Claudia Lennear
Claudia Lennear (born 1946) is an American soul singer who began her professional career with the Superbs, before becoming as an Ikette in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. After her tenure as an Ikette, she was a background vocalist for various acts, including Joe Cocker and Leon Russell. She also released a solo album in 1973. Lennear was featured in the 2013 Oscar-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom.[3] She was inducted in the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame in 2019.[4]
Claudia Lennear | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Claudia Joy Offley |
| Also known as | Joy Lennear[1] |
| Born | 1946[2] Providence, Rhode Island, U.S. |
| Genres | |
| Occupation(s) | Singer, teacher |
| Years active | 1968–present |
| Labels | Real Gone Music |
| Associated acts | |
| Website | http://claudialennear.com/ |
Early life
Lennear was born Claudia Joy Offley at Providence Lying-In Hospital in Rhode Island. Her last name was changed after her mother married Leo V. Lennear, a Navy man stationed in Newport.[3] She grew up in different neighborhoods in Providence. Although raised a Catholic, her grandmother taught her to sing gospel songs as a child.[5]
In elementary school, Lennear studied music theory and took French at St. Charles Borromeo parochial school. Her career goal was to become a translator at the United Nations.[3] She also took private piano lessons. In high school, she was in the chorale program. As a teenage she listened to Patti LaBelle & the Bluebelles, Gladys Knight & the Pips, Carla Thomas, and Ike & Tina Turner.[5] During her senior year at Hope High School, her stepfather retired from the Navy and she moved to Pomona, California with her family in 1964.[3][6]
Career
After graduating from high school, Lennear enrolled in college and began fronting the Los Angeles-based soul group the Superbs.[5] They performed local gigs around Los Angeles. Lennear made her recording debut with the group on the single "One Bad Habit," released on Doré Records in 1968.[2]
The Ikettes
Through her friend, singer Sherlie Matthews, Lennear landed an audition with bandleader Ike Turner in 1968.[2][5] She passed the audition and left the Superbs to become an Ikette. "He [Ike Turner] was a terrific business person, very disciplined, and he was a visionary," she said.[7] Lennear was with Ike & Tina Turner for a few years until she had a spat with Tina Turner.[8] However, Lennear recalls her time with the Turners fondly, telling The Providence Journal: "Without Ike and Tina, I'd probably be 20 miles from stardom, not 20 feet....they taught me how to perform, how to work with other singers and musicians. Ike taught me how to support Tina on stage. And Tina taught me how how to present myself....During the three years I was an Ikette, I never witnessed any physical abuse."[3]
Post-Ikette career
After leaving the Ikettes in 1970, Lennear worked with many acts including Humble Pie and Joe Cocker. She was part of a trio of backup singers for Delaney and Bonnie, that also included Rita Coolidge.
Lennear was one of Leon Russell's Shelter People. She sang back-up vocals on Joe Cocker's 1970 Mad Dogs and Englishmen tour and live album, on Leon Russell and the Shelter People, released in 1971 and on George Harrison's The Concert for Bangla Desh.[3] Her lead vocal live recording of "Let It Be" from the Mad Dogs and Englishmen movie was the B side of Leon Russell's "Mad Dogs and Englishmen" single on A&M Records in 1971.
