Barbara Lewis

Few vocalists embodied pop-soul more convincingly than Barbara Lewis, whose alluring and deeply felt vocal style propelled "Hello Stranger" to the number-three spot on the charts in 1963. A native of Michigan, Lewis had already been composing material by the time she turned nine and entered the studio as a teenager under the guidance of producer Ollie McLaughlin, whose earlier work also shaped the paths of Del Shannon, the Capitols, and Deon Jackson. Every selection on her first long-player came from her own pen, among them "Hello Stranger," and she moved with assurance between close-harmony soul pieces—several featuring the Dells on backing vocals—and brighter, pop-oriented numbers, some propelled by organ and a rhythm reminiscent of bossa nova. Later releases failed to match the commercial impact of "Hello Stranger," although the Searchers turned one of them, "Someday We're Gonna Love Again," into a British Invasion success. By the middle of the decade Lewis was tracking material in New York with Bert Berns and Jerry Wexler, favoring fuller orchestral backdrops and songs aimed at a broader audience. The shift proved fruitful on both artistic and commercial levels, yielding the major hits "Baby I'm Yours" and "Make Me Your Baby," each regarded among the finest girl-group productions of the mid-sixties. Toward the end of the decade she recorded an album for Stax’s Enterprise imprint that introduced a tougher edge while retaining the sleek, melodic qualities central to her appeal. The set drew little attention, and after a handful of additional singles Lewis stepped away from the industry. Decades later, the Carolina beach-music community continues to champion her catalog, keeping the recordings in steady rotation and public favor long after their initial appearance.