Doris Duke

Doris Curry entered the world in Sandersville, Georgia during 1945, later earning recognition as the deep soul diva Doris Duke. Her path through gospel ensembles such as the Raspberry Singers, the David Sisters, and the Caravans led her to New York City by 1963, where she established herself as a session singer while also providing backup vocals at the Apollo Theater. Recording her first solo effort, "Running Away from Loneliness," under the name Doris Willingham for the Hy-Monty label in 1966, she followed with "You Can't Do That" on Jay Boy two years afterward. Commercial indifference greeted both releases despite favorable notices, prompting a return to session work that frequently took her to Philadelphia for sessions alongside Kenny Gamble and Leon Huff.

Jerry "Swamp Dogg" Williams Jr., after departing Atlantic Records, secured her services and bestowed the Doris Duke moniker before capturing the 1969 album I'm a Loser at Phil Walden's Capricorn facility in Macon, Georgia. Soul authority Dave Godin hailed I'm a Loser as the supreme deep soul album, yet numerous companies passed before Wally Roker's Canyon imprint issued it. "To the Other Woman" reached the Billboard R&B Top Ten as the lead single, but Canyon's financial collapse halted further progress. Creative inactivity marked the ensuing period until she collaborated once more with Swamp Dogg on 1975's A Legend in Her Own Time for the Mankind label; their alliance dissolved in bitterness beforehand, yielding minimal notice for the project. The British Contempo label hosted her next appearance via the highly regarded Woman, which Scepter distributed domestically. Manhattan issued Funky Fox in 1981, after which she withdrew from the industry, leaving her current location and endeavors undisclosed at present.