Shirley Goodman
Encyclopedia
Shirley Goodman was an American
R&B
singer known best for "Shirley and Lee", a 1950s R&B duo. Later in her career, she had a resurgence with the disco
hit, "Shame, Shame, Shame" in the 1970s.
choir
s, she recorded
her first demo
with a group of friends in 1950. Some months later, her solo
voice
caught the attention of Aladdin Records
owner Eddie Messner, who tracked her down and paired her as a duo
with another school friend, Leonard Lee (June 29, 1936 – October 23, 1976).
As 'Shirley & Lee', they recorded their debut single
"I’m Gone", produced
by Cosimo Matassa
, which reached #2 on the Billboard
R&B
charts
in 1952. The record contrasted Goodman’s soprano
with Leonard's baritone
, in a way in which subsequent songwriter
s have suggested was influential on the development of ska
and reggae
.
In their early song
s, they pretended as if they were sweethearts and were dubbed "the Sweethearts of the Blues". However, they changed style in 1956 and recorded "Let the Good Times Roll", which became their biggest hit single
reaching #1 on the US
R&B
chart
and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
. Although a follow-up single, "I Feel Good" (not to be confused with their 1955 single "Feel So Good"), also made the charts, the duo’s later releases were less successful, and the pair moved to the Warwick label in 1959. Goodman and Leonard split up in 1963. Leonard made some subsequent solo records
with little success.
In the mid 1960s, Goodman moved to California
, where she worked as a session singer
on records
by Sonny and Cher, Dr. John
and others, and also formed a duo for a time with Jessie Hill
. She sang backing vocals on The Rolling Stones
’ Exile On Main Street album
, but then briefly retired from the music industry.
Later in 1974, as Shirley Goodman Pixley, she was contacted by her friend Sylvia Robinson
, previously of the duo Mickey and Sylvia and now co-owner of the All Platinum
record label
, and was persuaded to record the lead vocal on a dance track, "Shame, Shame, Shame
". Credited to Shirley & Company
, the record became an international pop
hit, reaching #12 on the Billboard chart and presaging the disco
boom. After a few further recordings and tours, Goodman finally retired from the music industry after returning to New Orleans in the late 1970s.
In 1976, Leonard Lee, who had become a social worker, died of a heart attack
, aged 40.
in 1994, she moved to California
, and died on July 5, 2005 in Los Angeles
. She was buried in New Orleans (a month and a half before Hurricane Katrina
hit). She is survived by her son.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
singer known best for "Shirley and Lee", a 1950s R&B duo. Later in her career, she had a resurgence with the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
hit, "Shame, Shame, Shame" in the 1970s.
Career
After singing in churchChurch service
In Christianity, a church service is a term used to describe a formalized period of communal worship, often but not exclusively occurring on Sunday, or Saturday in the case of those churches practicing seventh-day Sabbatarianism. The church service is the gathering together of Christians to be...
choir
Choir
A choir, chorale or chorus is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform.A body of singers who perform together as a group is called a choir or chorus...
s, she recorded
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
her first demo
Demo (music)
A demo version or demo of a song is one recorded for reference rather than for release. A demo is a way for a musician to approximate their ideas on tape or disc, and provide an example of those ideas to record labels, producers or other artists...
with a group of friends in 1950. Some months later, her solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
voice
Human voice
The human voice consists of sound made by a human being using the vocal folds for talking, singing, laughing, crying, screaming, etc. Its frequency ranges from about 60 to 7000 Hz. The human voice is specifically that part of human sound production in which the vocal folds are the primary...
caught the attention of Aladdin Records
Aladdin Records
Aladdin Records was a post-World War II United States record label, with headquarters in Hollywood, California. The label was founded in 1945 by brothers Eddie, Leo, and Ira Mesner and was originally called Philo Records, before changing to its better-known name in April 1946.Aladdin Records...
owner Eddie Messner, who tracked her down and paired her as a duo
Duet (music)
A duet is a musical composition for two performers. In classical music, the term is most often used for a composition for two singers or pianists; with other instruments, the word duo is also often used. A piece performed by two pianists performing together on the same piano is referred to as...
with another school friend, Leonard Lee (June 29, 1936 – October 23, 1976).
