Ruby Johnson (April 19, 1936[1] – July 4, 1999)[2] was an American soul singer, best known for her recordings on the Volt label in the late 1960s.[1]
Life and career
She was born in Elizabeth City, North Carolina, and was raised in the Jewish faith.[2] She sang, with her eight brothers and sisters, in the Temple Beth-El choir.[1] After completing high school, she moved to Virginia Beach where she worked as a waitress and began singing rhythm and blues with local bands, before spending two years with Samuel Latham and the Rhythm Makers.[1] She then moved to Washington, D.C. in the late 1950s, and joined Ambrose and the Showstoppers, the house band at the Spa nightclub.[1] Local entrepreneur Never Duncan Jnr. became her manager,[1] and placed her with record producer Dicky Williams. Her first single, "Calling All Boys", was issued in 1960 on the V-Tone label, before Duncan established his own recording company, NEBS.[1] She released a succession of singles on NEBS, including "Here I Go Again", "Worried Mind", and "Nobody Cares", some of which became local hits.[2]
When her local supporter, disc jockey Al Bell, began working for Stax Records in Memphis in 1965, he won her a contract with the label.[1] There, she recorded a handful of classic soul records with the writing and production team of Isaac Hayes and David Porter,[1] and backing musicians including Steve Cropper, "Duck" Dunn and Al Jackson. These were issued on the Stax subsidiary label, Volt.[1] They included "I'll Run Your Hurt Away",[1] which reached No. 31 on the BillboardR&B chart in 1966, and "If I Ever Needed Love", both tracks which became staples of subsequent soul compilations, such as those by Dave Godin.[3]
Despite the quality of her records, they met with little success, and after a few more years singing in clubs, she gave up her singing career in 1974.[1] She worked in government posts, and eventually became the director of Foster Grandparents, a federal programme helping handicapped children relate to older generations.[1] She also returned to worship and sing at the Temple Beth-El near her home in Lanham, Maryland. A compilation CD, including many previously unissued tracks, was issued in 1993.[4]
