What I meant to say is that I don't think the girls who recorded are the girls who went out and performed as the Cookies. The actual recording group was in a lot of demand.
Don't know why I am having trouble today.
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What I meant to say is that I don't think the girls who recorded are the girls who went out and performed as the Cookies. The actual recording group was in a lot of demand.
Don't know why I am having trouble today.
Yes, I think the real group had so much session work. I think Ellie did take her sister and another girl, plus a guy named Bobby Bosco out to perform as the Raindrops. I remember a photo of them with Cousin Brucie, I think, at Palisades Park.
I can't remember where I read this, but apparently when they performed live, they would have her sister and the other girl lip sync to pre-recorded "live" vocals by Ellie. It's amazing the subterfuge they went through to make it believable. I've always wondered why they just never got another girl...
Possibly the same guy!
The Facts: Darlene Love was not in the State of California at the time of the recording of the DDRR. This is from Rachelle Spector who speaks and visits with Phil each week. Darlene Love sent Phil Spector a letter recently asking him to clear up the DDRR. Phil did not answer as he wasn't going to lie for her. Fanita's memory is a little hazy. The background singers according to Phil Spector, and he should know since he co-wrote, managed and produced the DDRR - his word is final, are Fanita, Cher and Gracia Nitzsche. Fanita is dreaming. It is a fact that The Opals were the background singers on the Shoop Shoop Song [[It's In His Kiss) as sung by Betty Everett and recorded by VJ Records on the RECORD. You can view a YouTube video showing The Blossoms singing background on Merry Clayton's failed version of the SSS. I like Fanita but her memory is not correct. I don't get my information from the web, I get it from the people involved. Of course from the horse's mouth is best - here is Darlene Love on CBS's This Morning Show finally admitting that her voice is not on those songs, i.e. DDRR and the SSS. It was MY research that forced into the truth before the thing blew up at the Oscars.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/darlen...-from-stardom/
You can skip to the 2:16 mark to hear her admission.
You can have your opinions but you can't change facts. Rachelle Spector, Phil's 4th wife, runs his enterprise while he is in prison. She has possession and control of all Phil's tapes. I never rely on Wikipedia for anything since I have direct access to the people involved. He did not overwrite tapes. Get with Rachelle and go through them with her. You can bluster all you want but by my research, and providing it to the right people, Darlene Love finally confessed on 17 Feb 2014 on CBS's This Morning, that her voice is not on the DDRR and those songs [[the Shoop Shoop Song, It's In His Kiss). So what are you going to say now? Darlene Love claimed she sang the DDRR for 30 years and it was MY research that forced her hand.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/darlen...-from-stardom/
Jump to 2:16 to listen to your girl. Nothing personal, I just have access to people in the industry that you don't.
Darlene Love only sang He's A Rebel and He's Sure The Boy I love under The Crystals' name. She DID NOT nor did The Blossoms as a group, sing background on any Crystal song. Fanita James was the only member of The Blossoms to sing background on the DDRR.
Randy, you are getting this all balled up. Cher sang background on the DDRR. Phil may be a murderer but that doesn't make him a liar and he's the one that's final authority on the DDRR. Dee Dee's memory is fading also. I read quite a bit information from her published story on an on-line magazine. Phil never came back to New York to do background on the DDRR. I choose to believe La La over Dee Dee. The Christmas album was done in separate sessions and The Crystals and Darlene didn't meet each other. You have to remember that Darlene Love LIED for 30 years about her [[Darlene) being the original singer of the DDRR. My research, and I'm not ashamed to take credit for it, is what caused Darlene Love to finally tell the truth. So I think my track record speaks for itself. The other thing that people forget about or don't think about - where do you think La La Brooks was at all these times? On the moon? Who, besides Phil, should know more about her own record? She was there personally at these events. I have always found her to be 100% truthful. Research has always backed her up.
http://www.cbsnews.com/videos/darlen...-from-stardom/
Go to the 2:16 mark to hear Darlene admit the truth.
