Denise LaSalle

Denise LaSalle was raised in LeFlore County, Mississippi, as Denise Craig and, after serving her apprenticeship in church, she moved to Chicago where her big break came. 

Her inaugural single, A Love Reputation (1966), was a local hit on the Tarpon label - initially a vanity press for its owner, Billy "The Kid" Emerson, who christened Craig 'LaSalle' and was taken up for distribution by Chess. 

After recording two more singles for Leonard and Phil Chess - both sadly flops - she tried her hand at Westbound, where she hit the Number One spot on the US R&B chart with Trapped By A Thing Called Love (1971), before signing in 1976 to ABC, with whom she released three LP's. 

When the label was taken over by MCA she recorded another three for them.