June Conquest (Trade Ad card)
June Conquest (née Marlene Teasley) made her first foray into the music business in 1964, with Rick Hall producing “Almost Persuaded”, a song co-written by Dan Penn and Donnie Fritts, in Muscle Shoals. It was released on the FAME Records label. It is a good song that suits her voice, but it didn’t receive much support.
After one more recording on Jet Set Records in Washington D.C. Conquest signed to Curtis Mayfield’s Windy City label in 1967, cutting one single before switching to Curtom the following year. Mayfield cut two more singles with Conquest at Curtom, the second of which was a duet with Donny Hathaway in 1969, which was re-issued with a new B-side in 1972 following Hathaway’s chart success with Roberta Flack.
The Windy City track “Take Care”, written by Leonard Brown, is a bright, beautifully-sung ballad with a simple but effective sax solo. The B-side is a Curtis Mayfield song, arranged with strong percussion and horns in typical Chicago style. Together they made an excellent release that deserved to do well and that clearly impressed Mayfield.
When Conquest switched to Curtom, she cut “What’s This I See”, another Leonard Brown song, with arrangements by Johnny Pate. It was the first ever release on the Curtom label and sold well in Chicago, without breaking through to the national charts. It soon re-emerged in a new version.
Given the popularity of male/female duets round that time, it was decided in 1969 to try a duet, pairing Conquest with Sam Cooke’s younger brother L.C. Cooke. Unfortunately, Cooke didn’t make it to the session. His place was taken by Donny Hathaway, who had sung some backing vocals at Windy City and Curtom but had not sung lead until now. Given the later success of Hathaway’s duets with Roberta Flack, this was an auspicious recording! The duo, credited as June & Donnie, recorded the Mayfield/ Hathaway song “I Thank You Baby”, backed by Leonard Brown’s “What’s This I See”, Conquest’s single from 1968. Sadly, the single made little impact.
Three years later, the single was re-issued to take advantage of the Flack/ Hathaway successes, and the ploy worked, bringing Conquest her only hit. The 1972 release of “I Thank You” went to number forty-one on the R&B chart and number ninety-four on the Billboard Hot 100, credited this time around to Donny Hathaway & June Conquest and with a new B-side, the Mayfield/ Hathaway song “Just Another Reason”. It was Conquest’s last release.
