the Caravelles
"You Don't Have to be a Baby to Cry / The Last One to Know"
(Smash Records 1963 USA/UK)
"You Don't Have to be a Baby to Cry / The Last One to Know"
(Smash Records 1963 USA/UK)
This 45 has been in my collection for a long time now, originally acquired at a local record store in the town I grew up as a kid. I'm sure that I mistook this for some Northern Soul band, looking only at the year and label without giving it a listen. Didn't think much of it until I started making record-only mix cd's for an ex-girlfriend, at which point the A side hooked me big time.
"You Don't Have to be a Baby to Cry" sounds older than it actually is. The tune could certainly pass for early to mid 50's pop but was recorded in 1963 by two co-workers from an office building (Lois Wilkinson and Andrea Simpson) who would never really record anything else in their lifetimes. Keep in mind that the Stones and Beatles were starting to take over then, thus making a song like this sound extremely tame.
Nothing complicated about the melody, the lyrics, the production, or the overall mood...Just saccharine. Vocals are sung with a subtle whisper, impeccably in harmony, and drowned in the most gorgeous of echo chambers. Brushed drums, acoustic bass, electric guitar, finger snaps, and some perfect vibraphone adds up to what sounds like a take on the kind of pop music Joe Meek was producing during that era (in the same country as the Caravelles, the UK). This music also reminds me of David Lynch films (he uses a lot of 60's girl pop). A long-forgotten chart single that deserves a second look by all hopeless romantics and record nerds.
this one gets 7 out of 10 on the "records before rent" scale...
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