Marva Whitney

 ( 1944 Births ) 

Whitney's first chart hit came with "It's My Thing (You Can't Tell Me Who to Sock It To)," a response to The Isley Brothers' hit "It's Your Thing"; her record reached number 19 on the Billboard R&B chart and number 82 on the Billboard Hot 100 in 1969. She followed up with two smaller hits, "Things Got To Get Better (Get Together)" (R&B number 22) and "I Made A Mistake Because It's Only You Pt. 1" (R&B number 32), and also recorded songs like "I'm Tired, I'm Tired, I'm Tired (Things Better Change Before Its Too Late)", and "If You Don't Work (You Can't Eat)." After recording three albums - Unwind Yourself (1968), Live and Lowdown at the Apollo actually (1969) and It's My Thing (1969) - and about 13 singles with James Brown as producer and writer or co-writer, an exhausted Whitney left the Brown stable in 1969 (or 1970) and returned to Kansas City.

Clarence Cooper and Allan Bell took over her management and initially struggled to get Whitney into major venues. A trip to Chicago in 1970 and a visit to producer Floyd Smith resulted in a contract for the Isley Brothers' T-Neck Records label. After divorcing Phil Wardell, she married Ellis Taylor of Forte Records with whom she had a son (Ellis C. Taylor Jr) and recorded further singles for the label, including "Daddy Don't Know About Sugar Bear", her most successful post Brown single that was picked up for national distribution by Nashville's Excello Records. She retired from recording for several years making only local appearances in Kansas City, returning to the studio in 1977 for a Forte single with her brother Melvin Manning. Their single, "(Get Ready for) the Changes" bw "All Alone I’ve Loved" was credited to Marva & Melvin (With The M-W-T Express).Jazz Rock Soul - Marva Whitney, Later Singles Melvin was previously in a Kansas group, Smoke that also included Larry Brown of Harold Melvin & the Blue Notes in the lineup.Amazon - Risin' Up, Editorial Reviews Billboard, July 10, 1975 - Page 10 General News, LOS ANGELES HASSLE, 2 Smoke Groups In Court Dispute Over Ownership

Whitney divorced Taylor in 1977 and relocated to Los Angeles for the next fifteen years.

In the early 1980s, she briefly joined a group, Coffee, Cream & Sugar, formed by singer Alfred "Pico" Payne and Mary Lou Flesh. Later in the 1980s, she started to perform regularly with former James Brown band members such as Maceo Parker, Fred Wesley, Pee Wee Ellis, and Lyn Collins, as the JB Allstars. She returned to Kansas City as it became apparent that Funk music was essentially unfashionable and opportunities were sparse. She became a mentor to her son Ellis C. Taylor Jr. who went on to record on the Men In Black soundtrack as well as other Jazz, Rap and R&B releases. She later married for the fourth time a preacher and returned to her gospel roots.

In 2006, Whitney collaborated with German born DJ/collector/manager DJ Pari and Japanese funk orchestra Osaka Monaurail to produce a new single, "I Am What I Am". Osaka Monaurail style themselves on the James Brown sound and the single was produced in the fashion of an authentic release of the recordings she produced with Brown in 1969. Two successful tours of Japan and a full-length album release followed, also entitled "I Am What I Am". In 2007, 2008 and 2009, the tour was also brought to Europe where she maintained a cult following.

In December 2009, Whitney had a stroke on stage during a concert in Lorne, Australia, while performing with The Transatlantics at Falls Festival. The remaining dates of her tour were cancelled; after Whitney made a partial recovery she performed again in 2010. In December 2012, Whitney died from complications of pneumonia at her home. She was 68.