Linda Lewis (September 27, 1950 – May 3, 2023) – Reach for the Truth (1972)
The late great British singer/songwriter wrote this superb gospel-flavored jam for her cult classic second studio album Lark.
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Linda Lewis was a supremely talented British singer/songwriter whose career never ascended to the heights she deserved. She played the first Glastonbury Festival in 1970, her second album Lark was a masterpiece and became a cult classic, and she later provided backing vocals for David Bowie, Cat Stevens, Rod Stewart, Joan Armatrading, and Jamiroquai.
Born Linda Ann Fredericks in East London, her parents had Jamaican and British-Guyanese heritage and her mother was a jazz singer. She was cast as an extra in the Beatles’ 1964 debut film A Hard Day’s Night, playing a screaming fan. Lewis then became the lead singer of the London ska band The Q Set.
In the mid-sixties she signed with Polydor and in 1967 released a superb cover of Mary Love’s 1965 song “You Turned My Bitter into Sweet,” featuring a pre-Zeppelin Jimmy Page and John Paul Jones as session musicians. Both versions would become Northern Soul classics. That same year, she formed the group White Rabbit with future Bob Marley and The Wailers member Junior Marvin. She then joined The Ferris Wheel (sometimes called the UK’s version of The 5th Dimension), and recorded their self-titled 1970 album with them before the band broke up.
On September 19, 1970, Lewis appeared at the first Glastonbury Festival alongside Terry Reid and David Lindley. She was signed to the Warner Bros. subsidiary Reprise, and released her solo debut LP Say No More in 1971. She wrote nearly all of it, except for two tracks co-written with the album’s producer Iam Samwell, and one written by Samwell himself.
For her second studio album Lark, recorded at Apple Studio during 1971 and released the following year on January 1, 1972, Lewis wrote every song and co-produced it with her future husband, guitarist Jim Cregan.
Lark was Lewis’ masterpiece, a sonic journey that showcased her exquisite songwriting talent. Highlights included its phenomenal title track, the heartfelt love song “Feeling Feeling,” and the laid back, beautiful acoustic jam “What Are You Asking Me For,” which she memorably performed live on The Old Grey Whistle Test in April, 1972. Two of its best tracks were released as singles, the stellar jam “Old Smokey” and the superb, gospel-flavored anthem “Reach for the Truth,” but both failed to chart.
Although it was championed by Vince Aletti in Rolling Stone on its initial release (the writer who would soon document the rise of disco), the album similarly was not a big seller. But over the years it became a cult classic. In 2015, influential British DJ Gilles Peterson ranked Lark at number 77 on a list of his top 100 albums.
When Lark and her third album Fathoms Deep (1973) both failed to take off, Lewis kept busy with work as a backing vocalist. She appeared on Cat Stevens’ Catch Bull at Four (1972) and Bowie’s classic Aladdin Sane (1973).
Lewis’ fourth studio LP was her most commercially successful. Not a Little Girl Anymore was released in 1975 and reached #40 on the UK album charts. It was co-produced by Jim Cregan along with the U.S. production duo Tony Silvester (formerly of the Main Ingredient) and Bert DeCoteaux, and featured the horn section from Tower of Power.
Lewis had her first (and only) top-ten hit with the album’s cover of Betty Everett’s “It’s in His Kiss,” a #6 entry on the UK singles chart and #11 on the new U.S. disco charts. The LP also featured the amazing love jam “This Time I’ll Be Sweeter,” which let Lewis’ gorgeous voice soar. Co-written by Gwen Guthrie, Lewis performed it live in 1975 on the Austrian TV show Spotlight. Released as a single in 1976, it peaked at #51 in the UK.
Sadly, Lewis died this past spring, gone too soon at age 72.
#soul #LindaLewis