was about her husband who gambled, drank heavily and spent too much time in the streets. The song has been so beloved that it’s been covered by artists such as Lou Rawls, Bonnie Raitt and Captain & Tennille. “I’ve never considered myself a singer,” John says, “I’m a story teller.”<br>
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Post by Emerald City on Jan 4, 2005 13:12:48 GMT -5
The lusty “You’re Taking Up Another Man’s Place” hit #38 on Cash Box’s black music charts a few months later. Just last year Etta James covered the song on her The Right Time album and wrote in the liner notes that “Mable John is not only a beautiful writer, but a super-bad singer.” Oddly enough, John might have had another soul classic attributed to her had Sam & Dave not recorded “When Something Is Wrong With My Baby.” It was written for and first recorded by John, “But, it was the first time that Stax found a ballad which really suited Sam & Dave, so they released their version rather than mine,” she says.
Every song John did at Stax was a gem and no one at the company could understand why radio did not pick up on them. John feels that her lack of radio success may have been because of a lack of promotion. “They had Sam & Dave, Issac Hayes, Johnny Taylor, Otis Redding. That’s a lot of people for a small company to promote... But, I did well for myself and I can’t complain.
Chicago DJ Lucky Cordell remembers John’s emotional stage show vividly. “What Mable had was an ability to identify with or to make the people identify with her. She had that ability to reach out into an audience and you really felt she was singing to you. She talked to the women ‘Girls, you know what I’m talkin’ about’ and somebody’s say ‘Yeah!’ Then, she had a little thing going where the women understood each other... She didn’t do drugs, I don’t think she even drank, so her performances were always the best that she could give.
John became depressed following the sudden death of Little Willie in 1968. Berry Gordy and Diana Ross arranged all of the funeral arrangements. “Willie and I had a bond between us that was closer than any I had with any other relative, and all of my family is very close.
But Diana [Ross] saved the day. I don’t believe I could have gotten through that day without her help. She even had to dress me because I was so upset.” She even contemplated leaving show business. Then, Ray Charles, who had lost his mother started calling and sharing his personal grief with John. He coaxed her back into singing by appointing her the lead singer for the Raelettes in 1970.
Mable took the Raelettes to the Orient without Ray Charles and put together one of the most popular Raelettes groupings. They recorded on the Tangerine label and had several hit singles in the early 1970s such as “I Wanna Do Everything For You.” Most singers leave groups to go solo, so when John did the reverse, Lucky Cordell says, “I was surprised, but I could see the logic. Her career was not happening anymore at Stax. She was still working because she’s a good entertainer, dependable, and had a good following... I think she felt to go with Ray Charles, who’s an institution, that something might develop for her.”<br> Mable left the Raelettes in 1976 to attend ministry school. In 1989 she became an associate pastor at the Sanctuary of Praise Church in Los Angeles. However, she’s since founded her own Joy In Jesus Ministries and “A Place To Pray,” a non-profit center which clothes the naked and feeds the hungry in L.A. ‘s Crenshaw neighborhood. Mable’s first gospel album, Where Can I Find Jesus, was released on her brother’s Meda Record label in 1992 and she’s currently working on a sequel.
For the last four years Mable has been hosting “Christmas All Over L.A.” to feed and clothe L.A. homeless during the holidays. Mable recently received her doctorate of divinity degree and saw Stax Records release twenty-five of her rare 1960s recordings on the stellar compilation, "Stay Out Of The Kitchen." She’s also been honored with the Rhythm & Blues Foundation’s Pioneer Award for her vast career achievements.
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