Tobi Legend
| Tobi Lark | |
|---|---|
| Birth name | Bessie Grace Gupton |
| Also known as | Bessie Watson Tobi Legend |
| Born | 1941 |
| Origin | Alabama, USA |
| Genres | Gospel, soul |
| Occupation(s) | Singer |
| Years active | 1960 - present |
| Labels | Riverside, Jay Pee, Mala, Cotillion, others |
Tobi Lark (born 1941) is an American-born Canadian soul and gospel singer, who also recorded under the names Bessie Watson and Tobi Legend. She had a top 40 hit in 1970 in Canada with "We're All In This Together", but elsewhere her best known record is "Time Will Pass You By", regarded as a classic of Northern soul, which she recorded in 1968 under the name of Tobi Legend.
She was born Bessie Grace Gupton in Alabama, the daughter of gospel singer Emma Washington. She grew up in Detroit and first performed in her mother's choir, the Emma Washington Gospel Singers. She toured with the group for ten years, from the age of nine, before securing her first professional job, as a backing singer for B. B. King. As Bessie Watson, she first recorded in 1963, releasing the single "'Deed I Do" backed by the Cannonball Adderley Quintet, on the Riverside label, and then two singles, "I'm In Your Corner" and "Wake Up Crying" on the Jay Pee label. As Tobi Lark, she then recorded several singles for the Palmer, Topper, and U.S.D. labels, but none achieved much commercial success. She also performed with the Impressions, the Four Tops, Ben E. King, Wilson Pickett, King Curtis, and Duke Ellington, among others.
In the mid 1960s she separated from her husband and moved to Montreal, Canada, with her young son. She performed in clubs and at Expo 67, before moving to Toronto to work for Ronnie Hawkins. She was then recruited to play a lead role in the musical Hair in Toronto, and later set up the Armageddon Revue at the Blue Orchid club there. In 1968, in Detroit, she recorded "Time Will Pass You By", a song written by English-born songwriter and record producer John Rhys Eddins with Nick Zesses and Dino Fekaris. The record was released on the Mala label under the name "Tobi Legend", but it was unsuccessful until it was picked up in the early 1970s by followers of the Northern soul scene in the UK. The song became known as one of the "Three Before Eight", played at the conclusion of every all-nighter at the Wigan Casino club, and has since featured on several anthologies of Northern soul music including The Best Northern Soul All-Nighter ... Ever!, The Northern Soul Story, and The Wigan Casino Story.
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