Gerri Granger, "Breakdown" c/w "Stick Close," Bigtop 45-514 (rel. 2/1964)
Gerri Granger (sometimes Grainger) released several fine singles and was one of Black music's more successful transitioners from recording to TV and movies. Like Leslie Uggams, she presented well on mainstream TV and projected a friendly, connecting personality. She made four 45s for Bigtop Records, Hill & Range Music's boutique imprint for their stable of songwriters. Elvis Presley Music was associated with Hill & Range and as such was a magnet for cleffers eager to get in on the singer's movie soundtrack action.
Otis Blackwell, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Del Shannon and other significant pop composers had their songs, productions and performances released on Bigtop. which spanned 150+ releases over eight years. Among the label's most prolific composers were Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. The trio penned over 40 songs for Elvis' movies, some of it formula drek. Outside the movie grind, they were capable of excellent songs and seem to have invented the whole Northern Soul sound without realizing it.
The emotions of their songs are big: life-or-death ultimatums, anguish and joy, set to a big beat reminiscent of Motown's general style. They specialized in show-stoppers that seldom became mainstream hits. Small wonder that many of their records are beloved by the UK community who made them into dance-floor anthems.
Granger, in her time with Bigtop, recorded material by Otis Blackwell, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell & Winfield Scott and Joy Byers. For her final outing with the label, the Giant-Baum-Kaye combine gave her one of their trademark melodramas-in-song. "Breakdown" opens with a calm passage that explodes into a show-tune/Motown crossover sound. She begs an errant beau to show their regret with waterworks galore. Nothing else will satisfy her. "Admit that you're sorry and break down," Gerri demands.
Her insistence, along with the massive production, is sufficient to make us innocent bystanders guilty. The intensity is borderline-crazy and attention-getting. Said beau might be well advised to slink off to safety before Gerri gets more specific.
Otis Blackwell, Burt Bacharach and Hal David, Del Shannon and other significant pop composers had their songs, productions and performances released on Bigtop. which spanned 150+ releases over eight years. Among the label's most prolific composers were Bill Giant, Bernie Baum and Florence Kaye. The trio penned over 40 songs for Elvis' movies, some of it formula drek. Outside the movie grind, they were capable of excellent songs and seem to have invented the whole Northern Soul sound without realizing it.
The emotions of their songs are big: life-or-death ultimatums, anguish and joy, set to a big beat reminiscent of Motown's general style. They specialized in show-stoppers that seldom became mainstream hits. Small wonder that many of their records are beloved by the UK community who made them into dance-floor anthems.
Granger, in her time with Bigtop, recorded material by Otis Blackwell, Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, Otis Blackwell & Winfield Scott and Joy Byers. For her final outing with the label, the Giant-Baum-Kaye combine gave her one of their trademark melodramas-in-song. "Breakdown" opens with a calm passage that explodes into a show-tune/Motown crossover sound. She begs an errant beau to show their regret with waterworks galore. Nothing else will satisfy her. "Admit that you're sorry and break down," Gerri demands.
Her insistence, along with the massive production, is sufficient to make us innocent bystanders guilty. The intensity is borderline-crazy and attention-getting. Said beau might be well advised to slink off to safety before Gerri gets more specific.
"Should be a DJ favorite" looked to the future, when British turntablists would make "Breakdown" a major dancefloor hit in various clubs. Cash Box persisted in the use of the patronizing phrase teeners well into the Beatlemania era. Note their note about the similarity to a certain Motown hit of 1963.
Otis Blackwell and Winfield Scott's "Stick Close" got its definitive version with Estelle Brown. We featured the 1964 United Artists 45 by this member of The Sweet Inspirations last year. You can hear it here. This version came five months before Brown's killer take, and isn't at all bad. It has a more pop arrangement than Brown's, and suffers from some psychotic mariachi brass effects.
It remains Otis Blackwell's best later song, with an irresistible melody and clever, appealing lyrics. IMO, Estelle Brown's performance is the better of the two; she sings with a world-weariness that gives the song more emotional weight. If Brown's version didn't exist, I'd wholly embrace Granger's. Compare the two versions and see for yourself.
It remains Otis Blackwell's best later song, with an irresistible melody and clever, appealing lyrics. IMO, Estelle Brown's performance is the better of the two; she sings with a world-weariness that gives the song more emotional weight. If Brown's version didn't exist, I'd wholly embrace Granger's. Compare the two versions and see for yourself.
When Bigtop folded, Granger moved to Lloyd Price's Double L imprint for two singles, than had a final platter on Columbia Records, where she sang the theme tune to the 1967 movie Wait Until Dark. Then TV and movies called; she didn't record again until 1971. In 1975 she recorded a disco-fied version of "Can't Take My Eyes Off of You," produced by Bob Crewe; it got into the lower reaches of the pop charts. She's still with us and had an Instagram account; she last posted during Covid lockdown.
Tomorrow: r&b songwriter and producer Luther Dixon made a single for Chess Records in 1958. It's mighty good! Get your week off to a good start with its two superb songs.
Tomorrow: r&b songwriter and producer Luther Dixon made a single for Chess Records in 1958. It's mighty good! Get your week off to a good start with its two superb songs.
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