Soul Singers Who Got “Sold Out”

A familiar tale in rock lore are the stories of rock stars’ “first time.”  That is, the first time they heard a radio station play their record.  Ronnie Spector’s first time occurred while The Ronettes were on tour, staying in a cheap Wildwood, NJ hotel. She recalled in a 2018 People magazine interview: “Dick Clark came on the radio and said, ‘This is going to be the number one record of the century.’ And we heard the drum of ‘Be My Baby.” Boom, boom, boom — bam! It was like, ‘Hello!? That’s not us, it couldn’t be. Are we dreaming?’”

But Bessie Banks’ dream of hearing her song and becoming a star turned out to be a nightmare.  She stated:  I remember in 1963 Kennedy was assassinated. At the time, I was rehearsing in the office of (Jerry) Leiber and (Mike) Stoller [Bessie’s producers]. We called it a day. They said, ‘Come back next week and we’ll be ready to record ‘Go Now.’  And we did. I was excited that maybe this time, I’ll make it. ‘Go Now’ was released and it was chosen Pick Hit of the Week on W.I.N.S. radio [a NYC station]. When I heard the first line, I thought it was me, but then I realized it wasn’t. At the end of the song, it was announced, ‘That was the Moody Blues singing ‘Go Now.’’ This was the time of the ‘British Invasion’ and the end of Bessie Banks’ career.”

Moody Blues’ singer Denny Laine went on to sing it for years in concert as a member of Wings.  Paul McCartney wasn’t the only Beatle enamored with the tune. White Album engineer Chris Thomas stated that George Harrison told him he wanted a piano riff in his song “Long Long Long” like the one in “Go Now.”

Unfortunately, one too many female soul singers in the ’60s rightfully believed that they were going to grab the brass ring only for a rock band to steal their song, making the original version virtually obsolete.

Erma Franklin had recorded a composition by Bert Berns and Jerry Ragovoy for Berns’ Shout! label.  Berns had Van Morrison under contract, but died before Erma got to record her album.  Fortunately, she soldiered on to sing back-up vocals for her younger sister, Aretha Franklin.

Unfortunately for Van, Berns’ widow, Ilene, demanded that Morrison honor his contract and record new songs, or he wouldn’t be able to record for another label or perform live.  Morrison complied, recording 31 sarcastic songs on an out-of-tune guitar in one session.  Van made sure the throwaway songs would cause record buyers to throw his record away after one listen. One tune called “The Big Royalty Check” dissed Bert’s death and came with radio-unfriendly lyrics like: “I’m waiting for my royalty check to come, I guess it’s coming from the big royalty check in the sky.”

Erma was mourning the fact that one year after she recorded “Piece of My Heart,” Janis Joplin took it to the #12 position on the Billboard charts.  Janis’ unforgettable take made Erma’s rendering forgettable.

Irma Thomas also discovered that one singer’s triumph is another singer’s loss of revenue.  Irma, who had three children by the age of 17 and desperately needed a hit, released “Time Is on My Side” in June 1964. Three months later, The Stones made it a hit.  Mick Jagger admired Irma’s singing so much that he honored her by blatantly copying her adlib rap that encouraged her lover to “light up the town.”

In time, whenever she performed live, Irma became irked by hearing fans scream “Sing the Stones’ song!” Irma was also annoyed that the group never asked her to be their support act on any tours. For twenty years, she wouldn’t sing the tune that had been the Stones’ first top ten hit.  But time healed all wounds, and Irma sang with the Stones at last year’s New Orleans Jazz and Heritage Festival concert.

But while Irma is in fine fettle, singer Gloria Jones’ superb voice was never the same after she was the driver in the crash that took the life of T-Rex’s Marc Bolan, her partner. She noted: “I was never able to sing with the same intensity and power as before.” But Gloria’s voice on one song caught the attention of soul music lovers in England.  In an interview with Top 2000 a-gogo You Tube channel, Gloria stated: “How that song was recognized in England was that a sailor had a 45 copy of it, and he needed some cigarettes, so he exchanged the record with a guy to get cigarettes.  Well, the guy took it to the social club because they had these teenage social clubs that they would go to after school and dance, and they were playing all the Motown things and all of a sudden they put ‘Tainted Love’ on and the kids went crazy.”

Seventeen years later, the record-buying public went crazy for Soft Cell’s legendary version.  Gloria noted how Marc Almond discovered the song: “Marc was working in the coatroom of a discotheque that was having a ’60s Night Revival and they played ‘Tainted Love.’  He ran to the DJ and said, ‘I love that song! You have to let me have a copy!”

Dee Dee Warwick (Dionne’s sister) sang backup for others, including Irma’s “Time Is on My Side,” Bessie’s “Go Now,” and Erma’s “Piece of My Heart.” Each song went on to be a best seller for another artist.  She even sang on Van Morrison’s “Brown Eyed Girl.”

Frustratingly, Dee Dee’s solo efforts also became major hits…for others.  Her first single, “You’re No Good,” was covered by Betty Everett and was a breakthrough for Linda Ronstadt.

“I’m Gonna Make You Love Me” became a hit for both The Supremes and The Temptations. Yet another example of a soul singer who served up soulful hits…for other people.

-Mark Daponte

Photo: Irma Thomas, 2013 ( Dennis Redfield via Wikimedia Commons)