Earl-Jean McCrea

Earl-Jean Reavis (née McCrea; born 1942)[1] is an American former pop and R&B singer, who was a member of the vocal group, the Cookies. Credited as Earl-Jean, she had a solo hit with the original version of "I'm into Something Good", written by Gerry Goffin and Carole King, and later a bigger hit for Herman's Hermits.

Early life

Reavis was born in Brooklyn, New York, but lived with her family in North Carolina from the age of two. They returned to Brooklyn to live in Coney Island when Jeanie was a young teenager, where she attended Lincoln High School. In 1960, she married Grant Reavis, and had a child.[1] Gerry Goffin and Earl-Jean McCrea (aka Jeanie Reavis) had a daughter together while Goffin and King were still working together, as author Sheila Weller said in her book "Girls Like Us," which chronicles the lives of King, Joni Mitchell and Carly Simon.

Career

Reavis's older sister, Darlene McCrea, and the other original members of the Cookies - a group first formed in 1954 - eventually evolved into Ray Charles' backing group, the Raelettes. In 1961, Earl-Jean was persuaded to join a new version of the Cookies. The group was signed to Goffin and King's Dimension record label in 1962, and scored hits with "Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)", and "Chains" (later covered by the Beatles).[2]

Reavis became pregnant while on tour, and Gerry Goffin (married to Carole King at the time) was named as the father; the baby, Dawn Reavis, was born in July 1964.[1][3] She left the Cookies, and signed for Colpix, where she recorded the Goffin and King song "I'm into Something Good" (Colpix CP 729), which reached no.38 in the United States on the Billboard Hot 100. Later that year in Britain, a cover version by Herman's Hermits topped the charts.[2] She recorded a follow-up single in 1964, again written by Goffin and King, called 'Randy You're Quite a Guy" (Colpix CP 748) but this failed to chart.

Goffin and King gave Earl-Jean financial support,[1] but she did not have any further hits. She later worked as a specialist in early childhood, and opened a day care center.[1]

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References
  1. Sheila Weller, Girls Like Us, Simon and Schuster, 2008, pp.114-122
  2. Biography at Allmusic. Retrieved 20 June 2014
  3. "Gerry Goffin, songwriting partner of Carole King, dies at 75", LA Times, 20 June 2014
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