Helen Ettline - Every Dell Rat's Mom: To Know You... Is To Love You

 Shady Dell owner Helen Ettline 

 didn't have any children of her own. 

 In a way, we were all her kids 

 and she was our mom. 

Clearly Helen & John

loved kids. Why else

would they have

put up with the

aggravation all

those years?

The Ettlines

believed in kids.

They enjoyed

counseling and

helping kids.

The pictures above and below remind me ever so much of Helen's snack bar

and the jukebox in the adjoining room where rows of diner booths were located.

To remember and honor

Helen on Mother's Day,

I picked six songs that

I think she would enjoy.

Helen, these are for you.

 LITTLE ANTHONY 

 AND THE IMPERIALS 

Helen loved the doo-wop soul of Little Anthony And The Imperials.

To begin this year's tribute, I've got the record that enabled the group

to mount a mid 60s comeback after four lean and hitless years.

The song, written by Teddy Randazzo and Bobby Weinstein and released as a single

in 1964, went top 10 on the R&B chart and top 20 on the pop side. In a scene from

an episode of American Bandstand, the teenage studio dancers cuddle and sway

as Little Anthony and The Imperials sing-- "I'm on the Outside (Looking In)."

 "I'm On The Outside (Looking In)" - Little Anthony & The Imperials 

 (Sept./Oct. 1964, highest chart pos. #8 R&B/#15 Hot 100/#20 Cash Box, 

 #12 Canada, scene from Aug. 22, 1964, ep. of American Bandstand) 

 BILLY STORM 

This year, I am also playing for Helen two songs by a

U.S. solo artist and two by a popular UK duo.

First, here's Billy Storm aka

Billy Fortune, Bill Spicer and

Billy Jones, a Los Angeles

based R&B/Soul singer who

sounded a lot like R&B star

Clyde Mcphatter who sang

lead for The Drifters and had

a string of solo hits. Keep in

mind that Helen played Drifters

records on the jukebox in her

snack bar. In the summer of

1954, Clyde McPhatter and

The Drifters scored a chart-

topping R&B hit with the

calypso styled "Honey Love."

Listen to Billy Storm's fine

cover released in July 1961.

 "Honey Love" - Billy Storm 

 (July 1961) 

Billy Storm's vocals can also be heard in A Symposium

on Popular Songs, an animated Disney short released

to theaters just before Christmas 1962.

All of the songs in the production were written by the Sherman

Brothers - Richard & Robert. This one, "Puppy Love Is Here

To Stay" by Jackie Babylon and the Babylonians (with Billy

Storm as the voice of "Jackie"), is a parody of 1950s love

songs and some of the songs that the Sherman Bros.

themselves wrote for pop idol Annette Funicello

and similar artists. Here again is Billy Storm!

 "Puppy Love Is Here To Stay" - Billy Storm 

 (Sept. 1962 single from Dec. 1962 Disney/Sherman Bros. 

 short A Symposium on Popular Songs) 

 PETER AND GORDON 

I think Helen would also enjoy these two great cover ballads recorded

by the UK duo Peter And Gordon. London born singer, guitar player

and producer Peter Asher is still with us and will turn age 78 next

month. His partner, Scottish singer, songwriter and guitarist

Gordon Waller, died young at age 64 in 2009. Let's press

rewind and go back to happier times when Peter and

Gordon were at their peak and in the middle of

an impressive British Invasion hit streak.

Buddy Holly & Norman Petty

wrote "True Love Ways" and

Buddy recorded the song in

the fall of 1958, four months

before his tragic death in a

plane crash. In 1965, this

remake by Peter & Gordon

went top 3 in the UK, top 5

in Ireland and top 15 on

the U.S. pop chart.

 "True Love Ways" 
 - Peter And Gordon 

 (May/June 1965, highest 
 chart pos. #13 Cash Box, 
 #14 Hot 100/#2 UK 
 #4 Ireland) 

Phil Spector wrote the song "To Know Him Is To Love Him,"

inspired by words written on his father's tombstone that read:

 "To Know Him Was To Love Him." Spector and his group

The Teddy Bears recorded the song and achieved

a chart-topping hit in 1958.

In mid 1965, two months after the release of "True Love Ways," Peter And Gordon

gained another hit with a cover of Spector's song using the title "To Know You

Is To Love You." The Peter And Gordon single reached the top 5 on the

charts in Canada, the UK and Ireland and the top 25 stateside.

