She’s A Bad Mama Jama (She’s Built, She’s Stacked) – Carl Carlton | Top 40 Chart Performance, Story and Song Meaning
Chart Performance: Pop(#22) and R&B (#2 for 8 weeks); 1981
Story Behind The Song By Ed Osborne
It was a scene played out many times in late 1960’s America: boys playing baseball in a vacant lot, loud music blaring, and an irate apartment dweller yelling to stop the game and turn off the radio.
When the players, replied that “Carl” was the music maker, the astonished neighbor went over to check him out. The impressed neighbor later took Carl down to Detroit’s Lando Records where he recorded as Little Carl Carlton.
By 1980, the 28 year old Carl had been singing for almost two decades, and had 13 R&B chart singles to his credit.
Fellow soul singer Leon Haywood helped Carl secure a label deal with 20th Century which released Mama Jama in 1981. It captured a gold record and has been sampled often by rappers over the years.
This content and all Song Meaning articles were created and written by Top 40 Contributing Editor Ed Osborne. © 2024 Ed Osborne. All Rights Reserved. In addition to these song meaning articles, Ed has written our “Year in Music 1960s-1990s” articles.
Produced by:
- Leon Haywood
Lyrics Written by:
- Leon Haywood
Ed Osborne
Hi. I got my first record at age two and never looked back, spending a decades-long career in radio and the music business. Even after years of reading about and listening to all types of music, I am still fascinated by it. Apart from that, I’m endlessly intrigued by art, nature, and the inner lives of people (and dogs).