I have to say it DOES sound as if Cher is singing with the backups on Da Doo Ron Ron, but she has always said the first record she sang on was Be My Baby, recorded about five months after DDRR.
Who cares about all this BS hearsay that happened in the past, it's done. Trust me Darlene is not losing any sleep over any of this and neither should anyone else that was not even there. The bottom line is Darlene is the final star standing and this is just the beginning. Bravo Darlene, I'm very happy for all of the blessings that God is shinning your way.
I am respectfully disagreeing with you on this one Randy. Dee Dee is having a senior moment about the recording session for the Christmas album. Research shows that Darlene Love was still in Los Angeles at the time of the recording of the Christmas album. Therefore it was not possible for anyone to have met Darlene at this session. Darlene's session was recorded in Los Angeles. Phil intentionally kept The Ronettes and The Crystals in separate rooms in NYC at the recording studio. The ladies were able to say hi and good bye and that was about it. There was no posing together. It is individual photos and the Christmas boxes they are standing in are "photo shopped for a lack of a better word). I like Dee Dee and have researched her also. In her Daeida magazine interview, she stated that Patsy Wright's mother chaperoned La La Brooks when she flew to LA to record the DDRR and other songs. Research shows that La La flew alone to LA. Dee Dee said in the same article that The Crystals sang background on the DDRR. This is also a senior moment. Think about it. Phil flies La La to Los Angeles to record her lead voice. Now why would Phil had payed to fly La La back to NYC and then himself fly back to NYC to do the background with the other members of The Crystals? That doesn't make sense. Don't you think that since La La and the others Crystals are in Brooklyn together during the supposed background session that La La wouldn't know of this from the other Crystals?
I should have an answer here soon on who really sang background on the DDRR. One thing is fact - Darlene Love did NOT have anything to do with DDRR by her own admission.
I don't trust you. Darlene Love is losing sleep over this matter. It was MY research that forced her to admit that her voice is NOT on the DDRR on 17 Feb 2014 on CBS's This Morning Show. 30 years of lying caught up with her. I have purchased a license in perpetuity from CBS of this interview so that I will always have evidence that she lied. Talk about someone who wasn't there - that was Darlene Love herself. Thumbs down to Darlene Love. I am contemplating writing a book about her deception and her miserable life. What you see on the screen is NOT what she is like behind the scenes. Tina Turner, Ronnie Spector, Sonny Bono, and one of Darlene's own costars from Twenty Feet From Stardom, among a list of others, all know of her less than desirable personality. It is all in research.
Dee Dee did NOT say she met Darlene at recording sessions for the Christmas lp! I did not write that either. I wrote that Dee Dee said they [[Crystals) met D. Love when she came to NY to pose for the cover photo.
Also, Cher is cited in several sources that Be My Baby was the first session she did.
By the way, Phil still did do recording in NYC. He recorded the Crystals in 1964 on a song called Please Be My Boyfriend and went back to Barbara Alston to sing lead.
chemelr: Have you posted anything else on this forum besides reasons why we should dislike Darlene Love? We get it. You don't like her. But please, stop making it your mission to get everyone else to dislike her. Worry about your own life and not others. This whole thing is really old. This obsession over whether or not Darlene sang anything on DDRR is ridiculous. There are much bigger things in life to worry about. This is not one of them. There are lots of people who enjoy the voice and music of Darlene Love. I am one of them. However, I also happen to like La La Brooks. There is no reason why I should abhor one or the other.
Darlene Love does the worst rendition of the DDRR I have ever heard.
Well, I think it is at its worst by Shaun Cassidy.
antceleb12: Likes or dislikes have nothing to do with this. It is all about truth. Darlene knows nothing about truth. I can say what I want to say and there is nothing physical you can do about it. Obviously truth is something that you don't value in life. Next time you want to do a manifesto or diatribe - stick your head out the door and let it rip.
In your opinion - which I don't value. I deal only in facts.
I'm getting the drift here about why Non Supremes fans scan certain threads and go "OK, well, she didn't sing on that, but who cares? and what real difference does it make?"
