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Artist
Laura Lee
12+ albums
soulfunkfemale vocalistsrhythm and bluesrnb
about
Laura Lee (born Laura Lee Newton, 9 March 1945, Chicago, Illinois) is an American soul and gospel singer and songwriter, most successful in the 1960s and 1970s and influential for her records which discussed and celebrated women’s experience. Lee was born in Chicago, but as a child relocated to Detroit with her mother. After a few years, she was adopted by Rev. E. Allan Rundless, who had previously been a member of the Soul Stirrers, and his wife Ernestine, who led a gospel group, The Meditation Singers. Featuring Della Reese, they were the first Detroit gospel group to perform with instrumental backing. The group recorded on the Specialty label in the mid 1950s, appeared on the LP Della Reese Presents The Meditation Singers in 1958, and in the early 1960s recorded for Checker Records. As Laura Lee Rundless, she replaced Reese in The Meditation Singers in 1956, and over the next few years toured widely around the country. In 1965, as Laura Lee, she launched her secular solo career as an R&B singer in clubs in Detroit, although she also continued to record occasionally with The Meditation Singers. She first recorded solo for Ric-Tic Records in 1966, with "To Win Your Heart". The following year, she signed with Chess Records and, after initially recording in-house with the label's producers in Chicago, it was decided to send her to Rick Hall’s FAME Studios in Muscle Shoals to record "Dirty Man". This became her first hit, reaching #13 R&B and #68 pop. She stayed with Chess unt
top songs
albums
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That's How It Is: The Chess Years
Very Best Of
Love More Than Pride
Chess Soul Sisters
Best of Laura Lee: Ten Best Series
Woman’s Love Rights + Two Sides Of Laura Lee + I Can’t Make It Alone…Plus
Backbeats Artists: Laura Lee - Supreme Soul Diva
Two Sides Of Laura Lee
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Hot Wax & Invictus - Most Sampled
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Sweet Soul Music
Women's Love Rights
Atlantic Unearthed: Soul Sisters