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The Miracles – Got A Job (1958)
“Got a Job” was the very first single by a group now called the Miracles. Composed by Tyran Carlo (Berry Gordy & Billy Davis) and Smokey Robinson, this song was the start of something that is still going strong today: both The Miracles with their second lead singer Bill Griffin and the solo act Smokey Robinson are still performing! That is over a half a century of real longevity and talent.
Joslyn Layne, writing for Allmusic.com, sums up how the group known as the The Miracles came to be at Motown as follows:
“Scoring over 40 hits on the R&B Top 40 charts, the Miracles started out as the Five Chimes in the mid-’50s while the members were still in high school. The Detroit vocal group consisted of William “Smokey” Robinson, Warren “Pete” Moore, Clarence “Humble” Dawson, Donald Wicker, and James “Rat” Grice. Not too long after the group formed, Wicker and Grice left and were replaced by cousins Emerson “Sonny” Rogers and Bobby Rogers, who both sang tenor, and baritonist Ronnie White was in Dawson’s place. The vocal quintet then changed its name to the Matadors and in 1956 Claudette Rogers joined the band after her brother Sonny was drafted. The Matadors auditioned for Jackie Wilson’s manager, Nat Tarnopol, in 1956. Although Tarnopol wasn’t interested, finding the group too similar to the Platters, one of Wilson’s songwriters, Berry Gordy, Jr., was and he soon began producing the band, who now went by the name the Miracles. Gordy produced their first single, “Got a Job,” (an answer to the Silhouettes’ “Get a Job”) which was issued by the New York label End Records in 1958.”
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/2384360_eiucb/TheJarmels-ALittleBitofSoap.mp3] A Little Bit of Soap – The Jarmels (1961) R&B #7, Pop #12
Richmond, Virginia’s Nathaniel Ruff , Ray Smith, Paul Burnett, Earl Christian and Tom Eldridge had been singing together in church and school. As a group, The Jarmels were signed to Laurie Records and their second single, “A Little Bit of Soap” composed by Bert Berns, was the hit that added them to the list of National One-Hit Wonders.
Their first single, “Little Lonely One,” was a hit in New York only and their singles after “Soap” never charted.
Trivia: The Jarmel’s later membership included Richmond born Major Harris, who subsequently became part of the Delfonics and had a solo career as well peaking with the #1 smash “Love Won’t Let Me Wait.”
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/4003474_yz1yq/Bobby%20Day%20-%20Little%20Bitty%20Pretty%20One%20%281957%29.mp3] Bobby Day – Little Bitty Pretty One (1957) #67 Pop
Born in Texas but working in the Los Angeles do-wop arena, Robert Byrd composed and sang “Little Bitty Pretty One” backed with his group “The Satellites. ” It was released on Class Records in 1957.
Thurston Harris (1931-1990)
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/4002631_unwji/06.%20Thurston%20Harris%20-%20Little%20Bitty%20Pretty%20One.mp3] Thurston Harris – Little Bitty Pretty One (1957) #2 R&B, #6 Pop
Born in Indianapolis, but also working in the California music scene, some how Thurston Harris recorded and released his pretty much identical cover, on Aladdin Records, and beat out Day’s original! The cover, backed by “The Sharps,” went to the top of the charts becoming a classic oldie still played on the radio today!
Franklin Joseph Lymon (1942-1968)
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/4003475_yfaaa/Frankie%20Lymon%20-%20%20LIttle%20Bitty%20Pretty%20One.mp3] Frankie Lymon – Itty Bitty Pretty One (1958)
Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers were topping the charts when his management decided that teen idol Lymon should go solo. Lymon’s cover of “LBPO” was on his 1958 solo debut album on Roulette Records entitled “Rock & Roll.” The album has just, finally, been re-released on the Collectors’ Choice Music label this year.
[audio http://boxstr.com/files/4002602_krrax/06%20%20Little%20Bitty%20Pretty%20One.mp3] Jackson 5 – Little Bitty Pretty One (1972) #8 R&B
In 1969, The Jackson 5 were introduced to the world as another super teenage group on the wildly popular Motown label. Generally Motown artists would only cover songs from Jobete (Gordy’s publishing), but Motown management had the J5 doing pop covers on every lp and many of those covers were the same style and arrangements as Frankie Lymon & the Teenagers. This cover of “LBPO” was no exception.
It was a cut on on 1972’s “Lookin’ Through the Windows”, the J5’s seventh LP. The brothers share lead on this one. I love it!
