Tina Britt

Tina Britt (born Marion Brittingham; July 5, 1938) is an American R&B singer who had two hits on the Billboard R&B chart in the 1960s. She released one album Blue All The Way and six 45s between 1965 and 1970.

Tina Britt
Birth nameMarion L. Brittingham
Born (1938-07-05) July 5, 1938
Smyrna, Delaware, U.S.
GenresR&B, soul
Occupation(s)Singer, songwriter
Years active1959–1970, 2012
LabelsEastern, Veep, Minit
Associated actsJuggy Murray

Life and career

Tina Britt was born in Smyrna, Delaware, and raised in Florida and Philadelphia.[1] She had a peripatetic life travelling with her father, and started singing as a teenager at the First Missionary Baptist Church in Sanford, Florida.[1] Whilst working in New York in 1965 she was introduced to Henry 'Juggy' Murray who offered her the chance to record secular rhythm and blues[2] for the Eastern record label, a subsidiary of the Sue label.[3] Her first single, a version of "The Real Thing" written by Nickolas Ashford, Valerie Simpson, and Jo Armstead,[4] but originally credited to their publisher Ed Silvers,[5][6] reached #20 on the R&B chart.[7]

The session that produced "The Real Thing" also gave up the follow-up single "You're Absolutely Right", another Ashford-Simpson-Armstead song and "Look", a side penned by Sidney Barnes and J.J.Jackson.[1] Competition came from a version by the Apollas on the Loma label and sales were split, resulting in a chart miss for both.[1] It would be three years before her next releases for the Veep label, a subsidiary of United Artists Records, in 1968. They released two singles, "Who Was That", which reached #39 on the R&B chart,[7] and a revival of Don Covay's "Sookie, Sookie". Both records were produced by Juggy Murray.

Veep Records ceased in 1969 resulting in Britt being transferred to Minit Records, a subsidiary of the newly acquired Liberty Records.[1] They released her only album, the Murray produced Blue All The Way.[8] However, her only single for Minit, a cover of Otis Redding's Hawg For You, failed to chart. Aside from occasional session work as a background vocalist, notably for Wilbert Harrison's album Let's Work Together, her recording career had ended by 1970, and Britt left the recording industry soon afterwards.[3][1] Her later life centred around raising her children. In autumn 2009, when interviewed by In The Basement magazine, she was living in Philadelphia.[1] In 2012, she released a new download single, "Play It Back".[9]

Her singles were compiled, together with other previously unreleased tracks, on the 2006 CD Blue All the Way ...plus.[10]

References
  1. Cole, David (Autumn 2009). "Tina Britt: The Real Thing". In The Basement, Brighton, UK (55): 39–41. Retrieved 24 February 2019.
  2. Liner notes, Blue All The Way
  3. Tina Britt Discography, SoulfulKindaMusic. Retrieved 8 October 2014
  4. Songs written by Nickolas Ashford, MusicVF.com. Retrieved 8 September 2014
  5. "The Real Thing", Discogs.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014
  6. "The Real Thing: The Songs of Ashford, Simpson and Armstead", Spectacular! Retro! Pop!. Retrieved 8 October 2014
  7. Whitburn, Joel (1996). Top R&B/Hip-Hop Singles: 1942-1995. Record Research. p. 46.
  8. Tina Britt Discography, Discogs.com. Retrieved 8 October 2014
  9. Tina Britt, "Play It Back", CDBaby.com. Retrieved 24 February 2019
  10. "Tina Britt: Blue All the Way ...plus", Classic and Rare Soul Sisters 50s-70s, 7 May 2009. Retrieved 8 October 2014
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