Duo Rock 'n'
Roll US formé en 1951 à New Orleans (Louisiane). Shirley Goodman (née le 19 juin
1936 à New Orleans (Louisiane)) & Leonard Lee (né le 29 juin 1936) étaient surnommés les "Sweethearts Of The Blues" et conservaient sur disque un côté enfantin qui a faisait mouche dans les collèges et les lycées.
Shirley & Lee se sont séparés en 1963. Lee est décédé le 23 octobre 1976 et
Shirley est décédée le 5 juillet 2005.
Shirley
Goodman and Leonard Lee, born just ten days apart in 1936, scored three massive
R&B hits before either one of them were both 20 years old: "Feel So Good," "Let
the Good Times Roll," and "I Feel Good" were all written by the talented young
couple.
They had one trait in common among their recordings; this New Orleans-based duo
almost never sang in harmony, let alone together at all. Their contrasting male-female
duo style was later influential on early ska and reggae productions from
Jamaica. Shirley & Lee recorded extensively for Eddie Messner and Leo Messner's
L.A.-based Aladdin label. The Messners — along with former NBC radio exec. Lew
Chudd's Imperial Records and Art Rupe's Specialty — seemed to have a knack for
signing talent straight out of the Crescent City.
Shirley & Lee's debut single, "I'm Gone," was written and produced by Dave
Bartholomew, Imperial's writer/arranger/producer/A&R man and a major contributor
to New Orleans-style R&B. (It was Bartholomew's production work with
Fats Domino which utilized that talents
of a great house band — pianist Allen Toussaint, bassist Frank Fields, drummer
Earl Palmer, and saxophonists Lee Allen, Red Tyler, and Herb Hardesty — that
elevated nearly everything he worked on to "legendary" status.) With their
backing "I'm Gone" went on to become a major R&B hit in the fall of 1952.
Early in their careers, Shirley & Lee became known as "the Sweethearts of the
Blues," a nickname given not for their personal relationship, but for their
romantic sagas of their songs, which often bordered on telling a fictional
soap-opera storyline about two lovers. Their fans would buy the singles simply
to keep up with the continuing story of the two sweethearts. The story continued
with the very next single, "Shirley Come Back to Me," a heartbreaker released in
early 1953, followed by "Shirley's Back," later that year. This happy theme
continued through the happy ending for the next single, "The Proposal" b/w "Two
Happy People."
By the end of the year, Aladdin was reveling in success of the story of Shirley
& Lee. Of course, the couple in the songs had already been apart and were now
back together, so they had to shake things up with the next release, called "Lee
Goofed," and followed that with "Confessin'" but by now the audience seemed to
be tiring of the soap opera, so Shirley & Lee moved on to new lyrical subject
matter.
Messner decided to try something new for the duo in May of 1955, issuing a
medium-tempo rocker called "Feel So Good." The song featured full vocal group
backup (reportedly by the Spiders) and did well, but it was the bluesy B-side, "You'd
Be Thinking of Me," that put the duo back on the R&B hit charts. "Lee's Dream"
also charted. In early 1956, Aladdin released the duo's slow blues ballad, "A
Little Word," which received good airplay, but sales weren't spectacular. Trying
to get back on track, Aladdin finally opted to issue a full-length album, Let
the Good Times Roll, in December. It was reissued two years later on Score,
Aladdin's budget label.
By the middle of 1957, Shirley & Lee were back on top, this time with the
biggest hit in their careers. Goodman and Lee borrowed one of New Orleans' most
familiar refrains and built a rocking tune around it called "Let the Good Times
Roll." The recording was an instant smash and received substantial airplay,
climbing up the charts in the process. It sold well-over one million copies and
for more than 40 years has been a staple of oldies play lists. To date, there
are over a hundred cover versions of the song, but most still prefer the
original.
The pair stayed on Aladdin into 1959 before moving to Warwick, where they ended
up re-recording "Let the Good Times Roll." Other tunes followed — "I Feel Good"
and "The Flirt" among them — but like many acts, Shirley & Lee were never able
to recapture the nationwide success of their biggest hit. After a few final
singles in 1962-1963, this time for Imperial — Aladdin and Imperial continued
their rivalry and tried to one-up each other until Aladdin was acquired by
Imperial outright — the "Sweethearts of the Blues" decided to call it a day.
In 1974, Shirley Goodman reappeared on the R&B scene, this time paired with
studio musicians — they called themselves Shirley and Company — for "Shame,
Shame, Shame," released on the Vibration label. (The song also featured Jesus
Alvarez supplying lead vocals). The disco-fied hit topped the R&B charts at
number one that summer and peaked at number 12 on the pop charts. It was written
by producer Sylvia Robinson, who had also been part of a successful '50s duo,
Mickey & Sylvia, with Mickey Baker.