They world didn't end for you as long as you weren't flying on Malaysian Airlines 370.
It's nice that a few background singers got a bit of spotlight for a while. Tata Vega sure had a blast and I heard her say she would ride this film for everything it was worth til the ride ended.
Watch what you're saying. You have every right to disagree with me, but you're verging on personal attacks now. I'm not sure where you're pulling this so-called "diatribe" from, but if you're going to come here and tear down a singer many people love, you should expect dissenting views. I'm sorry you hate Darlene Love, but my appreciation for Darlene has nothing to do with what she's said or what she hasn't said. I love her voice, plain and simple. And guess what? I also love La La's. And that has nothing to do with "valuing the truth."
I've never seen or heard any interviews where she's said these "lies." I've never met either of these women. I'm not going to get mixed up in their dirty laundry. It is none of my business, and it is none of your business whether or not I like Darlene Love or not. Why does it matter to you? It's not like I'm admiring a racist, or a murderer, or someone with a truly deplorable past? Sorry, but I love her music. What she has said has nothing to do with that. I'd rather concern myself with issues that affect my life, such as who will be running for president, taxes, poverty, etc. This thing with Darlene and La La is between Darlene and La La. I understand why it's an issue with La La. To me? It's trite and of no importance. The world keeps turning. It's time to move on.
chemelr, what makes you so certain that you have the facts? And why would Phil have the final say on Da Doo Ron Ron? Just like the singers and musicians, couldn't he confuse one session with another? And, yes, I believe La La traveled to L.A. with a chaperone. She was only about 15 on the session for DDRR. She may have been able to fly on a plane without an adult, but a hotel? And I am sure on at least one trip out west to record, Kate Henry, Dee Dee's mother, went with her as she had told me about meeting Bertha, Phil's mother. And it is Kate who was responsible for bringing La La into the group when Myrna Gerard decided to leave. Kate worked at the school La La attended and had heard her sing.
I wouldn't be surprised if chemelr is La La Brookes.
Well, I was just looking at Barbara Alston's book, There's No Other, published in 2007 Publish America, Baltimore. On page 61 she writes "I'll never forget our first airplane flight from Washington DC, where we were booked at the Howard Theater for a week, to New York, where Phil wanted us to record the background on our next record, Da Doo Ron Ron." She goes on to say she told Patsy [[Wright) that she didn't care what Phil says, she didn't want to get on the plane. She did however.
So, there is another Crystal saying they recorded the backup vocals in NY.
I've seen "Twenty Feet From Stardom" and I think it's great. If you haven't seen it yet, do yourself a favor and either rent or see the movie when you have a chance. While it doesn't tell the story of every background singer [[or group) from the golden era of Rock & Soul Music, the stories they do tell [[Darlene Love & the Blossoms, Lisa Fischer, Merry Clayton & Judith Hill) are compelling. Also, the film won the Oscar for best documentary three weeks ago so that's another good recommendation right there.
I just watched this film [[on Netflix). My observations: It was a bit too long, too serious [[in my opinion for it's subject matter....) and a bit depressing overall.
It's funny that you mention that. I watched it earlier this week on Netflix. After all the great reviews I had read, and the Oscar win, I was expecting it to be better. I'm not hating, it's just that it didn't live up to the hype IMO. It was great to learn more about Ike and Tina's backup singer. Looking at those clips of her, she was HOT back in the day.
Claudia Linnear was hot! I was very surprised at the current appearance of Lisa Fischer. I did not recognize her at all from her glory days with Luther Vandross. This whole documentary had a "where are they now?" type feel to it. I was expecting a more upbeat film that showcased the craft of background and harmony singing. So, so many groups and individual session singers were excluded. Did they have to focus on Darlene Love so much? Merry Clayton was a pleasure to watch and listen to her story, but where was Cissy Houston and the Sweet Inspirations?
