Tami Lynn was a singer known
throughout New Orleans and the world, recently passed away on June 26,
2020. She attended R.T. Danneel #2 Elementary School, where she studied
music and learned to sing with the likes of former classmates and
greats, Allen Toussaint, and Ellis Marsalis, Jr. As a youngster, she
sang spirituals with groups like the Clara Ward Singers, and appeared on
WMRY Radio,” Dr. Daddy-O’s Sunday Gospel Show,” where she was heard by
legendary gospel singer Mahalia Jackson, who predicted Lynn would grow
up to be a “fine singer” one day. While in High School, she landed a
part in the Broadway musical “Showboat” but actually wanted to grow up
to be a speech therapist for children with special needs.
Lynn’s career in R&B started
quite by coincidence. She began her professional career singing at the
Joy Tavern when a regular singing artist didn’t show up for a few gigs.
Red Tyler, the manager of the performing band at the Joy Tavern
requested Lynn to audition. After some encouragement by her mother,
Tami auditioned, got the gig, and began singing nightly with Red Tyler’s
band. After successfully packing the house night after night with her
soulful singing, Lynn signed a contract with the A.F.O. (All For One)
record company and recorded Baby,
a song written for her by Red Tyler. Tyler, Harold Battiste, and Melvin
Lastie, A.F.O.’s Founders became her mentors. Taking her under their
wings, Tami began touring with the band, A.F.O. Lynn then went on to
New York to perform at the famous Birdland (a New York jazz club) in the
60’s where she opened on several occasions for John Coltrane, Miles
Davis, and Ella Fitzgerald. During the 70’s she sang a few gigs at the
Roxy Theatre in West Hollywood.
Soon after Lynn met Jerry Wexler of
Atlantic Records, when she sang at a DJ convention, who immediately upon
hearing her sing signed her on Atlantic’s recording label. Lynn
occasionally worked with A.F.O. executives on projects, including King
Floyd’s first album, as a backup singer for Sam Cooke, and several of
Dr. John’s albums. She also did some background session work for
television shows like” Starsky and Hutch” and a few commercials such as
for the Plymouth car company’s Road Runner advertisements. She had a
breakthrough in the early 1970s when John Abby at Mojo Records in
England discovered “I’m Gonna Run Away” and re-released the song, which went to the top of the charts in Britain, where she once opened for Al Green. “In 1971, “I’m Gonna Run Away”
was released as a single, with “The Boy Next Door” as the B-side, on
Mojo and Atlantic, where it became a hit in the UK among devotees of
Northern soul. The tune hit number 4 in the UK Singles Chart in 1971. A full-length album, Love Is Here and Now You’re Gone, followed in 1972, produced by John Abbey.
Lynn’s I’m Gonna Run Away”
remains a hit and is still played throughout the UK. She went on the
road with Mac Rebennack (Dr. John) and his then bass guitarist, Randy
Jackson of “American Idol.” She sung at several New Orleans Jazz and
Heritage Festivals, and was the featured backup singer on the Rolling
Stones album, “Exile on Main St., which was later voted “Best Album of
All Time.”
During her career, Tami Lynn shared
the stage, sung, or recorded with Wilson Pickett, Sonny and Cher, Billy
Joel, Clarence “Gatemouth” Brown, Lionel Hampton, Irma Thomas, Ernie
K-Doe, Eric Clapton, George Benson, Ringo Starr, Joe Cocker, Willie
Bobo, Mark Isham, and many, many others.
Tami Lynn died on June 26, 2020. A longtime collaborator and co-vocalist
on Dr. John albums and signee to AFO Records, Lynn worked with the
likes of the Rolling Stones, Sonny & Cher and Wilson Pickett, and
shared stages with Miles Davis and John Coltrane.
