Arranger, producer and singer-songwriter from Welch, West Virginia, who was raised in Roanoke, Virginia, and developed his musical ears by listening to bluegrass, country and western, and his mother Ellen’s beloved gospel.
He attended junior high and high school in Washington, D.C., where his classmates included Herb Feimster, Marvin Gaye, and Van McCoy.
The Barnes family relocated to Newark, New Jersey, a stone’s throw from the bustling New York music scene, but he cut his first side in the Garden State, “Wait My Love”, for the Gemini label. It enjoyed some local airplay, but Sidney preferred collaborating with others to going solo, and co-founded The Serenaders with George Kerr. They also gained a local following, and inked a deal with Riverside, for whom they recorded “Adios My Love”. Riverside was not long-lived, and The Serenaders were soon looking for a new home.
In 1962, Motown had become successful enough that it was expanding into the New Yorkmarket. Sidney arranged to have The Serenaders audition for Berry Gordy, and he signed them to a contract with Motown. George and Sidney were given lots of responsibilities, as producers, songsmiths and talent scouts for Motown’s new office in the Big Apple.
The pair left Motown and went their separate ways in 1964, but Sidney continued to work with George Clinton, J.J. Jackson, and the Parliaments. J.J. and Sidney co-wrote or wrote songs for acts such as Charlie and Inez Foxx, Saundra Philips, Billy Prophet, and The Soul Sisters. They spent some time on the payroll of Sue Records and then inked an exclusive deal with Red Bird Records and Trio Music Publishing, owned and operated by another songwriting team, Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. While at Red Bird, J.J. and Sidney penned songs for the Shangri-Las and they also co-wrote one that Sidney recorded, “I Hurt on the Other Side”. Their other songs include “I Don’t Know Why” and “You’ll Always Be in Style”.
Sidney was a member of the Fiestas touring group for a while and then inked a solo deal with the Festival label, led by Atlantic co-founder, Herb Abramson. He produced and wrote “Stronger Than Her Love” for the Flirtations and recorded “New York City” and “Talkin’ ’bout a Shindig” during this time.
He reunited with George Clinton in 1966, and they, along with Mike Terry, co-founded Geo-Si-Mik, a production company that worked with Golden World Records acts such as Darrell Banks, J.J. Barnes, the Holidays, Pat Lewis, Theresa Lindsay, the Parliaments, and Edwin Starr.
It was a short-lived collaboration, however, and Sidney flew solo again, this time with a song called “Payback” under the pseudonym Johnny Goode on the Groovesville label. Then he relocated to Chicago, Illinois, where he soon found himself part of the Chess family. Here he penned songs for the likes of the Dells, Bo Diddley, Ramsey Lewis, and Muddy Waters. He also co-founded Rotary Connection with Minnie Riperton and they issued five LPs for Chess before disbanding in 1971.
Minnie famously went on to a solo career, and Sidney, always seeming to find creative outlets for himself, did some work in advertising, penning jingles for radio and television commercials.
Sidney and Maurice White laid the groundwork for a super-group that would come to be known as Earth, Wind & Fire. Although Maurice urged Sidney to sing lead vocals for them, Sidney respectfully declined, which put Maurice at the lead mike for the now-legendary band. Other careers Sidney influenced around this time were those of Donny Hathaway and Chaka Khan.
He still cut the odd solo side a few of his songs from the ’70s included “Baloney”, “Disco Queen Dance With Me”, “Get on Up and Dance to the Boogie (or the Boogie Man Will Get Cha)”, “Hold On I’m Coming”, and “Old Times” and released Foot Stompin’ Music in 1978.
Sidney’s strong suit had always been his ability to be a member of a team, however, and he collaborated with a wide variety of talents in the ’70s and ’80s, including George Clinton, Jerry Goldsmith, Simon Soussan, and Deniece Williams. He produced and sang backing vocals on Deniece’s solo debut, contributed vocals to George‘s Mothership Connection, penned “Love and Desire” for Arpeggio, and recorded songs for the soundtracks of Love at First Bite and Secrets of the Lost World. He also toured with Deniece, filling in for Johnny Mathis on their hit, “Too Much, Too Little, Too Late“.
In 1992, Sidney returned to the Windy City and continued to record demos and write songs for Chicago-based producers. He enjoyed a renaissance of sorts in the late ’90s and the new millennium when associates in England called to tell him that his songs, “I Hurt on the Other Side”, “Stronger Than Her Love”, “What Can I Do?” and “You’ll Always Be in Style”, were becoming popular on the Northern Soul club circuit.
In 2001, he traveled to England to perform in concert and was greeted as rock and soul royalty. This unexpected recognition encouraged him to start recording again. He released “Standing on Solid Ground” backed with “I Hurt on the Other Side” in 2001. In 2005, his song “Secrets” appeared on the compact disc, Testing Positive 4 the Funk. He issued “Silence” on 22nd October 2011.
Johnny Mathis & Deniece Williams recordings
Emotion (Barry Gibb/Robin Gibb)
S CBS 6164B (UK 45)
Too Much, Too Little, Too Late (Nat Kipner/John Vallins)
S CBS 6164 (UK 45)
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