Empress of Gulf Coast Soul Barbara Lynn receives NEA honor

Barbara Lynn, the Empress of Gulf Coast Soul, was honored by the NEA Wednesday, recognizing the Beaumont native as a figure of cultural importance. Barbara Lynn, the Empress of Gulf Coast Soul, was honored by the NEA Wednesday, recognizing the Beaumont native as a figure of cultural importance. Photo: File Photo Photo: File Photo Image 1 of / 12 Caption Close Empress of Gulf Coast Soul Barbara Lynn receives NEA honor 1 / 12 Back to Gallery

Barbara Lynn recorded an enduring R&B hit that crossed onto the pop charts, had a song covered by one of rock 'n' roll's enduring giants and another sampled by a hip-hop icon. But even though the 76-year-old Beaumont native is known as the Empress of Gulf Coast Soul, Lynn doesn't always receive the wider attention she's earned as an inventive singer, songwriter and guitarist.

That changed Wednesday when the National Endowment for the Arts announced Lynn was one of nine artists designated to receive a National Heritage Fellowship. Fellows are honored as those who carry on and contribute to art forms from their community. In Lynn's case, she was a crucial figure in a distinctive Gulf Coast R&B sound that touched on soul, blues and gospel.

"It's wonderful that Miss Barbara Lynn is being honored in this way," said Billy Gibbons of ZZ Top. "As well as being a brilliant guitar player Barbara has carried the torch of the Gulf Coast sound with genuine soulful sincerity."

Lynn is best known for her 1962 hit "You'll Lose a Good Thing," which topped the R&B charts and reached No. 8 on the pop Top 40. Gibbons called the song "one of the most transcendent mood pieces in music history: both poignant and ominous at the same time."

In 1965 her "Oh Baby (We Got a Good Thing Goin')" was covered by the Rolling Stones on their "Rolling Stones, Now!" album.

And while Lynn at times showed indifference toward the music industry, her work has continued to circulate widely decades later, by a wide swath of musicians. Electronic artist Moby sampled Lynn's "I'm a Good Woman" for his 2002 song "Another Woman." And more prominently, Lil' Wayne used a sample from the same song on his 2013 track "Days and Days." The New Orleans rapper showcased Lynn's song prominently, opening his tune with Lynn's aching voice singing, "You leave your home for days and days ... " followed by the original song's blast of brass.

Lynn's tale that runs through decades of popular music began with a case of dumb luck in east Texas.

Self-made style

The late, notorious producer Huey P. Meaux was a barber from Winnie, southwest of Beaumont, who wanted to get into the music business. He'd had some regional hits, but the country music singles he produced weren't selling.

He moved into R&B and blues in the early-'60s. Somebody passed along a cassette of a singer named T-Baby Green. For a non-musician, Meaux's ears were sharp, and his attention was drawn not to Green's singing, but rather a voice that would bleed through the tape in between Green's songs.

Green's demo had been taped over the original recording, and Meaux wanted to find that original singer. Turns out she was Barbara Lynn Ozen, a Beaumont teenager who'd been recommended to Meaux by swamp-pop singer Joe Barry.

"I said, 'Who is this?' Her voice knocked me out," Meaux told the Chronicle. "I couldn't believe what I saw. She was 15. This girl playing great left-handed guitar. And she had one leg shorter than the other. For those reasons, nobody would sign her."

Meaux told Lynn's mother if she could get Lynn to New Orleans, he could get studio time with the great producer Cosimo Matassa, whose session band included bassist Mac Rebennack, years before his reinvention as Dr. John.

"I remember liking what I heard a lot," Dr. John told the Chronicle in 2013. "Though I also remember Huey did a lot of sessions and I didn't always get paid."

Lynn was more forgiving of Meaux and his financial voodoo. Before he heard her voice on that tape, she hadn't really found a path to a career in music, even though she started early, as part of a singing group back in elementary school.

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As a teen in the '50s she felt pulled to the guitar, which moved to the fore as R&B and early rock 'n' roll.