In addition to these early versions presented above, before Motown put their spin on “LBPO”, both Dee Clark (1938-1990) and the great Clyde McPhatter (1932-1972) released great versions of the song — with McPhatter’s reaching #25 Pop in 1962.
I created a poll for this post but the polls are not showing up on Wordpress.com right now. Until the problem is fixed please leave a comment as to which of these four versions presented is your favorite. I want to hear what you think.
BTW: I guess you can tell that the new theme for my blog posts in November is “Motown Covers Pop!” Hope you enjoy it.
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1449722_iekly/TheOrioles-CryingInTheChapel.mp3] Crying In The Chapel – The Orioles (1953)
“Crying in the Chapel” was a song written by Artie Glenn for his son Darrell to sing. Darrell recorded it, while still in high school, in 1953 along with Artie’s band the Rhythm Riders. It became a local hit and publishers got hold of it and it went nationwide. June Valli had the biggest hit, reaching #4 on Billboard after charting for 17 weeks beginning August 1st, 1953. That same year (omitted sic) the Orioles recorded it and it became a major success. The Orioles version reached #11 [Pop and #1 R&B]. (SOURCE)
Please understand that even though Elvis Presley recorded a cover of this song in 1960 and its 1965 release became a hit for him — it is just that — a cover hit. Elvis is NOT the originator as so many people in the blogosphere seem to think. And, IMHO, he certainly does not have the definitive version. To me it is The Orioles version that I grew up loving and hearing my Dad sing. But then again I have not yet heard Darrell Glenn’s original version.
The Orioles formed 1948 in Baltimore, MD and disbanded in 1954, the year I was born. So they were a bit before my time. But this was one of my Dad’s favorite groups, so I grew up listening to their music from the day I was born — and specifically “Crying in the Chapel” which was a favorite. I so love hearing male vocals harmonizing.
The Orioles, consisting of Sonny Til, Tommy Gaither, George Nelson, Johnny Reed and Alexander Sharp, became the first Black group to have what was called a “crossover” hit. The song “It’s Too Soon to Know” was #1 on the R&B charts but also CROSSED OVER to #13 on the pop charts.
Another “first” for the group is they started a trend of vocal groups named after birds. You know — there were The Penguins, The Falcons, The Flamingos, The Larks, The Ravens, etc. Originally the Vibranaires, The Orioles re-named themselves after the Maryland State bird.
Continuing to have many hits on Natural records the group peaked in 1949 until the following events as explained by Stephen Thomas Erlewine of All Music:
“In 1950, Gaither, Nelson, and Reed suffered an automobile accident that killed Gaither and severely injured the other two members; Nelson quit the group later in the year. As Reed recovered from the accident, the group found replacements for Gaither and Nelson, finally settling on guitarist Ralph Williams and vocalist Gregory Carroll. The new lineup of the band had its first hit in 1952, when “Baby Please Don’t Go” reached number eight on the R&B charts. The following year, the group had their biggest hit with “Crying in the Chapel.” Released in the summer of 1953, “Crying in the Chapel” spent five weeks on the R&B charts and reached number 11 on the pop charts, eventually going gold.”
So as you see this big hit was actually by the second incarnation of the group. There is so much more to The Orioles Story. They were inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1995. In 1998 they were inducted into the Vocal Group Hall of Fame. Singers.Com also has a nice synopsis of the group.
With Fathers Day coming in two days, I would like to say thank you to my Father for giving me the love of music! It is one of the most special things that my Dad gave me. He told his wife before he passed that he was afraid his children would forget him … but I think about him every single day, especially when I listen to music and that happens to be most of the time.
I love you Daddy. This one’s for you … from one of those infamous PBS specials held in the very recent past.
“Formed in Brooklyn, NY [in 1959] the group originally consisted of Eugene Pitt (lead), Jerome Hanna (tenor), Richard Harris (tenor), Billy Prophet (baritone), and Norman Johnson (bass). The Jive Five’s first hit, “My True Story,” was their biggest, peaking at number one on the R&B charts and number three on the pop charts in the summer of 1961. None of the band’s subsequent singles — including the minor R&B hit, 1962’s “These Golden Rings” — were as popular, but the group managed to keep performing and recording.”
I guess that’s it in a nutshell. Since I have been blogging about my favorite songs I am finding out that it was not uncommon for music artists in the fifties and sixties rock and roll explosion to have their first and only hit right out of the starting gate — only to then to fade away from the national music spotlight until this century’s marvelous PBS Doo-wop and Rock and Soul Specials of the 21st century. We thank you for that T.J. Lubinsky. Please keep those specials coming.
