The
Drew-vels was a girl group during the sixties. The members were Erma Drew,
Patti Drew, Lorraine “Micki” Drew, Carlton Black, and sometimes Cynthia Drew, a
younger sister. The group was from Evanston, Illinois. Carlton Black who was
married to Erma Drew wrote most of the songs. Peter Wright signed the Drew-vels
to Carone Productions and produced and managed the group. Wright then signed an
agreement with Capital Records. The Drew-vels found success with their first
release “Tell Him” b/w “Just Because”, written by Patti Drew, released in 1963.
This hit was followed by a second two-sided hit record, “It’s My Time” b/w“Everybody Knows”, released in 1964.
The last
single released by Capital Records was “Creepin’ “ b/w “I’ve Known”, released
in 1964.
Peter Wright then signed his Quill Label and released “Come Out
Dancing” and “Chilly Kisses” in 1965. Wright then persuaded Patti Drew to
pursue a solo career. Carlton Black moved on as a member of the Duvals, which
later became the Naturals. Patti Drew renewed success at Capital Records with a
remake of “ Tell Him” b/w “Working On A Groovy Thing”.
Many great great songs followed until Wright ended Patti Drew’s
career and moved Drew back to Evanston, Illinois.
The Flirtations started out as the Gypsies in 1962 in New York. The Members were Lestine Johnson and sisters: Ernestine, Shirley, and Betty Pearce.
In 1964 they released their debut single, "Hey there, Hey There" under the Old Town Records. This song got some airplay on local radio stations. The single, "Jerk it", written by J.J. Jackson made it to 111 on the pop charts. After the release of "Jerk it" Lestine Johnson left the group and was replaced by Viola Billups.
The group then became the Flirtations and signed to Josie Records. They released "Change My Darkness Into Light", which despite being ignored by DJs still became a Northern Soul Classic. The group then moved to Festival Records, and released "Stronger Than Her Love" and "Settle Down". Both got little interest.
The Flirtations became a trio after Betty Pearce left the group. They trio decided to try their luck in England. The group signed to Parrot Records in 1966 and toured with Tom Jones Their only Parrot release was "Someone Out There", which reached the UK Bubbling Under list, but made it to #25 in the Netherlands.
In 1966 they signed to Deram Records and released "Nothing But Heartache". "Nothing But Heartache" made to #1 on the Bubbling Under list It was reissued in the US in 1969 and made it to #93 on Billboards Hot 100 and #20 in several Us markets, in Boston It peaked at #3.
The follow-up was less of a dance tune than the previous single. "South
Carolina" was a ballad that reached only #111 pop in July 1969. In 1970,
"Keep On Searching" was released and did nothing. However, this may
have been due to confusion over whether the newest single was
"Searching" or "What's Good About Goodbye My Love". The latter rocketed
to #17 R&B in early 1970, but failed to make a dent in the pop
charts. In July 1970 the trio scored another hit with "Can't Stop Loving You". The song made #96 in CashBox.
1971 saw their sixth and last Deram single, "Give Me Love"Not originally in their 1970 LP Sounds Like the Flirtations, but
subsequntly added to their 2008 CD version, it did not do well in the
charts. The rest of their singles were not released in the U.S. Loretta
Noble replaced Viola Billups in 1972. Viola Billups embarked on a solo
career as Vie and asPearly Gates.During 1971 & 1972, the group were the resident vocal band on the long running BBC TV series Its Cliff Richards.
Throughout the 1970s the Flirtations released material on various labels. The Flirtations have received recognition in the Disco and Northern Soul Circuits.
Barbara Jean Acklin was born February 28, 1943, in Oakland, California. Acklin's family moved to Chicago, Illinois in 1948. By the age of eleven she was a soloist in the New Zion Baptist Church and as a teenage she began performing in Chicago night clubs. After high school Acklin was employed as a secretary at St. Lawrence Records. Her first record was produced by her cousin Monk Higgins and release on the Special Agent Label under the name Barbara Allen. Barbara Acklin can also be heard singing background for Chess Records artists Etta James, Fontella Bass, and Koko Taylor.
In 1966 Acklin began working as a receptionist for the Brunswick Records Chicago office, where she presented producer Carl Davis with demos of her own songs. Acklin helped co wrote a song with David Scott, of the Five Du-Tones, for Jackie Wilson, who later helped her get a recording contract with Brunswick. Although Acklin's first two singles on Brunswick were unsuccessful, her third single, "show me the way", a duet with Gene Chandler made it to the R&B Charts. Acklin then began writing songs with Eugene Record of the Chi-Lites. The pair co wrote the hit "Two Little Kids" for Peaches and Herb. Barbara Acklin's biggest solo hit, "Love Makes A Woman", was co written by Record and Davis. Acklin had a slew of hits on Brunswick for several years and carried on co writing with Eugene record. Together they wrote "Have you Seen Her" for The Chi-Lites.
