Gloria Brown was born in Gert Town, New Orleans, Louisiana, and attended school with Allen Toussaint and Ellis Marsalis Jr. She sang in church choirs, and with visiting groups such as the Clara Ward Singers, as well as in a school production of Show Boat. She also sang gospel music on WMRY radio shows, and after substituting for an absent performer and being discovered by local musician Alvin "Red" Tyler, began performing rhythm and blues songs in local clubs. Taking the stage name Tami (or sometimes Tammy) Lynn, she was heard by Allen Toussaint and Harold Battiste, and signed for AFO Records, cutting her first single 'Baby' that same year. She became lead vocalist for the AFO Executives, making a strong contribution to their 1963 album 'A Compendium', but when AFO ran into difficulties and the team moved to Los Angeles. Lynn tagged along, although things didn't work out and she moved on. In 1964, she was working in New York, when Jerry Wexler of Atlantic Records offered her a contract with the company, and her first recording there was a song written and produced by Bert Berns, who was responsible for a string of pop hits. 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' was released in 1965 on the ATCO label, but the record made little impression, which was a shame, as the b-side was written by Lynn under her rela name, and is worth a listen. and the dream died. The B-side is, however, worth a listen. A few years later she moved back to the West Coast and teamed up again with Harold Battiste, where she found work as a backing singer, supporting performers that Battiste was producing, including Sonny and Cher, Dr. John and King Floyd. She sang backing vocals on Dr. John’s 'The Sun, Moon & Herbs' album, which was recorded at Atlantic’s Criteria Studios in Miami in 1971, and she crossed paths with Jerry Wexler again, when he asked her to record a new version of the song 'Mojo Hanna' that he liked, from the AFO Executives 1963 album.
The resulting Cotillion Records single was strong and funky, but it failed to sell, and by then Lynn had been working for over ten years and still the big break hadn’t come. Then, out of the blue, her luck changed, when UK record producer John Abbey listened to 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' and thought that it might appeal to the Northern Soul scene in England. He suggested to Atlantic that he would like to release the single on Mojo Records (a subsidiary of Polydor Records) in the UK,and Atlantic went along with the idea, and the single climbed to number four, spending over a year on the UK Pop chart. The success of the single may well have opened the door to another opportunity that came along in 1971, when Lynn was hired to sing backing vocals on the Rolling Stones album 'Exile On Main Street'. With the exposure of the single and the Stines connection, Abbey wanted to build on her UK break-through and decided to go to the USA to organise the recording of an album. He chose Malaco Studios in Jackson, Mississippi, and enlisted the help of producer Wardell Quezergue, with the songs on 'Love Is Here And Now You’re Gone' ranging from soul to pure pop, and it included the UK hit single, plus the Wexler-inspired 'Mojo Hannah'. The album was released in 1972 on the Cotillion label, but it failed to make an impact, and so Lynn went back to the session work and performing live, although she did release another album, titled 'Tamiya Lynn', in 1992. She died in Florida on 26 June 2020. This collection includes those early singles, the original 1965 recording of 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You', a 1965 promo single, two tracks from a rare French EP, and some singles and b-sides from her 1971 album.
Track listing
01 Baby (single 1963)
02 Where Can I Go? (b-side of 'Baby')
03 World Of Dreams (unknown year - possibly 1967)
04 I'm Gonna Run Away From You (single 1965)
05 The Boy Next Door (b-side of 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You')
06 Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out (promo single 1965)
07 Trouble Child (b-side of 'Nobody Wants You When You're Down And Out')
08 At The Party (from the French 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' EP 1966)
09 Run Away (aka 'You My Love') (from the French 'I'm Gonna Run Away From You' EP 1966)
10 Light My Fire (unknown year - possibly 1971)
11 Mojo Hannah (single 1971)
12 How Many Tears (b-side of 'Mojo Hannah')
13 That's Understanding (single 1971)
14 One Night Of Sin (b-side of re-issue of 'Mojo Hannah' 1971)
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