R&B singer Carleen Anderson was introduced to music at an early age, as both her mother (Vicki Anderson) and stepfather (pianist Bobby Byrd) toured throughout the '60s and '70s with the great James Brown. Due to her parents constantly being on the road, Anderson grew up in Houston, TX, and was raised by her grandparents, until relocating to Los Angeles to study music at the University of South California. Interestingly, Anderson was at first pursuing a career in teaching music, not performing, but when she was invited by her mother to sing at a J.B. All Stars in London circa 1988, Anderson changed her mind. She set up a residence in England, joining up with Young Disciples in the early '90s and appearing on their lone full-length release, 1991's Road to Freedom. After Young Disciples split in 1993, Anderson embarked on a solo career, issuing a pair of releases -- 1994's True Spirit and 1998's Blessed Burden, in addition to lending her talents to recordings by such acclaimed British artists as Bryan Ferry (1994's Mamouna), Paul Weller, (1992's self-titled release and 1995's Stanley Road), and Dr. John (1998's Anutha Zone). Anderson was then invited to join the Brand New Heavies, but the union only last a short while, as she split from the group in the early 21st century to work on a third solo album. ~ Greg Prato, All Music Guide
Carleen Anderson (born 10 May 1957) is an American soul singer who has had success in the United Kingdom. She is the daughter of the singer Vicki Anderson and stepdaughter of Bobby Byrd, and was most well known as the lead singer in the Young Disciples as well as for her own solo career.
Anderson was raised by her paternal grandparents in Houston, Texas during the civil rights movement in the 1960s. Her mother was Vicki Anderson, a soul singer who was the featured singer with James Brown during the 1960s and 1970s, and Brown is Anderson's godfather. Anderson briefly married in 1978 and had a son, but the marriage did not last and for most of the 1980s she was living as a single parent in California and attempting to launch her singing career. Her only major success was recording vocals for a song by her stepfather Bobby Byrd in 1988, and so in June 1990, she decided to relocate with her son to England to try her luck at starting a career there.
Anderson quickly formed an Acid jazz band with Marc Nelson and Femi Williams called the Young Disciples. The group's only album, Road to Freedom (Talkin' Loud, 1991), was a great success and contained the break-out single "Apparently Nothin" (Talkin' Loud, 1992). Anderson received a lot of attention as the lead singer (and keyboardist) of the group, and used her heightened profile to negotiate a new, solo recording contract with Virgin Records in 1992. During her time with the Young Disciples and the beginning of her solo career, Anderson was managed by Colin Lester's and Ian McAndrew's Wildlife Entertainment.
Solo career
Virgin years
1992 saw Anderson record backing vocals for Paul Weller's eponymous solo album, which was the start of a long friendship and working relationship between the two. Weller helped Anderson with her production and songwriting, which led to the release of her first solo work, The Dusky Sappho EP (Circa/Virgin, 1993). Throughout this period, Anderson also continued to supply backing and guest vocals for a wide variety of other artists from Galliano to Bryan Ferry to the first volume of Guru's Jazzmatazz project.
Her first solo album - True Spirit (Circa/Virgin, 1994) - followed, and was a moderate critical and commercial success. It also contained her two most famous songs "Nervous Breakdown" (UK #27) and "Mama Said" (UK #26). Anderson cemented her working relationship with Paul Weller by providing backing vocals (with her cousin, Jhelisa) on his Stanley Road album (Polygram, 1995), and the follow up Heavy Soul (Polygram, 1997). To return the favour he worked with her on her second solo album, Blessed Burden (Circa/Virgin, 1998). The album continued her professional development, but was to be her final one for Virgin.
Independent years
Following her departure from Virgin, Anderson briefly filled in as lead vocalist for the Brand New Heavies following the departure of their previous lead singers N'Dea Davenport and Siedah Garrett. Anderson also continued to provide guest and backing vocals for other artists whilst working on her first independently produced album, Alberta's Granddaughter (Dusky Sappho Music, 2002), which was followed by greatest hits album Up To Now: The Best Of (Virgin, 2004).
Following this, Anderson moved to Dome Records to release Soul Providence (Dome, 2005), and 2006 is mostly to be spent touring to promote the album.
Carleen's new album is to be released in 2009. It is more of a ballad based album and will feature production from Massive Attack on a couple of tracks.
Discography
With Young Disciples
Road to Freedom (Talkin' Loud, 1991)
Solo Recordings
True Spirit (Circa/Virgin, 1994) UK #12
True Spirit - Remixes (Circa/Virgin, 1995) UK #122
