Mable John (November 3, 1930 – August 25, 2022) was an American blues vocalist and the first female artist signed by Berry Gordy to Motown's Tamla label. == Biography == John was born in Bastrop, Louisiana, on November 3, 1930, the eldest of at least nine siblings. At a very young age, she and her parents, Mertis and Lillie (Robinson) John, moved north into Arkansas, where her father got a job in a paper mill near Cullendale. Here four of... [more on Wikipedia]