Tobi Lark

Last updated

Tobi Lark
Birth nameBessie Grace Gupton
Also known asBessie Watson
Tobi Legend
Born1941 (age 79–80)
Origin Alabama, US
Genres Gospel, soul
Occupation(s)Singer
Years active1960–present
LabelsRiverside, Jay Pee, Mala, Cotillion, others

Tobi Lark (born 1941) is an American-born Canadian soul and gospel singer, who also recorded under the names Bessie Watson and Tobi Legend. She had a top 40 hit in 1970 in Canada with "We're All in This Together". Elsewhere her best known record is "Time Will Pass You By", regarded as a classic of Northern soul, which she recorded in 1968 believing it was just a demo; it was released under the name of Tobi Legend without her approval.

Life and career

She was born Bessie Grace Gupton in Alabama, the daughter of gospel singer Emma Washington. She grew up in Detroit and first performed in her mother's choir, the Emma Washington Gospel Singers. She toured with the group for ten years, from the age of nine, before securing her first professional job, as a backing singer for B. B. King. [1] As Bessie Watson, she first recorded in 1963, releasing the single "'Deed I Do" backed by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the Riverside label, and then two singles, "I'm in Your Corner" and "Wake Up Crying" on the Jay Pee label. As Tobi Lark, she then recorded several singles for the Palmer, Topper, and U.S.D. labels, but none achieved much commercial success. [2] She also performed with the Impressions, the Four Tops, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, and Duke Ellington, among others. [1]

In the mid 1960s, she separated from her husband and moved to Montreal, Quebec, Canada, with her young son. She performed in clubs and at Expo 67, before moving to Toronto to work for Ronnie Hawkins. She was then recruited to play a lead role in the musical Hair in Toronto, and later set up the Armageddon Revue at the Blue Orchid club there. [1] In 1968, in Detroit, she recorded "Time Will Pass You By", a song written by English-born songwriter and record producer John Rhys Eddins with Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris. [3] The record was released on the Mala label under the name "Tobi Legend", but it was unsuccessful until it was picked up in the early 1970s by followers of the Northern soul scene in the UK. The song became known as one of the "Three Before Eight", played at the conclusion of every all-nighter at the Wigan Casino club, [4] and has since featured on several anthologies of Northern soul music including The Best Northern Soul All-Nighter ... Ever!, The Northern Soul Story, and The Wigan Casino Story. [5]

Newspaper columnist Laura Barton, of The Guardian , has compared the record to a Shakespeare sonnet: [4]

"It...is simply a song about seeing the preciousness of life, about trying to live our lives better and brighter. Its verses cut a melancholy figure, its opening lines reflecting on the steady turn of the world: "Passing seasons ever fade away/ Into misty clouds of autumn grey/ As I sit here looking at the street/ Little figures, quickly moving feet." And then in zaps the chorus, a remonstration of sorts, or a call to arms: "Life is just a precious minute baby," it yells. "Open up your eyes and see it baby/ Give yourself a better chance/ Because time will pass you/ Right on by." Like many pop songs, there's something of the sonnet about Time Will Pass You By; it's there in the song's intention of course, but there is something about Legend's track that has always reminded me specifically of Shakespeare's Sonnet 60. Legend's second verse, "I'm just a pebble on the beach and I sit and wonder why/ Little people running around/ Never knowing why," for example, seems to echo Shakespeare's lines: "Like as the waves make towards the pebbled shore/ So do our minutes hasten to their end;/ Each changing place with that which goes before,/ In sequent toil all forwards do contend.""

Returning to the name Tobi (or Toby) Lark, she released three further singles on Cotillion Records, "Shake A Hand" (1969), "Just To Hold My Hand" (1970), and "We're All in This Together" (1970). [2] The last of these was recorded live with a large choir at St. Paul's Roman Catholic Church in Toronto, [6] and peaked at No. 38 on Canada's national RPM singles chart in November 1970. [7] She continued to work in Toronto, Windsor and Detroit, with the Toronto Symphony Orchestra and singers including Kenny Rogers. In 1995, she recorded a live CD, and appeared at the Toronto Blues Society's Women's Blues Revue. [1]

Related Research Articles

Soul music Genre of music

Soul music is a popular music genre that originated in the African American community throughout the United States in the 1950s and early 1960s. It combines elements of African-American gospel music, rhythm and blues and jazz. Soul music became popular for dancing and listening in the United States, where record labels such as Motown, Atlantic and Stax were influential during the Civil Rights Movement. Soul also became popular around the world, directly influencing rock music and the music of Africa.

Aretha Franklin American singer, songwriter, and pianist (1942–2018)

Aretha Louise Franklin was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. Referred to as the "Queen of Soul", she has twice been placed 9th in Rolling Stone's 100 Greatest Artists of All Time. Franklin began her career as a child, singing gospel at New Bethel Baptist Church in Detroit, Michigan, where her father C. L. Franklin was a minister.

Linda Hopkins Musical artist

Linda Hopkins was a Tony-winning American actress and blues and gospel singer. She recorded classic, traditional, and urban blues, and performed R&B and soul, jazz, and show tunes.

