Barbara George

Barbara George (16 August 1942, Smithridge, Louisiana - 10 August 2006, Chauvin) was an American R&B singer and songwriter.

Born Barbara Ann Smith, she was raised in New Orleans and began singing in a church choir. She was discovered by singer Jessie Hill, who recommended her to record producer, Harold Battiste. Her first record on Battiste's AFO (All For One) record label, "I Know (You Don't Love Me No More)", which she wrote, was issued in late 1961, and both topped the R&B chart and made #3 on the Billboard Hot 100 chart. It was later recorded by many other artistes, including the Merseybeats, Ike and Tina Turner and Bonnie Raitt.

Two subsequent releases, "You Talk About Love" and "Send For Me (If You Need Some Lovin')", both on AFO, reached the Hot 100 later in 1962, but failed to match the overwhelming success of her first hit.

Later recordings met with more limited success, and George largely retired from the music industry by the late 1960s, with a few subsequent attempts at a comeback being unsuccessful. She sang on the Willy DeVille album "Victory Mixture".

External links

* [http://www.guardian.co.uk/obituaries/story/0,,1860021,00.html Obituary from "The Guardian", 29 August 2006]
* [http://news.independent.co.uk/people/obituaries/article1220842.ece Obituary from "The Independent", 22 August 2006]