Baby It's You

Was a Burt Bacharch song originally sang by the Shirelle's in 1961. The Pasadena Playhouse recently put on a show by the same name about the woman who discovered them, housewife and mother, Florence Greenberg. Yours truly (along with my mom, aunt, and cousin) was in attendance this past Thursday and my amateur theater-buff grade for the show is: B+. I fell in love with Geno Henderson's performance as disc jockey "Jocko", who practically stole the show with the handful of scenes he was in as a co-star, singing and narrating some parts. This was my mothers era of music, stuff she sang and danced to and was inspired by as a teen so I never knew that the Shirelle's were essentially the first Supremes, the precursor to many popular girl groups to come. And I was especially surprised to learn that a white housewife, Florence Greenberg, with the help of African American producer/songwriter, Luther Dixon (who she had a LONG term affair with), was able to successfully take on the male-dominated music industry and bring us entertainers like...The Isley Brothers, Dionne Warwick, Flip Wilson, Wilson Pickett, and, of course, The Shirelles. I think the most popular song by the Shirelles actually turned out to be "I Met Him on a Sunday"...or maybe "Dedicated to the One I Love", or "Foolish Little Girl", or wait..."Tonight's the Night", I can't decide. Songs that were remade by others and topped the charts later on. The Supremes, Destiny's Child and every other girl group owe a debt of gratitude to Doris Coley, Beverley Lee, Shirley Owens, and Addie Harris - aka, The Shirelles.

Watching that play I imagined my parents singing on my grandparent's porch, my dad and uncles corner crooning, lol, and my mom, her friend Mary and her cousin Carolyn winning the Talent Show of '68 when they formed a girl group called the Bellettes . That's them below, right before they got the chance of a lifetime to sing with THE Smokey Robinson. My grandmother had a newspaper clipping with them and Smokey, which I think my aunt took when grandmae passed away. That's my mom on the right. Her cousin Bruce sewed all of their costumes, the black Versace, lol.
Anyway, I love theater and if the Playhouse doesn't get enough donations from patrons and sponsors their doors will close soon, which would be a travesty. They hire lots of black actors and actresses and tell stories (like the biography of Lena Horn that we went to see not too long ago) that you'd probably never know otherwise. I think when I return from Hawaii this December and my money gets back right, I'll buy a season pass and take my son to as many performances as possible.
And if you live in LA, please go check out "Baby It's You". You won't regret it.