Kitty Love

[Roburt]

Kitty Love / Kitti Love is obviously a stage name, though there are a fair number of folk who have Love as their genuine surname. But for recording artists who used the name Love, it can make it really difficult to track them down in later times.

There was a Kitti Love / Kitty Love who played club dates in Baltimore in the early to mid 1960's (see ad). She is listed as being a recording artist on the ad but this Kitti Love is even more difficult to ID as she used several stage / recording names. To record, she used the name Kitty Lane and under this identity she cut for Ru-Jac ("It's Love I Need / Sweetheart"). The fact that she recorded for Rufus Mitchell's Ru-Jac label shouldn't be too much of a suprise as for a period she worked as his secretary at Rufus's Ace Booking Agency in Baltimore. Working at a booking agents can't have been too bad a job when it came to helping secure club gigs for herself. But this Kitty Lane / Kitti Love was really the sister of long time doo-wop singer Lou Peebles. Lou being a member of the 5 Satins (led by Fred Paris) for much of the mid 1950's & early 60's.

Another lady who used the name Kitty Love had a 45 ("The Power of Love / You Gotta Change") out on Miami based Dade Records around 1963. She seems to have had little connection to Florida (most artists who had 45's released in the Dade 5000 series had little connection with Miami) and her name doesn't appear on club ads for local live gigs. Indeed her songs seem to have a much stronger connection to Chicago (being written by Charles Colbert and published by Curtom). "The Power of Love" was also recorded by Mary Silvers for One-Derful and Amanda Humphrey for USA, both Chicago labels.

It is actually thought that this Kitty Love could well have had the real surname of Lynch and have come from Atlanta.

However there is also speculation that the Dade Kitty Love could have some connection to Amanda Love who recorded for Chicago based label Starville around 1967 ("You Keep Calling Me By Her Name" -- this then being picked up for natonal distribution on Chess). But Amanda Love must have gotten her chance to record via Mississippi born songwriter, record producer, and record label owner Mel London. London ran various Chicago based record labels (Chief, Profile and Age) before working for All-Points, Bright Star, Starville and USA.

Amanda Love's real name was / is Amanda Bradley and she was also from Mississippi (indeed quite recently she was still singing under her real name back in Jackson, Mississippi). Coincidently Amanda Humphrey had another 45 out, this being released on the Norton label. On this she was supported by a Jackson, Mississippi based orchestra, so are Amanda Love, Amanda Humphrey & Amanda Bradley all one and the same. The plot thickens.

[Roburt]

ERROR IN ABOVE .........

It seems that it was Katie Love (and not Kitty Love) that was Katie Lynch (from Atlanta).

Katie Love being the lady that cut "Hurt So Good".

Edited February 15, 2012 by Roburt

[Roburt]

Whilst I'm on about females who used the name Love as their stage / recording name ....

is anything at all (real name, etc.) known about Marion Love ?

The "I Can't Forget About You Baby" lady who cut for Capitol plus A & R.

I'd guess she was LA based but apart from that (& who the people she worked with on her 4 x 45's were) know nothing about her.

[boba]

this is andrew hamilton's allmusic writeup. on marian love

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The musical career of Kansas City, KS, native Marian Love started out as promising but ended so quickly that most have forgotten the exuberant tones of this multi-octave, jazzy songstress. Love is the second youngest of six siblings. She made a name for herself around town singing with her sisters Geraldine, Laverna, and Dora as the Love Sisters. Marian Love was the only sister to pursue singing professionally; the other three all became schoolteachers. She graduated from Wyandorne High in 1963 and enrolled at Kansas Junior College, majoring in education and minoring in music and voice. Unlike her siblings, Love had a burning desire to become a professional singer. In 1966, she was billed as the Jazz Discovery of the Year. After wowing an audience at a concert in Kansas where she sang on the same bill as Aretha Franklin and Stevie Wonder, and a second concert where she shared the bill with Lou Rawls and Stan Kenton (giving a stunning performance in front of 7,000 patrons), her parents finally gave their blessings to her singing career. Her popularity soared, and an appearance on a local television show brought her to the attention of three area businessmen who agreed to become her personal management team. Love was whisked out to Hollywood, CA, to record for Capitol Records; the trip was her first journey outside the Kansas City area. She cut an album that received good reviews but died. A single release, "Try a Little Loneliness," backed with "Can't Forget About You," remains a treasured item among some record collectors. With two and a half years of college behind her, Love soon tired of the unpredictability of the record business and joined her sisters as educators.