From:   "Dik de Heer" 
Date:  Wed Oct 23, 2002  1:17 am
Subject:  Born To Be With You : Ellie Greenwich

ELLIE GREENWICH

Born 23 October 1940, Brooklyn, New York City, New York

Songwriter Ellie Greenwich helped to shape and popularize the girl group
sound of the early '60s that included such acts as the Ronettes, the
Shangri-Las and the Crystals, becoming, in the process, one of the most
respected pop songwriters of the era.
From an early age, Ellie was obsessed with music and tried to write songs.
She had already made a few records under various names (Ellie Gaye, Ellie
Gee & the Jets, Kellie Douglas) before she teamed up with Jeff Barry (born
Jeffrey Adelberg, 3 April 1939, Brooklyn, NYC). Jeff had recorded a single
for RCA in 1959 ("Hip Couple"/"It's Called Rock 'n' Roll") and co-written the
tearjerker "Tell Laura I Love Her". Ellie and Jeff were married on October 28,
1962. The newlyweds had not yet written any songs together, since they were
contracted to by different publishing companies. These obstacles were overcome
early in 1963, when both found employment in the Brill Building and in 1963
alone, they wrote over 20 songs together. Especially Phil Spector was a willing
taker of their compositions: "Da Doo Ron Ron", "Be My Baby", "Then He Kissed
Me", "Baby I Love You" and others. Greenwich and Barry also recorded under the
name the Raindrops for the Jubilee label, scoring five chart entries, the
biggest hit
being "The Kind of Boy You Won't Forget" (# 17, 1963). The Raindrops also did
the original versions of "Doo Wah Diddy" and "Hanky Panky", later # 1 hits in
versions by Manfred Mann and Tommy James respectively.
In 1964 Greenwich and her songwriting husband teamed up with Leiber and Stoller
to write for their Red Bird imprint. It was with Red Bird that the girl group
sound
was molded into perfection by Greenwich, Barry, Leiber, Stoller and producer
George "Shadow" Morton. Now as adept at production as they were at composing,
Jeff and Ellie spent much of 1964 and '65 as creative heads of Red Bird and
sister
labels Blue Cat, Tiger and Daisy. They notched up a string of successes which
included "Chapel of Love", a # 1 for the Dixie Cups and "Leader of the Pack" for
the Shangri-Las. Though they were divorced in 1965, Greenwich continued to write
hit records with Jeff Barry, including the seminal "River Deep, Mountain High"
for
Tina Turner and the Beach Boys 1969 hit "I Can Hear Music" (originally recorded
by the Ronettes).
Greenwich continued on in the music industry, recording a singer-songwriter
album for Verve Records in 1973 and providing background vocals to many of
rock's biggest stars. In 1984 she involved herself in a musical based on her
life titled Leader of the Pack.

CD: The Complete Raindrops (Sequel NEM 713). Released 1994, 23 tracks.
More info: http://www.geocities.com/spectropop/hjeffandellie.html


 

THE BIG BOPPER (By Shaun Mather)

Born Jiles Perry Richardson, Jr., 24 October, 1930, Sabine Pass, Texas
Died 3 February, 1959, near Clear Lake, Iowa

Cruel as it may be, the Big Bopper is best known as one of the artists
that perished in the Buddy Holly air crash on the day the music died.
He undoubtedly deserves better though, as he was a gifted songwriter
and could certainly deliver a catchy tune. Born in the East Texas town
of Sabine Pass, he moved with his family to Port Arthur, Texas when he
was a young buck. He graduated from Beaumont High School in 1949
and found work as a deejay on KTRM in town, where he hosted an easy
listening show under the name Jape Richardson and fronted a popular
rock 'n' roll/R&B show under the nom-de-plume of the Big Bopper. In May
1957 he set a world record by broadcasting non-stop for 122 hours, during
which he spun 1,821 records over the 6-day period.
Later that year he came to the attention of Harold "Pappy" Daily and
recorded what would be his signature song, Chantilly Lace. Released on
Mercury Records it was a major hit (# 6) in the autumn of 1958 and saw
him tour the country on package shows. He recorded a number of commercial
items like Big Bopper's Wedding (# 38) and Little Red Riding Hood (# 72)
and was booked for the Winter Dance Party of 1959 with Buddy Holly and
Ritchie Valens among others. He caught the flu and when Holly booked a
private plane, he persuaded Waylon Jennings to let him have his seat in
order to see a doctor. The rest is history.
His songwriting credits include Running Bear which hit for Johnny Preston
(the Bopper and a young George Jones provide the oo-wahs in the background).
His son who was born shortly afterwards is keeping the name alive and
recently made his UK debut at Chippenham.

Recommended listening:
Hellooo Baby! Best of the Big Bopper - Rhino
or The Best Of The Big Bopper (Spectrum 554 906-2)