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MABLE JOHN
aka
DR. MABLE JOHN
Born in Louisiana to Mertis and Lillie John, Mable is the eldest of ten sisters and brothers.
A former R&B vocalist, she is the sister of the late-great Little Willie John. When she embarked on her singing career, she received a bit of advice from her already famous brother. "Either be a star or pack your bags and go home". Mable heeded his advice; she is indeed a star.
During the 50's and 60's, John toured the South with some of the biggest names of that era: Jimmy Reed, Shirley and Lee, B.B. King, Sam Cooke, The Flamingo's and others.
John was signed to the Stax label by her manager, Lucky Cordell. John's first big hit (which she co-authored) was "Your Good Thing (Is About To End), recorded in 1966. Before signing with Stax, she was with Motown. She recorded on the Tamla label and is a personal friend of the Gordy family. For a brief time, Mable worked with Gordy's Mother at a major Detroit insurance firm.
A picture taken at the close of a show at the Flame Bar in Detroit shows Mable with Billie Holiday and Berry Gordy, Jr., Billie Holiday's husband liked the photograph and had a ceiling to floor, wall to wall blow-up made, which now hangs in the studios at Paramount Pictures in Hollywood.
Mable viewed the screening and filming of "The Billie Holiday Story" starring Diana Ross, at the request of Berry Gordy, Jr., because of the past association and because of her closeness to the late Billie Holiday.
After performing as a solo artist for seventeen years, she joined Ray Charles where she became a performing member of the Raelettes. She has co-written 52 songs with Ray Charles and was with his organization for 10 1/2 years before leaving in 1976.
Now living in the Los Angeles area, John is Pastor of "Joy In Jesus Ministries" with an evangelistic outreach called "A PLACE TO PRAY", where she feeds the hungry and gives clothes to the needy on a daily basis. The ministry has a full line referral service that assist men and women on how to reclaim their place in society. July 1993, John received her Doctrine of Divinity degree from the Crenshaw Christian Center.
Mable John now ministers through song and has chosen to sing the gospel. Her first gospel album "WHERE CAN I FIND JESUS" has been released on her family owned independent label, Meda Records.
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