Record #0883: Sweet Talkin’ Guy / Did You Ever Go Steady? – THE CHIFFONS

Laurie LR 3340 (original, Indianapolis pressing), USA, April 1966
Words & Music by:  Side A – Doug Morris, Eliot Greenberg); Side B – The Tokens (Margo, Margo, Medress, Siegel)
Musicians: Judy Craig (lead vocals), Sylvia Peterson (backing vocals), Patricia Bennett (backing vocals), Barbara Lee (backing vocals), unknown session musicians
Recording sessions: Produced by the Tokens (as Bright Tunes Productions Inc.); Side A - engineered by Bruce Staple at Allegro Sound Studios, New York, NY, in early 1966; Side B - engineered by Bob Arnold probably at Allegro Sound Studios or Mira Sound Studios, New York, NY, in 1965
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #10, UK #31 (1972 reissue UK #4); Side B – none

This was the Chiffons’ last US Top 10 hit. I think the vocal harmonies and their arrangement are just superb in this one.

“Sweet Talkin’ Guy” was co-written and produced by a young Doug Morris. While he was a $25-a-week songwriter at the time, Morris went on to become an absolute music industry titan. He is uniquely famous as the only executive in history to lead all three major global music groups: Warner Music Group, Universal Music Group, and Sony Music. He also co-founded the massive music video platform Vevo.

When Doug Morris sat down in the Laurie Records office to write "Sweet Talkin' Guy," he explicitly aimed to mimic the massive success of Motown. He later admitted that the track's distinctive, driving rhythm and vocal arrangements were heavily influenced by a The Supremes song he had heard on the radio. By borrowing Motown's signature "stomp" style and blending it with The Chiffons' New York girl-group harmonies, he successfully created a cross-regional pop hit.

The flipside is the same as the one featured in my previous post.

List price: VG+ is $7,50, NM $15. 45cat.com price guide shows €3.

 

Record #0882: Nobody Knows What's Goin' On (In My Mind But Me) / Did You Ever Go Steady? – THE CHIFFONS

Laurie LR 3301 (original, 2^nd version), USA, May 1965
Words & Music by:  Side A – Brute Force (Stephen Friedland); Side B – The Tokens (Margo, Margo, Medress, Siegel)
Musicians: Sylvia Peterson (lead vocals on side A, backing vocals on side B), Judy Craig (backing vocals on side A, lead vocals on side B), Patricia Bennett (backing vocals), Barbara Lee (backing vocals), the Tokens probably played some of the instruments, the rest was played by unknown session musicians
Recording sessions: Produced by the Tokens (as Bright Tunes Productions Inc.) and engineered by Bob Arnold probably at Allegro Sound Studios or Mira Sound Studios, New York, NY, in 1965
Highest chart positions:  Side A – US #49; Side B – none

While most 1960s girl group songs focused on standard teenage romance, side A stands out for its unusually dark, anxious, and introspective lyrics. Combined with its driving rhythm and intense horn arrangements, music historians and collectors often consider it a unique bridge between classic 1960s pop-soul and early proto-psychedelic pop.

The song was written by the eccentric songwriter Stephen Friedland (better known by his stage name Brute Force). A few years after this record, his avant-garde solo work caught the attention of The Beatles, specifically George Harrison and John Lennon, who loved his humour and signed him to Apple Records to release his infamous cult single "King of Fuh", a song about the Fuh King. 😊

The single exists in two distinct versions. The very first pressings featured the soul track "The Real Thing" as the B-side (with Sylvia Peterson singing lead). However, Laurie Records quickly changed the B-side in subsequent pressings to the song "Did You Ever Go Steady?" (with Judy Craig on lead).

List price: VG+ is $6, NM $12. 45cat.com price guide shows €4. I found five copies sold in eBay for €18-€34.