Cholli Maye - who was she?

[Ljblanken]

I dug out my copy of "never get away" over the weekend. I love her voice. 

Did she record anything else? I can't find anything under that name.

 

 

[Robbk]

1 hour ago, Ljblanken said:

I dug out my copy of "never get away" over the weekend. I love her voice. 

Did she record anything else? I can't find anything under that name.

 

 

I've never seen the name "CholIi Maye" on another record, but I know I've heard her voice on several different records.  I'd bet the family farm that she was a member of a couple New York Metro Area-based girls groups.  The Cholli Maye cuts were written by Charlie Callelo, and published by Franki Valli's and Charlie Callelo's Valbo Music.  It has the sound of the 1963-65 Linzer-Randell-Artie Ripp-Bob Crewe New York Girl's Group Sound.  Interestingly, when I googled "What was singer, Cholli Maye's birth name?", The Cholli Maye record came up, together with a record by Margie Anderson, and one by The Janettes.  The Janettes' lead voice was different from Cholli's, but maybe the latter was a member of that group.  I'm going to listen to several songs sung by Margie Anderson, to hear if the voices match.

[Ljblanken]

1 minute ago, Robbk said:

I've never seen the name "CholIi Maye" on another record, but I know I've heard her voice on several different records.  I'd bet the family farm that she was a member of a couple New York Metro Area-based girls groups.  The Cholli Maye cuts were written by Charlie Callelo, and published by Franki Valli's and Charlie Callelo's Valbo Music.  It has the sound of the 1963-65 Linzer-Randell-Artie Ripp-Bob Crewe New York Girl's Group Sound.  Interestingly, when I googled "What was singer, Cholli Maye's birth name?", The Cholli Maye record came up, together with a record by Margie Anderson, and one by The Janettes.  The Janettes' lead voice was different from Cholli's, but maybe the latter was a member of that group.  I'm going to listen to several songs sung by Margie Anderson, to hear if the voices match.

Awesome. I am glad you are on the case! 

I love this style of singing/production so feel free to recommend anything you come across doing your efforts! (with or without Cholli Maye)

 

 

[Robbk]

After listening to several cuts by Blues, Jazz and Gospel singer Margie Anderson, who was big throughout the 1950s, and is likely to have been much older than Cholli Maye, I've come to the conclusion that Cholli was NOT Ms. Anderson.  The Janettes sound, from 1962-63, is roughly in the same NY Girls Group genre as Cholli Maye's 1964 gem (which is when the big change to a more modern sound (Phil Spector,Leiber/Stoller, Barry/Greenwich, Goffin/King, Mann/Weil, etc.) occurred.  So, I think that Cholli could have been a member of The Janettes.  She was likely to have also been a member of one or two more New York groups.  And, of course, it's very possibly that she also recorded as a soloist under another name, including, possibly, her birth name.  But, unfortunately, my not being well versed on how search engines work, I'm not the best candidate to find information on her doing Internet searches.

[The Yank]

One thing is for sure, Cholli was not a male singer as this Cashbox review seems to suggest - 

 

[Ljblanken]

7 minutes ago, The Yank said:

One thing is for sure, Cholli was not a male singer as this Cashbox review seems to suggest - 

 

Yeah that is weird - must be a type. This is not even close to being a male (as opposed to someone like Tut Sutton - who I assumed to be a female until someone on SS posted a pic of him!)

[Robbk]

I read the comments on all the you Tube postings of her Gold Record, and MANY of the poster claim they "heard" that Cholli was really Shirley Alston backed by the rest of The Shirelles.  But I think that is a lot of people mentioning that because they saw a lot of other comments stating that, and it is all from one, original incorrect guess.  I think Cholli's voice is far, FAR away from Shirley's, and the background group on Cholli Maye's "You'll Never Get Away" is much, much better at harmony, and more full-sounding than The Shirelles were on most of their cuts.

[Robbk]

Here's The Janettes' "He's Crying Inside" from late 1962-early 1963: 

The lead is a lot closer to Cholli Maye's voice than that of Shirley Alston, but Cholli's seems quite a bit deeper.  But singers are certainly capable of singing in deeper or higher registers.

Edited December 14, 2020 by Robbk

[Robbk]

11 minutes ago, Robbk said:

I read the comments on all the you Tube postings of her Gold Record, and MANY of the poster claim they "heard" that Cholli was really Shirley Alston backed by the rest of The Shirelles.  But I think that is a lot of people mentioning that because they saw a lot of other comments stating that, and it is all from one, original incorrect guess.  I think Cholli's voice is far, FAR away from Shirley's, and the background group on Cholli Maye's "You'll Never Get Away" doesn't sound as tight harmonically as the Shirelles did.

 

[Ljblanken]

You know who would probably know the answer to this? Dick Vivian from Rooky Ricardos records in SF. That guy knows so much about girly soul and girl group stuff. He used to turn me on to so many records like that back in the 90s. Too bad he is not up on any social media (that I know of).

[Soul Shrews]

Rooky Ricardos have a FB account

Cheers Paul

[Ljblanken]

 

30 minutes ago, Soul Shrews said:

Rooky Ricardos have a FB account

Cheers Paul

Ironically, I do not! Maybe I can call him...

