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Pearl's a Singer
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Wikipedia article
"'Pearl's a Singer'" is a song made famous by the British singer Elkie Brooks, as taken from her 1977 album 'Two Days Away' which was produced by the song's co-writers Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" had been introduced by the duo Dino and Sembello also the song's co-writers on their 1974 self-titled album which Leiber and Stoller had produced.
The song is a ballad, telling the story of a failed singer who still dreams of the success she might have had.
History
Brooks would recall that at a rehearsal session for her 'Two Days Away' album "Jerry Leiber [said]: 'I want to play you this song, I don't think you're going to like it, it's too countryish for you but I'll play it for you anyway.'...I said: 'Go on, I've got an open mind, I like a lot of country [music].' I listened to 'Pearl's a Singer' and told [Leiber & Stoller] I liked it but that they needed to [modify it with] a middle section. To which Jerry said: 'No problem'. And with that he disappeared and came back half an hour later with the [modified] version of 'Pearl's a Singer'" which Brooks recorded. Brooks - "To be honest [in the mid-1970s] I just wanted to enjoy myself in music and I never thought 'Pearl...' was going to be a big hit but [after] it was released on my birthday in 1977 the record company really pushed it, [it] got played on all the radio stations and became very successful. No one was more surprised than me."
Chart performance
"Pearl's a Singer" afforded Elkie Brooks her debut chart single thirteen years after she'd recorded her first track reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1977. It remained her highest placing in that chart until "No More the Fool" reached No. 5, in early 1987.
Personnel
*Elkie Brooks vocals
*Isaac Guillory guitars
*Jean Roussel keyboards
*Trevor Morais drums
*Steve York bass
Additional personnel
*Mike Stoller keyboards*Eric Weissberg guitars
*George Devens percussion
*Muscle Shoals Horns
**Harrison Calloway (arranger)
**Charlie Rose
**Harvey Thompson
**Ronnie Eades
*Meco Monardo (arranger), Tony Posk, Guy Lumia, Elliot Rosoff, Rick Sortonne, Carol Webb, Joe Goodman, Julien Barber, Jesse Levy strings
*Carl Hall, Peggy Blue, Marry Ellen Johnson backing vocals
Charts
Weekly charts
Year-end charts
References
Category:1977 singles
Category:Elkie Brooks songs
Category:Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller
Category:1977 songs
Category:A&M Records singles
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