Among the many confounding stories in the storied history of Stax Records, few prove more curious than the tale of Linda Lyndell 

For much of this tale is still a mystery. We know that Lyndell recorded two singles for the Stax subsidiary Volt, “Bring Your Love Back to Me” early in 1968 and “What a Man” later that same year. Both singles were produced by David Crawford, who went on to produce sessions with Sam & Dave, B. B. King, Esther Phillips, Wilson Pickett, and The Mighty Clouds of Joy. “What a Man” was released as a single in June ‘68 and peaked at #50 in the R&B charts. Afterwards, Lyndell stopped performing. Several sources blame racial intolerance against a white vocalist who chose to sing what many considered “black music” for her quiet retirement.

And this might seem to be that. Except that in 1993, two dominant R&B female vocal groups - En Vogue and Salt-N-Pepa - convened a joint “What a Man” summit cover version that blew up the singles charts (#3 R&B and Pop). You didn’t need to recognize the original to know that these ladies were bumpin’ out one bad tune. Even so, the original was prominent; this update used hip-hop sampling to incorporate Lydell’s original chorus.

Linda Lyndell’s tale does seem to have eventually found its happy ending. The chart success of this update renewed interest in the original song and singer, and under somewhat more modern social circumstances Lyndell eventually began to perform again. She accepted an invitation to perform at the 2003 grand opening of The Stax Museum of American Soul Music. There she delivered what is generally considered the debut performance of the song that eventually made her famous.

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