Gwen McRae - Born 1943
American Singer
I once said on a radio show I was presenting that I thought Gwen McRae was my all-time favourite female vocalist. That is a bold statement and since I started writing this blog, I have written at length how I have been moved by great singers from Billie Holiday (Wonderful Woman No. 4) to Sharon Redd (Wonderful Woman No. 76), well, Gwen is right up there with them for me.
And when I hear her music, happy memories come flooding back; A boyfriend I adored presenting me with a CD of her music; DJs at the club night I ran for five years dropping one of her tracks into their sets. She reminds me of the good times and, I know I have written this about singers before, her voice is like an old friend, instantly recognisable, always welcome.
Gwen grew up singing in church and then from a young age was performing in clubs in
her home state of Florida in the United States. In 1963, aged just twenty, she met and married a sailor named George McRae. It was with her husband that she first began a recording career. The couple enjoyed some chart success with their duos but it was separately that they both were catapulted to fame, George with Rock Your Baby and Gwen with Rockin' Chair. Gwen has released fourteen albums, including one with George, between 1974 and 2006. Her voice is an inspiration and influence on many artists and she has been sampled extensively, most notably (to my ears, anyway) by the amazing French House producers Cassius on their 1999 track Feeling For You which sampled All This Love That I'm Giving.
With soul music lovers everywhere, the name Gwen McRae brings a smile to our faces. Bringing such happiness to the lives of music lovers is magnificently wonderful, I am privileged to have her music in my life.
I touch a lot of souls and speak of love when I sing.
Gwen McRae
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