In 1974 Acklin Moved to Capital Records, where her first and biggest hit "Raindrops" stayed on the R&B charts for six years. All recordings, which followed had little success causing Brunswick to drop her.
Acklin later lived in Omaha, Nebraska where she began working on a new album, when she died of pneumonia at age 55.
The Miracles also known as Smokey Robinson & the Miracles Started in Detroit Michigan, they
are noted as the first successful group act for Berry Gordy’s Motown Record
Corparation. Their single Shop around"" was Motown's first
million-selling hit record, and the group went on to become one of Motown's
signature acts of the 1960s. During the same period, the Miracles' original
lead singer and founding member Smokey Robinson became one of the most
successful songwriters and record producers of all time.
During their nineteen-year run on the American music charts, The
Miracles charted over fifty hits and recorded in the genres of Doo-Wop, soul,
disco, and R&B. Twenty-six Miracles songs reached the Top Ten of the
Billboard’s R&B single charts, including four R&B number ones. Sixteen
of the Miracles' songs charted within the Top 20 of the Billbaord Hot 100,
seven songs chartied within the Top Ten and two – 1970's "Tears of a
clown" and 1975's "Love Machine” reaching number-one.
Referred to by critics as Motown's "soul supergroup", The
Miracles are multiple Grammy Hall of Fame inductees, Vocal Group Hall of Fame
and Doo-Wop Hall of Fame inductees,Winners of The Rhythm and Blues Foundation’s
Pioneer Award,multiple
Bmi Songwriter’s Award winners, Winners of the ASCAP Award Of Merit , and have a star on the Hollywood
Walk of Fame.
The Royalettes were a four-girl group from Baltimore Maryland Baltimore, during the mid-60s. They were originally signed with Philadelphia-based Chancellor Records and later with Warner Bros., but their biggest success came at MGM Records. They worked with producers Teddy Randazzo, who also wrote for Little Anthony & the Imperials in the 1960s, and Bill Medley of The Righteous Brothers. The 60’s girl-group released two albums with MGM Records, produced by Teddy Randazzo who also arranged the records and co-wrote a majority of the songs. Randazzo Incorporated a full orchestra to enhance the production, but despite the Exceptional quality of the songs and critical acclaim for their live performances, a success eluded the group. A final single produced by Bill Medley also failed to chart and the group then signed to Roulette Records in 1967 before breaking up two years later. Sheila Ross worked briefly as a backup singer for The Three Degrees and had two solo single releases in the early 1970s. A CD retrospective was released in late 2010 of all their MGM tracks including the 27 songs produced by Randazzo for the two albums, plus another originally released on a single.
Fontella
Bass was born in St.Missouri Bass’ younger brother David Peason was a former
Showtime at the Apollo champion. She was the daughter of gospel singer Martha
Bass and at the age of five Fontella was providing the piano accompaniment for
her grandmother's singing at funeral services. She was singing in her church's
choir at six and by the time she was nine she was accompanying her mother on
tours throughout the American South and Southwest.
Fontella
continued touring with her mother until the age of sixteen. When she was
attracted by more secular music. Throughout high school she began singing
R&B songs at local contests and fairs. At seventeen, she started her
professional career working at the Showboat Club near Chain of Rocks, Missouri.
In 1961, she auditioned on a dare for the Leon Claxton carnival show and was
hired to play piano and sing in the chorus for two weeks, making $175 per week
for the two weeks it was in town. She wanted to go on tour with Claxton but her
mother refused and according to Bass "... she literally dragged me off the
train". It was during this brief stint hat she was heard by Oliver Sain.
Who hired her to back Little Milton on piano for concerts and recording. Bass
originally only played piano with the band, but one night Milton didn't show up
on time so Sain asked her to sing and she was soon given her own featured vocal
spot in the show. Milton and Sain eventually split up and Bass went with Sain;
he also recruited male singer Bobby McClure and the group became known as
"The Oliver Sain Soul Revue featuring Fontella and Bobby McClure. With the
support of Bob Lyons, the manager of St. Louis station Katz, Bass recorded
several songs released through Bobbin Records and produced by Ike Turner. She
saw no notable success outside her hometown. It was also during this period she
met and subsequently married the noted jazz trumpeter Lester Bowie.
Two
years later she quit the Milton band and moved to Chicago after a dispute with
Oliver Sain. She auditioned for Chess Records, who immediately signed her as a
recording artist. Her first works with the label were several duets with Bobby
McClure, who had also been signed to the label. Released early in 1965, their
recording "Don't Mess Up a Good Thing" (credited to Oliver Sain)
found immediate success, reaching the top five at R&B radio and peaking at
#33 at pop. Bass and McClure followed their early success with "You'll
Miss Me (When I'm Gone)" that summer, a song that had mild success,
reaching the Top 30 on the R&B chart, although it made no significant
impression on the pop chart. After a brief tour, Bass returned to the studio.
