The Gems?

[Ljblanken]

I just got "I'll be there" by the Gems on Riverside. Is group related to the group on Chess? ("can't you take a hint"). The lead vocals sound different and there is the NYC vs Chicago thing - but I would have assumed they would have de-conflicted the name if they were different groups (on such big labels)?

 

[Robbk]

Chicago's Gems were a Girls Group lead by ultra-high voiced Minnie Ripperton.   The Riverside Gems are very likely to have been a New York Metro group, given that Riverside was a NY label, and their producer was Jesse Herring, Jr.  Neither group had national hits.  So, there was no reason for either to even know about each other.  The Chicago Gems were well-known in Chicagoland.  I'd bet virtually nobody knew who New York's Gems were.  Their records didn't sell at all.  At least 3 of Chicago's Gems' records had good Chicago local sales, and some other Midwest area sales.

No way to confuse them.  Chicago's Gems were led by ultra-high-voiced Minnie Ripperton, while the New York group lead singer had a deeper voice.  Chicago's Gems were a tighter group, working better together in tight, more intricate harmonies.

 

[Ljblanken]

Yeah - that makes sense. And they do sound fully different (especially the lead for sure).

I guess it just seems so crazy to me that major markets (Chicago and NYC) would be so completely disengaged from one another that you could have acts on such big labels with the same name at the same time (both sound like mid-60s., right?).

[The Yank]

By the time the Gems' "I'll Be There" came out ('67)  the Chicago based Gems had evolved into the Starlets (not to be confused with the "Better Tell Him No" group) according to discogs.

Edited December 15, 2020 by The Yank

[Paul Capon]

The Discogs spiel on The Gems (listed as The Gems (2)) has both Riverside & Chess under the same group. I have no idea about the origins of this info or whether it is accurate  

Profile:

The Gems were a Chicago girl group in the 1960s, led by original lead singer Louise Bethune. The group became the primary backup vocal group for Chess Records. The group also featured Minnie Riperton, who also recorded under the name Andrea Davis, who would go on to a career with the Chicago pscych-rock group Rotary Connection before embarking on a solo career highlighted by her hit song "Lovin' You."

 

[Robbk]

2 hours ago, Paul Capon said:

The Discogs spiel on The Gems (listed as The Gems (2)) has both Riverside & Chess under the same group. I have no idea about the origins of this info or whether it is accurate  

Profile:

The Gems were a Chicago girl group in the 1960s, led by original lead singer Louise Bethune. The group became the primary backup vocal group for Chess Records. The group also featured Minnie Riperton, who also recorded under the name Andrea Davis, who would go on to a career with the Chicago pscych-rock group Rotary Connection before embarking on a solo career highlighted by her hit song "Lovin' You."

 

I'm sure that they weren't the same group. 

[Andy Rix]

The Riverside Gems group were part of Gloria Toote’s Tru-Glo-Town company ... the lead singer was Louise Bethune 

i cant recall names of the other 2 singers

Louise also recorded a 45 released on Sack ... Chi Town Boogaloo .. which was a version of the Don Gardner song ... and she has been in numerous other groups over the years

Andy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chantels

https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/The-Shirelles-bop-into-the-Rrazz-Room-3272294.php

 

 

Edited December 16, 2020 by Andy Rix
Links added

[Robbk]

On 16/12/2020 at 02:08, Andy Rix said:

The Riverside Gems group were part of Gloria Toote’s Tru-Glo-Town company ... the lead singer was Louise Bethune 

i cant recall names of the other 2 singers

Louise also recorded a 45 released on Sack ... Chi Town Boogaloo .. which was a version of the Don Gardner song ... and she has been in numerous other groups over the years

Andy

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Chantels

https://www.sfgate.com/entertainment/article/The-Shirelles-bop-into-the-Rrazz-Room-3272294.php

 

 

So, that was the Chicago and Gems' connection.  But, most of The Gems were also in The Starlets, headquartered in Chicago.  So, they weren't likely to also be members of The Gems(e.g. Louise Bethune moved to New York, and formed a new Gems group, which was no problem, because the old Gems had already changed into The Starlets, OR, she left The Starlets, or disbanding Gems, and formed a new Gems group, and through a New York contact, got a production deal with Gloria Toote, who got her new Gems a record deal with Riverside).

Edited December 18, 2020 by Robbk