She was self-taught, swiftly moving from ukulele to an acoustic guitar to her first electric, which she played upside down, pulling the high strings down from the top of the neck, rather than pushing them upward like right-handed players. Old footage of Lynn reveals a distinctive approach to the instrument, as she played with a thumb pick and brushed the strings with her other fingers.

"As you'll notice I used my thumb as the drums," Lynn said. "I was trying to find my own style, and this is the style I came up with. I didn't have a drummer behind me, so I had to find a way to keep that beat continuously while I was playing."

By high school she was playing R&B clubs around Beaumont.

Her meeting with Meaux, though, turned Lynn's aspirations into a career. He recalled the first royalty check for "You'll Lose a Good Thing" as being $48,000. There was more to come: an appearance on "American Bandstand" and touring with top acts like Sam Cooke, B.B. King and Jackie Wilson.

Essential sounds

By 1968 Lynn should've crossed over to become a superstar. But she kept recording brilliant R&B singles that scratched the furthest reaches of the Billboard charts. Part of the problem was Meaux, who ran a formidable music empire out of Houston, but who was better at talent discovery than talent development. He was also a cunning bookkeeper. By getting Lynn to sign over her share of publishing for some of her songs, he also left her in the cold for potential income.

By the 1970s, Lynn was raising children, and recorded only sporadically. She briefly lived in California in the '80s, before returning to her Beaumont home she bought with early royalties.

She only released one album in the '80s, and a couple in the '90s. The last new recording she made was "Blues and Soul Situation" in 2004. But with her distinctive guitar playing and her voice still sweet, Lynn has for years been a beloved draw on the oldies circuit nationally, with a particularly fervent following in east Texas.

"I grew up watching her at clubs and fairs as a kid," said Jesse Dayton, a singer-songwriter and guitarist from the same hometown. "Every band in Beaumont played 'You'll Lose a Good Thing.' She played this screaming blues and soul guitar. And what a soulful voice. Barbara's a national treasure."

And the past 10 or so years have seen an uptick in recognition. In 2010 Beaumont renamed Ollie Street, where she kept that home for decades, Barbara Lynn Street. Her 1968 album "Here Is Barbara Lynn," originally released by Atlantic Records, was reissued four years ago by Light in the Attic, a prestige label that restores old, out-of-print classic recordings to vinyl.

Quinn Bishop, owner of Cactus Music called that record "essential listening for fans of the genre."

Still amazing

The NEA Fellow designation is just the latest acknowledgment of Lynn's art. It comes with a cash award at the Sept. 26 ceremony, and she'll perform two days later at a concert for honorees in Washington, D.C.

The honor, fittingly, is more about her contribution to culture than it is about cultural renown. When the NEA announced the first class of honorees in 1982, the list included Tejano legend and Houston native Lydia Mendoza. Other fellow recipients from this region include Texas City native and blues pianist Charles Brown and zydeco king Clifton Chenier, a Louisiana native who spent time in Port Arthur before settling in Houston's Frenchtown.

Lynn's advocate was Sarah Rucker, who heard Lynn as a kid and then met her when Rucker worked for blues champion Clifford Antone in Austin in the 2000s. Rucker began working for Texas Folklife which is why she got a call in 2009 from the American Folklife Center at the Library of Congress about artists to play a show in Washington, D.C.

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"She was the first person on my list because she has this sound," Rucker said. "I don't know another artist that has that sound: She's blues, she's R&B she's soul. She's a Gulf Coast player, but not swamp pop or dance music.... I can't think of anyone more deserving. She's an icon of American music. And still an active one. Her voice and playing still sound amazing."

Lynn said, "I have a few things going on, but nothing I'm at liberty to talk about just yet." Which is tantalizing, considering how long it's been since she released new music. Even if she hasn't released one of those lauded comeback albums that have become commonplace for aging musicians of note, Lynn's legacy was secured because she inspired other players, including women, to pick up a guitar.

"She's just an incredibly soulful and important person and artist," Bonnie Raitt told the Chronicle last year. "She stood out because she was also a guitarist. But her music is so important to me and others."

andrew.dansby@chron.com