Shirley & Lee (New Orleans, Louisiana)
Aka The Heart-Throbs
Part I - Discography & Biography (By Hans-Joachim)
Personnel:
Shirley Mae Goodman
Leonard Lee
Discography:
Shirley & Lee
Singles:
1952 - Sweethearts / I'm Gone (Aladdin 3153)
1952 - Baby / Shirley Come Back To Me (Aladdin 3173)
1953 - Shirley's Back / So In Love (Aladdin 3192)
1953 - The Proposal / Two Happy People (Aladdin 3205)
1954 - Lee Goofed / Why Did I (Aladdin 3222)
1954 - Keep On / Confessin' (Aladdin 3244)
1954 - Comin' Over / Takes Money (Aladdin 3258)
1955 - Feel So Good / You'd Be Thinking Of Me (Aladdin 3289)
1955 - Lee's Dream / I'll Do It (Aladdin 3302)
1956 - That's What I'll Do / A Little Word (Aladdin 3313)
1956 - Let The Good Times Roll / Do You Mean To Hurt Me So (Aladdin 3325)
1956 - I Feel Good / Now That It's Over (Aladdin 3338)
1957 - When I Saw You / That's What I Wanna Do (Aladdin 3362)
1957 - I Want To Dance / Marry Me (Aladdin 3369)
1957 - Rock All Nite / Don't You Know I Love You (Aladdin 3380)
1957 - Rockin' With The Clock / The Flirt (Aladdin 3390)
1958 - I'll Thrill You / Love No One But (Aladdin 3405)
1958 - Everybody's Rockin’ / Don't Leave Me Here To Cry (Aladdin 3418)
1958 - Come On And Have Your Fun / All I Want To Do Is Cry (Aladdin 3432)
1959 - When Day Is Done / True Love (Aladdin 3455)
1960 - I’ve Been Loved Before / Like You Used To Do (Warwick 535)
1960 - Let The Good Times Roll / Keep Loving Me (Warwick 581)
1961 - Two Peas In A Pod / Your Love Makes The Difference (Warwick 609)
1961 - Well-A, Well-A / Our Kids (Warwick 664)
1962 - Girl, You’re Married Now / Let’s Live It Up (Warwick 679)
1962 - The Joker / Together We Stand (Divided We Fall) (Imperial 5818)
1962 - My Last Letter / I’m Old Enough (Imperial 5854)
1962 - A Little Thing / Don’t Stop Now (Imperial 5868)
1963 - Hey Little Boy / The Golden Rule (Imperial 5922)
1963 - Dancing World / I’m Gone* (Imperial 5970)
1963 - Somebody Put A Jukebox In The Study Hall / Never Let Me Go (Imperial 66000)
*prev. released on Aladdin 3153 in 1953
Albums:
1956 - {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 (Aladdin LP-807)
1958 - {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 Score SLP-4023)
1961 - {Let The Good Times Roll} Let The Good Times Roll / Lovers' Mistake / Like You Used To Do / 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 (Warwick LP W-2028)
*Leonard Lee solo
1962 - {Let The Good Times Roll} Let The Good Times 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 (Imperial LP 9179A)
1973 - {Legendary Masters Series} A Little Word / All I Want To Do Is Cry / Before I Go / Come On And Have Your Fun / Comin’ Over / Do You Mean To Hurt Me So / Don’t Leave Me Here To Cry / Don’t You Know I Love You / Everybody’s Rockin’ / Feel So Good / I Didn’t Want You / I’ll Do It (Deed I Do) / I’ll Thrill You / I’m Gone / Korea / Lee’s Dream / Let The Good Times Roll / Marry Me / Rock All Night / Rockin’ With The Clock / Shirley, Come Back To Me / Shirley’s Back / Sweethearts / That’s What I’ll Do / That’s What I Wanna Do / The Flirt / The Reason Why / True Love (Never Dies) / When Day Is Done / You’d Be Thinking Of Me (United Artists UA-LA-069-H2)
1981 - {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 (Ace LP 47)
1985 - {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 / After Last Month* (Manhattan LP 5025)
*actually After Last Night
1985 - {Respectfully Yours} After Last Night / Two Peas In A Pod / Let's Live It Up / Ya Moves Me* / Everybody** / Lover’s Mistake / Your Day Is Coming*** / I'll Never**** (Manhattan LP 5040)
*actually You Moves Me - **actually Everybody Needs Somebody - ***Leonard Lee solo - ****actually I’ll Never Be Free
1986 - {The Imperial Sides 1962/1963} Together We Stand (Divided We Fall) / The Joker / My Last Letter / You Wouldn't / A Little Thing / The Engagement Song* (prev. unrel.) / Don't Stop Now / His Little Boy / Don't Marry Too Soon* / When A Boy Meets A Girl* / When I Fall In Love** / Honey Bee** / Honky Tonk Music / Never Let Me Go / Surf Heaven (prev. unrel.) / Somebody Put A Jukebox In The Study Hall (Imperial LP 1566331)
*actually The Engagement - **Shirley Goodman solo
Unreleased:
1952 - House Party (Aladdin, lost)
1952 - The Real Thing (Aladdin)
1952 - The Reason Why (Aladdin)*
1952 - Korea (Aladdin)*
1953 - Every Fools Has His Day (Aladdin)
1953 - Glad To Be Home (Aladdin, lost)
1953 - Shirley’s Back (alt.)
