Biography
Anna King figured among the many female vocalists who moved through James Brown’s touring revue in a mentorship role. She cut a single sturdy album under Brown’s supervision in 1964, Back to Soul, which yielded a pair of modestly charting singles. Having sung with the True Light Gospel Singers during her youth, she issued two little-noticed singles in the early 1960s before stepping into the spot left by Tammy Montgomery—later known as Motown’s Tammi Terrell—inside Brown’s show in 1963.
Across those 1963–1964 sessions Brown served as both producer and chief songwriter, sometimes using pseudonyms, and the results included the minor-charting “If Somebody Told You” plus the duet “Baby Baby Baby” with Bobby Byrd that reached number 52 on the pop listings. Because of Brown’s hand in the proceedings, her Smash sides often mirrored the tough early-soul sound of his own contemporaneous singles, though King herself possessed a sturdy, earthy voice. She exited Brown’s revue in early 1965 and, despite her limited commercial returns, released only one further single that year on the End label.
She subsequently spent roughly a year and a half performing with Duke Ellington’s band—without making any recordings—before leaving popular music behind to concentrate on gospel as a member of the Brockington Choral Ensemble.
Across those 1963–1964 sessions Brown served as both producer and chief songwriter, sometimes using pseudonyms, and the results included the minor-charting “If Somebody Told You” plus the duet “Baby Baby Baby” with Bobby Byrd that reached number 52 on the pop listings. Because of Brown’s hand in the proceedings, her Smash sides often mirrored the tough early-soul sound of his own contemporaneous singles, though King herself possessed a sturdy, earthy voice. She exited Brown’s revue in early 1965 and, despite her limited commercial returns, released only one further single that year on the End label.
She subsequently spent roughly a year and a half performing with Duke Ellington’s band—without making any recordings—before leaving popular music behind to concentrate on gospel as a member of the Brockington Choral Ensemble.