Tommie Young is an American soul

Soul music

Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...

 and gospel

Gospel music

Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....

 singer from Dallas, Texas

Texas

Texas is the second largest U.S. state by both area and population, and the largest state by area in the contiguous United States.The name, based on the Caddo word "Tejas" meaning "friends" or "allies", was applied by the Spanish to the Caddo themselves and to the region of their settlement in...

.

Young got her start singing in Dallas nightclubs, and in 1972, producer Bobby Patterson

Bobby Patterson

Bobby Patterson is an American musician, singer, songwriter and record producer.Patterson produced records for Fontella Bass, Chuck Jackson, Ted Taylor, Shay Holiday, Roscoe Robinson, The Montclairs, Tommie Young, and Little Johnny Taylor. Albert King recorded the song, "That's What the Blues is...

 heard one of her performances and signed her to the label he co-owned, Soul Power Records. For her debut single, Patterson recorded instrumental versions of the songs "That's How Strong My Love Is" (O.V. Wright

O.V. Wright

Overton Vertis "O. V." Wright was an American singer who is regarded as one of Southern soul's most authoritative and individual artists...

) and "Take Time to Know Her" (Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge

Percy Sledge is an American R&B and soul performer who recorded the hit "When a Man Loves a Woman" in 1966.-Early career:...

), and then had Young travel to his studios in Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport, Louisiana

Shreveport is the third largest city in Louisiana. It is the principal city of the fourth largest metropolitan area in the state of Louisiana and is the 109th-largest city in the United States....

, where she finished the recording in one take per track. The single didn't chart but since has become a cult favorite among soul music fans. Her follow-up single, "Do You Still Feel the Same Way" (written by Patterson and his label co-owner, Jerry Strickland) was a smash hit in the American South and charted #28 on the national R&B chart. A full-length LP by that name followed, as did several more singles, but Young had little interest in promotion, and Soul Power did not have the distribution capability to make her a star. Young soon returned to singing in the Dallas church at which her father was pastor

Pastor

The word pastor usually refers to an ordained leader of a Christian congregation. When used as an ecclesiastical styling or title, this role may be abbreviated to "Pr." or often "Ps"....

. In 1978, her music was featured in a made-for-TV biopic of Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman

Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman Harriet Tubman (born Araminta Harriet Ross; (1820 – 1913) was an African-American abolitionist, humanitarian, and Union spy during the American Civil War. After escaping from slavery, into which she was born, she made thirteen missions to rescue more than 70 slaves...

, A Woman Called Moses. After marrying she began performing as Tommye Young-West, and recorded several gospel albums.
In 1981, she was featured in the single "I'm Gonna See You Through" by The Pictures released on the Texas label Southwest on the lead vocals.

Discography

• Do You Still Feel the Same Way? (1973)
• Just Call Me Tommye (1993)
• Believe (2000)
• Do You Still Feel the Same Way? ...Plus (2003) re-issue w/ bonus tracks

Singles

• "That's How Strong My Love Is" b/w "Take Time to Know Her"
• "Do You Still Feel the Same Way"
• "You Brought it All On Yourself"
• "You Came Just in Time"
• "Get Out of My Life"
• "I'm Gonna See You Through"