Shelbra Bennett - Soul Children R I P

Shelbra Bennett (ex of the Soul Children) has passed away.

This sad news has just been posted up on the Stax website .......

http://www.staxmuseum.com/video-images/videos/view/r-i-p-shelbra-bennett-of-the-soul-children

I have loved the tracks the group made ever since I first heard one of their Stax 45 outings back in the day.

They made great records for Stax till the company went bust and then moved across to CBS/ Epic where they made yet more goodies.

My fave Soul Children track .......

added by site

The group was formed in 1968 by Isaac Hayes and David Porter of Stax Records in Memphis, Tennessee, after one of the label's top acts, Sam & Dave, left Stax to join the Atlantic label. As leading songwriters and producers for the label, Hayes and Porter put together a vocal group with two male and two female singers, all of whom sang lead on some of the group's recordings. The original members were Norman West, John Colbert (aka J. Blackfoot), Anita Louis, and Shelbra Bennett. Anita Louis was a backing singer on some of the records produced by Hayes and Porter. Shelbra Bennett had recently joined the label as a singer.

The group's first record, "Give 'Em Love", produced by Hayes and Porter and released in late 1968, was a Bilboard R&B chart hit, as were two follow-ups. Their fourth single, "The Sweeter He Is", became one of their biggest hits, reaching no. 7 on the R&B chart in late 1969 and no. 52 on the Hot 100.The group also released their first album, Soul Children, in 1969. Musicians used on the recordings included Booker T. Jones, Steve Cropper, Donald "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson, Jr., of Booker T. & the M.G.'s, as well as Hayes. However, after the group had a minor hit with a slowed-down version of "Hold On, I'm Coming" in early 1970, Hayes left the project to develop his solo career.

The group recorded a second album, Best of Two Worlds, at Muscle Shoals Sound Studios, but their next few singles failed to make the charts. In 1972, they recorded another album, Genesis, arranged by Dale Warren and produced by Jim Stewart and Al Jackson, which produced another hit single, "Hearsay". Written by West and Colbert, it reached no. 5 on the R&B chart and no. 44 on the US pop chart.They appeared at the Wattstax concert in August 1972, and followed up with several smaller hit singles. In 1973, they recorded the ballad "I'll Be the Other Woman", written and produced by Homer Banks and Carl Hampton, and with lead vocals by Shelbra Bennett, which became their biggest hit, reaching no. 3 on the R&B chart and no. 36 on the pop chart.They also recorded a final album for Stax with Banks and Hampton, Friction.

The Soul Children left Stax in 1975, and Shelbra Bennett left for a solo career. Shechanged her name to Shelbra Deane and under this recorded a few solo 45s for TK, Casino and Muscle Shoals Sound. Also a couple of tracks for Sound Town in Memphis in the early 80s which remained unreleased till recently