Shirley Brown
b. 6 January 1947, West Memphis, Arkansas, USA. Brown was discovered and managed by bluesman Albert King, and spent several years working on the St. Louis nightclub circuit prior to recording Woman To Woman in 1974. Written by the songwriting team of Homer Banks and Henderson Thigpen, this dramatic tale of infidelity, complete with its renowned spoken introduction, encapsulated the ‘cheating’ genre and not only became a massive hit in its own right, but inspired several ‘answer’ songs in the process, among which Millie Jackson's Still Caught Up is a good example. Brown had further, if lesser, R&B hits with It Ain't No Fun (1975) and Blessed Is The Woman (With A Man Like That) (1977), and continued her recording career into the '80s.