 

 

[Wilfred]

Hello. She is white. From the black and white photo she looks like a red head. I can absolutely believe she was a jazz bar singer in the 1950s. I think maybe I've heard too many Shirrelles records to know Shirley would have to drink lots of sherry to sound like Cholli. Although I do like the record.

[Wilfred]

https://www.last.fm/music/Cholli+Maye

 

I think this photo looks kind of early so I can believe she was a Jazz club singer in the late 1950s. Yes.

[Robbk]

On 07/09/2024 at 06:35, Wilfred said:

https://www.last.fm/music/Cholli+Maye

 

I think this photo looks kind of early so I can believe she was a Jazz club singer in the late 1950s. Yes.

I don't understand your point, as the only photo that shows up is a scan of her early to mid '60s Gold Record.  There is no photo of a Human.  From the sound of her voice, which doesn't project very well (e.g. more from mouth than diaphragm, i'd guess that it isn't a "trained" voice.  And I'd also guess she might have been somewhere between 15 and maybe 22 or 23 years old (also helped by the girls' groupish-sounding background chorus behind her.  I doubt very much that she was a jazz singer.  

Edited September 9 by Robbk

[Wilfred]

News flash... Chollie Maye's real name is Joyce Harris and she was in The Slades  

[Robbk]

30 minutes ago, Wilfred said:

News flash... Chollie Maye's real name is Joyce Harris and she was in The Slades  

I have a few records by Joyce Harris. I think there were 2 Soul singers named Joyce Harris.  One had a strong voice, and sang on records produced in Chicago, New York and Nrew Orleans, and The other sang on records produced in L.A., and New York, had a "lighter" delivery, and less "full" voice, who sang Girls Group type songs and sang as a single artist as well as lead singer of The Chevelles.  I thing that Chollie Maye must have been the one who sang with The Chevelles.  Their voices sound a lot more alike than the Chicago singer and Chollie Maye.

The only Slades I know well were an all Male Texas DooWop group from the 1950s.  What label was Chollie Maye's Slades group on?  I seem to faintly remember an early '60s Slades record on an L.A. label.

Edited December 5 by Robbk

[Benji]

There's a Joyce Harris who sang with the Slades but obviously wasn't in the band (them being an all-male outfit). Texas release. Cholli Maye Gold 45 is from the east coast. Same singer? I doubt.

[Blackpoolsoul]

On 05/12/2024 at 21:44, Benji said:

There's a Joyce Harris who sang with the Slades but obviously wasn't in the band (them being an all-male outfit). Texas release. Cholli Maye Gold 45 is from the east coast. Same singer? I doubt.

No mention of here being Cholli here 

Joyce Harris was born in Kentucky in 1939 and moved to New Orleans with her family when she was 13 years old. Harris learned to play guitar, write songs and was soon performing duets with her younger sister Judy. They released three singles – ‘He’s The One’ / ‘Hey Pretty Baby’, ‘Washboard Sam’ / ‘Nursery Rock (Beedle De Bop)’ and ‘Hey Little Baby’/ ‘Rock And Roll Kittens’ – as Judy and Joyce in 1958. When her sister got married, Harris spent a year singing in restaurants in Mexico and a first solo single ‘It’s You’ / ‘The Boy In School’ was released on New York’s U.T. Records at the end of 1959. A talent spotter saw her in Mexico and was impressed enough to secure her an audition with the Austin, Texas-based Domino label. Harris was soon in the studio with Tommy Kaspar and Don Burch of Domino’s vocal quartet, the Slades, to record ‘I Cheated’ / ‘Do You Know What It’s Like To Be Lonesome?’ (R-903) in October 1960. ‘No Way Out’ / ‘Dreamer’ (R-905) followed in January 1961 and sold strongly enough to be licensed to Infinity Records. On 7 April 1961, Harris performed ‘No Way Out’ live on TV on American Bandstand. Three more singles would be issued on different labels between 1963 and 1966.

https://acerecords.co.uk/joyce-harris

[Mal C]

Nice Bell Sound acetate of Cholli Maye. Nothing on that label of course except the date.

[Mike]

a four seasons related dig show this...

 

. Chollie Maye was a vocalist popular around Philadelphia in the mid sixties. Valli and Gaudio thought they would try their arm at producing 'on their own' and this girl got her chance.’ Cry For Me’ (Gold 212) was the Bob Gaudio penned song that made it to the ‘B’ side, (we’ll feature the ‘A’ side on our next volume) and Chollie’s somewhat subdued vocal never takes this song to the heights Valli managed on the ‘B’ side of ‘You’re Ready Now’ (Philips 320 226 BFUK) when he was backed by the Angels. This has the same arrangement and perhaps backing vocalists. Just a superb song, again arranged by Charles Calello in 1964.

this is from a  'lost' newsletter via 

https://web.archive.org/web/20240712015038if_/https://www.seasonally.co.uk/SeasonsConnectionsPDFs/SeasonsConnectionsVol3.pdf

[Robbk]

I see now that I mixed Joyce Harris up (conflated) with Chicago's Joyce Davis.  I thought that Chollie Maye was an African-American.  I see that Joyce Harris was not.  But the main reason I think they were not the same person was that Harris' voice sounded somewhat fuller and deeper to me.  I can't imagine that she was a Jazz singer.  But based on Harris' voice, I COULD imagine that she was.