Linda Tillery
Linda Tillery is an acclaimed American soul singer, percussionist, producer, songwriter, and arranger known for her pioneering work in women's music and roots traditions. Born on September 2, 1948, she rose to prominence in the late 1960s with the Bay Area psychedelic soul band The Loading Zone.
Tillery launched her professional singing career at age 19, answering a classified ad from The Loading Zone in the San Francisco Chronicle. She served as their lead vocalist from 1968 to 1969, performing alongside acts like Cream and blending R&B, rock, and psychedelia. Her debut solo album, Sweet Linda Divine, arrived in 1970 on CBS Records, produced by Al Kooper, earning her two Bay Area Jazz Awards for Outstanding Female Vocalist despite modest sales.
Throughout the 1970s, Tillery contributed backing vocals and drums to albums by artists like Santana (including the hit "Everybody's Everything" from Santana III), Boz Scaggs, and Lenny White. She joined Olivia Records as a producer and released her self-titled second album in 1977, solidifying her role as a trailblazer in women's music.
In 1985, Tillery issued Secrets on her own 411 Records label, mixing R&B, gospel, jazz, and soul. By the early 1990s, she formed the Cultural Heritage Choir to explore African diaspora roots music, collaborating with Bobby McFerrin, Huey Lewis and the News, and the Turtle Island String Quartet. She remains active as a Grammy-nominated artist, ethnomusicologist, and performer in the Bay Area scene.
Secrets
A2 Secrets 4:29
A3 I Suppose (Bring Me To Your Love) 3:42
A4 I'm So Thankful 5:05
B1 Basin Street 5:05
B2 Count On Me 4:04
B3 The Chosen Ones 4:11
B4 Fever 4:11
Label: 411 Records – BLF 736
Format: Vinyl, LP, Album
Country: US
Released: 1985
Genre: R&B Soul
Style: Eighties Disco Funk
Linda Tillery's 1985 album Secrets is an eclectic mix of R&B, gospel, pop, jazz, and soul that generally received positive reviews, though some critics noted a clash between her powerful vocals and the slicker production style of some tracks. The album is widely considered a "Bay Area treasure" by fans and was a significant release that returned Tillery to the spotlight.
The consensus among reviewers is that Tillery's voice is the album's main strength. Her vocals are described as "sure, strong," "powerful," and having significant "gospel power" and "jazz phrasing".
Some tracks were produced by Tillery herself, including a gospel-soul arrangement of her song "I'm Thankful" and a rearranged version of the R&B standard "Fever". Other tracks were produced by Ray Obiedo, whose arrangements were noted as a more formulaic "bland pop-soul" style that Tillery's voice often transcended.
The album is praised for its diverse sound, which includes a mix of African American blues, R&B, and jazz elements. A review in The Washington Post highlighted a stylistic tension, noting that producer Ray Obiedo's "bland pop-soul" arrangements sometimes "slickened" the sound, but Tillery's "gritty lead vocal" managed to cut through the commercial pop style.