Darlene Love
(née Wright
; born July 26, 1941) is an American popular music singer.
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Biography
Early career
Love began her singing with her local
church choir in
Hawthorne, California. While still in
high school (1959) she was invited to join a little-known
girl group called
The Blossoms, who in 1962 began working with
producer Phil Spector. With her powerful voice she was soon a highly sought-after
vocalist, and managed to work with many of the legends of 1950s and 1960s
rock and
soul, including
Sam Cooke,
Dionne Warwick,
The Beach Boys,
Elvis Presley, and
Sonny and Cher; Darlene and the Blossoms sang
back-up vocals on
Shelley Fabares's
hit, "
Johnny Angel" as well as
John Phillips' solo album
John, Wolfking of L.A.
recorded in 1969. They also appeared on
Johnny Rivers' hits including "
Poor Side of Town" and Motown covers "
Baby I Need Your Loving" and "
The Tracks of My Tears."(The Blossoms recorded singles, usually with little success, on Capitol 1957-58 [pre-Darlene Love], Challenge 1961-62, OKeh 1963, Reprise 1966-67, Ode 1967, MGM 1968, Bell 1969-70, and Lion 1972.)
With The Blossoms she also sang backing vocals on many of the biggest hits of the 1960s, including Spector's own "
Da Doo Ron Ron" (allegedly recorded with her lead, which was later erased by Spector and re-recorded using Crystals' lead
Dolores "LaLa" Brooks). Though credited by Spector as
singles recorded by
The Crystals, "
He's A Rebel" and "He's Sure The Boy I Love" actually featured Love singing lead, backed by The Blossoms. "Today I Met The Boy I'm Gonna Marry" was released as a single by Spector, and featured Love's name as the artist. She was also part of a trio called
Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, who recorded a song in 1962, with their rendition of "
Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" from the
Walt Disney film,
Song of the South
, which got into the
top ten in 1963. The Blossoms landed a weekly part on
Shindig!
, one of the top music shows of the era. They were part of the highly acclaimed
Elvis Presley's '68 Comeback Special
, which aired on
NBC.
Career break
Into the 1970s Love continued to work as a back-up singer, before taking a break in order to raise a family. In 1973, she recorded vocals as a
cheerleader along with
Michelle Phillips, for the
Cheech & Chong single "
Basketball Jones", which peaked at No.15 on the
Billboard Hot 100 singles
chart.
1980s return
Love returned to music in the early 1980s and to an appreciative audience she thought may have long since forgotten her. In addition to singing the songs that made her famous, she has re-explored her
gospel roots on several recordings. In the mid-1980s she portrayed herself in the
Tony Award-nominated
jukebox musical Leader of the Pack
, which featured the iconic rock and roll
songs
written by
Ellie Greenwich, many of them for the young Love. The showstopping number of that show, "
River Deep - Mountain High" had been recorded for Phil Spector by
Ike &
Tina Turner and had been less than the success they had expected.
Leader of the Pack
commenced as a review at the
Greenwich Village nightclub the
Bottom Line, as did the later show about Love's life,
Portrait of a Singer
, which never made the move uptown.
Portrait
included
covers of "The Change Is Going to Come" and "Don't Make Me Over" as well as "River Deep, Mountain High" and original
music written by some of the
instrumental writers of early rock and roll, including
Barry Mann and
Cynthia Weil. Love contributed a cover of
The Hollywood Argyles song "
Alley Oop" to the soundtrack of the 1984 film
Bachelor Party
. In 1987, Love sang back-up for
U2's cover of "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)", while in 1990,
Cher invited Love and her sister
Edna Wright as her background vocalist for the
Heart of Stone Tour.
She also released a minor single in 1992 with "
All Alone on Christmas" - written and composed by
Steven Van Zandt which can be found on the
Home Alone 2: Lost In New York soundtrack. Love also contributed vocals to the soundtrack of the film
Jingle All the Way.
Acting roles
In the late 1980s and 1990s, Love also began an acting career, playing
Danny Glover's wife in the four
Lethal Weapon
movies, and appeared on
Broadway in
Grease
and in the short-lived musical adaptation of
Stephen King's
Carrie
. Love starred as Motormouth Maybelle in Broadway's
Hairspray
until April, 2008.
Recent TV performances
She was a special guest on the December 17, 2005, broadcast of
Saturday Night Live
, singing "
White Christmas" with the
SNL
band and providing the vocals for a
Robert Smigel cartoon, "Christmastime for the Jews". She was the musical guest on
Late Show with David Letterman
on May 7, 2007, performing "
River Deep-Mountain High".
Love released the holiday collection "It's Christmas, Of Course", featuring her versions of classic yuletide tunes from the '70s and '80s, on October 2, 2007.
She continues to do a
Christmas show every year in New York City, which is always capped by "
Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)." She originally recorded the song in 1963 for the album
A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector
. Love has also performed the song every year since 1986 on the last episode of the
Late Show with David Letterman
before Christmas. The song is always performed with
Paul Shaffer and the
CBS Orchestra, with the band being augmented by additional strings and other instruments, as well as a choir. Letterman has stated that the annual performance is his favorite part of Christmas. Due to the
2007 Writers Guild of America strike, Love was unable to perform on the Letterman show in 2007;
[1] instead a repeat of her 2006 performance was shown.
