Darlene Love - Lord If You're A Woman

Darlene Love - Lord If You're A Woman - Phil Spector Int. 2010 019 - 1977



Darlene Love was a founding member of the Blossoms in 1957. They did several sessions and were resident singers on the television show Shindig. Love sang lead vocals on "He's a Rebel," which was credited to the Crystals, and "Zip-A-Dee-Doo-Dah," which was issued as Bob B. Soxx and the Bluejeans.

In the early 70s she landed a deal with the then-hot Gamble & Huff's Philadelphia Records and everything looked rosy, but Phil Spector put an unknown amount of money and he bought her contract and soon had her working on a newly written song. "Lord If You're A Woman" was recorded in 1974 and composed by Barry Mann and Cynthia Weil, it has a great Modern Soul tempo that is just right for today, bringing the 60's sound back to the Modern dancefloor, even perhaps bridging the gap between Northern and Modern.

Dave Thompson's Spector bio tells us: "It was intended to be the first step towards a full Love album. It was not to be, Love was several months pregnant at the time and Spector she remembered was more interested in entertaining guests who dropped in the studio at the time, Cher and John Lennon among them, than Love's own performance. When the session wrapped up a couple of hours later there was no discussion of a return date and the single didn't come out until 1977". It was the first of seven Phil Spector International singles that went unnoticed in 1977. A watered down version also appeared later on cd with great gospel vocals removed. Incidentally the Ronettes reissue on Phil Spector Int., of "Walking In The Rain" 2010 017 (UK) had the great "I Wonder track that was never issued on a single before this date taken from the Ronettes first 1964 album.

Blossoms - needle in a haystack
Uploaded by mickeynold

She had cut six singles for Spector's Phillies label in the 60's, with "Wait Till My Bobby Gets Back Home" the most successful. Love became busy as an actress, but reunited with Spector for the 1977 single . Love also appeared in all four films, and was also in the Royal Shakespeare Company's co-production of Stephen King's + Carrie. Her 1990 LP, Paint Another Picture, failed to chart in America. Love later toured as a background vocalist with Cher. She appeared briefly on the soap opera Another World in 1993. Her site is: www.darleneloveworld.com

Darlene love - it's a long way
Uploaded by mickeynold

I've included the Blossoms (Darlene in the middle) footage from the US TV show Shindig in 1965 and a stunning previously unreleased track that appeared on the Phil Spector box set in the early 90's. As for Spector himself, 'guilty' or 'not guilty' of murder?, having recently watched a new documentary program about him during his court case, he does seem to have received a raw deal over the years from the press. What's your thoughts ...