In 1973, Lennear released her first and only solo album for Warner Bros. Records entitled Phew!.[3][9] She had a bit part in the 1974 film Thunderbolt and Lightfoot, playing the secretary who asks Clint Eastwood's character for his Social Security number. Lennear appeared in the August 1974 issue of Playboy magazine in a pictorial entitled "Brown Sugar."[3]
Lennear appeared in the Academy Award-winning documentary 20 Feet from Stardom (2013), which premiered at the Sundance Film Festival.[5] After the success of the film, David Bowie contacted Lennear and offered to write songs for her next project.[10]
Since 2014, Lennear has performed and recorded in Los Angeles with The New Ash Grove Players with S S Jones & Claudia Lennear. They have performed at the McCabes Guitar Shop, The Coffee Gallery, the Pasadena Pavilion for the Performing Arts, and The Improv[11] At the Lockn' Festival on September 11, 2015, Lennear performed with the Tedeschi Trucks Band, Rita Coolidge, Leon Russell and other alumni from the 1970 Joe Cocker Mad Dogs and Englishmen Tour in a memorial concert for Cocker.[12][13]
Academic career
Lennear received degrees in French literature and art history from Pitzer College. She began teaching first in high school and then at Mt. San Antonio College, where she teaches French, Spanish, English and remedial math.[3][14]
Accolades
In 2019, Lennear was inducted in the Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame.[4]
Personal life
In 1969, Lennear dated Mick Jagger when Ike & Tina Turner were the opening act for the Rolling Stones on their American tour. Lennear's relationships with Mick Jagger and David Bowie are often cited as inspiration for The Rolling Stones' "Brown Sugar" (1971) and Bowie's "Lady Grinning Soul" (1973).[15][16][17] NME editors Roy Carr and Charles Shaar Murray noted in 1981 that she was "yet to reply in song to either Mick or David."[15] However, in a 1973 article in Rolling Stone, she was quoted as saying that she wrote the song "Not At All" "to inform Mick Jagger of his dispensability".[18]
Discography
Singles
| Year | Title | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1971 | "Let It be" | A&M Records |
| 1973 | "Two Trains" / "Not At All" | Warner Bros. Records |
Albums
As a solo artist
| Year | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| 1973 | Phew! | Warner Bros. Records |
As an Ikette
| Release date | Album | Label |
|---|---|---|
| June 1969 | In Person | Minit Records |
| July 1969 | So Fine | Pompeii Records |
| August 1969 | Cussin', Cryin' & Carryin' On | Pompeii Records |
| October 1969 | The Hunter | Blue Thumb Records |
| May 1970 | Come Together | Liberty Records |
| November 1970 | Workin' Together | Liberty Records |
With other artists
| Year | Album | Artist | Credits |
|---|---|---|---|
| 2016 | Lost Studio Sessions 1964–1982 | Gene Clark | Featured Artist |
| 2014 | Face the Music | Nils Lofgren | Vocals |
| 2014 | The Best of the Superbs | The Superbs | Photo Courtesy |
| 2011 | Easy Does It/New York City (You're a Woman)/ A Possible Projection of the Future: Childhood's End | Al Kooper | Vocals (Background) |
| 2010 | Rarities Edition: Mad Dogs & Englishmen | Joe Cocker | Choir/Chorus, Primary Artist |
| 2007 | Less Than the Song/Life Machine | Hoyt Axton | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 2006 | Mad Dogs & Englishmen: Fillmore March 28, 1970 | Joe Cocker | Vocals, Primary Artist |
| 2006 | The Complete Fillmore East Concerts | Joe Cocker | Vocals, Primary Artist |
| 2006 | The Definitive Collection | Humble Pie | Additional Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 2006 | The Definitive Collection | Dave Mason | Vocals (Background) |
| 2006 | What It is! Funky Soul and Rare Grooves: 1967–1977 | Primary Artist | |
| 2005 | Mad Dogs & Englishmen [2005 DVD] | Joe Cocker | Performer |
| 2005 | The Essential Taj Mahal | Taj Mahal | Main Personnel, Vocals (Background) |
| 2001 | Rare + Well Done: The Greatest & Most Obscure Recordings | Al Kooper | Vocals |
| 2001 | Right On! Box Set | Primary Artist | |
| 2001 | Right On, Vol. 3: Break Beats & Grooves from the Atlantic & Warner Vaults | Primary Artist | |
| 2001 | Sing a Happy Song: The Warner Bros. Recordings | Taj Mahal | Vocals (Background) |
| 2001 | Ultimate Collection | Freddie King | Vocals (Background) |
| 2000 | The Best of Freddie King: The Shelter Records Years | Freddie King | Vocals (Background) |
| 1999 | Ultimate Collection | Dave Mason | Vocals (Background) |
| 1999 | Ultimate Collection | Nils Lofgren | Vocals (Background) |
| 1997 | Retrospective | Leon Russell | Vocals |
| 1997 | Soft Fun, Tough Tears | Nils Lofgren | Vocals (Background) |
