The Bluebelles found success with ballads in the doo-wop genre, most notabl… Read Full Bio ↴The Bluebelles found success with ballads in the doo-wop genre, most notably, "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)", "You'll Never Walk Alone" and "Over the Rainbow". After Cindy Birdsong departed from the group to join The Supremes in 1967, under the advice of Vicki Wickham, the group changed its look, musical direction and style and reformed as Labelle.
The Blue Belles (later Bluebelles) founding members were Patti LaBelle (formerly Patricia Holt), Sundray Tucker, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. Tucker left before the group cut their first record and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
In 1958, Patricia "Patsy" Holt formed her first singing group, the Ordettes in her Philadelphia hometown, after being influenced by The Chantels and The Shirelles and solo female performers such as Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington. Around 1959, Holt and fellow Ordette member Sundray Tucker met and befriended a rival girl group from Trenton, New Jersey, not too far from Philadelphia, named the Del-Capris, which featured friends Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. Shortly afterwards, both groups disbanded and the Ordettes' then-manager Bernard Montague insisted Holt and Tucker join forces with Hendryx and Dash. The girls, loving the camaraderie between them, reformed the Ordettes. In 1960, due to failing grades, Tucker was forced to drop out of the group. Needing a replacement, Holt contacted a longtime neighborhood friend, Cindy Birdsong, who had moved back to Philadelphia from Camden, New Jersey where she was attending college to study a life as a nurse. However, after Holt contacted her of the Ordettes needing a new member to replace Sundray Tucker, Birdsong immediately decided to drop out of college and join the group. At 20 years old, she was the eldest member of the group (Holt was 16, Hendryx was 15 and Dash was only 14).
After performing in several talent shows for a year, the group found a record label with the local Newtown Records. Before signing the group, the label's president, Harold Robinson, was unimpressed with the physical looks of Holt, telling staff he felt Holt was "too dark and too unattractive" to be the lead singer. When Holt sung during the group's audition, however, the president changed his mind, and soon signed the group. Shortly afterwards, Robinson advised the group to change its name to one of Newtown's subsidiaries, Blue Belle Records. As The Blue Belles, their first single was ironically a song that the group didn't participate in - "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" was, as explained in Patti LaBelle's memoirs, Don't Block the Blessings, originally recorded by The Starlets, then riding high on their hit single, "Tell Him No" and were on the road when the song was released, unable to promote it. Robinson credited the song to the Blue Belles, who later were sent to promote the song, which peaked at the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100, in 1962. Following a potential lawsuit from a president of another record label for using the name Blue Belles, Robinson gave Holt the stage name, Patti La Belle (La Belle means French for "the beautiful one"), and altered the group's name to Patti La Belle and Her Blue Belles. In 1963, the group recorded two albums for Newtown, a Christmas album titled Sleigh Bells, Jingle Bells and Blue Bells, and a faux-live album (compiled from their studio recordings with an added audience track), Sweethearts of the Apollo, taking from a title giving to them after the group successfully performed at the Apollo Theater, however the group failed to match their live success with any following records and left Newtown for more established Cameo-Parkway Records, releasing the top 40 hit, "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)".
The group performed constantly with Murray the K and also performed on the infamous chitlin' circuit. The group, which consisted of sweet, soulful harmonies, and gospel backgrounds, set themselves differently from more pop-oriented girl groups such as The Ronettes, The Marvelettes and The Supremes, gaining an audience. In 1964, the group had another top 40 hit with their version of "You'll Never Walk Alone", later reappearing on American Bandstand singing the song. After releasing their third album, another live performance at the Apollo, the group looked to find fame after Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun offered the group a deal.
In 1965, Atlantic Records signed the Bluebelles to a contract, again altering their name to simply Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles. Following a year in the studio, the band released their first studio album, Over the Rainbow, which was modestly successful and included the modest pop hit, "All or Nothing" and the soon-to-be R&B standard, "Over the Rainbow". The latter hit won them more fans as they began touring outside the United States, first opening for The Rolling Stones. Due to their UK exposure, the group toured constantly in the region, appearing on an episode of Ready Steady Go!, produced by their future manager Vicki Wickham, and also touring with Reginald Dwight's band, Bluesology, backing them up. Around this same time, the group began to work behind the scenes as session singers, filling in backgrounds for the likes of artists such as Wilson Pickett. They were famously featured singing background on Pickett's 1966 hit, "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)".
