Pearl's a Singer

"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.[1]

"Pearl's a Singer"
Single by Elkie Brooks
from the album Two Days Away
B-side"You Did Something For Me"
Released25 February 1977
Recorded1976
GenreBlues rock, soft rock
Length3:39
LabelA&M
Songwriter(s)Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller, Ralph Dino, John Sembello
Producer(s)Jerry Leiber, Mike Stoller
Elkie Brooks singles chronology
"He's a Rebel"
(1976)		 "Pearl's a Singer"
(1977)		 "Saved"
(1977)

The song is a ballad, telling the story of a failed singer who still dreams of the success she might have had.

"Pearl's a Singer" afforded Elkie Brooks her debut chart single – thirteen years after she'd recorded her first track – reaching No. 8 in the UK Singles Chart in spring 1977. It remained her highest placing in that chart until "No More the Fool" reached No. 5, early in 1987.

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.[2] 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."[3]

"Pearl's a Singer" has also been recorded by Bernadette Peters (album Bernadette/ 1980), by Viktor Lazlo (album My Delicious Poisons/ 1991), and by Annie Schilder (nl) (album Anny En Ik/ 2007). The Czech rendering "Černý Zpěvák" was recorded by Jana Kratochvílová (cs) in 1978; the German rendering "Tingel-Tangel " was recorded by Wencke Myhre for her 1979 album So bin ich; the Swiss German rendering "Pearl tuet singe" was recorded by Toni Vescoli (als) for his 1999 album Tegsass.

"Pearl's a Singer" is featured in the score of the Leiber & Stoller musical revue Smokey Joe's Cafe. It is also performed at the end of season 1, episode 2 (Compromising Positions) of 'Ally McBeal' by Vonda Shepard.

Richard Digance parodied the song as "Earl's a winger", about an inept footballer.

Personnel

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
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References
  1. "Pearl's A Singer (original) – Dino & Sembello 1974". 24 March 1977. Retrieved 7 August 2012 – via YouTube.
  2. Brooks, Elkie (2012). Finding My Voice: my autobiography. London: Robson Press. ISBN 978-1-8495-4299-9.
  3. Roberts, Jo (17 December 2014). "'British Queen of Blues' Elkie Brooks is coming to the Britannia Theatre, Chatham". Kentonline.co.uk. Retrieved 12 October 2016.


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