Tootie & The Bouquets, "The Conquerer" c/w "You Done Me Wrong," Parkway P-887 (rel. 10/1963)
We're back to low readership; perhaps everyone is on vacation. Apropos of that, we're touring the musical country this week. Today's stop is Philadelphia. The City of Brotherly Love had a vital music scene which birthed a unique and much-imitated brand of soul music in the later 1960s and beyond.
Before that, Cameo-Parkway Records ruled the roost with a wide roster of teen pop--from dreck like Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell to talented Black performers such as The Orlons and Dee Dee Sharp. The latter broke free of the crippling pop formulas and became exponents of what we now call the Northern Soul sound.
Before that, Cameo-Parkway Records ruled the roost with a wide roster of teen pop--from dreck like Chubby Checker and Bobby Rydell to talented Black performers such as The Orlons and Dee Dee Sharp. The latter broke free of the crippling pop formulas and became exponents of what we now call the Northern Soul sound.
In-between were a plethora of obscure performers--often more interesting than the big stars--who made one or a few singles and vanished. Into that never-never-land are Tootie and The Bouquets, whose lone single is outstanding in its field. Its two songs were penned by known quantities--New York-based Black cleffers Joe Simmons and Buddy Lee. Both men recorded as solo performers and had a brief collaboration that yielded three released songs.
It's possible that (a) they produced this session and (b) that these two tracks were made in New York, which makes the single Philadelphian by association. Zero is known about the group, whom some posit might be The Bouquets, who made a handful of singles for other New York-based labels. (Other sources posit that The Bouquets were a group of girl who had served time in Bronx producer Zell Sanders' groups The Hearts and The Click-ettes. It's getting mighty crowded in here!)
It's possible that (a) they produced this session and (b) that these two tracks were made in New York, which makes the single Philadelphian by association. Zero is known about the group, whom some posit might be The Bouquets, who made a handful of singles for other New York-based labels. (Other sources posit that The Bouquets were a group of girl who had served time in Bronx producer Zell Sanders' groups The Hearts and The Click-ettes. It's getting mighty crowded in here!)
These women sing with feeling and precision on a pair of excellent arrangements that give their voices ample room to do their thing. "The Conquerer" is a mash-up of The Crystals' "He's a Rebel" and "Uptown." This multi-tempo song celebrates the titular teen, whose commanding presence wows them; he's aggressive in his wooing, and this caveman stance has The Bouquets convinced he's the bomb. (Not the bath bomb; heavens, no.)
Derivative to its core, "The Conquerer" succeeds via the presence of the group and the simple-but-striking presentation. My copy of this record was unplayed for 63 years; a white-label promo pressing on good vinyl, it came in its birth sleeve--a colorful wrapper that touts other Cameo-Parkway product. Because off-white labels don't catch the eye, a pair of grubby stock labels are seen in today's marquee. It won't really matter, since, for whatever reasons, the numbers are off this week.
Derivative to its core, "The Conquerer" succeeds via the presence of the group and the simple-but-striking presentation. My copy of this record was unplayed for 63 years; a white-label promo pressing on good vinyl, it came in its birth sleeve--a colorful wrapper that touts other Cameo-Parkway product. Because off-white labels don't catch the eye, a pair of grubby stock labels are seen in today's marquee. It won't really matter, since, for whatever reasons, the numbers are off this week.
Cash Box notes "The Conquerer"'s debt to other recent girl-group hits in its own semi-decipherable lingo. They undersell the powerful bluesy flip-side, which is the reason to have this 1963 single.
"You Done Me Wrong" is the winner here--a hard-hitting, slow blues ballad that sounds like a tougher version of The Chantels. Here, these girls sing their hearts out with utmost sincerity on a simple song that they sell like mad.
If you don't have time to hear both sides, do listen to this one. It's a keeper. Records of this rawness and intensity don't come a-knockin' every day.
Tomorrow: Fats Domino rocks the house on a sought-after 1953 Imperial Records single. One side celebrates his native New Orleans; the other is a classic r&b ballad. From back when Fats was really good.
These are both fun and unusual tracks--thanks, Frank! In the first track definitely some "He's a Rebel" influence there and yes, the "big man on his home turf" theme of "Uptown." Speaking of the "big man" theme, there's a little 4 Seasons-style BG vocals going on in that part as well to my ear. Boy, but the word "conquerer" is a little awkward to spit out in a rapid-fir up tempo track like this.
ReplyDeleteWhat instrument's being played on that ongoing slightly intrusive tremolo part in the second track? Vibes? An organ run through an amp with rapid vibrato?
Sounds like a marimba or vibraphone. It just registers amidst all the other things. It's a metal instrument struck by a mallet; I can hear the impact of wood on metal here and there. I forgot to note the out-of-tune baritone sax on the song's fade-out.
DeleteOne doesn't often hear the word gall in a pop song. Wonder why? Loved the not-often- heard girl group singing doo-wop with "You Done Me Wrong:. Wish they had mixed "Tootie" in the forefront—she's a great singer that gets lost in the wash of background music.
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