The group seemed destined for stardom after the release of their second album, Dreamer, which featured the soulful title track, the hit "Take Me For a Little While" and their cover of The Impressions' "I'm Still Waiting", which each gave them moderate chart success. However, promotion of the album and its singles stopped abruptly when Cindy Birdsong, who had spent months as a stand-in for Supremes founder Florence Ballard, suddenly left the Bluebelles to become a full-fledged member of The Supremes. Following Birdsong's departure, Sundray Tucker briefly filled in in Cindy's place while touring. The group fell out of sync as grittier soul artists such as Aretha Franklin and psychedelic rock artists such as Sly and the Family Stone and The Jimi Hendrix Experience emerged, making the girl group sound out of date with the public. The group struggled with recordings and were forced to take whatever performance offers they were given. In 1970, the Bluebelles were dropped from their Atlantic contract. Their longtime manager, Bernard Montague, would also leave them that year to focus his full time on fellow Philly group, The Delfonics. After almost signing with Frankie Crocker and Herb Hamlett as their managers, the group settled on Vicki Wickham, after Dusty Springfield, who was also managed by Wickham and was a fan of the Bluebelles insisted Wickham worked with them.
Wickham advised the group to move to London and change their entire image and sound, something Patti LaBelle later admitted she felt real uncomfortable with, saying she was okay with the way things were going. LaBelle had fears when the group returned to America with their new laid-back image that they would be booed and heckled for betraying fans with a new sound and look. Wickham advised them to change their name to simply Labelle and adapt a rock sound while keeping the group's R&B roots intact.
The Blue Belles (later Bluebelles) founding members were Patti LaBelle (formerly Patricia Holt), Sundray Tucker, Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. Tucker left before the group cut their first record and was replaced by Cindy Birdsong.
In 1958, Patricia "Patsy" Holt formed her first singing group, the Ordettes in her Philadelphia hometown, after being influenced by The Chantels and The Shirelles and solo female performers such as Mahalia Jackson and Dinah Washington. Around 1959, Holt and fellow Ordette member Sundray Tucker met and befriended a rival girl group from Trenton, New Jersey, not too far from Philadelphia, named the Del-Capris, which featured friends Nona Hendryx and Sarah Dash. Shortly afterwards, both groups disbanded and the Ordettes' then-manager Bernard Montague insisted Holt and Tucker join forces with Hendryx and Dash. The girls, loving the camaraderie between them, reformed the Ordettes. In 1960, due to failing grades, Tucker was forced to drop out of the group. Needing a replacement, Holt contacted a longtime neighborhood friend, Cindy Birdsong, who had moved back to Philadelphia from Camden, New Jersey where she was attending college to study a life as a nurse. However, after Holt contacted her of the Ordettes needing a new member to replace Sundray Tucker, Birdsong immediately decided to drop out of college and join the group. At 20 years old, she was the eldest member of the group (Holt was 16, Hendryx was 15 and Dash was only 14).
After performing in several talent shows for a year, the group found a record label with the local Newtown Records. Before signing the group, the label's president, Harold Robinson, was unimpressed with the physical looks of Holt, telling staff he felt Holt was "too dark and too unattractive" to be the lead singer. When Holt sung during the group's audition, however, the president changed his mind, and soon signed the group. Shortly afterwards, Robinson advised the group to change its name to one of Newtown's subsidiaries, Blue Belle Records. As The Blue Belles, their first single was ironically a song that the group didn't participate in - "I Sold My Heart to the Junkman" was, as explained in Patti LaBelle's memoirs, Don't Block the Blessings, originally recorded by The Starlets, then riding high on their hit single, "Tell Him No" and were on the road when the song was released, unable to promote it. Robinson credited the song to the Blue Belles, who later were sent to promote the song, which peaked at the top twenty of the Billboard Hot 100, in 1962. Following a potential lawsuit from a president of another record label for using the name Blue Belles, Robinson gave Holt the stage name, Patti La Belle (La Belle means French for "the beautiful one"), and altered the group's name to Patti La Belle and Her Blue Belles. In 1963, the group recorded two albums for Newtown, a Christmas album titled Sleigh Bells, Jingle Bells and Blue Bells, and a faux-live album (compiled from their studio recordings with an added audience track), Sweethearts of the Apollo, taking from a title giving to them after the group successfully performed at the Apollo Theater, however the group failed to match their live success with any following records and left Newtown for more established Cameo-Parkway Records, releasing the top 40 hit, "Down the Aisle (The Wedding Song)".
