From: "Dik de Heer" Date: Fri Feb 14, 2003 1:18 am Subject: Born To Be With You : Lillie Bryant LILLIE BRYANT (By Tony Wilkinson) Born 14th February 1940, Newburgh, New Jersey Lillie Bryant is best known as half of the singing duo Billy (Ford) and Lillie who had several chart hits for Swan Records in the late fifties. To tell the story of Lillie Bryant, one has to relate the history of Billy and Lillie. To quote Lillie's mother, 'Why, Lillie was born singing' and when she was old enough, Lillie studied with voice teacher Paul Simmons whilst her mum managed the Newburgh jazz club The Golden Platter. As a consequence, Lillie often sat in with visiting musicians. One in particular was the Count Basie band vocalist Irene Reid who took Bryant under her wing and provided both encouragement and practical help. Married at the age of 15, she moved to New York where she was a telephone operator by day but a singer in the Harlem clubs at night with her influences being Dinah Washington and Ruth Brown. A dancer at one of the clubs recommended her to Billy Ford but when he did not call, she returned to Newburgh. However Ford had been impressed and when the opportunity arose, he called her for an audition. This was the same a time as Ford and his band, The Thunderbirds, were trying out for Frank Slay and Bob Crewe. The combo auditioned for Slay and Crewe's XYZ production company in the New York City Rehearsal studio the very same day as Billy tested out Lillie to replace one of his vocalists. When Slay and Crewe heard Lillie singing the Ruth Brown song 'Teardrops From My Eyes', Bob Crewe came up with the suggestion to record her with Billy as a duo in an attempt to cash in on the popularity of acts such as Mickey & Sylvia as well as providing a Pearl Bailey/Louis Armstrong comedic approach. Slay and Crewe had already written the song 'La Dee Dah', a rockin' calypso, and set up the first session for the band at the Allegro Studios in New York City. Musicians playing on the session included Sticks Evans on drums and Bert Keyes on piano. As Lillie really wanted to make it as a solo artist, Slay and Crewe (to hedge their bets) also cut two sides by Bryant without Billy Ford. XYZ productions has already leased hit product to Cameo Records, such as 'Silhouettes' by The Rays, and this therefore was their first stop. Cameo president Bernie Lowe selected the two Lillie sides ('The Gambler/Good Morning Baby - Cameo 122) for release but passed on 'La Dee Dah' and 'The Monster'. Bernie Binnick acquired them for his new Swan label and with considerable exposure on the television show American Bandstand, which was hosted by Dick Clark who also owned a chunk of Swan, a million seller developed. Surprisingly however, Billy & Lillie's first live appearance on the show lip-synching the song was not until 24th May 1958, by which time the record had virtually dropped out of the charts. The follow up 'Happiness/Creepin', Crawling, Cryin' made the Billboard charts (but not those in Cashbox) whilst the next disc, 'The Greasy Spoon' failed to register in either trade publication. But it was then back to the upper regions of the charts with 'Lucky Ladybug' and a flop follow up in 'Aloysius Horatio Thomas, The Cat'. Part of the reason for the last mentioned failure was possibly the resolve of both Lillie and Billy to succeed with a solo career. Indeed the release on Swan immediately preceding this disc was Lillie's 'Smoky Gray Eyes/I'll Never Be Free (Swan 4092). To quote Frank Slay, 'had both of them not been so anxious to make it on their own and really concentrated on building from their success as a duo, there would have been no stopping them'. The next release was by Billy & Lillie ('Bells, Bells, Bells/Honeymoonin') and this made the lower reaches of the national charts. This was to be the last time their name appeared on the hit parade, despite a further four releases on Swan and records on Crossroads, ABC Paramount, Cameo, Ric and Stacy. Lilley Bryant left the act disillusioned and has stated that she only received $750.00 from the success of 'La Dee Dah'. Quite when she left is a matter of conjecture as one quote has it around 1961 time, but aurally the 1963 records on ABC Paramount certainly sound the same Lillie. She did make one further shot at a solo success with 'Meet Me Halfway' on Taystar 6016. She retired back to Newburgh, got married again and raised a family as well as working for the local housing authority and got involved in the Newburgh branch of the NAACP and local politics. Lillie did not quit show business entirely as she helped out with the booking of acts at her mother's club. Around 1979, she started to sing again in small local clubs but, apart from the odd occasion, gave this up in 1989 to become a broadcaster on radio station WGNY. Recommended Listening: B&L 4002 'La Dee Dah - 31 Fabulous Hits' This is clearly a bootleg and, sadly, there is no legitimate release by the duo although 'La Dee Dah' crops up on various compilations.