You'll Lose A Good Thing

Sound DNA

• Soul & Funk

About

If we said a female African-American singer/songwriter from Southern Texas who played guitar left-handed scored a Top 10 hit in the early ’60s, you might not believe it. Women who played instruments and sang their own songs had little chance in those days. We'll add that Huey “The Crazy Cajun” Meaux (a showy hairdresser and DJ) produced that song—“You’ll Lose a Good Thing”—and this debut album of the same name. But it’s true; the 20-year-old Barbara Lynn was a trailblazing bad*ss who could rattle the rafters or pull tears from the darkest depths, so great was her playing and singing. Lynn’s brand of soul, R&B, and blues connects lots of emotional dots here—from tender ache (“Teenage Blues”) to unwavering self-belief (“Second-Fiddle Girl”) to regret (“I’m Sorry I Met You”). It’s the sound of a girl becoming a woman in full command of her writing and playing. No wonder Otis Redding and The Rolling Stones recorded her songs a few years later.

via Apple Music

Tracklist

Credits