Will The Chantels get justice at last? They are the seminal girl group of the rock 'n' roll era yet for years they haven't even been on the consideration list for the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame nominations. But this year's list of prospective nominees have been announced and one of the nine artists is The Chantels! I have been on an informal mission to get them nominated for years now so this news is exciting. In fact that quest started over fifteen years ago, when I wrote a long piece about them for The Village Voice's Rock 'N' Roll Quarterly supplement, only to see the Quarterly eliminated before the piece could run...
Some of you may be saying, who are The Chantels? Some may know the name, possibly even know their signature hit "Maybe" (later covered by Janis Joplin and The Three Degrees), but little else. And some of you may be familiar with the special magic of the greatest girl group of the rock 'n' roll era.
Why should The Chantels be in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame? Here's a few reasons. First, as mentioned they were the greatest female vocal group of the rock 'n' roll era (pre-1961). In fact, they were the first female group to score more than a one-off hit; they hit the charts eight times from 1957 to 1963, with such hits as "Maybe" (one of the greatest vocal group records ever), "The Plea", "He's Gone, "Look In My Eyes" , "Well I Told You" (an answer record to Ray Charles' "Hit The Road Jack"), "Every Night(I Pray"), "I Love You So" etc. Lead singer Arlene Smith was the greatest female voice of rock 'n' roll's golden age--=and continued to be an original and great voice up until the present time. Though a Black group, their hits were pop hits from the git-go, not cross-overs from the r & b charts--thus breaking down barriers. They proved that five Black teenage girls from The Bronx could crack the mainstream market on their own terms. They were the direct inspiration for The Shirelles and many other girl groups who ushered in the fantastically successful "girl group" era of 1960-1963. And they were trained musicians who could play instruments (even occasionally opening shows by playing a rock 'n' roll instrumental on electric guitar, electric bass, drums, piano and maraccas! there's priceless publicity photo of them looking like a rock 'n' roll band even though they are also wearing gowns!).
I had the pleasure of interviewing all of them (all but one of them in person). Like so many groups, they had had a split, with Arlene eventually performing with a couple of other women as Arlene Smith & The Chantels and the other four--Sonia Goring, Jackie Landry, Rene Minus-White and Lois Harris--performing as The Chantels with a new lead vocalist. I saw the latter Chantels in performance at a World Trade just two months before the 9/ll attack; they were magnificent. When I met with Sonia, Jackie, and Lois at Jackie's home, I was struck by the fact that even in middle age, with successful lives outside of music, they still had the passion to sing together and in fact wanted to re-unite with Arlene. Sonia said "we're the only group that could re-unite with all the original members." For various reasons that did not happen, although they did come together when they were presented a Pioneer Award by the R & B Foundation. Jackie, who wanted the reunion most fervently, unfortunately passed away soon after. A dramatic, spine-tingling moment came on one of the Doo Wop Spectacular Shows broadcast on PBS stations nationwide, the group, minus Arlene, sang one of their post-Arlene hits "Look In My Eyes" and Arlene walked out onstage--a majestic diva--and joined them to sing an absolutely impassioned version of "Maybe", which she dedicated to Jackie Landry. A whole genre of music probably would not exist without The Chantels. They need to be in the Rock 'N' Roll Hall Of Fame!
would like to know if Arlene smith is alive as of 7/7/13 and is she still singing.
Posted by: Marion Clark one of the lead singers of the Baby dolls go away baby/I'm lonely | 07/07/2013 at 09:20 PM