Johnnie Mae Matthews

Singer, pianist, producer, songwriter and record executive.

Born on 31.12.1922 in Bessemer, Alabama
Died on 06.01.2002.
Nicknamed the [b]Godmother of Detroit soul[/b], as she founded Detroit's [b]Northern Recording Company[/b] in 1958, a label where quite a few future [l=Motown] stars started their recording career. Johnnie Mae founded many other record labels in Detroit including [l241365], [l155324], [l215606], [l236609] (named after her husband), [l777077] (named after her daughter), [l137646], [l212573], and [l146007].

As a recording artist she was most active during the 1960s. During the 1970s she mainly focused on producing [a=Black Nasty], later reincarnated as the [a=ADC Band], a group that featured her son [a=Artwell Matthews] on drums and her daughter [a=Audrey Matthews] as a lead singer.