The group performed constantly with Murray the K and also performed on the infamous chitlin' circuit. The group, which consisted of sweet, soulful harmonies, and gospel backgrounds, set themselves differently from more pop-oriented girl groups such as The Ronettes, The Marvelettes and The Supremes, gaining an audience. In 1964, the group had another top 40 hit with their version of "You'll Never Walk Alone", later reappearing on American Bandstand singing the song. After releasing their third album, another live performance at the Apollo, the group looked to find fame after Atlantic Records president Ahmet Ertegun offered the group a deal.
In 1965, Atlantic Records signed the Bluebelles to a contract, again altering their name to simply Patti LaBelle and The Bluebelles. Following a year in the studio, the band released their first studio album, Over the Rainbow, which was modestly successful and included the modest pop hit, "All or Nothing" and the soon-to-be R&B standard, "Over the Rainbow". The latter hit won them more fans as they began touring outside the United States, first opening for The Rolling Stones. Due to their UK exposure, the group toured constantly in the region, appearing on an episode of Ready Steady Go!, produced by their future manager Vicki Wickham, and also touring with Reginald Dwight's band, Bluesology, backing them up. Around this same time, the group began to work behind the scenes as session singers, filling in backgrounds for the likes of artists such as Wilson Pickett. They were famously featured singing background on Pickett's 1966 hit, "634-5789 (Soulsville, U.S.A.)".
The group seemed destined for stardom after the release of their second album, Dreamer, which featured the soulful title track, the hit "Take Me For a Little While" and their cover of The Impressions' "I'm Still Waiting", which each gave them moderate chart success. However, promotion of the album and its singles stopped abruptly when Cindy Birdsong, who had spent months as a stand-in for Supremes founder Florence Ballard, suddenly left the Bluebelles to become a full-fledged member of The Supremes. Following Birdsong's departure, Sundray Tucker briefly filled in in Cindy's place while touring. The group fell out of sync as grittier soul artists such as Aretha Franklin and psychedelic rock artists such as Sly and the Family Stone and The Jimi Hendrix Experience emerged, making the girl group sound out of date with the public. The group struggled with recordings and were forced to take whatever performance offers they were given. In 1970, the Bluebelles were dropped from their Atlantic contract. Their longtime manager, Bernard Montague, would also leave them that year to focus his full time on fellow Philly group, The Delfonics. After almost signing with Frankie Crocker and Herb Hamlett as their managers, the group settled on Vicki Wickham, after Dusty Springfield, who was also managed by Wickham and was a fan of the Bluebelles insisted Wickham worked with them.
Wickham advised the group to move to London and change their entire image and sound, something Patti LaBelle later admitted she felt real uncomfortable with, saying she was okay with the way things were going. LaBelle had fears when the group returned to America with their new laid-back image that they would be booed and heckled for betraying fans with a new sound and look. Wickham advised them to change their name to simply Labelle and adapt a rock sound while keeping the group's R&B roots intact.
I Don't Want to Go on Without You
The Bluebelles Lyrics
I don't want to
Go on without you
It's so bad to be alone
Oh baby, come home
I need you
My room is so blue
I keep seeing your face, ohh
Every place, ohh
Here in the gloom
Of my lonely, lonely, lonely room
I sit all alone
I don't know what to do
Oh, I can't stand to
Oh no, I cannot live on without you
Oh, my darlin', darlin'
Please hear my plea
Oh, come back to me
Come, oh to
I don't wanna
I don't wanna baby
I don't want to
I don't want to go on without you
Go on without you
It's so bad to be alone
Oh baby, come home
I need you
My room is so blue
I keep seeing your face, ohh
Every place, ohh
Of my lonely, lonely, lonely room
I sit all alone
I don't know what to do
Oh, I can't stand to
Oh no, I cannot live on without you
Oh, my darlin', darlin'
Please hear my plea
Oh, come back to me
Come, oh to
I don't wanna
I don't wanna baby
I don't want to
I don't want to go on without you
Lyrics © Warner Chappell Music, Inc.
Written by: JERRY WEXLER
Lyrics Licensed & Provided by LyricFind
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