The Tammys
Encyclopedia
The Tammys were an American
girl group
made up of sisters Gretchen and Cathy Owens and their friend Linda Jones. They are best known for their song "Egyptian Shumba" with its faux Middle-Eastern instrumentals and sweet girlish vocals backed up by wild shrieks.
. "We'll be on that jukebox someday", they vowed.
in 1961 at a concert where he was performing in the band "Lugee and The Lions". He took them for a ride in his Cadillac
. He sang while they did back-up harmony
. He told them "If I ever get discovered, I'll call you", and they said the same to him. A year later Lou hit it big with his single "The Gypsy Cried" and he brought the girls in to sing backup for him. He also signed them to a contract with United Artists
and they recorded three singles. Despite local airplay, the weepy "Take Back Your Ring", the sweet "Gypsy" and the absolutely insane "Egyptian Shumba" all failed to chart nationally throughout 1963-1964. By 1965, Lou Christie was using another tough sounding girl group to back him, Jessica James and the Outlaws, which consisted of Bernadette Carroll, Denise Ferri and Peggy Santiglia. Meanwhile, The Tammys continued to play local shows and sing background tracks until later in the decade; but with three no-hit singles to their credit, their waxings became impossibly rare and the group became a footnote in music history.
hit Britain
in the early 1970s, and spurred a renewed interest in girl groups, collectors began searching for all sorts of rare records from the 1960s that should have been hits but weren’t. Looking especially for songs with a dance groove, "Egyptian Shumba," was unearthed and became a cult classic.
In 2002 all of The Tammys' singles plus two previously unreleased tracks were released on a CD called Egyptian Shumba - The Singles and Rare Recordings: 1962-1964. The collection also contains several Christie hits with backing vocals by The Tammys. "Egyptian Shumba" was also included in the Grammy nominated box set One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost and Found.
In 2006, Pitchfork Media included "Egyptian Shumba" in their list of top 200 songs of the 1960s at number 177.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
girl group
Girl group
A girl group is a popular music act featuring several young female singers who generally harmonise together.Girl groups emerged in the late 1950s as groups of young singers teamed up with behind-the-scenes songwriters and music producers to create hit singles, often featuring glossy production...
made up of sisters Gretchen and Cathy Owens and their friend Linda Jones. They are best known for their song "Egyptian Shumba" with its faux Middle-Eastern instrumentals and sweet girlish vocals backed up by wild shrieks.
Early years
In high school Cathy and Gretchen participated in a group called The Impressions. Billed as The Charnelles, Cathy, Gretchen and Linda first publicly performed on March 31, 1962 at a school talent show. Early on, they were thrown out of a local restaurant for singing along to the jukeboxJukebox
A jukebox is a partially automated music-playing device, usually a coin-operated machine, that will play a patron's selection from self-contained media...
. "We'll be on that jukebox someday", they vowed.
Lou Christie
The girls first met Lou ChristieLou Christie
Luigi Alfredo Giovanni Sacco , known professionally as Lou Christie, is an American singer-songwriter best known for three separate strings of pop hits in the 1960s , including his 1966 smash, "Lightnin' Strikes" and his incredible 3 octave vocal range.-Biography:Sacco was born in Glenwillard,...
in 1961 at a concert where he was performing in the band "Lugee and The Lions". He took them for a ride in his Cadillac
Cadillac
Cadillac is an American luxury vehicle marque owned by General Motors . Cadillac vehicles are sold in over 50 countries and territories, but mostly in North America. Cadillac is currently the second oldest American automobile manufacturer behind fellow GM marque Buick and is among the oldest...
. He sang while they did back-up harmony
Backing vocalist
A backing vocalist or backing singer is a singer who provides vocal harmony with the lead vocalist or other backing vocalists...
. He told them "If I ever get discovered, I'll call you", and they said the same to him. A year later Lou hit it big with his single "The Gypsy Cried" and he brought the girls in to sing backup for him. He also signed them to a contract with United Artists
United Artists Records
United Artists Records was a record label founded by Max E. Youngstein of United Artists in 1957 initially to distribute records of its movie soundtracks, though it soon branched out into recording music of a number of different genres.-History:...
and they recorded three singles. Despite local airplay, the weepy "Take Back Your Ring", the sweet "Gypsy" and the absolutely insane "Egyptian Shumba" all failed to chart nationally throughout 1963-1964. By 1965, Lou Christie was using another tough sounding girl group to back him, Jessica James and the Outlaws, which consisted of Bernadette Carroll, Denise Ferri and Peggy Santiglia. Meanwhile, The Tammys continued to play local shows and sing background tracks until later in the decade; but with three no-hit singles to their credit, their waxings became impossibly rare and the group became a footnote in music history.
Renewed interest
As Northern SoulNorthern soul
Northern soul is a music and dance movement that emerged from the British mod scene, initially in northern England in the late 1960s. Northern soul mainly consists of a particular style of black American soul music based on the heavy beat and fast tempo of the mid-1960s Tamla Motown sound...
hit Britain
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
in the early 1970s, and spurred a renewed interest in girl groups, collectors began searching for all sorts of rare records from the 1960s that should have been hits but weren’t. Looking especially for songs with a dance groove, "Egyptian Shumba," was unearthed and became a cult classic.
In 2002 all of The Tammys' singles plus two previously unreleased tracks were released on a CD called Egyptian Shumba - The Singles and Rare Recordings: 1962-1964. The collection also contains several Christie hits with backing vocals by The Tammys. "Egyptian Shumba" was also included in the Grammy nominated box set One Kiss Can Lead To Another: Girl Group Sounds, Lost and Found.
In 2006, Pitchfork Media included "Egyptian Shumba" in their list of top 200 songs of the 1960s at number 177.
Solo discography
- Take Back Your Ring/Part Of Growing Up—United Artists 632—1963
- Egyptian Shumba/What's So Sweet About Sweet Sixteen—United Artists 678—1963
- Hold Back The Light Of Dawn/Gypsy—Veep 1210—1965
- Blue Sixteen/His Actions Speak Louder Than Words—Veep 1220—1965 (Unreleased until 2002)