Vicki Anderson
Vicki Anderson, born in Houston Texas in 1939, began performing at age five at the Mt. View Church of God & Christ. She recorded her first track at age 19, “There Must Be a God Somewhere,” which propelled her into the soul and R&B recording industry.
In May of 1966, she released her first two tracks with King Records, including her rendition of “Wide Awake in a Dream,” a song showcasing her powerful vocals. Ms. Anderson joined the James Brown Revue in 1965, and performed with the group as the lead female vocalist. She worked extensively with James Brown throughout the rest of her career, and Brown frequently referred to her as the best singer he’d ever worked with. Check out one of their many collaborations, "Think," released in 1967.
Ms. Anderson’s most famous song, feminist anthem “The Message from the Soul Sisters,” was released in 1970, produced by James Brown and featuring bassist Bootsy Collins. Since the time it was released up until the present time, this song has gone on to be sampled over 41 times by artists of a wide variety of genres, namely R&B, rap, hip-hop, and EDM.
Works Cited:
“The Message from the Soul Sister—Myra Barnes.” WhoSampled.com
“Song of the Day— The Message from the Soul Sister.” The Listening Post Blog.
“Vicki Anderson." ArtistCard.com.
