Carol Fran, "Knock Knock" c/w "Emmit Lee's Come Back," Excello 45-2156 (rel. 5/1959)

 

A good while back we played Carol Fran's debut single for Excello Records, "Emmit Lee." It was a strong first record for this Lafayette, Louisiana-born singer, songwriter and pianist. She made four singles for the Nashville-based, bayou-fueled Excello label. None became a major r&b hit, and her earthy music wasn't a good fit for the more structured world of mainstream pop.

Hers is a powerful voice, capable of comedy and tragedy (and that delicate intermingling that is human life) and she exhibits both sides on this, her third Excello platter. As was common practice on Excello and its other labels, she shared songwriting credit with J. D. Miller, a bayou song shark who did write some country classics but was content to pop his name in as co-writer (under the pen-name Jerry West) as a trade-off for recording these vernacular performers. It was how things went in the 1950s, and to refuse it was a guarantee of oblivion.

"Knock Knock" opens with a fine example of Ms. Fran's sense of comedy. Her third, bellowed "MELVIN!" is spot-on, delivery- and timing-wise. An up-tempo bopper follows, with Carol intent on gettin' out of the rain, whether boyfriend Melvin likes it or not. I suspect he's not a keeper, but any port in a storm...

The studio band lays down a funky groove, with excellent sax work by whomever blew on this session. Fran keeps a light touch and the results are a memorable slice of life--and a story unresolved at the fade-out. Her assertive, hip performance is a thing of bluesy beauty.

A two-year wait on a follow-up song and the original

was forgotten by Cash Box, though that didn't stop

their unique flair for phrase-making.

"Emmit Lee's Come Back" might have made waves, had Fran done it as her second single. It lays down a classic swamp-pop sound. It's as predictable a style as Dixieland, but so imbued with feeling that the familiar chord changes and tempo aren't a bother. As with so many great Black recordings of this era, performance trumps all else, and Ms. Fran delivers a soulful, emotional stand against the relentless triplets of the 12/8 beat (for civilians, that's three beats per each whole note in a bar of music--a bedrock of '50s r&b).

As with the original "Emmit Lee," it was consigned to the B-side, but I'm sure it got as many jukebox plays as "Knock Knock."

After Excello, Fran recorded for another bayou imprint, Lyric Records, and then hooked up with Port, a New York label. in 1965 and delivered a Northern Soul favorite on her first release, "I'm Gonna Try." This single has been bootlegged out the wazoo--a sure sign of its NS importance. She recorded for Port into 1967, then her career on vinyl slowed as the decade ended.

Fran made a comeback in the early 1990s in partnership with Clarence Hollimon. They released four acclaimed soul/blues CDs; in 2019 came her final recording, All of My Life: The Saint Agnes Sessions, an LP issued by Jazz Foundation of America. Good luck finding a copy: it had a small pressing and is super-rare. 

Fran passed on in 2021 in Lafayette, LA. It's unfortunate that an anthology of her 1950s and '60s work didn't happen in her lifetime. Westside (UK) did issue a CD with all of her Port Records tracks, coupled with contemporary sides by Betty Lavette; that's it so far. Perhaps someday...

Tomorrow: popcorn time with The Lafayettes via their second and final RCA-Victor single from 1962.