Inside Tracks #36: "Maybe I Know," Lesley Gore, 1964, written by Jeff Barry & Ellie Greenwich w/Covers by TMBGiants, Ellie, Nancy Boyd
She was a singular powerhouse, with emphasis on the "sing"...a one-woman "girl group" who was produced by the jazz giant who was 2 decades away from crafting the recorded sound of Michael Jackson.
Lesley Gore: She stands alone in the ‘60s girl group era as the only solo artist to be so identified with that happy, poppy, harmony-filled genre (with the exception of the wonderful Darlene Love, whose name was often kept off the label by Phil Spector, in lieu of his favored group names like The Blossoms and The Crystals).
Amid all the three- and four-somes whose names began with “The” and inevitably ended in an “s,” Lesley Gore fully exemplified the ebullient bouffant-adorned coquettish deb-groups that routinely battled chart positions with the British Invasion boys. Only, she did it by herself. Successfully, too.
At 16, her career began when she recorded her first hit song, “It's My Party,” a #1 U.S. smash in 1963. She followed it up with 10 more Billboard Top 40 hits including “Judy’s Turn to Cry,” “You Don't Own Me,” and “Maybe I Know,” which reached #14. All were recorded for Mercury Records.
In fact, it’s “Maybe I Know” which cements her place in the girl group pantheon: Written by Jeff Barry and then-wife, Ellie Greenwich, all that’s missing on Lesley’s production is Phil Spector.
Dozens are the ‘60s girl group hits that feature the songwriting credit “Spector/Greenwich/Barry,” but they were all recorded for Spector’s Philles Records (named after Phil, with the “Les” part representing Spector’s partner, fellow label exec, Lester Sill).
On a brief personal note, I had the pleasure of meeting Barry in 1980, shortly after moving to L.A. from Houston. He had produced two of fellow Houstonian (and good friend) Lisa Hartman’s albums (1976 and ‘79, both for noted song publisher, Don Kirshner’s Kirshner/CBS Records), and Lisa was kind enough to arrange for me to meet Jeff in his upper-Sunset Blvd. offices.
Barry, a true living legend who’s in both the Rock’n’Roll Hall of Fame (with Ellie) and the Songwriters Hall of Fame (with Ellie), is 86. Greenwich passed away in 2009 at 68.
Barry has written songs with exclusive FR&B contributor, singer/songwriter/guitarist, Stephen Michael Schwartz. Stephen writes about that late-’70s experience, and even shares a rare song demo of one of their collabs, “Light Years Away,” fully-produced by Jeff Barry! That’s here:
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