Please Mister Postman, look and see (Oh yeah) If there's a letter in your bag for me

Triple Hit: The Early Girls

“Please Mr. Postman” by  The Marvellettes (1961)

“One Fine Day” by The Chiffons (1963)

“Da Doo Ron Ron” by The Crystals (1963)

Sometimes you like a song and you don’t know why, or you don’t remember. There is a melody, and a feeling that you are reaching back to find. It feels good to search for that feeling. You don’t remember where you heard it first but your mind has made a fantastic connection somewhere.

I have covered ‘girl groups’ before but today I give you a sampling of some of my favourite songs. They are all songs that are allowed to sound dated. They have earned that right because they stood the test of time and still work.

I'm driving in my car, I turn on the radio I'm pulling you close, you just say no You say you don't like it, but girl I know you're a liar 'Cause when we kiss Hmmm, fire

70's Pick of the Week

“Fire” by the Pointer Sisters (1979)

The idea of sister or brother groups is not new. The advantage of this arrangement can be stability. Have you ever heard the expression “You can choose your friends but you can’t choose family”? Well in some cases it works and others not so much. In the case of the Pointer sisters it gave them depth and versatility that saw them endure and reach great success.

Their parents, Reverend Elton and Sarah Pointer encouraged them as girls to listen and participate in gospel music. They told the girls that rock and roll and the blues was “the devils music”. This was not uncommon really. Secretly they sang songs when they were away from their parents until one day the youngest, June, brought home a copy of Elvis’ “All Shook Up”. Her mother had discovered the ‘B’ side of the album with “Crying in the Chapel” so let her pay it.

If the sky that we look upon should tumble and fall and the mountains should crumble to the sea I won't cry, I won't cry, no I won't shed a tear just as long as you stand, stand by me

Songs Everybody Should Know

“Stand By Me” by Ben E. King (1961)

Last week Jerry Leiber of the famous song-writing team Leiber and Stoller died of heart issues at age 78. It was almost a half century run for the versatile song-writer and producer. His start really came with L&S penning “Hound Dog” for Big Mamma Thornton (later covered by Elvis). Leiber & Stoller went on to pen many others for Elvis including “Don’t Be Cruel” and “Jailhouse Rock”. A string of popish hits for the Coasters included “Yakity Yak”, “Along Came Jones”, and “Charlie Brown” and “Searchin’” put them at the top of their game. They became in demand as producers and song-writers for many years including producing such acts as Steelers Wheel (Stuck in the Middle) and writing classics such as “On Broadway” for the Drifters and “Stand By Me” for Ben E. King.

Benjamin Edward King was one of the principal lead singers of the Drifters that L&S worked with in the late ‘50s and early ‘60’s. After the original lead singer of the Drifters was fired, King stepped in to record such classics as “There Goes My Baby”, “Save the Last Dance for Me”, and “This Magic Moment”.

After a salary and royalty discussion gone bad in early 1960, King went on his own. Charlie Thomas, who replaced King, would lip-synch King’s songs in live performances. Remaining with Atlantic records now as ‘Ben E. King’, he hit with “Spanish Harlem” in early 1961 and followed up with the irrepressible classic “Stand By Me” which he actually helped L&S write having known them from his Drifter’s days.

“Stand By Me” is one of the most covered songs of all time, having been recorded over 400 times by artists ranging from John Lennon to Elton John. It is based on the spiritual song “Lord Stand by Me”, which in turn has roots in Psalms 46 of the Bible. The song went to number 1 of the R&B charts and was top 10 in 1961 and again in 1987 when it was used as the theme song of the movie of the same name. The movie was based on a Stephen King short story called “The Body” and is not a bad ‘coming of age’ movie packed with great oldies.

Ahmet Ertegun¹ said “King is one of the greatest singers in the history of rock and roll and rhythm and blues”. Ahmen Brotha...

 

1.        Ahmet Ertegun was the Turkish immigrant founder and president of Atlantic Records known for its classic R&B and later rock acts.

I don't bother chasing mice around I slink down the alley looking for a fight howling to the moonlight on a hot summer night

Quick Hit

“Stray Cat Strut”, Stray Cats (1981/82)

Brian Setzer was not following the fads in the early eighties – well maybe the looks a bit, but the music he liked, some thought was out of style. Rockabilly was a late fifties and early sixties phenomena that had long lost its momentum when Setzer, his bass player, Lee Rocker, and drummer Slim Jim Phantom, thrust it back into the spotlight.

They can call you Bill or even Billy But you’re my sweet William and you drive me silly

Quick Hits

“Will You Willyum”, Janis Martin, (1956)

“I Gotta Know”, Wanda Jackson (1956)

Like any definition of what the ‘first’ of anything was in history, it is fuzzy. Things aren’t that clear- cut. I have said this before, and I will say it again: music is a continuum, an evolution. Is anything ever entirely original? Some more than others, and it is a judgement call at the end of the day.  

The first female rockers were arguably ‘rockabilly’ artists who were steeped in country music and tainted by the wildness of their male contemporaries. One of these was Janis Martin.