Barbara Acklin (February 28, 1943 – November 27, 1998 – Just Ain't No Love (1968)

The great singer/songwriter's superb gospel-flavored follow up to her #3 R&B hit Love Makes a Woman was co-written and produced by Eugene Record & Carl Davis.

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The talented Chicago soul singer/songwriter Barbara Acklin had many records on the R&B charts during the late 1960s and early 70s, and co-wrote the Chi-Lites’ signature song “Have You Seen Her.”

Born in Oakland, California, Barbara Jean Acklin’s family moved to Chicago when she was five years old. A few years later, she was singing as a soloist at the city’s New Zion Baptist Church and as a teenager began performing at Chicago nightclubs.

She was billed as Barbara Allen on her first single “I'm Not Mad Anymore,” produced by her cousin, the unsung genius saxophonist, songwriter and producer Monk Higgins and released in 1966 on his small Special Agent Records label.

That same year, she took a receptionist’s job at Brunswick Records, where she gave some demos of songs she had written to producer Carl Davis. He produced one she co-wrote with David Scott, “Whispers (Gettin' Louder)” for Jackie Wilson. Recorded in Detroit and backed by Motown’s Funk Brothers with the Andantes on backing vocals, it was Wilson’s biggest hit in several years, reaching #5 R&B and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.

Davis signed her to a contract as a solo artist on Brunswick, and produced her first single for the label “Fool, Fool, Fool (Look In The Mirror),” released in 1967. Its B-side was the superb love song “Your Sweet Loving,” written by Billy Butler, arranged by Sonny Sanders, and produced by Davis.

It did not chart, nor did her follow up, “I've Got You Baby” b/w “The Old Matchmaker.” But her third single, a 1968 duet with Gene Chandler, was a #30 R&B hit, the upbeat jam “When Love Won’t Start” (co-written by Chandler aka Eugene Dixon and Keni St. Lewis) b/w the heartfelt love song “Show Me The Way To Go,” which Acklin co-wrote with Davis and Chi-Lites lead singer/songwriter Eugene Record.

Record, Davis, arranger Sonny Sanders, and guitarist Gerald Sims co-wrote a song that would turn out to be Acklin’s biggest-ever hit. “Love Makes a Woman” was an infectious, high-energy jam co-produced by Davis and Record, with an orchestra conducted by Sims, and released in July, 1968. It was originally issued as the B-side to the superb love song “Come And See Me Baby,” which was solely written by Record, but DJ’s played “Love Makes a Woman” instead and it shot to #3 R&B, crossing over to #15 on the Hot 100. It became the title track to her debut album released later that year.

Acklin followed it up with another duet with Chandler, the upbeat “From The Teacher To The Preacher” which she co-wrote with Record and Davis, produced by Davis. With the stellar “Anywhere But Nowhere” on the flip, which Chandler co-wrote with Maxx Kidd (the future owner of T.T.E.D. Records who helped pioneer Go-Go music in D.C.), it peaked at #16 R&B. Acklin and Chandler went on to record another four singles together.

Another follow up in 1968 was the superb upbeat, gospel-flavored, socially conscious jam “Just Ain’t No Love,” co-written and produced by Record and Davis, and arranged by Sanders with an orchestra conducted by Willie Henderson. Its B-side was the beautiful love song “Please Sunrise, Please,” which Acklin co-wrote with Record and he co-produced with Davis. Inexplicably, the single did not chart.

Record and Sanders co-wrote a song called “Am I The Same Girl?” for Acklin, produced by Davis. Recorded in 1968, Davis later re-cut the track, replacing Acklin’s vocals with a piano solo by Floyd Morris, and re-titling the instrumental as “Soulful Strut.” Credited to former Ramsey Lewis Trio members Eldee Young and Isaac Holt’s new group Young-Holt Unlimited and released that November, it was a huge hit for them, reaching #3 on both R&B charts and the Hot 100. Acklin’s original vocal version was released in February, 1969, b/w another gem she co-wrote with Record, “Be By My Side,” and went to #33 R&B.

The partnership between Acklin and Record deepened as they kept writing songs together. They were in a relationship for several years and eventually got married. In 1971, they co-wrote the Chi-Lites’ classic “Have You Seen Her,” which hit #1 R&B and #3 on the Hot 100, becoming the group’s signature song.

Acklin’s final studio album was A Place In The Sun, released on Capitol Records in 1975. She co-wrote its advance single, the pop radio-friendly “Raindrops,” b/w the phenomenal non-LP love song “Here You Come Again,” co-written by Carl Davis’ brother George, Richard Parker, and former Lost Generation member Larry Brownlee. Arranged by James Mack and produced by Willie Henderson, the single was the second biggest hit of her career, climbing to #14 R&B.

The entire LP was produced by Henderson, who co-wrote the superb upbeat disco-soul cut “Special Loving” with Tommy Green and Curtis Mayfield’s onetime drummer Quinton Joseph. Released as the album’s second single, it was her second-to-last ever charting record and peaked at #73 R&B. Another standout cut was the breakup song “How Can You Lose Something You Never Had.”

After A Place in the Sun did not chart, Capitol dropped her. She kept performing as a solo artist, and worked as a backing vocalist for artists including the Chi-Lites, Tyrone Davis, and Lowrell Simon. She eventually moved to Omaha, Nebraska, and was recording a new album in 1998 when she developed pneumonia and died, gone far too soon at age 55.

Happy Heavenly Birthday to the great Barbara Acklin.

Further info:

“Barbara Acklin – A soulful piece of Chicago...,” by Stian Eriksen, StianEriksen.com, October 11, 2012.

“Barbara Acklin missed soul stardom by a hair,” by Steve Krakow, Chicago Reader, July 16, 2019.

“Barbara Acklin, Chicago's Empress of Soul,” The Chicago Crusader, February 18, 2022.

#soul #funk #disco #ChicagoSoul #CarlDavis #EugeneRecord #BarbaraAcklin