 "To Know You Is To Love You" - Peter And Gordon 

 (July/Aug. 1965, highest chart pos. #24 Hot 100/#25 Cash Box, 
 #5 Canada, UK & Ireland) 

 THE DIXIE CUPS 

Spring is here. Sky is blue.

Birds all sing as if they knew

This song, Helen, is just for you.

To close my Mother's Day salute to Helen, I present a nicely remastered clip

of The Dixie Cups, the soulful trio from New Orleans, appearing on the TV

music show Shivaree performing their signature song, the chart-topping,

million selling hit single from the spring of 1964-- "Chapel Of Love."

 

 "Chapel of Love" - The Dixie Cups 

 (May/June 1964, highest chart pos. #1 Hot 100 & Cash Box 

 & R&B, performance on Apr. 10, 1965, ep. of Shivaree) 

 Happy Mother's Day, Helen! 

 We love you and miss you! 

Hard Luck Angel: Part 2 of My Salute to Underrated Blue-Eyed Soul Diva Evie Sands!

DOUBLE COLD OPEN!

CLICK TO START THE VIDEO NOW!

 "Take Me For A Little While" - Evie Sands 

 (Aug. 1965, highest chart pos. #114 Bubbling Under,  

 perf. on Oct. 9, 1965, ep. of Shivaree) 

 "I Can't Let Go" - Evie Sands 

 (Dec. 1965, uncharted, perf. on 
 Dec. 18, 1965 ep. of Shivaree) 

Welcome to Pt. 2 of my salute to Evie Sands!

Last time, in part one, you watched the New York based white soul

singer, songwriter and guitarist in appearances on the teen-oriented

music TV shows Hollywood A Go-Go and Shivaree. At the top of

this post you saw two more (and different) Evie Sands perfor-

mances on Shivaree. Now here's a fifth rare clip of Evie on

 Hollywood A Go-Go. This song is the fab flip side of

"Take Me For A Little While." The excitement meter

is pegged as Evie Sands belts out--

"Run Home To Your Mama!"

 "Run Home To Your Mama" - Evie Sands 

 (B side of "Take Me For A Little While," perf. 

 on Oct. 9, 1965 ep. of Hollywood A Go-Go) 

Stateside Evie's career was stymied by a series of bad breaks,
but across the pond in Northern Soul dance clubs, her records
were played heavily. One of the most requested Evie slabs
is the Northern stormer "Picture Me Gone," a June 1966

single that failed to make the U.S. chart.

 "Picture Me Gone" - Evie Sands 
 (June 1966, uncharted) 

Evie Sands was the first
to record "Angel Of The
Morning," a song written

by Chip Taylor, younger
brother of Jon Voight,
star of the 1969 film

Midnight Cowboy.

Evie's "Angel Of

The Morning" 45

hit the street in

June of 1967.

Evie's original version of

"Angel Of The Morning"

deserved to be a hit, but

at the time of the single's

release, her record label,

 Cameo-Parkway, was

in the midst of a steady

decline and nearing bank-

ruptcy. Lacking adequate

promotion and distribution,

another great Evie Sands

record flopped and failed

to reach any of the charts.

 "Angel of the Morning" 
 - Evie Sands (June 1967, 

 uncharted) 

It didn't take long for another artist to release a version of the dramatic
ballad and eclipse Evie Sands' recording. It happened the following
summer when Merrilee Rush And The Turnabouts hit the top 10
on Billboard and the top 3 on Cash Box with their single.

 "Angel of the Morning" - Merrilee Rush And The Turnabouts 

 (June 1968, highest chart pos. #3 Cash Box/#7 Hot 100) 

The most successful version of "Angel" was recorded more than
a decade later by pop/country singer and songwriter Juice Newton.
In the spring of 1981 Juice's single reached the top 5 on the
Hot 100 and #1 on the Adult Contemporary chart.

 "Angel of the Morning" Juice Newton 

 (April/May 1981, highest chart pos. #2 Cash Box/#4 Hot 100, 
 Mar. 6, 1981, perf. on The Midnight Special) 

To conclude my tribute
to the music of Evie Sands,
I present two songs from
her 1970 album Any Way

That You Want Me. First
here is Evie's glorious
remake of one of her
signature songs "Take
Me For A Little While."

 "Take Me For A Little 
 While" - Evie Sands 
 (May 1970, from 
 album Any Way 
 That You Want Me) 

"But You Know I Love You" was a top 20 hit for Kenny Rogers and his group

The First Edition in 1969. Listen to the superb vocal and arrangement on Evie's

version. Released as a single in 1970, Evie's version merely Bubbled Under.