James Cleveland American musician

James Edward Cleveland was an American gospel singer, musician, and composer. Known as the King of Gospel, Cleveland was a driving force behind the creation of the modern gospel sound by incorporating traditional black gospel, soul, pop, and jazz in arrangements for mass choirs. Throughout his career, Cleveland appeared on hundreds of recordings and earned four Grammy Awards. He was the first gospel musician to earn a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame. He was inducted into the Gospel Music Hall of Fame in 1984. For his trailblazing accomplishments, he is regarded by many as one of the greatest gospel singers who ever lived. He is best known for his gospel classics "Lord, Help Me to Hold Out," "Peace Be Still," "I Don't Feel No Ways Tired", “Where Is Your Faith," "The Love of God," "God Has Smiled on Me", and his soul-stirring rendition of Gladys Knight & The Pips' "You're the Best Thing That Ever Happened to Me."

Brenda Holloway American singer and songwriter

Brenda Holloway is an American singer and songwriter, who was a recording artist for Motown Records during the 1960s. Her best-known recordings are the soul hits, "Every Little Bit Hurts", "When I'm Gone", and "You've Made Me So Very Happy." The latter, which she co-wrote, was later widely popularized when it became a Top Ten hit for Blood, Sweat & Tears. She left Motown after four years, at the age of 22, and largely retired from the music industry until the 1990s, after her recordings had become popular on the British "Northern soul" scene.

Caroline Crawford is an American rhythm and blues, pop, soul, and disco singer; and actress, who recorded as Carolyn Crawford for Motown Records in the early-mid 1960s, and for other labels later in her career.

Baby Washington American singer

Justine Washington, usually credited as Baby Washington, but credited on some early records as Jeanette (Baby) Washington, was an American soul music vocalist, who had 16 US Billboard R&B chart 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 US Billboard Hot 100.

Garnet Mimms is an American singer, influential in soul music and rhythm and blues. He first achieved success as the lead singer of Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters, and is best known for the 1963 hit "Cry Baby", later recorded by Janis Joplin. According to Steve Huey at AllMusic, his "pleading, gospel-derived intensity made him one of the earliest true soul singers [and] his legacy remains criminally underappreciated."

Bessie Banks is an American soul singer, best known for her original 1964 recording of "Go Now," successfully covered in the same year by UK band the Moody Blues.

Denise LaSalle Musical artist

Ora Denise Allen, known by the stage name Denise LaSalle, was an American blues, R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer who, since the death of Koko Taylor, had been recognized as the "Queen of the Blues".

Apollo Records (1944)

Apollo Records was a record company and label founded in New York City by Hy Siegel and Ted Gottlieb in 1944. A years later it was sold to Ike and Bess Berman. Apollo was known for blues, doo-wop, gospel, jazz, and rock and roll.

Laura Lee is an American soul and gospel singer and songwriter, most successful in the 1960s and 1970s and influential for her records which discussed and celebrated women's experience.

Hattie Littles was an American soul singer, best known for her 1963 single, "Your Love Is Wonderful," released on Motown's Gordy label.

Lawrence H. Banks was an American R&B and soul singer, songwriter, and record producer.

Music of Detroit Music traditions in Detroit, Michigan, US

Detroit, Michigan, is a major center in the United States for the creation and performance of music, and is best known for three developments: Motown, early punk rock, and techno.

Paul Stuart Davies is a British soul singer, songwriter and vocal coach, best known for his work on the Northern soul and Motown scene.

Lula Reed was an American rhythm and blues and gospel singer who recorded in the 1950s and 1960s. She had two R&B hits in 1952 as vocalist with pianist and bandleader Sonny Thompson, and later recorded with guitarist Freddy King. She was occasionally credited as Lulu Reed.

Terry Dexter is an American contemporary R&B singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and actress.

<i>Casino Classics: Chapter One</i> 1979 compilation album by various artists

Casino Classics: Chapter One is a compilation album released by Casino Classics in 1979, which compiles the first seven northern soul singles that the label had released or re-released as 45 rpm releases in 1978–79 following their popularity at northern soul nightclub Wigan Casino. The singles, some of which were rare, were originally released on the label in order to cater for the nightclub's record-collecting goers at the height of the nightclub's popularity. The compilation is the first in the Casino Classics series and was released to general acclaim. It has been described as a best-selling album. In 2015, Cherry Red Records re-released the album as part of the Casino Classics: Complete Collection box set.

David Lewis Hamilton was an American R&B and jazz musician and record producer in Detroit, Michigan.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Toronto Blues Society: Tobi Lark
  2. 1 2 Tobi Lark discography at SoulfulKindaMusic.net
  3. ↑ Soulful Detroit: The Golden World Story
  4. 1 2 Barton, Laura (October 21, 2010). "Hail, Hail, Rock'n'Roll". The Guardian . London. Retrieved May 6, 2021.
  5. ↑ Tobi Legend at Discogs.com
  6. ↑ "Tobi Lark and "Toronto"" . Retrieved September 11, 2016.[ dead link ]
  7. ↑ "Item Display – RPM – Library and Archives Canada". Archived from the original on September 3, 2014. Retrieved July 19, 2012.
This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.