Barbara Jean McNair was born on March 4, 1934 in Chicago, Illinois but grew up in Racine, Wisconsin. Studying music at the American Conservatory of Music in Chicago, her big break came with a win on Arthur Godfrey’s TV show Talent Scouts, which led to bookings at San Francisco’s The Purple Onion and the Coconut Grove in Los Angeles.

She soon became one of the country's most popular headliners and a guest on TV variety shows The Steve Allen Show, Hullabaloo, The Bell Telephone Hours and The Hollywood Palace. Recording for Coral, Signature, Motown and…