The result was an original composition with an aggressive rhythm section;
backing musicians on the track included drummer Maurice White (later the leader
of Earth, wind and fire), bassist Louis Satterfield and tenor saxophonist Gene
Barge and the young Minnie Rippleton among the background singers. The song
Rescue shot up the charts in the fall and winter of 1965. After a month-long
run at the top of the R&B charts, the song reached #4 at the pop charts and
gave Chess its first million-selling single since Chuck Berry a decade earlier.
Bass
followed with "Recovery," which did moderately well, peaking at #13
(R&B) and #37 (pop) in early 1966. The same year brought two more R&B
hits, "I Can't Rest" (backed with "I Surrender)" and
"You'll Never Know." Her only album with Chess Records, The New
Look, sold
reasonably well, but Bass soon became disillusioned with Chess and decided to
leave the label after only two years, in 1967. By her own account, she was
effectively cheated out of her royalties for "Rescue Me", which she
had co-written with pianist Raynard Miner. Bass demanded a better royalty rate
and artistic control; she approached her then manager Billy Davis about
securing her writing credit on the song but was told not to worry about it.
When the record came out and her name was still not on it she was told it would
be on the legal documents, but this never happened. She continued to agitate about
the matter for a couple years but later recalled: "It actually
side-stepped me in the business because I got a reputation of being a trouble
maker." Tiring of the mainstream music scene, she and husband Lester Bowie
left America and moved to Paris in 1969, where she recorded two albums. Even
with the success of "Rescue Me" it was many years and much litigation
before Bass would be credited with her share of the songwriting and the
royalties. In 1993 Bass sued American Express and Ogilvy and Mather for the
unauthorized use of the song in a commercial for the credit card giant
The
next few years found Bass at a number of different labels, but saw no notable
successes. After her second album, free, flopped in 1972, Bass retired from music and
concentrated on raising a family (she has four children with Bowie). She
returned occasionally, being featured as a background vocalist on several
recordings, including those by Bowie. In 1990 she recorded a gospel album with
her mother and brother David Peaston, called Promises: A Family Portrait of
Faith and
undertook a fall tour of the US West Coast, called "Juke Joints and
Jubilee", which featured both traditional gospel and blues performers.
During the 1990s she hosted a short-lived Chicago radio talk show, released
several gospel records on independent labels through old friend Harriet Bluett.
Like many artists of her time, Bass experienced a revival of interest. She was
featured on the PBS Special and accompanying DVD, Soul Celebration, Soul
Spectacular recorded live at Heinz Hall in Pittsburgh, PA, November 2001. She
has been inducted into the St. Louis Walk of Fame.
Well, I decided to post one of
my favorite artists. Sugar Pie De Santo was born Umpeylia Marsema Balinton,
October 16, 1935, Brooklyn, New York. Sugar Pie De Santo is a 4' 11"
Rhythm and Blues Singer of African American and Philipino descent. Her Mother
was a concert pianist. She spent most of her early life in San Francisco, where
she moved with her family at a young age.
In 1955, De Santo did some touring with The Johnny Otis
Revue. Otis age named her
Sugar Pie De Santo. From 1959 to 1960, she toured with The James Brown Revue.
In
1960, De Santo rose to national prominence when her Single "I Want to
Know" reached number four on Billboards R & B chart.
She recorded the
song with her husband Pee Wee Kingsley. Soon thereafter her marriage to
Kingsley fell apart, and De Santo moved to Chicago and signed with Chess
Records in 1962 as a recording artist and writer. Among her recordings at Chess
were "Slip-in Mules"
"Use What You Got"
"Soulful
Dress" (her biggest hit at Chess)
"I Don't Wanna Fuss"
In 1964 Sugar Pie De Santo Recorded "Can't Let You Go"
De
Santo participated in the American Folk Blues Festival tour of Europe in 1964,
and her lively performances, including wild dancing and standing back flips,
were widely appreciated.
In
1965 De Santo began a writing collaboration with Shena DeMell. They produced
the song "Do I Make Myself Clear"; an excellent duet with her cousin
Etta James reached the top 10.
It was followed up by another 1966 duet from the
cousins, "In the Basement".
De Santo's next song, "Go Go
Power", did not chart, and De Santo and Chess parted ways.
Sugar Pie De Santo kept on
writing songs and recorded for a few more labels. In 1968 she released " The One Who Really Loves You"on the Brunswick Label.
she
eventually moved back to the Bay Area, settling in Oakland.
Though
it had often been said that her stage performances far surpassed her studio
recordings, a full-length live recording, Classic Sugar Pie, was not released until 1997.
De Santo was given a Bay Area
Music Award in 1999 for best female blues singer. In September 2008, she was
given a Pioneer Award by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation. De Santo received a
lifetime achievement award from the Goldie Awards in November 2009.