Robinson also penned Goodman's less successful follow-up "Cry, Cry, Cry." They
issued one more single on Vibration, then dropped out of sight. Leonard Lee
passed away on October 23, 1976.
http://www.tsimon.com/shirley.htm
Style musical : Rhythm 'n' Blues, Rock 'n' Roll
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gkePiBAHtKI
FEEL SO GOOD
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Années en activité :
| 1910 | 20 | 30 | 40 | 50 | 60 | 70 | 80 | 90 | 2000 |
DISCOGRAPHY
Singles
| 1952 | SP ALADDIN 3153 (US) | Sweethearts / I'm Gone |
| 1952 | SP ALADDIN 3173 (US) | Baby / Shirley Come Back To Me |
| 1953 | SP ALADDIN 3192 (US) | Shirley's Back / So In Love |
| 1953 | SP ALADDIN 3205 (US) | The Proposal / Two Happy People |
| 1954 | SP ALADDIN 3222 (US) | Lee Goofed / Why Did I |
| 1954 | SP ALADDIN 3244 (US) | I'm Confessin' / Keep On |
| 1954 | SP ALADDIN 3258 (US) | Comin' Over / Takes Money |
| 1955 | SP ALADDIN 3289 (US) | Feels So Good / You'd Be Thinking Of Me |
| 1955 | SP ALADDIN 3302 (US) | Lee's Dream / I'll Do It |
| 1956 | SP ALADDIN 3313 (US) | That's What I'll Do / A Little Word |
| 1956 | SP ALADDIN 3325 (US) |
Let The Good
Times Roll
/ Do You Mean To Hurt Me So |
| 1956 | SP ALADDIN 3338 (US) | I Feel Good / Now That It's Over |
| 1957 | SP ALADDIN 3362 (US) | When I Saw You / That's What I Wanna Do |
| 1957 | SP ALADDIN 3369 (US) | I Wanna Dance / Marry Me |
| 1957 | SP ALADDIN 3380 (US) | Rock All Night / Don't You Know I Love You |
| 1957 | SP ALADDIN 3390 (US) | Rockin' With The
Clock / The Flirt
|
| 1958 | SP ALADDIN 3405 (US) | I'll Thrill You / Love No One But You (I Love You So) |
| 1958 | SP ALADDIN 3418 (US) | Everybody's Rocking / Don't Leave Me Here To Cry |
| 1958 | SP ALADDIN 3432 (US) | Come On And Have Your Fun / All I Want To Do Is Cry |
| 1959 | SP ALADDIN 3459 (US) | When Day Is Done / True Love |
Albums
| 12/1956 | LP 10" ALADDIN LP-807 (US) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Let The Good Times Roll / I'm Gone / Sweethearts / Keep On / Takes Money / Confessin' / Lee's Dream / I'll Do It / Tryin' To Fool Me / Comin' Over / So In Love Why Did I | ||||
| 1958 | LP 12" SCORE SLP-4023 (US) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Let The Good Times Roll / I'm Gone / Sweethearts / Keep On / Takes Money / Confessin' / Lee's Dream / I'll Do It / Tryin' To Fool Me / Comin' Over / So In Love Why Did I | ||||
| 1961 | LP 12" WARWICK W2028 (US) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Let The Good Times Roll / Lovers' Mistake / Like You Used To / You Moves Me / They've Got To Understand / Who Are We Fooling? / I Love The Way You Love / Keep Loving Me / It's Been So Long / Your Day Is Coming / I've Been Loved Before / Let's Live It Up | ||||
| 1962 | LP 12" IMPERIAL LP-9179-A (US) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Let the Good Time Roll / Rock All Night / Feel So Good / Lee's Dream / Deed I Do / Keep On / I'm Gone / I Want To Dance / Sweethearts / Comin' Over / Confessin' / Takes Money | ||||
| 1972 | LP 12" UNITED ARTISTS 026 (US) |
|
THE LEGENDARY PERFORMERS - I'm Gone / Sweethearts / Baby / Why Did I / Confessin' / Keep On / Comin' Over / Takes Money / Feel So Good / Lee's Dream / Deed I Do / That's What I'll Do / Let The Good Times Roll / I Feel Good / I Want To Dance / Rock All Night Long | ||||
| 1982 | LP 12" ACT 47 (US) |
|
THE BEST OF SHIRLEY & LEE - Let The Good Times Roll / Rock All Night / Feel So Good / I'm Gone / Lee's Dream / That's What I'll Do / Don't You Know I Love You / Everybody's Rockin' / Why Did I? / I Feel Good / Baby / I'll Thrill You | ||||
