Earlier this month, 72-year-old singer Darlene Love stood on stage at the Academy Awards, belted out gospel song His Eye Is On The Sparrow and received a standing ovation from the star-studded audience. She was there, alongside director Morgan Neville, to collect the Oscar for Best Documentary for 20 Feet From Stardom, which tells the story of backing singers from the 1960s to the present day.
Darlene Love – born Darlene Wright, daughter of a reverend in Los Angeles – is credited with changing the sound of backing singing in the early 1960s with her group The Blossoms. ‘We were the only black people doing background at the time,’ she says. ‘And because we were a group and had our own sound, we got a lot of work – we paved the way.’
Love says The Blossoms were in such demand she had more work than she knew what to do with and so set up acquaintances – such as the formidable Merry Clayton and the Waters family who feature in the film – with recording work. ‘The Blossoms started 99 per cent of the background singers in the business,’ says Love. The group provided backing vocals for singers as diverse as Elvis Presley, Frank Sinatra, Marvin Gaye and Doris Day.
But it was working with legendary producer Phil Spector – currently in jail for murdering an actress in 2003 – who had the biggest impact on Love’s career.
‘It was great at first,’ says Love. ‘He depended on me for background sessions, to get the singers together. We had a great relationship to start with.’
Spector gave Darlene her stage name and, after doing several uncredited lead vocals for other groups and singers, she expected him to launch her solo career. She’d sang the lead vocals on Spector’s first big hit He’s A Rebel – credited not to her but to girl group The Crystals. The tracks she recorded continued to be released as The Crystals. ‘That was my biggest fight with Phil,’ says Love. ‘Me saying: “It’s time to put my name on a record and stop using me as The Crystals.”’
Love continued to be a successful backing singer (Sam Cooke was among her favourite people to work with: ‘He was such a good-looking guy, you couldn’t take your eyes off him… and he was very professional’) but her relationship with Spector had deteriorated to such an extent he wouldn’t record with her, while keeping her under contract so she couldn’t record elsewhere.
‘I sang on a TV show called Shindig!. If I’d released a record while doing the show it would have been a hit but Phil wouldn’t record me.’
Weren’t The Cookies the first black female background singers? They were formed in 1954. They did background for Ray Charles. What about all the other singers Phil Spector employed, e.g., The Crystals, The Righteous Brothers, The Ronettes, The Ramones, Tina Turner, George Harrison and John Lennon. Aren’t they also the sound of Phil Spector? The Crystals were the first group signed by Phil Spector and they were the ones that got him going in the recording business.