HISTORY OF PATTI LABELLE AND THE BLUEBELLES
The early Sixties were the Golden Age of female group harmony when “girl groups” were all the rage. As Gerry Goffin, songwriter and producer said, In the Sixties, God was a young
black girl who could sing.”
The origins of Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles began with Patsy Holte of the Elmwood section of Southwest Philadelphia. At the age of 16, Patsy formed a group she called the Elmtones, which played neighborhood teen spots in 1959. The following year, Patsy became part of a new group called the Ordettes. After a year of performing in Philadelphia and Atlantic City clubs, all members except Patsy left. The manager of the Ordettes decided to bring in two teenagers from Trenton, NJ, Nona Hendricks and Sarah Dash, who were at that time part of a group called The DelCapris. They joined up with Patsy as lead singer. They searched for a fourth member, and were fortunate enough to find Cynthia Birdsong of Camden, NJ. The four young
women spent 1962 playing small “sardine clubs” in the Delaware Valley, along with roller rinks and teen dances.
On April 8, 1962, Patsy and the girls signed their first recording contract for Newtown/Bluebelle Records with Producer Harold Robinson. Robinson renamed the group The Blue-Belles and changed Patsy’s name to Patti LaBelle. In December 1961, The Starlets, a group from Chicago, had recorded “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman” on the Newtown label. When the record was released, however, Robinson listed The Bluebelles as the group’s name.
Robinson committed fraud when he arranged for Patti and her Bluebelles to perform on their first nationally telecast TV show, Philadelphia’s own American Bandstand with host Dick Clark. After
the group lip-synched The Starlets’ version of “Junkman” on live TV, they became known as the faces and names behind the song. After suits were filed against both the group and the record
company, Patti’s group recorded their “cover” of “Junkman.”
After the Bandstand performance in 1962, “I Sold My Heart to the Junkman” became a Top 20 hit and a ticket to joining the “chitlin’ circuit” of theaters in the ghetto areas of large
cities. The group made its stage debut at the Brevoort Theater in Brooklyn, eventually moving up to perform at, among others, the Apollo in Harlem and the Uptown in Philadelphia. Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles played every important theater for Rhythm & Blues artists in the country.
In November 1963, the group had its first hit single with Newtown Records: “Down the Aisle. Their contract was transferred soon after to a larger recording company, Cameo-Parkway Records, and joined other great artists like Chubby Checker, Bobby Rydell, DeeDee Sharp, and The Orlons. Patti, Nona, Sarah, and Cindy made two hit recordings for Cameo-Parkway in 1964. One was “You’ll Never Walk Alone,” a gospel-style version of the Rogers & Hammerstein hit from Carousel. The other was a wonderful ballad, “One Phone Call.”
In early 1964, the group toured England and the States with The Rolling Stones. Patti and her group were received with the enthusiasm usually reserved for royalty or for the kings of the rock ‘n roll trade. Critics called their performances “simply sensational.” Sensational also is the best word to describe the soulful performances of lead singer Patti LaBelle. As she still does, she delivered her messages in an emotion-laden style that was thrilling and endearing, especially with
the three-part harmony of Sarah, Nona, and Cindy: The Bluebelles.
Later in 1964, Atlantic Records recorded a live album, titled Saturday Night at the Uptown (#SD8101). Patti LaBelle and “Her” Bluebelles were one of seven featured acts performing at the Uptown that summer. Patti and the group were particularly touched by the reception they received as they performed on their hometown stage for the second time. With their song “Down the Aisle,” they raised the audience’s excitement to a fever pitch during every show. Jerry Wexler, A well-known producer from Atlantic, invited them to leave Cameo-Parkway
and sign with Atlantic.
In 1966, a year after signing with Atlantic, the group became backup singers on Wilson Pickett’s #1 hit , “634-5789.” They had first met Pickett on the Uptown/Apollo show tour in the
summer of 1964.
Patti and The Bluebelles recorded twelve 45 rpm singles and two albums for Atlantic from 1965 to 1969, including Over the Rainbow (#SD8119) in 1966 and Dreamer (#SD8147) in 1967.
While these albums produced no hits, there were some memorable recordings, such as “Over the Rainbow” and “I Don’t Want to Go on Without You.” The second side of Dreamer included five live recordings from their 1964-1966 shows at the Uptown and the Apollo. They became known as the Sweethearts of the Apollo, due to their popularity and how Patti and the Bluebelles created
a love relationship with their fans. It was during these years of performing at the Apollo and Brooklyn Paramount Theaters, that young Luther Vandross became the president of the groups Fan Club.
The Group was heartbroken by the sudden unannounced departure of Cindy Birdsong, who was persuaded by a strong willed Berry Gordy at Motown to leave and replace Florence Ballard of the Supremes in 1967. It was only in the last 4 years that Patti was able to forgive Cindy and learn some unknown truths, that had gone for 30 years before Patti approached Cindy when researching
her autobiographical book: Don’t Block The Blessings; Revelations of A Lifetime(1996).
Suddenly the Bluebelles were a trio, and the show must go on. The trio of Patti, Nona and Sarah became much closer and went to Britain to be on a TV Show, READY, STEADY, GO, on BBC, that was produced by Ms. Vicki Wickham, who later with the
suggestion and urging of Nona, became the future producer and friend of the restyled and creative group, LABELLE, in 1970. This marked the closure of the group, PATTI LaBELLE & THE BLUEBELLES, and the inception of a wonderful, new artistic and soulful venture, that lasted for nearly seven years, as long as THE BLUEBELLES were recording too.
Written by Nicholas Roby for Bob Cooksey’s Web site-6/18/99.