Shady sez a platter this pleasing should have peaked high in the Hot 100!

 "But You Know I Love You" - Evie Sands 

 (Mar./Apr. 1970, highest chart pos. #110 Bubbling Under, 

 from 1970 album Any Way That You Want Me) 

Evie Sands has more soul and more talent

than any hundred of today's dance-poppers.

The proof is in the wax.

Have a Shady day!

Six Degrees of Evie Sands

 White soul artist Evie Sands was still in her teens 

 when she made her greatest recordings. 

The talented

Brooklyn born

singer, songwriter

and guitarist

deserved stardom,

but it eluded her,

thanks to a series

of career setbacks.

In this 2-part series I am proud to present what I think

are Evie Sands' greatest recordings, most of them

uncharted, along with worthy covers of her

originals made by other artists.

First, here's a rarity - Evie's first record released in June, 1963,

when she was only age 16. With the song slowed down to

popcorn tempo for use in Euro clubs, Evie sounds

 a little like Jackie Wilson as she introduces

a new dance called "The Roll."

 "The Roll" - Evie Sands (June 1963, uncharted) 

Signed to the Blue Cat subsidiary of Red Bird Records,
home to the hit girl group The Shangri-Las, Evie Sands
recorded a song entitled "Take Me For a Little While."
A test pressing fell into the wrong hands and was
shopped to Chicago's Chess Records where R&B

vocalist Jackie Ross waxed the song and released
her single a week before Evie's original hit the
street. Radio stations were split on which

version to play. As a result, neither
record became a hit. Here's the
excellent single released
by Jackie Ross.

 "Take Me For a Little While" - Jackie Ross 

 (Aug. 1965, uncharted) 

Three years later another version of "Take Me For a Little While" cracked
the top 40, this one by the psychedelic blue-eyed soul band Vanilla Fudge.

 "Take Me For a Little While" - Vanilla Fudge 

 (Oct. 1968, highest chart pos. #38 Hot 100/#46 Cash Box) 

Now, let's listen to the best version of "Take Me" - the original version,
the definitive version, the Evie Sands version - a single that unfortunately
merely Bubbled Under the Hot 100 peaking at #114, In this vintage clip,
Evie performs the song on the music TV show Hollywood A Go-Go.

 "Take Me For a Little While" - Evie Sands 

 (Aug. 1965, highest chart pos. #114 Bubbling Under, 
 Oct. 9, 1965, perf. on Hollywood A Go-Go) 

On the back side of Evie's

"Take Me" hides a genuine

killer B. This one starts out
sounding like Johnny Rivers'

version of "Memphis." It also

seems to borrow from R&B

singer Timmy Shaw's 1964

hit "Gonna Send You Back

To Georgia (A City Slick)."

Listen now to Evie Sands

as she rips it up and shouts

the rhythm & blues singing

"Run Home To Your Mama."

 "Run Home To Your Mama" 

 - Evie Sands (B side of  "Take 

 Me For A Little While") 

In April of 1966 the English group the Hollies brushed the American
top 40 and reached #2 on the UK chart with the song "I Can't Let Go."

 "I Can't Let Go" - The Hollies 

 (Apr./May 1966, highest chart pos. #42 Hot 100/#59 Cash Box) 

Many people didn't realize back
then and don't know now that
Evie Sands was first to record
the song. I've posted the rare
stereo mix of this sensational
blue-eyed soul classic, a slab
that somehow failed to reach
the chart - didn't even Bubble
Under! Listen now to Shady's
Pick to Click - Evie Sands with
backing vocals by (I believe)
The Jelly Beans as they do--
"I Can't Let Go!" 

 "I Can't Let Go" 
 - Evie Sands 

 (Nov. 1965, uncharted) 

Let's flip that Blue Cat platter and hear another soulful song by Evie
and see her in another exciting live television performance in 1965.
It's the week before Christmas and Evie is wowing the crowd
on Shivaree testifyin' -- "You've Got Me Up Tight."

 "You've Got Me Up Tight" - Evie Sands 

 (Nov. 1965, B side of "I Can't Let Go," 

 perf. on Dec. 18, 1965, ep. of Shivaree) 

 Stick around. Coming up in Pt. 2 

 you'll hear more great recordings 

 by Evie Sands and other artists 

 who covered her work. 

Have a Shady day!