Time will pass you by, the Casino Classics single by Tobi Legend, real name Tobi Lark. - Three Before Eight
Image details
Contributor:
Tony Smith / Alamy Stock PhotoImage ID:
2MKF7ECFile size:
41 MB (1.6 MB Compressed download)Releases:
Model - no | Property - noDo I need a release?Dimensions:
4308 x 3324 px | 36.5 x 28.1 cm | 14.4 x 11.1 inches | 300dpiDate taken:
27 January 2023Location:
Station Road, Wigan, Lancashire, England, UK ,WN1 0SDMore information:
Tobi Lark (born Bessie Grace Gupton; 1941) is an American-born Canadian soul and gospel singer, who also recorded under the names Bessie Watson and Tobi Legend. She had a top 40 hit in 1970 in Canada with "We're All in This Together". Elsewhere her best known record is "Time Will Pass You By", regarded as a classic of Northern soul, which she recorded in 1968 believing it was just a demo; it was released under the name of Tobi Legend without her approval. Life and career She was born Bessie Grace Gupton in Alabama, the daughter of gospel singer Emma Washington. She grew up in Detroit and first performed in her mother's choir, the Emma Washington Gospel Singers. She toured with the group for ten years, from the age of nine, before securing her first professional job, as a backing singer for B. B. King. As Bessie Watson, she first recorded in 1963, releasing the single "'Deed I Do" backed by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the Riverside label, and then two singles, "I'm in Your Corner" and "Wake Up Crying" on the Jay Pee label. As Tobi Lark, she then recorded several singles for the Palmer, Topper, and U.S.D. labels, but none achieved much commercial success. She also performed with the Impressions, the Four Tops, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, and Duke Ellington, among others In 1968, in Detroit, she recorded "Time Will Pass You By", a song written by English-born songwriter and record producer John Rhys Eddins with Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris. The record was released on the Mala label under the name "Tobi Legend", but it was unsuccessful until it was picked up in the early 1970s by followers of the Northern soul scene in the UK. The song became known as one of the "Three Before Eight", played at the conclusion of every all-nighter at the Wigan Casino club, and has since featured on several anthologies of Northern soul music including The Best Northern Soul All-Nighter ... Ever!, The Northern Soul Story, and The Wigan Casino Story