http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Garnet_Mimms
Origine du Groupe : North America
Style : Soul Blues
Sortie : 1958-1967
From http://avaxhome.ws
Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters
During the Kennedy era, the pop charts accommodated the occasional piece of early soul, but pretty much all of them were recordings that fit snugly into the realm of mainstream pop. (Don Gardner
& Dee Dee Ford’s "I Need Your Lovin’" in 1962 was a notable exception.) However, in July of 1963, a song came out that was so gritty, emotional and gospel-like, its pop chart peak of #4 was
nothing short of a miracle. That song was "Cry Baby" by Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters.
Garnet Mimms was born Garrett Mimms in Ashton, West Virginia, on November 26, 1933, one of seven children. When he was a young man, the Mimmses moved to Philadelphia. Like so many other deep soul
singers, Garnet (as he liked to be called) received his earliest musical experience in the church. His mother was an accomplished pianist who also sang in the choir and nurtured her son’s
interest in singing.
Mimms attended Gratz High School, after which he began working at a laundry. That did not last long, however, as he followed his real calling by joining gospel quartets. All his associations were
brief and he never recorded with any group. He was, however, with two Philadelphia groups, the Norfolk Four and the Evening Star Quartet, and later sang with the Harmonizing Four and the
Sensational Nightingales. Garnet’s time on the gospel road put him in touch with two other singers, Sam Bell and Charles Boyer, who both would play a role in the Enchanters.
During a two-year stint with the Army, Mimms formed an R&B group called the Deltones. Upon his discharge in 1958, he sought out his old friend Sam Bell, and started a group called the
Gainors, whose line-up also included Howard Tate (q.v.). In July of 1958, the Gainors made their first record, for the Red Top label in Philadelphia, who leased the master to Cameo. The Gainors
got a regional hit out of "The Secret." Subsequent affiliations with the Mercury (1959-60) and Tally-Ho (1961) labels produced no further success.
In 1961, Mimms and Bell disbanded the Gainors and built a new ensemble by teaming up with their old friend Chares Boyer and a distaff member, Zola Pearnell, who had considerable choir experience.
They called themselves Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters to emphasize what they felt was the strength of the group, namely Mimms’ incredible voice. The new group auditioned for the
Philadelphia-born record producer Jerry Ragovoy, who by this time had relocated to New York City. Ragovoy was impressed enough to work with them.
Although the first recordings were billed as "Garnet Mimms & The Enchanters," Ragovoy actually used the Sweet Inspirations as the background singers. In 1963, they went into Bell Sound and
created "Cry Baby." Ragovoy took it to a number of record companies, but because the record was so unusual for its time, they all turned it down. Finally, United Artists picked up the single and
released it in July. "Cry Baby" debuted on the Billboard Hot 100 on August 17, 1963, and made the R&B chart on September 7th. By October, it had reached #4 pop and #1 R&B—and the soul
era, thank god, was finally upon us. (Janis Joplin, by the way, covered "Cry Baby" on her album Pearl.)
Mimms’ follow-up single, "Baby Don’t You Weep," was essentially a rewrite of "Cry Baby" that reached #30 pop. (By this time, Billboard had temporarily ceased publication of its R&B chart.)
The flip, a remake of Jerry Butler’s "For Your Precious Love," did even better, peaking at #26. That fall, United Artists also released the album Cry Baby and 11 Other Hits, a genuinely good LP
with little filler that reached #91 in Billboard. (The Who covered "Baby Don’t You Weep" in 1965.)
By 1964, Beatlemania was upon us, and deep soul would have to wait a couple of years to reach the pop top ten again, with Percy Sledge’s "When A Man Loves A Woman." Garnet Mimms & The
Enchanters felt the sting of the British Invasion, and only made the pop top forty once more, with "I’ll Take Good Care Of You" (#30, 1966). From 1968-70, Mimms (now sans the Enchanters) and
Jerry Ragovoy recorded without success on Verve.
In the meantime, Garnet Mimms had achieved a cult following in England, where he made eleven tours, one of which (in 1967) saw him opening for the Jimi Hendrix Experience. Mimms left Ragovoy
1970, and subsequently recorded for Lloyd Price’s GSP label in 1972, but again without success. In 1977, Mimms returned briefly to the charts with a funk tune called "What It Is?"
Tracklist :
01. there goes my baby
02. tell me, baby
03. lookin' for you
04. prove it to me
05. a little bit of soap
06. that goes to show you
07. a quiet place
08. look away
09. every time
10. as long as i have you
11. it was easier to hurt her
12. stop, and think it over
13. thinkin'
14. keep on smilin'
15. nobody but you
16. so close
17. cry to me
18. angel on the doorstep (unavailable)
19. one woman man
20. cry baby
21. for your precious love
22. baby, don't you weep
23. one girl
24. i'll take good care of you
25. welcome home
26. until you were gone
27. the truth hurts
28. wanting you
29. it's just a matter of time
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