| 1985 | LP 12" MANHATTAN 5025 (US) |
 |
HAPPY DAYS - Bewildered / Good For Nothing Baby / Everybody Needs Somebody / Lover's Mistake / Your Day Is Coming / I'll Never Be Free / Shirley, Come Back To Me / After Last Night | ||||
| 1985 | LP 12" MANHATTAN 5040 (US) |
 |
RESPECTFULLY YOURS | ||||
| 07/1991 | CD UNITED ARTISTS 069-G2 (US) |
|
SHIRLEY & LEE - Let The Good Times Roll / A Little Word / Do You Mean To Hurt Me So / All I Want To Do Is Cry / You'd Be Thinking Of Me / Rock All Night / That's What I Wanna Do / I'm Gone / Sweethearts / That's What I'll Do / Shirley, Come Back To Me / Shirley's Back / Don't You Know I Love You / Feel So Good / Come On And Have Your Fun / I'll Thrill You / Don't Leave Me Here To Cry / Before I Go / The Reason Why / I Didn't Want You / I'll Do It (Deed I Do) / Everybody's Rockin' / Rockin' With The Clock / Lee's Dream / The Flirt / Korea / Comin' Over / Marry Me / When Day Is Done / True Love (Never Dies) | ||||
| 1995 | CD COLLECTABLES 5637 (US) |
 |
SHIRLEY & LEE - I'm Gone / Sweethearts / Baby / Why Did I? / Confessin' / Keep On / Comin' Over / Takes Money / Feel So Good / Lee's Dream / Deed I Do / That's What I'll Do / Let The Good Times Roll / I Feel Good / When I Saw You / I Want To Dance / Rock All Night / Don't You Know I Love You / I'll Thrill You / Everybody's Rockin' | ||||
| 03/1997 | 4 CD BEAR FAMILY BCD 15960 (D) |
 |
THE SWEETHEARTS OF THE
BLUES :
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||||
| 05/2000 | CD ACE ? (UK) |
 |
LET THE GOOD TIMES ROLL - Let The Good Times Roll / A Little Word / I Feel Good / All I Want To Do Is Cry / You'd Be Thinking Of Me / Rock All Night / That's What I Wanna Do / I'm Gone / Sweethearts / That's What I'll Do / Shirley, Come Back To Me / Shirley's Back / Don't You Know I Love You / Feel So Good / Come On And Have Your Fun / I'll Thrill You / Don't Leave Me Here To Cry / Before I Go / The Reason Why / I Didn't Want You / I'll Do It (Deed I Do) / Everybody's Rockin' / Rockin' With The Clock / Lee's Dream / The Flirt / Korea / Comin' Over / Marry Me / When The Day Is Done / True Love (Never Dies) | ||||
| 10/2005 | CD WARWICK ? (US) |
 |
THE SWEETHEARTS OF THE BLUES - VOL. 1 - Sweethearts / I'm Gone / The Real Thing / Korea / Baby / Shirley, Come Back To Me / Shirley's Back / Shirley's Back / Why Did I? / So In Love / So In Love / The Reason Why / The Time Has Come / I Love You So / The Proposal / Two Happy People / Lee Goofed / Every Fool Has His Day / Down In My Heart / Keep On / Cofessin' / When The Sun Goes Down / Tryin' To Fool Me / Rumors Blue / Comin' Over / Takes Money / I Didn't Want You / You'd Be Thinking Of Me / I'll Thrill You | ||||
| 12/2008 | CD BEAR FAMILY BCD 15785 (D) |
 |
ROCK - Let The Good Times Roll / Keep On / Comin' Over / Two Happy People / Feel So Good / Takes Money / I'll Thrill You / That's What I'll Do / I'll Do It (Deed I Do) / I Feel Good / Do You Mean To Hurt Me So / Everything (When I Saw You) / That's What I Wanna Do / I Want To Dance / Marry Me / Before I Go / Don't You Know I Love You / Rock All Nite / Rockin' With The Clock / The Flirt / Live On The Farm / Everybody's Rockin' / Come On And Have Your Fun / All I Want To Do Is Cry / When Day Is Done / Like You Used To Do / I'm Old Enough / Hey Little Boy / Somebody Put A Juke Box In The Study Hall / Let The Good Times Roll / I'm Gone |
© Rocky Productions 25/12/2008
