R.I.P. Teena Marie...A True Soul Sister!!

I wrote this article about six months ago, for a special that I had in mind for Lady Tee, a artist who was honest, pure and true to the art of soul music, unfortunately the special tribute was never materialized. Ironically she was to 'resign' with Cash Money records to begin working on her 14Th CD! Rest In Peace!!

30+ years of Wild & Peaceful
Born Mary Christina Brockert on March 5-1956. The blue eyed soul singer later become known to the world as Teena Marie and some affectionately calls her Lady T. Marie was always destined for fame an early appearance on The Beverly Hillbillies tickled her dreams of stardom. She grew up in Venice California. As a young teen she with guitar in hand traveled to Hollywood to get discovered. Luckily for us a man name Berry Gordy said yes and signed her to Motown Records. A few false starts in various groups, Motown didn’t really know what to do with their eager signee. Iris Gordy came up with the idea of having label mate Punk Funkster Rick James to work with Marie, though reluctant James eventually gave in and the rest is musical history. He went on to produce her debut LP for Motown called ‘Wild & Peaceful, which included the monster hit and duet with James, called “I’m Just A Sucker For Your Love” and the quiet storm sleeper “De Ja Vu”.

Next up came the “Lady T” project produced by Richard Rudolph the husband of the late singer Minnie Riperton, though a solid project it was met with difficulty at radio, the highlight of that project produce a life time friendship with Richard Rudolph, who Marie credits for teaching her how to produce a textured richness in her music. In 1980 came the release of “Irons In The Fire” in which Marie decided to be the sole producer, she hit pay dirt with the single “I Need Your Lovin” and watched “Irons In The Fire” achieve gold status, she established herself as a force to be reckoned with. This was a great time in her life with the success of “Irons” Motown wanted Marie back in the studio. This time the triumph was even greater she released“It Must Be Magic” in May 1981 and had major success with another top ten song called “Square Biz”was all the rage and revealed another side to the phenomenal talent, this time she was rapping. Striking while the iron was hot Marie team up with label mate Rick James and went on tour selling out stadium after stadium breaking Elvis Presley attendance records as well as the Rolling Stones record in concert sales. Summer of 1981 you could not go anywhere and not hear something blazes on the radio from the “It Must Be Magic” project.


Into each life some rain must fall, trusting that Motown would honor their word giving Marie a verbal agreement to renew her contract. When that didn’t happen things turned sour and Motown and Marie ended up in litigation. Being steadfast to her beliefs, all musical artists has Teena Marie to thank for giving them contract security which is known as the Teena Marie bill, which states that if a artist is under contract without product in the market place, their record label must pay them. Sadly this would end her association with Motown, the lawsuit was held up until 1984. Teena Marie signed on to Epic Records and released her debut LP called “Robbery” in March 1984 a solid project, unfortunately the sales were not as strong as her glory days at Motown. Bound and determined to be a success Marie went back into the studio and released “Starchild” another solid effort through and through, this time around she struck gold again, and had the biggest crossover single of her career with “Lovergirl” which peaked at #4 on the pop charts and garnered her a best female soul Grammy nomination. Marie was fully back in the swing of things. Her success is quite astounding, when you consider that here is white female singing R&B music. She could’ve easily chosen to do rock music and follow in the footsteps of Janis Joplin, but that wasn’t the love that Marie had for music, she always loved soul music. Her never wavering is why she has the legion of fans that has followed her over the 30 plus years of her career. Never one to rest on her laurels, the consummate artist Marie went back into the studio to record the follow-up to “Starchild” this time she decided to really push the envelope releasing “Emerald City” which was heavily saturated in rock and Brazilian overtones, one of the guest on her project was Stevie Ray Vaughn who passed away shortly after working with Marie. “Emerald City” wasn’t as successful as its predecessor. Deciding to go back to what worked best for her Marie released “Naked To The World” which consisted of two top 10 R&B hits “Ooh La La” her first and only #1 record which was later largely sampled by the Fugee’s on Fu-gee-la and “Work It”.

Epic wanted larger successes from Marie and had hoped that would happened with “Ivory” which had the makings of a blockbuster project, unfortunately Epic released the wrongs singles at the wrong time. With lukewarm sales Epic and Marie mutually agreed to part ways. This time around Marie decided to start her own record label called Sarai and released “Passion Play” this project is truly for the die hard Marie fan. It was an independent label, which couldn’t handle the marketing and push that an artist of Marie’s caliber deserved. Deciding to leave the recording process alone for a while Marie continued to tour extensively and her fans never disappointed. She was able to make a living without having product in the market place. Always in high demand Cash Money records approached Marie and convinced her to return to recording. In 2004 La Dona was released and became her biggest LP/CD peaking at #6 on the pop charts, and quite frankly overwhelming Marie, who really didn’t know how truly loved she was. “La Dona” quickly went gold and reestablished Marie’s place and legacy in soul music. Two more releases “Sapphire” and “Congo Square” is a part of her this great lady’s tapestry and shows that her body of work, is timeless, exquisite and genuinely soulful. There is ONLY one Teena Marie and African American culture has welcomed her into our homes for over thirty years and will continue to do. Thanks Lady Tee for being a true trailblazing Soul Sister.

Biography written by Kevin Knighton