(Posted: 29 May 2005 09:55 )
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She originally started to make some success of her career when she met Ed Townsend; with Townsend, Kilgore cut her first secular recording, an answer to Cooke's "Chain Gang," entitled "Sound of My Man Working on a Chain Gang," on Candix Records which at least attracted attention and some sales. She registered her biggest hit with her next record, which was indeed "The Love of My Man," an adaptation of "The Love of God," originally done by the Soul Stirrers with Johnny Taylor on lead vocals. The song went to #21 on the pop charts and #3 R&B; its success place Kilgore on the chitling circuit and the R&B theater tours where she shared billings with the top names in R&B.
Still with Townsend, Theola followed with "This Is My Prayer," on Serock which was just as good, sold reasonably well, but failed to surpass or equal the success of its predecessor. Theola & Ed formed KT Records (Kilgore/Townsend) where she released her next singles, none made much noise; later releases on Mercury Records went unnoticed as well. She recorded some tracks at Stax, that remain unreleased. Of her post hit singles, only "I'll Keep Trying," and northern soul favorite "It's Gonna Be Alright," garnered any significant plays
"This Is My Prayer" was however a substantial hit in Philadelphia, and is remembered well by long-standing soul fans everywhere. "Birth Of Soul, Volume 2" CD on Kent Records contains a great sounding fully remastered version of "This Is My Prayer", and it is recommended.
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