Barbara Mason

R&B vocalist Barbara Mason achieved a breakthrough in 1965 when “Yes I’m Ready” climbed to the Top Five on both the Pop and R&B singles charts, launching a career that would span decades. She brought a smooth, supple delivery perfectly suited to romantic material, yet she could summon the power and conviction needed for more assertive performances, especially on her memorable Arctic Records sides. Her mid-1970s Buddah releases, such as the 1972 album Give Me Your Love and the 1974 set Lady Love, featured a fuller sonic palette shaped by the production and arranging style then dominant in Philly Soul, while her 1980s work shifted toward extended narrative pieces containing lengthy spoken passages, among them “She’s Got the Papers, But I Got My Man” and “Another Man,” later compiled on the album Another Man.

Born in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, on August 9, 1947, Mason started singing publicly in her early teens, assembling a vocal group and entering talent contests at age twelve. She also took up the piano and began composing her own material. Living near Bill Oxendine of the Philly vocal group the Larks (also known as the Four Larks), she impressed him enough that he arranged for her to cut the single “Trouble Child” b/w “Dedicated to You,” with the Larks supplying backing vocals on the A-side. Oxendine next introduced her to disc jockey Jimmy Bishop, who operated the small Arctic Records label; Bishop signed her, and in 1964 she issued her second single, “Come to Me” b/w “Girls Have Feelings Too,” both tracks written by Mason herself. Her follow-up, “Yes I’m Ready” b/w “Keep Him,” also penned by Mason, became the career-defining hit, reaching number five on the Billboard Pop Singles chart and number two on the R&B listing. Later that year she released “Sad Sad Girl” b/w “Come to Me,” which peaked at number 27 Pop and number 12 R&B, and she closed out 1965 with her debut album, Yes I’m Ready.

Mason returned to the R&B chart in 1967 with “Oh, How It Hurts” b/w “Ain’t Got Nobody,” which rose to number 11 R&B and number 59 Pop, prompting Arctic to issue the 1968 album Oh How It Hurts. With few other hit-making acts on its roster, Arctic faded by the close of 1969, so Mason moved to National General Records, a new imprint tied to a film company. Her strongest National General single, “If You Knew Him Like I Do” b/w “Raindrops Keep Falling on My Head,” reached number 38 R&B in 1970 while stalling at number 112 Pop; the label also released the album If You Knew Him Like I Do that same year, an outing consisting largely of covers. When National General folded in 1971, distributor Buddah assumed her contract and issued Give Me Your Love in 1972. Its title track became her biggest R&B success since “Yes I’m Ready,” climbing to number nine R&B and number 31 Pop. Two further Buddah albums followed—1973’s Lady Love and 1974’s Transition—before 1975’s Love’s the Thing yielded the hits “From His Woman to You” (R&B number three, Pop number 28) and “Shackin’ Up” (R&B number nine, Pop number 91). Despite that success, Love’s the Thing marked the end of her Buddah tenure; her next LP, 1977’s Locked in This Position, was a collaboration with fellow Philly soul singer Bunny Sigler and appeared on Curtom Records.

New York dance label Prelude Records put out Mason’s 1978 album I Am Your Woman, She Is Your Wife, which showcased her on longer, groove-driven tracks. In 1981 she partnered with Philadelphia’s WMOT Records for A Piece of My Life, later reissued as Yes I’m Ready with a fresh version of her signature hit plus the single “She’s Got the Papers (I Got the Man),” one of several response records inspired by Richard “Dimples” Fields’ hit “She’s Got Papers on Me.” She continued the storyline with the single “Another Man,” featured on the 1984 album Tied Up, itself later expanded and reissued as Another Man. By the mid-1980s Mason withdrew from performing to concentrate on songwriting and publishing, eventually stepping away from the industry altogether. Persuaded back for a 1992 comeback concert, she resumed occasional live appearances and returned to the studio in 2007 to record Feeling Blue for the Sunswept label. That proved her final collection of new material, though she kept touring for longtime fans while reissues such as 2023’s The Ghetto—drawn from rare and previously unheard 1980s sessions—continued to find an audience among classic soul enthusiasts.