| 1991 | Key to the Highway [Del Rack] | Freddie King | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1985 | Takin' Care of Business | Freddie King | Choir/Chorus |
| 1977 | Brothers | Taj Mahal | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1976 | Cry Tough | Nils Lofgren | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1976 | Glass Heart | Allan Rich | Sound Effects |
| 1976 | The Best of Leon Russell [DCC/Shelter] | Leon Russell | Vocals |
| 1975 | Stills | Stephen Stills | Vocals |
| 1974 | Compartments | José Feliciano | Vocals (Background) |
| 1974 | Mo' Roots | Taj Mahal | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1974 | No Other | Gene Clark | Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Voices |
| 1973 | Chris Jagger | Chris Jagger | Vocals |
| 1972 | A Possible Projection of the Future | Al Kooper | Vocals |
| 1972 | Artist Proof | Chris Darrow | Vocals (Background) |
| 1972 | Bring Me Back | Tony Kelly | Vocals |
| 1971 | Getting Ready... | Freddie King | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1971 | Into the Purple Valley | Ry Cooder | Vocals |
| 1971 | Klatu Berrada Nitku | Dependables | Vocals, Bass, Group Member |
| 1971 | Leon Russell and the Shelter People | Leon Russell | Vocals |
| 1971 | Living by the Days | Don Nix | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1971 | New York City (You're a Woman) | Al Kooper | Vocals, Vocals (Background) |
| 1971 | Rock On | Humble Pie | Vocals |
| 1970 | Alone Together | Dave Mason | Vocals |
| 1970 | Mad Dogs & Englishmen | Joe Cocker | Main Personnel, Vocals, Vocals (Background), Choir/Chorus, Featured Artist, Primary Artist |
| 1970 | Stephen Stills | Stephen Stills | Vocals |
| All the Funk & Groove | Primary Artist | ||
| My Perfect List 60 Titres Soul 1 | Primary Artist | ||
| Truckers, Kickers, Cowboy Angels: The Blissed-Out Birth of Country Rock, Vol. 6: 1973 | Vocals (Background) | ||
| U.F.O. | Ron Davies | Vocals (Background) |
Filmography/TV appearances
| Year | Title | Role |
|---|---|---|
| 1968 | The Hollywood Palace | Ikette |
| 1969 | Andy's Love Concert | Ikette |
| 1969 | The Smothers Brothers Comedy Hour | Ikette |
| 1969 | Playboy After Dark | Ikette |
| 1970 | The Ed Sullivan Show | Ikette |
| 1974 | Thunderbolt and Lightfoot | Secretary |
| 2013 | 20 Feet from Stardom | Herself |
References
- "Spotlights Turn On Her". St. Louis Post-Dispatch. June 2, 1969 – via Newspapers.com.
- Bernholm, Jonas (July 26, 2019), "Los Angeles: July 30 – August 8, 1968", Soul Music Odyssey USA 1968, York University Libraries
- Smith, Andy (June 22, 2014). "From Hope High to '20 Feet From Stardom' was an amazing journey". The Providence Journal.
- Bissonnette, Jonathan (May 2, 2019). "Rhode Island Music Hall of Fame welcomes class of 2019". The Independent.
- Wikane, Christian John, "Keeping Great Company: An Interview with Claudia Lennear", PopMatters, June 20, 2013.
- Abrams, Ken (April 17, 2019). "WhatsUp Interview: Claudia Lennear, 2019 RI Music Hall of Fame Inductee". What's Up RhodeIsland.
- "Soul singer to discuss star-crossed life during interview". Claremont Courier. July 24, 2014.
- Mcleod, Pauline (March 30, 2014). "My favourite photograph by Mick Jagger's ex girlfriend, singer Claudia Lennear". Express.
- "Claudia Lennear – Phew!" at Allmusic.
- Michaels, Sean (March 6, 2014). "Bowie backing singer claims star has promised to write original songs for her". The Guardian. ISSN 0261-3077.
- "The New Ash Grove Players with Claudia Lennear and SS Jones". ashgrovemusic.net. January 6, 2016. Retrieved January 25, 2019.
- "Inside Tedeschi Trucks Band's All-Star Joe Cocker Tribute". Rollingstone.com. July 14, 2015. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- "YouTube". Youtube.com. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- Tigerino, Adolfo, "Former professional singer rocks LAC", Mountiewire.com, June 4, 2013.
- Roy Carr & Charles Shaar Murray (1981). Bowie: An Illustrated Record: p. 56
- "The Ziggy Stardust Companion – Encyclopedia L". 5years.com. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
- "The lyrics were partially inspired by a black backing singer we knew in L.A. called Claudia Linnear" – Bill Wyman quoted from Rolling With The Stones (2002) at Time Is On Our Side.
- Fong-Torres, Ben, "Keeping Great Company: An Interview with Claudia Lennear", Rolling Stone, April 12, 1973.
- "Claudia Lennear – Credits". AllMusic. Retrieved January 20, 2018.
External links
- Official Website
- Claudia Lennear on AllMusic
- Singer Claudia Lennear aka the Rolling Stones' famous Brown Sugar; audio clip from Robert Elms, With Jason Solomons, Claudia Lennear, Louisa Pestell and Dr. Robert, BBC London, February 20, 2014.