Doris Willingham

Doris Duke
Birth name	Doris Curry
Also known as	Doris Willingham Doris Logan
Born	1945 Sandersville, Georgia, U.S.
Genres	Deep soul, southern soul, R&B
Occupation(s)	Vocalist
Years active	1963–1981
Labels	Jay-Boy Records, Hy-Monty Records, Kent Records, Atlantic Records, Canyon Records, Mankind Records, Contempo, SAM Records
Associated acts	The Raspberry Singers, The David Singers, The Caravans

Doris Duke (born Doris Curry, 1945) is an American gospel and soul singer, best known for her 1969 album I'm A Loser.

She was born in Sandersville, Georgia, and reportedly started singing with gospel groups including the Queen of Gospel Albertina Walker and The Caravans, though this has been questioned. By 1963 she was working in New York City on sessions and as a backing singer at the Apollo Theatre. She also recorded some demos for Motown Records, but none were ever released. Under her then married name of Doris Willingham, she recorded her first single, "Running Away from Loneliness" in 1966. This release on Jay Boy Records was not a success, so she continued working as a session singer, mainly in Philadelphia. She also sang back-up on Nina Simone's live album, A Very Rare Evening, recorded in Germany in 1969.

In 1969, former Atlantic Records producer Jerry 'Swamp Dogg' Williams Jr. signed her as a solo artiste, renaming her Doris Duke and recording the album I'm A Loser at the Capricorn studio in Macon, Georgia. The album was eventually issued on Canyon Records, and over the years became regarded, by Dave Godin and others, as one of the finest deep soul records of all time. The first single, "To the Other Woman", reached no. 7 in the Billboard R&B chart and no. 50 on the pop chart in early 1970, and the follow-up "Feet Start Walking" also made the R&B chart, but success was cut short when the record company collapsed.

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