Barbara Acklin was born in Oakland, California and moved with her family to Chicago, Illinois, in 1948.
By the age of 11, she was singing regularly as a soloist at the New Zion Baptist Church and started singing at nightclubs in Chicago while still a teenager.
After graduating from Dunbar Vocational High School, her first record was released on the subsidiary Special Agent label, under the pseudonym Barbara Allen. She also worked as a backing singer at Chess Records on recordings by Fontella Bass, Etta James, Koko Taylor, and others.
One of her songs, Whispers (Gettin’ Louder), was recorded by Jackie Wilson and became his biggest hit for three years, reaching #5 on the Billboard R&B chart and #11 on the Billboard Hot 100.
Wilson helped secure her a recording contract with Brunswick.
Her first two singles for the label were unsuccessful, but her third, Show Me the Way To Go, (a duet with Gene Chandler), made the R&B chart.
In July 1968, Acklin earned her signature song with the extremely catchy Love Makes a Woman, which went to #3 on the R&B chart and #15 on the pop chart in August 1968. The song also won a BMI Award.
From the Teacher to the Preacher (1968) reached #57 pop, and was followed by Just Ain’t No Love, Am I the Same Girl?, After You, I Did It, Lady Lady Lady, and I Call It Trouble.
Barbara Acklin had started recording a new album in 1998 when she fell ill. She died from pneumonia on 27 November 1998 in Omaha, Nebraska, aged 55.
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After graduating from Dunbar Vocational High School, her first record was released on the subsidiary Special Agent label, under the pseudonym Barbara Allen. She also worked as a backing singer at Chess Records on recordings by Fontella Bass, Etta James, Koko Taylor, and others.
