SHAWN ELLIOTT, "I FOUND MYSELF A BRAND NEW BABY" C/W "DINNER FOR ONE," DOUBLE L 721 (REL. 9/1963)

 

Puerto Rico-born Shawn Elliott, whose surname was often misspelt, made a career as an actor after a flirtation with popular music. He was the star of the PBS series Ghostwriter, which ran for three years, and is seen in such films as Do the Right Thing, The Dead Pool and Broken City.  He made 14 singles from 1962-76, a handful of albums and many appearances on original cast albums of stage musicals—among them Jacques Brel is Alive and Well and Living in Paris.

All that was in the future when he made a 45 for Detroit-based Double L Records, with producer Robert Bateman, a Motown associate who’s behind many great Motor City sides of the early 1960s. This single combines Elliott’s ties to r&b/soul and his penchant for dramatic songs as often heard in musical theatre.

The A side may sound familiar; if so, you heard the song here on our June 28^th post. (If you missed that post, find it and give it a go.) It’s a revival of a single from Motown’s VIP imprint—their “island of misfit toys” label—that came and went without success in 1962. “I Found Myself a Brand New Baby,” penned by white Motown personality Mike Valvano and Clarence Paul (brother of Lowman Pauling of The “5” Royales), may have impressed producer Bateman as a song still worthy of success.

The earthy garage-band sound of Valvano’s group The Modifiers is traded in for a gritty variant on the Bobby Vee formula—a vocal self-duet that works well against the tough, no-frills backup band (all Motown moonlighters, I’d wager). I don’t often vote for a record having more arrangement touches, but this one could use something—a guitar solo, a sax solo…a glockenspiel solo. Anything. Elliott’s self-harmonized, double-tracked vocal is excellent, but it feels rather barren. Hear the Mike & The Modifiers original and you’ll be impressed how full and fervent that version sounds in comparison.

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We get into some hysterics with what must have been the intended A-side. “Dinner for One,” co-penned by Elliott and Bateman, sounds like a song lifted from some off-Broadway revue. The dramatic brass set this off with a siren song of the blues. Elliott’s narrator has been stood up on a perhaps-significant dinner date. Perhaps he has a ring in a little red velvet box in his coat pocket. All for naught; he realizes it’s foolish to wait and resigns himself to an evening’s wallow in self-pity.

Elliott sounds more engaged on this side; this material feels more like home to his voice and approach. This melodramatic gem, tucked away on the B-side of a failed single, is one of so many worthy recordings made in Detroit in 1963 that collectors and DJs know about but the world-at-large has never heard or considered.

Shawn Elliott signed with Roulette Records in 1964, where he tried to break the Jamaican ska sound in America with a version of “Shame and Scandal in the Family,” but it was too soon for this assimilation. (His version did well in Europe). Roulette released an LP in 1965 that combined versions of Cole Porter and Bob Dylan songs with ska-style novelties. The album was released all over the globe, so it had genuine appeal and might have sold well.

Elliott seemed happiest on stage and screen and spent the remainder of his career as a supporting actor in several films, the aforementioned PBS starring role and in stage productions such as the original Broadway run of City of Angels. He passed on in 2016 from cancer at age 79.

Tomorrow: Linda Martell with The Angelos on a powerful girl-group single for Vee-Jay Records also from 1963. The story of her career is fascinating; it could be made into a compelling movie.