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  1. #1
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    A little information on Gigi and the Charmaines

    A group not talked about much here.

    From Cincinnati, Ohio, lead Marian "Gigi" Jackson, Irene Vinegar and Dee Watkins initially recorded for the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records, a small independent label first launched in 1954 by Harry Carlson, and which enjoyed its first hit in the spring of 1956 with Cathy Carr’s # 2 Billboard Pop Top 100 Ivory Tower. With stablemate and Country star Bobby Bare producing, as a group they would not only ever approach those heights, but could never crack what had become the Hot 100 by their time. Even stranger, considering they are now among the “Northern Soul” collectables, not one of their efforts could get into the R&B Top 100. The closest they came to a hit was their rendition of What Kind Of Girl Do You Think I Am? which ended up at # 117 Hot 100 Bubble Under in early 1961 on Fraternity 880 b/w All You Gotta Do. That was their second release following the late 1960 Rockin’ Old Man/If You Were Mine on Fraternity 873.

    Later in 1961 Bare managed to get On The Wagon/Where Is The Boy Tonight? released on the larger Dot 16351 - to no avail - and after a stretch lasting through 1962 during which they had no records released, they began to be utilized at Fraternity in a backing role [[mostly uncredited on the labels). The first two were releases by Kenny Smith [[Lucy Miloo on Fraternity 907) and Max Falcon [[I’m So Satisfied on Fraternity 908) in early 1963, with their own single G.I. Joe/Don’t Take Away Your Love on Fraternity 909 all hitting the market at the same time.

    The label then did the same just a bit later in 1963 with All The Time by the duo of Kenny Smith & Jerri Jackson, with her sisters backing, on Fraternity 916, followed by The Charmaines’ Goodbye, Baby, Goodbye on Fraternity 917 [[the flip was Midnight by The Dave Rockingham Trio) and their backing on Lonnie Mack’s Baby, What’s Wrong on Fraternity 918. In 1964, and faced by the full impact of the British Invasion, they again backed Mack on his Say Something Nice To Me on Fraternity 920, while their own covers of the Ike & Tina Turner 1960 hit I Idolize You b/w the 1957 hit by Huey Smith & The Clowns - Rockin’ Pneumonia And The Boogie Woogie Flu - was assigned Fraternity 921 but never released. Later that year, Rockin’ Pneumonia was paired with a re-release of Goodbye, Baby, Goodbye on Fraternity 931.

    Away from recording for the better part of 3 years, they resurfaced in 1966 with the resurrected Date Records, now a Columbia subsidiary, but by this time both the Girl-Group Sound and the British Invasion were making room for a whole new sound. Consequently, none among Eternally/If You Ever [[Date 1518) and Girl Crazy/Guilty [[Columbia 4-43978) in 1966, and Poor Unfortunate Me/Brazil [[Columbia 4-44246) in 1967 succeeded. It was also in 1966 that Fraternity re-released G. I. Joe/If You Were Mine [[Fraternity 961) and Goodbye, Baby, Goodbye b/w a previously-unreleased side, I Can't Go On This Way [[Fraternity 970).

    All the above sides are in this great Ace release, along with several never issued cuts, and which has their usual excellence in sound reproduction and copious liner notes written by Mick Patrick. A Girl-Group Sound collector’s delight. The ony lamentable omissions are the two sides released in 1969 by Minit Records billed as Gigi & The Charmaines - Keep On Searchin'/Smile [[Minit 32074). Those remain impossible to find in mp.3 format.

  2. #2
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    Quote Originally Posted by lakeside View Post
    A group not talked about much here.

    From Cincinnati, Ohio, lead Marian "Gigi" Jackson, Irene Vinegar and Dee Watkins initially recorded for the Cincinnati-based Fraternity Records.

    Away from recording for the better part of 3 years, they resurfaced in 1966 with the resurrected Date Records, now a Columbia subsidiary, but by this time both the Girl-Group Sound and the British Invasion were making room for a whole new sound. Consequently, none among Eternally/If You Ever [[Date 1518) and Girl Crazy/Guilty [[Columbia 4-43978) in 1966, and Poor Unfortunate Me/Brazil [[Columbia 4-44246) in 1967 succeeded.

    All the above sides are in this great Ace release, along with several never issued cuts, and which has their usual excellence in sound reproduction and copious liner notes written by Mick Patrick. A Girl-Group Sound collector’s delight. The ony lamentable omissions are the two sides released in 1969 by Minit Records billed as Gigi & The Charmaines - Keep On Searchin'/Smile [[Minit 32074). Those remain impossible to find in mp.3 format.
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    Of course, this CD is VERY relevant to soulful Detroit, as all of those 1966-67 releases were Detroit productions by ex-Motowner, Herman Griffin [[Mary Wells' ex-husband), who, himself, was originally from Cincinnati, and had known The Girls, back home. In fact he and Gigi were an item during that time. Herman brought them to Detroit to record with mostly ex-or moonlighting Motown musicians. They are great [[off-Motown) Detroit Soul. Their Fraternity recordings are quite good, too.

  3. #3
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    Quote Originally Posted by robb_k View Post
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    Of course, this CD is VERY relevant to soulful Detroit, as all of those 1966-67 releases were Detroit productions by ex-Motowner, Herman Griffin [[Mary Wells' ex-husband), who, himself, was originally from Cincinnati, and had known The Girls, back home. In fact he and Gigi were an item during that time. Herman brought them to Detroit to record with mostly ex-or moonlighting Motown musicians. They are great [[off-Motown) Detroit Soul. Their Fraternity recordings are quite good, too.
    Thanks for that info, Robb. I was not aware of the Motown connection.

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    Griffin was working basically with Ed Wingate and JoAnne Bratton, right after the Golden World sale to Motown, as they were setting up the new, solid blue Ric-Tic label [[registered in Chicago) but operating in Detroit, and they had label and distribution deals with Columbia/Date [[Charmaines, Players, etc.) and Wand [[Diane Lewis).

  5. #5
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    Soul LP CharmainesDusty Groove


    Charmaines
    I Idolize You – The Fraternity Recordings 1960 to 1964

    LP [[Item 918653) Fraternity/Ace [[UK), Early 60s — Condition: New Copy

    $18.99 ... LP, Vinyl record album


    List Price: 19.99



    Charmaines
    Ace
    Ace [[label)
    Fraternity
    Fraternity [[label)
    Soul [[CD, LP)



    A long-overdue collection of work by this sublime Ohio soul group of the 60s – a trio of lovely ladies with a really tremendous sound! The Charmaines – also known as Gigi & The Charmaines – are hardly the girl group cliche you might think from their sweet name and the image on the cover – and on most of the numbers here, they're hard-rolling at a pace that's somewhere between the best Detroit Northern Soul of the time, and some of the sweeter female soul that was coming out of Chicago at the end of the 60s. This package focuses mostly on the group's Fraternity Records singles, including a few unissued tracks – and titles include "GI Joe [[first version)", "I Idolize You", "On The Wagon", "Goodbye Baby Goodbye", "Rockin Pneumonia", "Rockin Old Man", "Where Is The Boy Tonight", "All You Gotta Do", and "What Kind Of Girl" – plus their work with Lonnie Mack on "Money" and "Sticks & Stones", and with Carl Edmondson on "Baby Please Don't Go". © 1996-2022, Dusty Groove, Inc.

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