My pick for this week's #musicwomenWednesday is an old favorite of mine - I bought a repro version of Barbara Lynn's first album ("You'll Lose A Good Thing" on Jamie) when I was seventeen, and I've been a fan of hers ever since.

Barbara Lynn: You'll Lose A Good Thing (1966, from The !!!! Beat)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LprDuGHKRDw

"You'll Lose A Good Thing" had been a major hit for her in 1962, but this is a live performance from The !!!! Beat, a short-lived 1966 TV show, which was hosted by Bill "Hoss" Allen. The back-up group is led by Clarence "Gatemouth" Brown (on guitar).

#music #barbaralynn #hossallen #clarencegatemouthbrown #thebeat #soulmusic #rhythmnandblues

My second pick for this week's #SaturdayOnStage is a delightful 1966 performance by Johnnie Taylor:

Johnnie Taylor: Rome Wasn''t Built In A Day (The !!!! Beat, 1966)
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=3qbx3D2e5PM

"Rome (Wasn't Built In A Day)" had been Taylor's first hit (#29 on the Cash Box R&B chart) in 1962, when it had been released on Sam Cooke's SAR record label. The song was credited to the Prudhomme twins (Betty and Beverly) and Cooke, who also recorded his own version of it.

At the time of this performance, Taylor was already recording for the Stax label in Memphis. While his breakthrough to mainstream success was still a couple of years away, he was making excellent records, which were slowly gaining him recognition.

The !!!! Beat was a short-lived syndicated TV show, which was hosted by the influential WLAC DJ Bill "Hoss" Allen and featured black R&B stars of the day. I managed to get a video a copy of the shows in the late 1990s (and even wrote an article about them for our national Blues News magazine), but was glad to replace the videos with a fully-authorized DVD version which was issued by Bear Family in 2005.

#music #johnnietaylor #theBeat #samcooke #sarrecords #hossallen #soulmusic #rhythmandblues