Bertha Barbee-McNeal obit

Motown singer Bertha Barbee-McNeal of The Velvelettes dies

She was not on the list.

She was a part of one of the great early Motown acts, and went on to a career helping other artists find their voices. Tonight we mourn the passing of Bertha Barbee-McNeal, co-founder of the Velvelettes.

Barbee-McNeal grew up in Flint, Michigan, where she was a child prodigy who was adept at playing both piano and organ. And her love of music led her to the music school at Kalamazoo’s Western Michigan University. While there, Barbee-McNeal and Mildred Gill formed The Velvelettes, recruiting Gills’s sister Carolyn and friend Betty Kelly, as well as Bertha’s cousin Norma Barbee. Their singing around campus caught the attention of Robert Bullock, nephew of Motown CEO Berry Gordy, Jr, who signed the group 1962.

The Velvelettes recorded several tracks on the label in 1963, none of which caught on with radio. But a break came in 1964, when up and coming songwriter/producer Norman Whitfield was assigned to the group, and the result of the collaboration was “Needle In A Haystack,” a Billboard chart hit, and the group’s signature song. They followed with the moderate hits “He Was Really Sayin’ Something,” “Lonely, Lonely Girl Am I” and “These Things Will Keep Me Loving You” before the members parted ways in 1967. They briefly reunited in the late 80s to record a handful of songs on Ian Levine’s Motorcity label.

Barbee-McNeal went on to obtain a Masters Degree in music education at Western Michigan University, and taught in the Kalamazoo public school system, while also raising her family. She was noted in the community for her private piano lessons but also for her work helping to train the voices of many young aspiring artists. Barbee-McNeal received the Western Michigan University College of Education and Human Development Alumni Society Golden Apple Award in 2004.

Later in life, Barbee-McNeal taught at the nonprofit Helen L. Fox Gospel Music Center, also in Kalamazoo.

Bertha Barbee-McNeal was an artist who helped establish the greatest soul music label of all time, but also had a second act spreading the joy of music to multiple generations of students in her adopted town of Kalamazoo. She will be missed by both her local community and by the soul music world.