Barbara Lynn

Barbara Lynn (born Barbara Lynn Ozen, later Barbara Lynn Cumby, January 16, 1942) is an American rhythm and blues and electric blues guitarist, singer and songwriter. She is best known for her R&B chart-topping hit, "You'll Lose a Good Thing" (1962). In 2018, Lynn received a National Heritage Fellowship.
Life and career
She was born in Beaumont, Texas, and attended Hebert High School. She was raised Catholic and sang in the choir at her local parish. She also played piano as a child, but switched to guitar, which she plays left-handed. Inspired by blues artists Guitar Slim and Jimmy Reed, and pop acts Elvis Presley and Brenda Lee, and winning several local talent shows, she created an all-female band, Bobbie Lynn and Her Idols.
She began performing in local clubs in Texas. Singer Joe Barry saw her and introduced Lynn to producer Huey P. Meaux, who ran SugarHill Recording Studios and several record labels in New Orleans. Her first single, "You'll Lose A Good Thing", written by her, was recorded at Cosimo Matassa's J&M studio with session musicians including Mac Rebennack (Dr. John). Released by Jamie Records, it was a number 1 US Billboard R&B chart hit and Top 10 Billboard Hot 100 hit in 1962. The song was later recorded by Aretha Franklin and became a country hit record for Freddy Fender.
Ska and reggae covers of the same song have been released by several Jamaican artists: Audrey Hall "You'll Lose a Good Thing" (1969), Linval Thompson "Don't Try To Lose Me" (1976), Yellowman "If You Should Lose Me" (1984), and Mikey Dread "Choose Me" (1989).
Lynn released an album, also titled You'll Lose A Good Thing, which featured ten of her compositions.
Unusual for the time, Lynn was a female African American singer who both wrote most of her own songs and played a lead instrument. Soon Lynn was touring with such soul musicians as Gladys Knight, Stevie Wonder, Smokey Robinson, Dionne Warwick, Jackie Wilson, Sam Cooke, Otis Redding, James Brown, Al Green, Carla Thomas, Marvin Gaye, Ike and Tina Turner, the Temptations, and B.B. King. She appeared at the Apollo Theater, twice on American Bandstand. In 1965, she had her song, "Oh Baby (We've Got A Good Thing Goin')" (1964) covered by the Rolling Stones on their album The Rolling Stones Now! in America and Out Of Our Heads in the UK. The song was also recorded by Bill Wyman's Rhythm Kings, with Beverly Skeete lead singing. Lynn continued to record for the Jamie label until 1966 and had several more minor hits.
In 1966 she signed to Meaux's Tribe label, and recorded "You Left the Water Running," which was covered by Otis Redding among others. She signed with Atlantic the following year, and recorded another album, Here Is Barbara Lynn, in 1968. She married for the first time, at age 28, in 1970 and had three children. This, together with dissatisfaction with poor promotion by the record company, contributed to her decision to largely retire from the music business for most of the 1970s and 1980s. However, while living in Los Angeles, she occasionally appeared at local clubs, and released several singles on Jetstream and other small labels.
In 1984 she toured Japan, and recorded a live album, You Don't Have to Go, which was released later in the US. She resumed her recording career after her husband's death, and returned to Beaumont, Texas, where her mother lived. She also undertook further international tours, to Europe and elsewhere. In 1994, she recorded her first studio album in over twenty years, So Good, and released several more albums for various labels in later years.
She continues to reside in Beaumont, and was given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation in 1999. In 2002, electronic musician Moby sampled Lynn's "I'm A Good Woman" on his album 18.
She appears in the 2015 documentary film I Am the Blues.
She is a recipient of a 2018 National Heritage Fellowship awarded by the National Endowment for the Arts, which is the United States government's highest honor in the folk and traditional arts.
Discography
Chart singles
Albums
1963 You'll Lose a Good Thing (Jamie)
1964 Sister of Soul (Jamie)
1968 Here Is Barbara Lynn (Atlantic)
1988 You Don't Have to Go (Ichiban)
1993 So Good (Bullseye Blues)
1996 Until Then I'll Suffer (I.T.P.)
2000 Hot Night Tonight (Antone's)
2004 Blues & Soul Situation (Dialtone)
Further reading
John Broven, South to Louisiana: Music of the Cajun Bayous (1983)
Shane K. Bernard, Swamp Pop: Cajun and Creole Rhythm and Blues (1996)
Alan B. Govenar, Texas Blues: The Rise of a Contemporary Sound (2003), containing extracts from a 1987 interview with Barbara Lynn
References
External links
Complete discography
1942 births
Living people
Musicians from Beaumont, Texas
American rhythm and blues singer-songwriters
American soul musicians
Atlantic Records artists
Jamie Records artists
Sue Records artists
Swamp pop music
Singer-songwriters from Texas
Guitarists from Texas
20th-century American guitarists
National Heritage Fellowship winners
20th-century American women guitarists
African-American women singer-songwriters
African-American guitarists
20th-century African-American women singers
21st-century African-American women singers
African-American Catholics
African American female guitarists