Barbara Lewis
Biography Barbara Lewis
Barbara Lewis
She holds the distinction of being the first Michigan artist to record for Atlantic Records. During the 1960s, Barbara Lewis recorded three Top Ten R&B hits for the label, including a # 1 smash, “Hello Stranger”. In addition, she placed ten sweet, soulful songs on Billboard’s Hot 100 during the decade, ranking her second to only Aretha Franklin in terms of chart success for female solo artists from the state of Michigan.
Barbara Lewis was born on February 9, 1944, in the small town of South Lyon, Michigan. South Lyon in located 19 miles north of Ann Arbor and 45 miles west of Detroit. At the time of Barbara’s birth, the city’s population was just over 1,100.Barbara Lewis
Barbara Lewis
She grew up in a family that was deeply involved in music. Each of her parents had an orchestra and there would often be family gatherings that would evolve into jam sessions at which young Barbara would get to sing. Her bandleader father played trumpet, her mother and an uncle played saxophones, and she had an aunt who was a music teacher. In addition, Barbara’s cousin Sheldon Brooks had made a name for himself as a songwriter with tunes like “Some Of These Days (immortalized by Sophie Tucker) and “The Dark Town Strutters’ Ball”.
No doubt inspired by all the music around her, Barbara began playing piano, guitar, and harmonica and was writing songs at the age of nine. In an interview she gave in 1993, Barbara claimed that she had no career aspirations in music at that time. She was just having fun, performing in local talent shows and thinking about going into nursing as a profession.
That all changed after Barbara was discovered by Ollie McLaughlin. The former Ann Arbor disc jockey had promoted R&B shows during the 1950s that featured top vocal groups including the The Spaniels, The Dells, The Dominoes, The Clovers, and solo stars like James Brown, Little Willie John, Louis Jordan, and Ruth Brown. Barbara’s father had met McLaughlin when he went to Ann Arbor to play with his band. .... (michiganrockandrolllegends.com)
