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Dee Dee McNeil

Dee Dee McNeil is a published songwriter/poet/playwright and freelance journalist.

About Me

Born in Detroit, Michigan, Dee Dee McNeil's first published poetry was in the early 60's. She became a part of the legendary Motown Record Company on West Grand Blvd as a Contract Songwriter, (singing and playing piano)and is still receiving royalty money for tunes she penned on The Four Tops, Edwin Starr, Diana Ross & the Supremes, Gladys Knight & the Pips, David Ruffin, Kiki Dee and more. Later, she had hit records on Bob Marley's wife Rita (The Beauty of Gods Plan) and a big seller on Nancy Wilson, (There'll Always Be Forever). In 1970 she relocated to the Los Angeles area. In 1971 she recorded her original songs and poetry with the Watts Prophets group. Thus began her Jazz vocal career. From 2001 to 2004 she was a contributing Jazz columnist and record reviewer for the Michigan Chronicle Newspaper. Her feature articles about Jazz and Music in general can be found in Pathfinders Travel Magazine, Thailand Timeout (Bangkok, Thailand English Mag), Shanghai Voyage Magazine (a Chinese slick mag in English), African Connection Newspaper, RealDetroit Weekly, Detroit Jazz Magazine (now defunct) and she has written for Essence Magazine and the Johnson Publishing Company. Her poetry has appeared in numerous anthologies. She researched, self-published and distributed a reference book titled, “Jazz & Blues Venues”. It was the first comprehensive book of its kind and was bought by universities, colleges and public libraries. In 2009 her “Haiku In My Neighborhood” poetry was published with the photography of Roland Charles. See her web site: www.deedeemac.com for more complete information about this singer/songwriter/journalist.

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