The Blossoms

The Blossoms were one of the premier backing groups in rock and roll history, and had a recording career of their own. They were to the West Coast what The Sweet Inspirations were to the East Coast and what The Andantes were for Motown.

History

Early years

Their career began in 1954 in Los Angeles, California, while still in high school. Originally, the group was a sextet of young girls singing for fun. Calling themselves The Dreamers, the group originally sang spirituals, since two of the members had parents who were against their daughters singing the secular rhythm & blues music popular on the radio during the early 1950s.

Fanita Barrett, Gloria Jones, Jewel Cobbs, Pat Howard and twin sisters Annette and Nanette Williams all came from musical backgrounds. The twins had taken vocal and dancing lessons as youngsters. Fanita's brother Ronald was already a success with his vocal group, The Meadowlarks. The Dreamers were introduced to local musicians through Dexter Tisby, then successful with his own group, The Penguins, who hit the big time with Earth Angel.The Dreamers joined Richard Berry in the studio after much rehearsal. During 1955 and 1956, the unit made several recordings for Flair and RPM Records. Among them was a version of Harry Warren and Mac Gordon's At Last and several of Richard Berry's compositions, Together, Wait For Me, and Daddy, Daddy. The Dreamers gained notoriety as versatile singers and began getting studio work singing backup for other artists, as well as recording a few singles of their own, as The Dreamers and The Rollettes, although only Fanita, Gloria and Annette were involved in The Rollettes projects.

The Dreamers then signed with Capitol Records. One of the executives, noticing their different skin tones, said they looked like a bouquet; which is how they became The Blossoms. Even though signing to Capitol was considered a step up, the group's stay at Capitol was short, yielding only three singles - none of which made the charts. The Blossoms also underwent significant changes at this time. By 1958, Nanette was married, pregnant, and planning a leave of absence from the group.

Darlene Wright (later known as Darlene Love) replaced Nanette, and she was also selected to be the lead, which the ensemble-based Blossoms had not previously had. The addition of Wright would change the style of the group, but despite Darlene's unique presence as lead on songs like No Other Love for Capitol in 1958, Sugarbeat for RCA (as The Playgirls) in 1960 and Write Me A Letter for Challenge in 1961, chart success was still elusive.

uccess years

During the summer of 1962, The Blossoms would finally emerge successful on the charts, but under an alias. Then-unknown producer Phil Spector used them on a song he had acquired from singer/songwriter Gene Pitney. Spector was having success on the East Coast with a quintet of young Brooklyn girls named The Crystals, who already had two hits with Spector.

Problems between The Crystals and Spector prompted him to record this new song without them. Instead he used The Blossoms, who received a meager session fee. The song, "He's a Rebel," turned out to be a monster hit, firmly establishing Spector as a force to be reckoned with in the music industry. The single with The Blossoms' voices was billed as The Crystals, much to the dismay of the real Crystals. Over the next three years, The Blossoms, with Darlene as lead, would be the favored singers on all of Spector's sessions recorded in California. They were The Crystals once again on He's Sure the Boy I Love. Darlene and Fanita sang with Bobby Sheen as Bob B. Soxx and The Blue Jeans. This combo achieved hit singles for Spector, including a version of the Disney classic, Zip A Dee Do Dah.

The Blossoms more than likely recorded all the backgrounds on numerous sessions by The Crystals, The Ronettes and Darlene's solo efforts under the new stage name Phil had given her--Darlene Love. However, this association would prevent the group from establishing themselves as primary artists. At a crucial time in the industry, when new sounds were striking the listening public at full speed, The Blossoms seemed to be floundering as recording artists.In 1964, the trio, now Darlene, Fanita, and newcomer Jean King, were a featured part of a relatively successful weekly Rock & Roll television program called "Shindig!". The Blossoms used their vocal versatility to their advantage, singing in various styles behind a variety of artists--like Patty Duke, Shelley Fabares and Marvin Gaye. They were the backup group for Fabares on her recording of "Johhny Angel", and Fabares stated in an interview quoted in "The Billboard Book of #1 Hits" that her strongest memory of that recording session was the "beautiful voices of the backup singers". They also had their own spots, covering popular songs of the day. This ability would see them through the 60s, amid numerous production and record label changes.

The Blossoms resumed recording under their own name later in the 1960s for labels such as Reprise, Ode and MGM. They recorded their first and only album, "Shockwave" in 1972 on Lion.

Later years

Darlene eventually left The Blossoms in 1974 in controversy over business decisions and Jean's alleged drug abuse. Jean King died of a heart attack in Las Vegas in 1983. Fanita kept The Blossoms going, with varying personnel, backing Tom Jones, and on the Vegas circuit until 1990, and became a backup singer for Doris of The Shirelles. Darlene stayed out of the music business for about five years after a brief and unpleasant reunion with Phil Spector in late 1974. She made a comeback in 1981 and two years later, was starring in Leader of the Pack, the Broadway musical based on the life of songwriter Ellie Greenwich. Darlene added to her rising impact with a new acting career, portraying Trish in the Lethal Weapon movie series. She also had her own highly successful one-woman show, "Darlene Love: Portrait of a Woman" at The Bottom Line in New York City.

Following Doris’ death in 2000, Fanita revived The Blossoms with original member Gloria Jones and a new third member.