Doris Duke (soul singer)
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| Doris Duke | |
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| Background information | |
| Birth name | Doris Curry. |
| Born | 1945: Sandersville, Georgia, U.S. |
| Genre(s) | R&B/soul |
| Occupation(s) | Vocalist |
| Years active | 1963 - 1981 |
| Label(s) | Jay-Boy Records, Hy-Monty Records, Kent Records, Atlantic Records, Canyon Records, Mankind Records, Contempo |
| Associated acts | The Raspberry Singers, The David Singers, The Caravans |
Doris Duke (b Doris Curry, 1945, Sandersville, Georgia) is a gospel and soul singer.
She started singing with gospel groups including the Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker and Caravans, and by 1963 was working in New York on sessions and as a backing singer at the Apollo Theatre. Under her then married name of Doris Willingham, she recorded her first single, Running Away from Loneliness in 1966. This and later releases on Jay Boy Records were unsuccessful, and she continued working as a session singer, mainly in Philadelphia. She also sang back-up on Nina Simone's live album, A Very Rare Evening, recorded in Germany.
In 1969, former Atlantic Records producer Jerry 'Swamp Dogg' Williams Jr. signed her as a solo artiste, renaming her Doris Duke and recording the album “I’m A Loser” at the Capricorn studio in Macon, Georgia. The album was eventually issued on Canyon Records, and over the years became regarded, by Dave Godin and others, as one of the finest deep soul records of all time. The first single, To the Other Woman, reached the R&B top ten, but success was cut short when the record company collapsed. Subsequent records, including some with Swamp Dogg, had little success, and she retired into obscurity.
