Theola Kilgore

This Oakland, CA native began singing in church and developed into an in demand professional gospel singer in Oakland and surrounding areas. She befriended J. W. Alexander, Sam Cooke's manager who introduced her to singer/producer/writer Ed Townsend; with Townsend, Kilgore cut her first secular recording, an answer to Cooke's "Chain Gang," entitled "Sound of My Man Working on a Chain Gang," on Candix Records which attracted attention and some sells. She registered her biggest hit with her next record "The Love of My Man," an adaptation of "The Love of God," originally done by The Soul Stirrers with Johnny "Disco Lady" Taylor on lead vocals. The plaintive, direct ballad released on Serock Records, a subsidiary of Scepter Records, zoomed to #21 Pop and #3 R&B; its success place Kilgore on the chitling circuit and the R&B theater tours where she shared billings with the top names in R&B.

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