Amanda Humphrey

Amanda Humphrey only had a couple of 45s to her name. The USA single is a good if unremarkable double sider, on which the uptempo “Power Of Love” has been latched onto by the dance crowd. Much better is the slow I’ve Been Crying, a blues ballad with a lot of charm written and first recorded by the excellent Lavelle White. I like the guitarist a lot, as well as the horn charts, and Ms Humphrey’s slightly mannered delivery sounds good when you’ve heard it a couple of times. Lovely doo wop touches. The Norton label came from Jackson, MS.

UPDATE ~ Bob Abrahamian has written with the intriguing suggestion that Amanda Humphrey might be the same singer as Katie Love. He points to the fact that Amanda and Katie both recorded "The Power Of Love", and notes similarities in their vocal style. Looking at the Dade release Bob is sure it was a "bought in" single recorded in Chicago. He also links Amanda Love who cut "You Keep Calling Me By Her Name" / "I Don't Mind" (Starville 1203 / Chess 2003) as the same artist as well.

Well this is very interesting and I've sought the advice of more experts. Jeff Lemlich who knows more about Miami soul than anybody says that it could well have been "bought in" by Henry Stone as the number of the release (Dade 5005) is right in the middle of a run of such 45s. But he doesn't recognise the disc as being from Chicago necessarily.

My friend Naoya Yamauchi says that he thinks it unlikely that Katie Love is the same singer as her real name was Katie Lynch and she came from Atlanta, GA. Naoya also mentions an earlier release for Amanda's "Power Of Love" disc now included in the discography.

My own view, based solely on my ears, is that Amanda Love and Amanda Humphrey could well be the same person. But Katie Love's voice sounds quite different to me - a higher register for a start and a lighter tone.

I'm very grateful to all the participants in this mystery. Can anybody shed any further light on it?

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