Marv, I didn't want to say it in my original post, but yeah, I was surprised at Lisa. She didn't look bad, in fact she reminded me of my aunt. But she was much different from her Luther/How can I ease the pain years. I know we all get older, but I was still surprised. I really enjoyed Merry. I also liked Tata. To be honest, they didn't need to focus so much on Darlene. I too was wondering where Cissy was. I was also kind of peeved that there was no mention of the Andantes. Then I realized. They were different. They were session/studio singers. The singers featured in this documentary were actually background singers on stage. Once I realized that I could see why the Andantes weren't featured.
Lisa was just so gorgeous and made a great combination in the background with Ava Cherry when they sang with Luther. No she looks very average at best. Merry Clayton is/was a star in the background. She just never achieved the individual fame and name recognition as some others. Also missing besides the Andantes, were Philadelphia Internationals..." The Sweeties" with Carla Benson.
Cissy Houston should have been noted for her unique talent of creating and arranging some of the best background harmonies ever! Where were Stevie's "Wonderlove"? So many great, talented singers came out of that backing group that it was a crime not to give them some play in the film. It would have also been nice if they could have did a little more on all the great "lead" singers that were once background singers, i.e. Dionne Warwick, etc. Why were most of the background singers profiled female? There were many great male session singers as well.
I really appreciated Bruce Springsteen's , Sting's and Stevie Wonder's involvement. I was kinda of sad about Tata Vega. She was/is and excellent singer lead and background and to hear her say that she had been cast aside after being told that she was too old and too fat to be promoted today was just ,well sad.
There is another pretty good documentary on NetFlix focusing on the regrouping of the Sweet Inspirations and the attempted comeback of the singer Pat Hodges. But it too made it clear that once a singer hits a certain age, it is hopeless to have success in the mainstream.
Marv
I can see your point regarding Darlene but I think she was the catalyst for the docu-movie. I think it would have been a very long movie if they had included other back up and background singers like the Jones Girls, Perri, the Ridgeway Sisters Aretha's backing vocalist, Telma, Joyce, and Pam.
To see more of Lisa Fisher : watch the Tina Turner Live at Gelredome dvd from 2009 in which she is one of her 2 background singers.
Rod_rick, I understand. Darlene is one of the more recognizable, but the ones you just listed here made me want to see a part 2! LOL! Perri were excellent singing with Anita Baker and on their own. I also now understand that the premise behind the film is that many of these very talented women never found major public success. I know there have been more than a few that began as background singers that went on to have successful careers of their own. Telma Hopkins is one good example.
I am revisiting this thread today and it just cracks me up. You, brother_love, say that Fanita told you the above are the people who sang background on the DDRR. rrussi says that Dee Dee Kinniebrew and Barbara Alston say that they [[the other Crystals) sang background on the DDRR. Neither makes sense. Fanita says in an interview that she didn't know that Darlene Love DID NOT sing lead on the DDRR until 20 years later. What??? La La Brooks recalls Fanita with kindness when La La was there in LA laying down her track. What did Fanita think that La La was there for?
Why would stingy Phil Spector fly La La out to LA to record a track and then turn around and fly back to NYC to record the other Crystals as background? As stingy as he was, he would not have entertained such a thought. Phil Spector maintains that Cher, Fanita and Gracia sang background on the DDRR and research pretty well backs him up. Even Darlene Love herself stated on 17 Feb 2014, on CBS's This Morning, that her [[Darlene) voice IS NOT on the DDRR. My research that I provided to Darlene Love's publicist and lawyer is what made her state the truth as they wanted no controversies to mess up their chances to win an Oscar for a documentary. So maybe you need to refresh Fanita's memory with this information. I am not afraid of the truth. If Fanita can make a case that she clearly remembers the above people singing background, so be it. Just clue her in on the inconsistencies.
Don't get me wrong. I don't hate anyone. I love the truth. You see, I am a retired federal, criminal investigative special agent. I'm not saying that to impress you, I am saying this because I know how to separate things into what the truth is. I have 20 years of experience doing this so I know I can do the job. I have all the time in the world to do this. I may appear to be harsh in my writings - it is an old investigative technique since the time of Sherlock Holmes to rattle people and see what comes out. I'm not afraid of the truth - even if it goes against me.