The inclusion of a track from the one album Barbara Lewis recorded for Stax Records on the recent “Stax Does The Songs Of Motown” prompted me to dig into my vast CD closet to find said album. I must confess that I didn’t remember it too well: “The Many Grooves Of Barbara Lewis” was issued in 1970 to little fanfare. The sweet-voiced Michigan native had just finished a six-year tenure with Atlantic Records which started on a high note with songs like her classic “Hello Stranger” and continued in the ‘60s with “Baby I’m Yours” and “Make Me Your Baby.”

Barbara never made it to the upper levels of R&B or pop stardom although she was consistent with some good albums like 1965’s “It’s Magic” and her final Atlantic outing, “Working On A Groovy Thing.” With Aretha Franklin reigning supreme at Atlantic, it was time for Barbara to move on, continuing her long association with manager/producer Ollie McLaughlin (the man who first ‘discovered’ her when she submitted songs for one of his artists, Del Shannon) who took her to Stax.

Barbara had worked with arranger Mike Terry on her final Atlantic recordings: essentially, the only difference between her last Atlantic LP and her one Stax/Enterprise LP was the change in labels. The material had the same kind of pop/soul ‘feel’ that had been Barbara’s stock in trade, a mix of cover tunes and original songs. Recorded in Chicago in August 1969, the twelve tracks that comprise “The Many Grooves Of Barbara Lewis” include some interesting choices: Barbara tackles the movie theme “The Windmills Of Your Mind” (the definitive version of which, most musicos agree, is by Brit soulstress Dusty Springfield) with a decidedly different rhythmic flavor; Smokey Robinson & The Miracles’ “Oh Be My Love” gets a nice workout; and Clarence Carter’s “Slip Away” doesn’t have the bite of the original but a certain coy charm to it.

“But You Know I Love You,” a song also recorded by The Sweet Inspirations (among others) is refreshing; “Just The Way You Are Today,” penned by Tony Hester (responsible for Dramatics’ hits like “Whatcha See Is Whatcha Get”) is a little disappointing although “Anyway,” written by Detroit singer Deon Jackson (a McLaughlin stablemate, best known for “Love Makes The World Go Round”) has decidedly Motown late ’60s feel to it.

Barbara returned to the studios in 1970 and three sides from those sessions are included as bonus tracks on the CD version of the album: “Why Did It Take You So Long,” with its strong Bacharach-David ‘feel’ is actually one of the best of Barbara’s recordings during her brief stint with Stax. In fact, listening to the song begs the question: what would Barbara have done with the many Bacharach-David tunes that propelled Dionne Warwick to superstardom?

Unfortunately, Barbara’s version of The Four Tops’ “Ask The Lonely” – recorded as part of her final session for Stax – didn’t get the kind of radio airplay or sales she and the label might have hoped for and according to Rob Bowman’s notes for the Stax Singles box set, she ‘shocked’ manager McLaughlin by announcing her retirement from the business! In actuality, Barbara recorded a one-off single for Reprise and then it would be almost two decades before Barbara would re-surface, living in Florida and performing on a more regular basis. I had the opportunity to meet her in the mid-‘90s when she came to Los Angeles for a performance at The Greek Theater and again when she was honored with a Rhythm & Blues Foundation Pioneer Award. She was both elated and surprised to find that her recordings for Atlantic and Stax were appreciated and revered by longtime soul music fans both in the U.S. and the U.K. “The Many Grooves Of Barbara Lewis” may not have been one of the best-sellers in the Stax catalog but it is certainly a reminder of one of the distinctive pop/soul voices of the ‘60s.

David Nathan
a/k/a “The British Ambassador Of Soul”
Owner, www.soulmusic.com, www.soulmusicstore.com, www.soulmusicglobal.com
Secretary, The Rhythm & Blues Foundation (www.rhythm-n-blues.org)