Thursday, July 24, 2014

Girls And Their Groups and Frankie & Ronnie Pt. 1

Somewhere between the breakout success of The Hearts Lonely Nights and The Chantels Maybe there was such a wonderful explosion of females singing the greatest Doo Wop and for whatever reason I never hear people making that big of a deal about it.....AND THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN! It seems that when folks mention the "Girl Groups", and I use that term loosely because I know that some of the architects of that genre don't really care for the term, they primarily talk about the early 60's groups such as The Ronettes, Crystals, Shangri-Las....or they mention The Shirelles and or The Chantels and they stop there. First off let me say I absolutely LOVE the a fore mentioned groups, which you will see later! Especially The Ronettes and the Shangs!! (look for more on them in Part 2 of this post) but there seems to be an area in the great Rock & Roll lineage that the Ladies don't get discussed as much. From the years 1956-1959 there were some GREAT tunes put out! So if you don't mind let's delve into that. Shall we? Now most of these are known and have made it on to comps but PLEASE take the time to look them up 'cause there are some serious heavy hitters in here!

Well the undisputed king, or queen as the case maybe be is this jem outta Philly. I LOVE THIS! As my good buddy Bob would say...."This record sends me to the moon!" These four girls from Philly only made one record but man oh man is it a doozy!  A School Girl In Love by The Sharmeers. This is Bob Volturno's color boot by the way.


Find this any way you can! On a comp, on Collectibles, what ever, it rules! Speaking of comps that are chock full of heavy hitters, you gotta grab this one.....Talk about being ahead of the curve! Two guys out of New York and New Jersey put this out in the early 80's and not only does it have The Sharmeers but it has 13 more solid senders on it as well! Thanks to "Kenny Foxx" and "Eddie Owl's" Wizard Records  for Angels of the Night 



There was also a lot of diversity in sound....The Antoinettes Johnny is very street but there were many sophisticated sounding groups as well. Two of my favorites are Lullabye of the Bells by The Deltairs on Ivy and The Devaurs Where Are You on Moon. Also ANYTHING by Lillian Leach and the Mellows will sooth your soul. If you're a fan of the female group sound it doesn't get any better than this. There were so many ladies working behind the scene too. Check out anything on any of Zell Sanders wonderful labels.

The Mellows with Alan Freed

The Devaurs

The Deltairs

Ironically, in addition to all these wonderful sounds, a young man helped influence and inspire alot of these young woman. That young was Frankie Lymon. When he and the Teenagers burst on the scene in 1956 all hell broke loose in New York City and the world! His influence is so vast. Berry Gordy has even been quoted as saying that Frankie Lymon and the Teenagers was his template for the Jackson 5. But....let's get back to the genesis of his influence. One of the first and best groups that come to mind that were definitely borrowing from Frankie and the boys were Pearl Mckinnon and the Kodaks from Newark, NJ. Get or check out Oh Gee Oh Gosh and Make Believe World just to name a few. There was even a time in the 70's/80's that Pearl and Frankie's brother Lewis sang with the Teenagers! Now, not just anyone can pull that off! Another huge singer that Frankie influenced was Arlene Smith of The Chantels. Now that voice is a gift from God and where would we be without Maybe!

Pearl McKinnon, Lewis Lymon, Jimmy Merchant and Herman Santiago
in full Teenagers Gear!

In my opinion people can sometimes be dismissive of the sounds of the 50's as basic or pedestrian. Especially the "kiddie sounds" or Doo Wop in general. I would have to disagree. There is nothing basic or simplistic about Frankie Lymon's voice or Arlene Smith's voice. They have influenced the world.
      You can't really mention this era of ladies and not mention Frankie. In my opinion I have saved the best for last here. He has directly influenced one of my favorite voices of the Rock & Roll era and that is the voice of Ronnie Spector! I would not have a band if it weren't for these voices and the voice of Vicky Tafoya. We were lucky enough to meet Ronnie a few weeks ago and what transpired was amazing! Not only did she sign for us and spend quite some time talking, but when I showed her a picture of Vicky and I at Frankie's grave site.....she and Vicky burst out into a rendition of Share by The Teenagers....UNBELIEVABLE! The impact that these folks have had on us and Vicky especially, is very hard to put into words. This year we got to visit them both. So blessed! Stay tuned for more "Angels of the Night" in part 2 when we get down to all our early 60's groups! Can't Wait!!

Me at Frankie's Grave in The Bronx R.I.P Frankie
...and what a beautiful head stone, Thank You Ronnie I!

Wow! Vicky and I with Ronnie Spector...and she's holding
our record!!!

P.S This is also required reading. FANTASTIC BOOK!












No comments:

Post a Comment