As 'Shirley & Lee', they recorded their debut single
Single (music)
In music, a single or record single is a type of release, typically a recording of fewer tracks than an LP or a CD. This can be released for sale to the public in a variety of different formats. In most cases, the single is a song that is released separately from an album, but it can still appear...
"I’m Gone", produced
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
by Cosimo Matassa
Cosimo Matassa
Cosimo Matassa is an Italian-American recording engineer and studio owner responsible for many R&B and early rock and roll recordings....
, which reached #2 on the Billboard
Billboard (magazine)
Billboard is a weekly American magazine devoted to the music industry, and is one of the oldest trade magazines in the world. It maintains several internationally recognized music charts that track the most popular songs and albums in various categories on a weekly basis...
R&B
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
charts
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
in 1952. The record contrasted Goodman’s soprano
Soprano
A soprano is a voice type with a vocal range from approximately middle C to "high A" in choral music, or to "soprano C" or higher in operatic music. In four-part chorale style harmony, the soprano takes the highest part, which usually encompasses the melody...
with Leonard's baritone
Baritone
Baritone is a type of male singing voice that lies between the bass and tenor voices. It is the most common male voice. Originally from the Greek , meaning deep sounding, music for this voice is typically written in the range from the second F below middle C to the F above middle C Baritone (or...
, in a way in which subsequent songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
s have suggested was influential on the development of ska
Ska
Ska |Jamaican]] ) is a music genre that originated in Jamaica in the late 1950s, and was the precursor to rocksteady and reggae. Ska combined elements of Caribbean mento and calypso with American jazz and rhythm and blues...
and reggae
Reggae
Reggae is a music genre first developed in Jamaica in the late 1960s. While sometimes used in a broader sense to refer to most types of Jamaican music, the term reggae more properly denotes a particular music style that originated following on the development of ska and rocksteady.Reggae is based...
.
In their early song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
s, they pretended as if they were sweethearts and were dubbed "the Sweethearts of the Blues". However, they changed style in 1956 and recorded "Let the Good Times Roll", which became their biggest hit single
Hit single
A hit single is a recorded song or instrumental released as a single that has become very popular. Although it is sometimes used to describe any widely-played or big-selling song, the term "hit" is usually reserved for a single that has appeared in an official music chart through repeated radio...
reaching #1 on the US
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and #20 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
. Although a follow-up single, "I Feel Good" (not to be confused with their 1955 single "Feel So Good"), also made the charts, the duo’s later releases were less successful, and the pair moved to the Warwick label in 1959. Goodman and Leonard split up in 1963. Leonard made some subsequent solo records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
with little success.
In the mid 1960s, Goodman moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, where she worked as a session singer
Session musician
Session musicians are instrumental and vocal performers, musicians, who are available to work with others at live performances or recording sessions. Usually such musicians are not permanent members of a musical ensemble and often do not achieve fame in their own right as soloists or bandleaders...
on records
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
by Sonny and Cher, Dr. John
Dr. John
Malcolm John "Mac" Rebennack, Jr. , better known by the stage name Dr. John , is an American singer-songwriter, pianist and guitarist, whose music combines blues, pop, jazz as well as Zydeco, boogie woogie and rock and roll.Active as a session musician since the late 1950s, he came to wider...
and others, and also formed a duo for a time with Jessie Hill
Jessie Hill
Jessie Hill was an American R&B and Louisiana blues singer and songwriter, best remembered for the classic song, "Ooh Poo Pah Doo"....
. She sang backing vocals on The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones
The Rolling Stones are an English rock band, formed in London in April 1962 by Brian Jones , Ian Stewart , Mick Jagger , and Keith Richards . Bassist Bill Wyman and drummer Charlie Watts completed the early line-up...
’ Exile On Main Street album
Album
An album is a collection of recordings, released as a single package on gramophone record, cassette, compact disc, or via digital distribution. The word derives from the Latin word for list .Vinyl LP records have two sides, each comprising one half of the album...
, but then briefly retired from the music industry.
