CD Details
- Released: March 14, 2006
- Originally Released: 1991
- Label: Collectables Records
Description by OLDIES.com:
The Chantels are considered one of the very first "Girl Groups". They scored their biggest hit in 1958 when their song "Maybe" rose high on both the Pop and R&B charts.
Entertainment Reviews:
Rolling Stone - 11/1/69, pp.40-2
"...The remarkable power and fullness of the sound comes solely from the voices of the Chantels....the astounding voice of Arlene Smith...sounds like mythical bells preserved by the gods which the world's best pipe organs try to emulate but never quite reach..."
Tracks:
- 1.Maybe
- 2.Plea
- 3.Come My Little Baby
- 4.Congratulations
- 5.Prayee
- 6.He's Gone
- 7.I Love You So
- 8.Every Night
- 9.Whoever You Are
- 10.How Could You Call It Off
- 11.Sure Of Love
- 12.If You Try
Product Description:
The Chantels include: Arlene Smith, Sonia Goring, Rene Minus, Jackie Landry, Lois Harris (vocals).
Personnel: Rene Minus, Lois Harris, Jackie Landry, Sonia Goring, Arlene Smith (vocals).
Unknown Contributor Role: The Chantels.
Although the songs here were recorded without any thought of sequencing, the end product--a collection of doo-wop and R&B singles, both hits and misses--turned out to be one of the first great rock albums. The Chantels' secret weapon, of course, was the astonishing performance of lead singer Arlene Smith, all of 16 at the time the first songs here were recorded, including the often-covered "Maybe."
Smith's vocals are incomparable--she has the sheer lungpower of an opera singer with nary a weakness at any point in her range--and she was no slouch as a songwriter, either. The group's other ace in the hole was guru/producer Richard Barrett, who created a powerful proto-wall of sound out of little more than piano, drums, and a dab of echo; it's a safe bet that a young Phil Spector wore out the grooves of the original 45s enshrined here.
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