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Gwen Guthrie

Born
1950
in Okemah, OK 
Active Decades
19001020304050607080902000 
 
by Andrew Hamilton
Gwen Guthrie is best known for her number one R&B single "Ain't Nothin' Goin' on But the Rent," a popular self-written bouncer. A prolific songwriter and a good pianist, she also penned "Supernatural Thing" for Ben E. King and "This Time I'll Be Sweeter" for Martha Reeves, which was later popularized by Angela Bofil and Issac Hayes. In all, Guthrie logged approximately 50 compositions, and many thought Guthrie and songwriting partner Patrick Grant had the potential to become another Ashford & Simpson.



Born in Okemah, OK, in 1950, but raised in Newark, NJ, Guthrie started singing in high school with a female quartet called the Ebonettes. (Another of its members, Brenda White King, pursued music like Guthrie and became an in-demand session singer.) Guthrie sang lead for a group (East Coast Band) formed by Larry Blackmon (later of Cameo) in New York, but got her big break when she was asked to do a background session for Aretha Franklin, the number one R&B hit "I'm in Love," from 1974. Six months later, Guthrie signed as a staff writer with Bert Coteaux Productions and co-wrote "Love Don't Go Through No Changes," the first hit for Sister Sledge, and many others with Grant. The collaboration didn't last long, however.

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