Here is a performance by the current Jive Five lineup on one of the recent Doo-Wop Live PBS Concerts.
I hope you enjoyed the music and I thank you for stopping by.
Won’t you please let me know how you feel about these great classic oldies. I would love to read your comments.
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1416961_bentx/Dell-Vikings-WhisperingBells.mp3] Whispering Bells – The Del Vikings (1957)
As you can see from this excerpt, from the site “Destination Doo-Wop Radio Network”, the Del Vikings split into two groups and the second one had this great hit.
“With a hit record under their belt ["Come Go With Me"], the group hit a snag. Because some of the group’s members were under 21 when they signed with Fee Bee, the group’s manager tried to get them out of their contract and signed with Mercury Records. The resulting fight among group members resulted in a split with one group calling itself the the Dell-Vikings (the spelling of the group that released “Whispering Bells”) on Dot Records, with Kripp Johnson and the returning Don Jackson. The other rival Del-Vikings, as their name was spelled, recorded on Mercury, led by Clarence Quick and featuring Norman Wright, David Lerchey, Gus Backus and new member William Blakely. The Fee Bee/Dot Dell-Vikings released a single 1957 “Whispering Bells” (also written by Clarence Quick), in the late summer of 1957, which reached number nine on the pop charts. “(Source)
“Whispering Bells” is another one of my childhood faves and I hold this DOT Records 45 rpm near and dear to my heart. As I have said in earlier posts, I am not sure if the record belonged to my Mother or my Father, but it ended up with me and I almost played the grooves off of this one growing up. As a little one I recall my Dad singing along with the bass singer and I thought that was so cool!
Here is the re-formed Del-Vikings performing “Bells” on the historic PBS Doo Wop 50 Live! concert in 1999.
Thanks for stopping by and keep these “oldies” alive.
[audio http://www.hotlinkfiles.com/files/1416962_sfkpd/DellVikings-ComeandGoWithMe.mp3] Come Go With Me – The Del Vikings (1957)
The great Site “The History of Rock.Com”sums up the formation of the Del Vikings up until this first national hit as follows:
“The original group had served together in the US Air Force. In 1955, they were stationed in at the Air Force installation at the Pittsburgh airport in nearby Carapolis. Singing together in their spare time brought a desire to hear for themselves what they sounded like.
In October 1956, the group consisted of Norman Wright, lead tenor, Corinthian “Kripp” Johnson, first tenor, Don Jackson, second tenor, Clarence Quick, second bass; and Dave Larchey, baritone. During a rehearsal they recorded nine a capella songs in the basement of a local deejay and music entrepreneur, Barry Kaye. Listening to the tape they all agreed the sound was close, the style was coming around and all that was needed was a little more work.
Three months later the group was in a downtown Pittsburgh’s Sheraton Hotel in a makeshift studio set up by Fee-Bee records, a small local label owned by Joe Auerbach. They were backed by a pickup band of Air Force buddies. At the session they recorded “Baby, Let Me Know,” “Come Go With Me,” “True Love,” “When I Come Home,” “Don’t Be a Fool,” and “Watching the Moon.” Their first release, “True Love” b\w “Baby, Let Me Know”came in the fall of 1956. “True Love” was a typical rhythm and blues ballad.
“True Love” began receiving local airplay in early December prompting Auerbach to re-release it with a stronger B-side. During the second week of January 1957, the re-titled “How Can I Find True” was released with “Come Go With Me” on the flip side. In almost no time deejays flipped the record and discovered “Come Go With Me.” The popularity of “Come Go With Me” began to spread from Pittsburgh to Youngstown and then Cleveland.“
Composed by Clarence E. Quick, “Come Go With Me” charted #2 R&B and #4 Pop in 1957.
Watch as a re-formed Del Vikings configuration performs their classic on one of the recent PBS Do-Wop specials of this decade. They still “got it” half a century later!
Aren’t these PBS Specials the best? I so would like to see one of these “Oldies Shows” live, but it is close to impossible to get in unless you can afford to pay the steep $300.00 ticket prices. The upcoming performance for April 2009 is going to be in Baltimore (a short ride for me), but the tickets are just far too expensive for me. Guess I will just have to continue to contribute what I can to my local PBS station in hopes that they will continue to air this type of programming for us to see on video.
