Tamiko Jones: The Collection (1963-1986)

Barbara Tamiko Ferguson was born in 1945 in West Virginia. Originally called Timiko, she began her recording career on the Checker label in 1963, with the happy-go-lucky song 'Is It a Sin?'. By 1964, Timiko had become Tamiko and she then relocated to the Atco imprint releasing the single 'Don't Laugh If I Cry at Your Party' b/w 'Rhapsody'. Moving to the Golden World label in July 1966, she recorded 'I'm Spellbound' b/w 'Am I Glad Now', a tune penned by Redd/McCoy/Crosby. Tamiko's career saw some elevation when she signed with Atlantic later that year. She released a couple of singles for the label during 1967, 'The Sidewinder' b/w 'A Man and a Woman' and 'Day Tripper' b/w 'A Good Thing (Is Hard to Come By)', in collaboration with label mate Herbie Mann. The pair would also record one album together, A Mann and a Woman, in Rio De Janeiro. Tamiko released the Lp I'll Be Anything for You in 1968, on the Creed Taylor A&M imprint, along with the single 'Goodnight My Love' b/w 'Ya Ya'. The album featured Bernard Purdie and Richard Tee, amongst others. Later on, she recorded a self titled album for the December label, featuring the single 'Someone to Light Up My Life' b/w 'Where Do I Go from Here'. By this time she went on to produce some records with the Muscle Shoals Rhythm Section, including 'Proud Mary', for Solomon Burke on Bell Records. She subsequently released her own "Muscle Shoals album" on Metromedia, Tamiko Jones in Muscle Shoals, along with the single 'Our Day Will Come', in 1970. 1971 saw the release of another single 'The Pearl' b/w 'Don't Go Breaking My Heart'. 'I'm the Woman Behind the Man (Playing the Guitar in the Band)' was issued three years later for the 20th Century label. Tamiko would re-record in 1976 the song for the U.K. Contempo label (a label owned by John Abbey to whom she was married at the time). In 1975, she released 'Just You and Me' b/w 'Read Me Right' for the Arista label and had a U.S. hit with the late Johnny Bristol's song, 'Touch Me Baby', from her album Love Trip. The following year she recorded the dancer 'Let It Flow', written by Tommy Stewart (famous for 'Bump and Hustle Music'). She also recorded her version of Stevie Wonder's 'Creepin’', which appeared on both Love Trip and her 1976 Atlantis album Cloudy. The last two remarkable recordings by Tamiko were the disco classic 'Can't Live Without Your Love' in 1979, and the Marvin Gaye/Leon Ware hit 'I Want You', in 1986. I gathered here a collection of songs recorded by this obscure R&B singer between 1963 and 1986. I included a dozen of cuts from her earlier years - solo and with Herbie Mann - as well as her two complete Love Trip and Cloudy albums and late hit singles. http://www.soulwalking.co.uk/

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