Later in 1974, as Shirley Goodman Pixley, she was contacted by her friend Sylvia Robinson
Sylvia Robinson
Sylvia Robinson was an American singer, musician, record producer, and record label executive, most notably known for her work as founder/CEO of the hip hop label Sugar Hill Records. She is credited as the driving force behind two landmark singles in the genre...
, previously of the duo Mickey and Sylvia and now co-owner of the All Platinum
All Platinum Records
All Platinum Records was one of the labels which was started by Sylvia Robinson before she started Sugar Hill Records.All Platinum purchased Chess Records in the early 1970s after the latter fell into bankruptcy; however, All Platinum was a much smaller label and was unable to keep releasing steady...
record label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
, and was persuaded to record the lead vocal on a dance track, "Shame, Shame, Shame
Shame, Shame, Shame (Shirley & Company song)
"Shame, Shame, Shame" is a 1974 hit song written by Sylvia Robinson and performed by American disco band Shirley & Company. The single hit number one on the soul singles chart for one week, and number one on the disco/dance charts for four weeks.The track was one of the first international disco...
". Credited to Shirley & Company
Shirley & Company
Shirley & Company was an American disco group, consisting of Shirley Goodman , Jesus Alvarez, Walter Morris, Bernadette Randle, Seldon Powell, Jonathan Williams and Clarence Oliver....
, the record became an international pop
Pop music
Pop music is usually understood to be commercially recorded music, often oriented toward a youth market, usually consisting of relatively short, simple songs utilizing technological innovations to produce new variations on existing themes.- Definitions :David Hatch and Stephen Millward define pop...
hit, reaching #12 on the Billboard chart and presaging the disco
Disco
Disco is a genre of dance music. Disco acts charted high during the mid-1970s, and the genre's popularity peaked during the late 1970s. It had its roots in clubs that catered to African American, gay, psychedelic, and other communities in New York City and Philadelphia during the late 1960s and...
boom. After a few further recordings and tours, Goodman finally retired from the music industry after returning to New Orleans in the late 1970s.
In 1976, Leonard Lee, who had become a social worker, died of a heart attack
Myocardial infarction
Myocardial infarction or acute myocardial infarction , commonly known as a heart attack, results from the interruption of blood supply to a part of the heart, causing heart cells to die...
, aged 40.
Post career
After suffering a strokeStroke
A stroke, previously known medically as a cerebrovascular accident , is the rapidly developing loss of brain function due to disturbance in the blood supply to the brain. This can be due to ischemia caused by blockage , or a hemorrhage...
in 1994, she moved to California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...
, and died on July 5, 2005 in Los Angeles
Los Ángeles
Los Ángeles is the capital of the province of Biobío, in the commune of the same name, in Region VIII , in the center-south of Chile. It is located between the Laja and Biobío rivers. The population is 123,445 inhabitants...
. She was buried in New Orleans (a month and a half before Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina
Hurricane Katrina of the 2005 Atlantic hurricane season was a powerful Atlantic hurricane. It is the costliest natural disaster, as well as one of the five deadliest hurricanes, in the history of the United States. Among recorded Atlantic hurricanes, it was the sixth strongest overall...
hit). She is survived by her son.
Shirley & Lee
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1952 | "I'm Gone" | - | 2 | - |
| 1955 | "Feel So Good" | - | 2 | - |
| 1956 | "Let The Good Times Roll" | 20 | 1 | - |
| "I Feel Good" | 38 | 3 | - | |
| 1957 | "When I Saw You" | - | 14 | - |
| 1960 | "I've Been Loved Before" | 88 | - | - |
| "Let The Good Times Roll" (re-recording) |
48 | - | - | |
| 1961 | "Well-A, Well-A" | 77 | - | - |
Shirley and Company
| Year | Single | Chart Positions | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| US Pop Billboard Hot 100 The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday... |
US R&B Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,... |
UK UK Singles Chart The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ... |
||
| 1975 | "Shame, Shame, Shame" | 12 | 1 | 6 |
| "Cry Cry Cry" | 91 | 38 | - | |
| 1976 | "I Like To Dance" featuring Peppi Marchello |
- | 91 | - |