Justine Washington (born November 13, 1940), usually credited as Baby Washington, but credited on some early records as Jeanette (Baby) Washington, is an American soul music vocalist, who had 16 rhythm and blues chart entries in 15 years, most of them during the 1960s. With more than 60 singles released between 1956 and 1978, no less than 20 of them found their way onto one national popularity chart or another. It was her tremendously moving voice, earthy but sophisticated, that perfectly epitomized uptown soul. Yet unlike her southern counterparts she never experienced great crossover recognition.
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| The Hearts (Washington 3rd from left) |
Washington was born in Bamberg, South Carolina. She studied piano as a youngster; the desire to break into showbiz developed after her family moved to Harlem. She began her career in 1956 while still in her teens as a member of The Hearts, a female R&B group best known for "Lonely Nights" (1956), a Top 10 hit on the R&B charts. Because she was the youngest of the Hearts, the nickname "Baby" took hold...and stuck to her like glue for life, despite one or two attempts at dropping it. At that time, she also sang with The Jaynetts (later of "Sally, Go 'Round The Roses" fame) and can be heard performing the lead on one of the group's earliest singles, "I Wanted To Be Free”.
Solo Baby Washington singles appeared on J&S in 1958 including the up-tempo "Congratulations Honey" and a ballad, "Ah-Ha." Certain things about "Baby" would soon be more clear: Ballads were her strong suit and she was quite capable of writing good romantic songs, often dealing with feelings of heartbreak and despair. Later that year she signed to Donald Shaw's Neptune Records as a solo performer, and established herself as a soul singer with two hits in 1959: "The Time" (U.S. R&B #22) and "The Bells" (U.S. R&B # 20). She followed up with the hit "Nobody Cares" (U.S. R&B # 17) in 1961. Several of her singles on the Neptune and ABC labels were credited to Jeanette (Baby) Washington, which later led to confusion with an entirely different singer known as Jeanette Washington.
She signed with ABC Paramount in 1961, but her two releases for the label were not hits, although the self-written "Let Love Go By" later became a notable Northern Soul single. Washington then moved to Juggy Murray's Sue Records in 1962, scoring her only entry on the U.S. Billboard Top 40 with "That's How Heartaches Are Made" in 1963.
Two years later, she hit again on the U.S. R&B Top 10 with "Only Those In Love". Among her other Sue recordings were "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face", co-written by Chip Taylor and Jerry Ragovoy, and "Careless Hands", penned by Billy Myles.
Washington revived her career in the early 1970s covering the Marvelettes'"Forever" (# 30 R&B) as a duet with Don Gardner. Her solo release, "I've Got To Break Away", made number 73 on the R&B charts, after which the advent of disco led to a decline in her popularity. She has never experienced great crossover recognition, although Dusty Springfield once cited Washington as her all-time favourite singer and recorded "That's How Heartaches Are Made" and "I Can't Wait Until I See My Baby's Face".
Washington was still active as a live performer, appearing several times a year on the East Coast and performing on cruise ships with occasional appearances at various music festivals worldwide. She also performed at the Prestatyn Soul Weekender festival in Wales in 2004. She performed with the Enchanters at a Philadelphia-area show in March 2008, and in Baltimore in June 2008. Washington was among the 2008 honourees in Community Works' Ladies Singing the Blues music series. Her last concert (as notified on the web) was in Brooklyn during 2017. (Edited mainly from Wikipedia)
Here’s Justine "Baby" Washington in concert at Harmony Hall in Fort Washington, Maryland on October 15, 2011. She is backed by the Velons Band.