Mama Lion was a rock/blues/soul group out of California that dropped 2 albums in the early 70’s. The album pictured above, “Preserve Wildlife“, is credited to being produced and directed by Artie Ripp who is notoriously famous for signing Billy Joel as a solo artist and then ripping him off for the next 10 years. The lead singer of Mama Lion, Lynn Carey, is an interesting chick. She originally started her career as a model/actress and then formed her band shortly after being featured as Penthouse‘s “Pet of the Month“. With that being said, it makes sense that this album is a gatefold which features a topless picture of her breast-feeding a lion cub!?
Mama Lion does Bill Withers justice by covering his hit “Aint’ No Sunshine” in a rocked out soul version, with blues undertones. Her raspy voice fits perfectly with the deep bassline, rock guitars, and organs backing her. Her version probably has more in commmon with the Lyn Collins cover than Bill Withers, but equally as dope. Check it out.