1953 - So In Love (alt.)
1954 - I Didn’t Want You (Aladdin)
1956 - Everything (When I Saw You) (Aladdin)
1956 - We Will Be Forever Happy (Aladdin)
1957 - Before I Go (Aladdin)*
1957 - Everything (When I Saw You) (Aladdin)
1960 - After Last Night (Warwick)***
1960 - Bewildered (Warwick)**
1960 - Everybody Needs Somebody (Warwick)*
1960 - I'll Never Be Free (Warwick)**
1960 - Shirley Come Back (Warwick)*
1960 - I Was Lucky (Warwick)
1962 - The Engagement (Imperial)***
1962 - You Wouldn’t (Imperial)****
1963 - Honky Tonk Music (Imperial)****
1963 - Surfer's Hangout (Imperial)
1963 - Surf Heaven (Imperial)****
*released on the United Artists LP UA-LA-069-H2 in 1973
**released on the Manhattan LP 5025 in 1985
***released on the Manhattan LP 5040 in 1985
****released on the Imperial LP 1566331 in 1986
The Heart-Throbs
1957 - So Glad* / All The Way Home** (Lamp 2010 / Aladdin 3394)
*Shirley Goodman backed by an unknown male group - **Shirley Goodman and Leonard Lee
Biography:
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 were part of a teenage group which harmonized in church and on street corners. The youngsters found out that in exchange for $2 they could make a one-sided demonstration 78 rpm record at Cosimo Matassa's J&M Studio. The kids pooled their allowances and one day after school they recorded a song they'd been rehearsing. A few months later, Aladdin Records' [http://www.bsnpubs.com/aladdin/aladdinstory.html] Eddie Mesner was in New Orleans looking for talent when Matassa played him the kids' tape. Mesner went crazy when he heard Goodman's shrill voice and demanded Matassa locate her. Eventually she was found and returned to the studio where she was paired with Leonard Lee.
L-R Lee Allen, Leonard Lee, Justin Adams, Shirles Goodman at Cosimo Matassa's studio
Shirley & Lee had one trait in common among their recordings; this New Orleans-based duo almost never sang in harmony, let alone together at all. The duo rarely sang in unison because the range in their voices was so far apart. Shirley had a high voice and Lee's was big and booming, and the contrast between the two gave their act its appeal. Lee usually cooed or posed a question and Shirley answered in sharp innocence. Their contrasting male-female duet 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 executive Lew Chudd's Imperial Records and Art Rupe's Specialty - seemed to have a knack for signing talent straight out of the Crescent City.
Allen Toussaint Justin Adams Earl Palmer
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, guitarist Justin Adams , 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. This recording would be deeply influential on the development of ska and reggae.
Frank Fields Herbert Hardesty Red Tyler
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.
By the middle of 1956, 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 (# 1 R&B). Some DJ’s refused to play it, claiming that it had suggestive lyrics. The song crossed over to the pop charts, where it reached as high as #20. 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. Aladdin issued a full-length album, Let the Good Times Roll, in December. It was reissued two years later on Score, Aladdin's budget label.
After the death of Eddie Messner the duo's career began to wane, but they continued to work for the Imperial Record Label [http://www.bsnpubs.com/imperial/imperiala.html] (which took over for Aladdin), and the Warwick Imprint Label [http://www.bsnpubs.com/nyc/warwick/warwick.html], 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.
Following this Shirley undertook session chores for the likes of Sonny and Cher, Dr John, The Rolling Stones and Jackie DeShannon. Shirley & Lee were briefly reunited in 1972, after Shirley had recorded with several other artistic partners, including Shirley & Jesse, who recorded the song 'Ivory Tower' in 1966.
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 [http://doo-wop.blogg.org/mickey-sylvia-c26503952], 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 at the age of 40, following a heart attack. Shirley Goodman passed away from a stroke on July 5, 2005 at the age of 69.
Sources:
Shirley & Lee biography by Bryan Thomas at All Music
Shirley & Lee biography at Soulwalking
Shirley & Lee biography by Jeff Hannusch
Shirley & Lee biography at Find A Grave
Shirley & Lee biography and discography at Rocky52
Shirley & Lee biography and discography at Hallelujah, Rock’n’Roll!
Shirley & Lee biography by John Charles Marion at Doo Wop Nation
Shirley & Lee biography by Tom Simon
Shirley Goodman biography at Spectropop
Shirley Goodman biography by Jason Ankeny at All Music
Shirley & Lee 78 RPM label scans at 45worlds
Shirley & Lee 45 RPM label scans at 45cat
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