Dino Kartsonakis'
TBN show featured Love singing "
It Is Well With My Soul" and "Sweet Hour of Prayer" on 30 June 2009.
US Singles
Incomplete list of recordings.
| Year
| Album
| Chart Positions [2]
|
| U.S. Hot 100
|
| 1961
| "SON-IN-LAW" (The Blossoms) Challenge 9109
| 79
|
| 1961
| "HARD TO GET" (The Blossoms) Challenge 9122
| -
|
| 1962
| "THE SEARCH IS OVER" (The Blossoms) Challenge 9138
| -
|
| 1962
| "HE'S A REBEL" (released as The Crystals) Philles 106
| 1
|
| 1962
| "ZIP-A-DEE DOO-DAH" (released as Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans) Philles 107
| 8
|
| 1962
| "HE'S SURE THE BOY I LOVE" (released as The Crystals) Philles 109
| 11
|
| 1963
| "WHY DO LOVERS BREAK EACH OTHERS HEARTS?" (released as Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans) Philles 110
| 38
|
| 1963
| "TODAY I MET THE BOY I'M GONNA MARRY" Philles 111
| 39
|
| 1963
| "NOT TOO YOUNG TO GET MARRIED" (released as Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans) Philles 113
| 63
|
| 1963
| "WAIT 'TIL MY BOBBY GETS HOME" Philles 114
| 26
|
| 1963
| "I'M IN LOVE" (The Blossoms) Okeh 7162
| -
|
| 1963
| "A FINE, FINE BOY" Philles 117
| 53
|
| 1963
| "CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)" Philles 119
| -
|
| 1964
| "STUMBLE AND FALL" Philles 123
| -
|
| 1964
| "CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)" Philles 125
| -
|
| 1965
| "GOOD GOOD LOVIN' / THAT'S WHEN THE TEARS START" (The Blossoms) Reprise 0436
| -
|
| 1966
| "LOVER BOY" (The Blossoms) Reprise 0475
| -
|
| 1966
| "LET YOUR LOVE SHINE ON ME" (The Blossoms) Reprise 0522
| -
|
| 1966
| "TOO LATE TO SAY YOU'RE SORRY" Reprise 0534
| -
|
| 1967
| "DEEP INTO MY HEART / GOOD GOOD LOVIN'" (The Blossoms) Reprise 0639
| -
|
| 1967
| "Stoney End" (The Blossoms) Ode 101
| -
|
| 1968
| "Tweedlee Dee" (The Blossoms) MGM 13964
| -
|
| 1968
| "CRY LIKE A BABY" (The Blossoms) Ode 106
| -
|
| 1969
| "STONEY END" - reissued (The Blossoms) Lion 125
| -
|
| 1969
| "YOU'VE LOST THAT LOVIN' FEELIN'" (The Blossoms) Bell 780
| -
|
| 1969
| "(YOU'RE MY) SOUL AND INSPIRATION" (The Blossoms) Bell 797
| -
|
| 1970
| "I AIN'T GOT TO LOVE NOBODY ELSE" (The Blossoms) Bell 857
| -
|
| 1970
| "ONE STEP AWAY" (The Blossoms) Bell 937
| -
|
| 1972
| "TOUCHDOWN" (The Blossoms) Lion 108
| -
|
| 1972
| "GRANDMA'S HANDS" (The Blossoms) Lion 125
| -
|
| 1974
| "CHRISTMAS (BABY PLEASE COME HOME)" Warner/Spector 0401
| -
|
| 1975
| "LORD, IF YOU'RE A WOMAN" Warner/Spector 0410
| -
|
| 1977
| "THERE'S NO GREATER LOVE" (The Blossoms) Epic 50435
| -
|
| 1988
| "HE'S SURE THE MAN I LOVE" Columbia 07984
| -
|
| 1993
| "ALL ALONE ON CHRISTMAS" (from the film HOME ALONE II) Fox 10003
| 83
|
Album Releases
- 1963 - Various Artists "A Christmas Gift For You" (Philles Records #4005)
- 1963 - Various Artists "Today's Hits" (Philles Records #4004)
- 1977 - Various Artists "Phil Spector's Greatest Hits" (Warner/Spector Records #9104)
- 1978 - Various Artists "Lakeshore Music presents Rock and Roll Forever" (Warner Special Products #2508)
(same as above release)
- 1985 - "Leader Of the Pack" Original Broadway Cast (Elektra Records 60420)
- 1985 - "Darlene Love Live!" (Rhino Records RNLP 855)
- 1988 - "Paint Another Picture" (Columbia Records #40605)
- 1990 - Various Artists "Dick Tracy: Music from and inspired by the film" (Sire/Reprise Records #26236)
- 1991 - Various Artists "Back To Mono 1958-1969" (Abkco Records 7118)
(boxed set)
- 1992 - Various Artists "A Very Special Christmas 2" (A&M Records #450003)
- 1992 - "The Best Of Darlene Love" (The Philles Recordings) (Abkco Records 7213)
- 1992 - "Bringing It Home" (with Lani Groves) (Shanachie Records #9003)
- 1998 - Various Artists "Grease Is the Word" (Rhino Records)
- 2007 - "It's Christmas Of Course" (Shout Factory Records #10569)
References
- http://www.contracostatimes.com/columns/ci_7798837?nclick_check=1
- Billboard Singles. Allmusic.com.