Review: Real Gone Goes Soulful With Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles, Irma Thomas

During its mid- to late-sixties heyday, Atlantic had two “girl groups” on its roster: The Sweet Inspirations and Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles. It’s appropriate, then, that SoulMusic and Real Gone has a companion release to The Sweet Inspirations’ singles anthology with Patti LaBelle and the Bluebelles’ 2-CD set The Complete Atlantic Sides Plus (RGM-0237/OPCD-8839) featuring Patti LaBelle, Nona Hendryx, Sarah Dash and Cindy Birdsong. Like The Sweet Inspirations and Irma Thomas collections, this set premieres some previously unreleased material – four songs, in fact.

Philadelphia’s Bluebelles had much in common with The Sweet Inspirations beyond the fact that they were both soulful African-American foursomes recording for Atlantic within roughly the same timeframe. Like The Sweet Inspirations, one member defected during their time at the label; in this case it was Cindy Birdsong, who decamped in 1967 to become a Supreme. Both groups recorded under the aegis of Jerry Wexler and Tom Dowd, both shared access to the same pool of songwriters (Dan Penn and Spooner Oldham, Burt Bacharach and Hal David) and both even shared some of the same repertoire (Wexler and Bert Berns’ “I Don’t Want to Go on Without You”). What was different about The Bluebelles? That much is obvious from the very first track here – “Danny Boy,” the 1913 song based on the 19th century Irish melody “Londonderry Air.” Okay, so the group didn’t typically stretch back that far, but the Bluebelles were firmly rooted in the standards and showtunes which occupy roughly half of this set’s first disc. Having mastered the music of the classic songwriters from Harold Arlen to Jule Styne, they were able to bring their interpretive gifts to edgy fare from Curtis Mayfield and Jerry Williams, Jr. a.k.a. “Swamp Dogg,” and eventually morph into the glam-soul Labelle.

Producer David Nathan has sequenced this collection of The Bluebelles’ complete Atlantic recordings (live and in the studio) in the order of recording rather than by albums, singles, etc. The girls first graced the Atlantic label with their performance at Philadelphia’s Uptown Theater in 1964 alongside The Drifters, Wilson Pickett and Barbara Lynn. Although only one song from their set made the original LP (“Down the Aisle,” issued in its studio version on the small Newtown label in 1963), five songs appear here. These reflect the group’s artistic diversity – “Danny Boy,” the Jimmy McHugh/Harold Adamson classic “Where Are You,” the smoldering R&B of the then-recent Baby Washington hit “That’s How Heartaches are Made” and the sweet, doo-wop-inflected R&B of “Down the Aisle” and “One Phone Call.” Atlantic snapped the group up and assigned them to hot producer and Wexler pal Bert Berns.

Disc One contains the entirety of the 1966 Berns-produced Over the Rainbow LP as well as the live Saturday Night at the Uptown tracks and half of 1967’s Dreamer LP which was derived from various sessions and producers.  Disc Two picks up with the balance of Dreamer and more singles and unreleased cuts – including many more original songs that attempted to give the group more of an identity.

Berns tried the group on a variety of sides designed to show off their many facets – intense soul (“Patti’s Prayer”), light pop (“Groovy Kind of Love,” previously cut by the duo Diane and Annita and destined for a hit via The Mindbenders and decades later, Phil Collins), contemporary Broadway favorites (“Who Can I Turn To,” “People”), and classics (“Unchained Melody,” “Ebb Tide”). Berns oversaw Patti and the Bluebelles’ recording of his own driving “You Forgot How to Love,” but his most memorable recording with the group might be their shimmering “Over the Rainbow,” still a signature song of Patti LaBelle’s today. These early sides emphasized pop over R&B, but the blend of stirring vocals with sweet orchestral settings doesn’t disappoint. Only minor commercial inroads were made, however. At a peak of No. 20 R&B, “Over the Rainbow” would be the group’s biggest chart success at Atlantic. Jerry Wexler believed that Pam Sawyer and Lori Burton’s “All or Nothing,” with its dramatic strings and powerfully dense production, was a hit record. You’ll think so, too, rediscovering it here.

The vocal blend that would become famous in Labelle had its roots in the Bluebelles’ sound, and while Patti LaBelle’s big voice – alternately playfully coquettish and thunderously soulful – led her to solo stardom, the roles of Birdsong, Dash and Hendryx in the Bluebelles sound can’t be underplayed. Following the Berns sessions, Atlantic tried a variety of approaches on Cindy, Sarah, Nona and Patti with sessions in New York, Philadelphia, Chicago and possibly Memphis. Curtis Mayfield’s sensually slow-burning “I’m Still Waiting” should have crossed over in 1966, but had to be content with a Top 40 R&B placing. Its B-side, “Family Man,” showed off a funkier style. The Philly session in September 1966 with arranger Richie Rome and producer Bob FIniz yielded, ironically, another Berns tune (“I Don’t Want to Go on Without You”) and a storming, unusual take on Bacharach and David’s “Always Something There to Remind Me.” Patti and co. returned to Philly in mid-1967 to cut another couple of songs with future MFSB players Norman Harris and Ronnie Baker among the musicians: Lorraine Ellison’s torrid “Oh My Love” and Nona’s own, dynamic “I Need Your Love.”

After the jump: more on The Bluebelles, plus a look at Irma Thomas’ Lost Cotillion Album!