Oh, Barbara!

Some names just carry weight and in soul music, Barbara is one of them. Today’s music lineup is all about some incredibly special, multifaceted women named Barbara. Let’s dig in!

This one slips under too many radars. Released in 1962, this was a track way ahead of its time for a few reasons. Back in the 50’s and 60’s many artists rarely wrote and played their own songs, especially women. Barbara not only sang, but wrote the song and played lead guitar. Not only that, she also was shredding a Stratocaster, upside down (she’s left-handed but played a righty guitar Hendrix-style, no restringing). That’s pretty dope if you ask me..

The song itself is a swampy, slow-burning soul ballad, recorded down in New Orleans at Cosimo Matassa’s legendary studio who was crucial to the development of the sound of R&B, rock and soul of the 1950s and 1960s.

Another cool fact about this song is that the opening line “If you should lose me… oh yeah…” wasn’t even written. It was a warm-up take. But it stayed, and became the anchor of the song.

The record hit #1 on the R&B charts and cracked the Top 10 on Billboard’s Hot 100 making Barbara the first Black woman to top the R&B charts with a song she wrote and performed herself.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Released in 1963, this track is built around a simple organ loop and some of the softest vocals ever put to tape. Barbara barely raises her voice above a whisper it hovers just above the groove, like smoke curling off a slow-burning candle.

The ghostly harmonies on the chorus really give the song it’s character. They were performed by a 5 piece Chicago group called The Dells. They were uncredited on the song but were essential to creating the soulful groove this song embodies. The entire track moves in a sort of slow, circular rhythm.

The crazy part is that this song almost wasn’t released. Atlantic Records execs initially thought the song was too quiet and “uneventful” to be a hit. But the world disagreed. I always think about all the music that never saw the light of day because some stubborn, ill advised executive didn’t like it. Today, if an artist wants to put something into the world they have full control and freedom to do so. It’s awesome but has also created an extremely saturated market.

“Hello Stranger” hit #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 and became a timeless slow-dance classic. Over the years, it has shown up everywhere — Moonlight, The Wire, Insecure and The Family Stone basically anytime a filmmaker wants to capture tenderness, memory, or distance between lovers. The electronic artist Galamatias also flipped this song into a banger called Blowback. It’s worth a listen.

And Barbara? She wrote the song herself when she was just a teenager and her entire early catalog is full of self-written gems that don’t get nearly enough shine. She essentially pioneered the quiet storm genre a decade before it had a name. Her music helped redefine what soul could sound like.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Released in 1965, written and sung by Barbara herself at just 17 years old, this track is soft-spoken but bold. The song is essentially about a teenage girl standing in front of the world and saying, I’m ready for love. Are you? It wasn’t common to hear a woman speak this directly about desire especially in such a gentle, almost spoken-word tone.

The production came out of Philly’s Arctic Records, which would later become the blueprint for what we now call Philly soul.

“Yes, I’m Ready” like the other songs shared today also became a massive crossover hit #5 on the Billboard Hot 100 and #2 on the R&B chart, despite being released on an independent label by a teenage black girl in the mid-’60s. It’s since been covered dozens of times, but no one’s ever captured the emotional clarity of the original.

I believe she’s incredibly underrated, under-credited, but deeply respected by anyone who’s dug deep into the crates. Her music’s been sampled by Nas, Biggie and Jay-Z to name a few. As the adage goes, greatness recognizes greatness. She’s a quiet giant.

Listen on all major streaming platforms here!

Continuing with the Barbara train, I’m sharing this video of Barbara Streisand and Barry Gibb performing a very special, intimate concert in the backyard of her Malibu home on the eve of the presidential election in 1986 for 500 people. Apparently it was her first full length concert in over 20 years and the first time the two of them ever performed together. Pretty cool.

This is an image of Barbara Streisand when she was a broadway star before her musical debut in 1962. Streisand broke into show business in the Broadway musical I Can Get It for You Wholesale, which earned the 20-year-old up and comer her first Tony nomination. She went on to become one of the most storied and accomplished entertainers in history.

Happy Sunday! Let me know what you think about today’s selects in the comments.