The Blackberries | |
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Background information | |
Occupations |
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Years active | 1969-1979 |
Labels | Mowest A&M Records |
Past members | Clydie King Venetta Fields Sherlie Matthews Merry Clayton Patrice Holloway Billie Barnum Carlena Williams |
The Blackberries was an American female vocal trio formed in the 1970s. They were a backing vocal group for various musicians, as well as songwriters. They performed with various acts, including Pacific Gas & Electric, Humble Pie, Ringo Starr, and Pink Floyd. The Blackberries recorded for Motown's West Coast subsidiary Mowest and A&M Records. [1]
By 1970, singers Venetta Fields, Sherlie Matthews and Clydie King were in high demand as backing vocalists. [2] Fields was previously an Ikette in The Ike & Tina Turner Revue. King was previously a Raelette, backing Ray Charles. Matthews was a singer-songwriter at Mirwood Records and Motown Records. They joined forces and created the Blackberries, which Matthews named after Motown founder Berry Gordy. [3] Their single "Somebody Up There" (MW 5020F) was intended to be released on Mowest in June 1972, but was unavailable until Hip-O Select issued a compilation album The Complete Motown Singles, Volume 12A: 1972 in 2013. [4] In 1971 the DJ Tom Clay hired them in Los Angeles to record for his hit spoken word record "What the World Needs Now Is Love/Abraham, Martin, and John".
In 1972, Venetta and Clydie were hired by songwriter/producer Jimmy Webb to "help boost" the background vocals on several tracks of The Supremes album The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb . Years later in his autobiography Webb wrote that he wished he had not included extra vocalists because he did not realise at the time how vocally strong The Supremes (Jean Terrell (lead), Lynda Laurence and Mary Wilson) were. In Mary Wilson's memoir she incorrectly stated that The Blossoms were the session singers; this caused confusion for many years until Jean Terrell and Lynda Laurence confirmed in a joint interview that it was definitely Clydie King and Venetta Fields who stood beside them at the recording sessions for the Motown album.
In 1972, Steve Marriott of Humble Pie asked Fields to find two other vocalists for an album session. Fields chose King and Matthews who were both previously with Raelettes to become the Blackberries. They recorded an unreleased Blackberries album with Humble Pie as the backing band. Their single "Twist And Shout" was released on A&M Records in 1973. The Blackberries also provided backing vocals to the Humble Pie album Eat It (1973). When Marriott asked them to tour with Humble Pie, Matthews declined due to personal commitments. Matthews chose Billie Barnum as her replacement. The Blackberries toured with Humble Pie in 1973. [5]
Guitarist David Gilmour of Pink Floyd was friends with Humble Pie drummer Jerry Shirley. Gilmour asked Shirley if the Pink Floyd could hire the Blackberries for two European concert dates; Marriott reluctantly agreed. [6] The Blackberries consisting of Billie Barnum, Venetta Fields and Clydie King toured with Pink Floyd on the Dark Side of the Moon Tour in October 1973. [7] By 1974, the Blackberries were Venetta Fields, Billie Barnum, and Carlena Williams. [8] They appeared on Humble Pie's 1974 album Thunderbox . That year, Pink Floyd's manager invited them to tour with the band. [6] Fields and Williams toured with Pink Floyd on their 1974 French Summer Tour and British Winter Tour later that year. [9] The duo also sang backing vocals on Pink Floyd's 1975 album Wish You Were Here and performed on their North American Tour promoting the album. [8]
Fields and King acted as The Oreos, Barbra Streisand's backing singers in the musical film A Star Is Born (1976), and sang on the accompanying soundtrack A Star Is Born . [10]
Humble Pie are an English rock band formed by singer-guitarists Peter Frampton and Steve Marriott in Moreton, Essex, in 1969. Often regarded as one of the first supergroups in music, Humble Pie experienced moderate popularity and commercial success during the 1970s with hit songs such as "Black Coffee", "30 Days in the Hole", "I Don't Need No Doctor", "Hot 'n' Nasty" and "Natural Born Bugie" among others.
Deke Richards, also known as Deke Lussier, was an American songwriter and record producer who was affiliated with Motown. He was a member of both the Clan and the Corporation, the latter a production team that wrote and produced some of the Jackson 5's early hits.
Made in the Shade, released in 1975, is the fourth official compilation album by the Rolling Stones, and the first under their Atlantic Records contract. It covers material from Sticky Fingers (1971), Exile on Main St. (1972), Goats Head Soup (1973) and It's Only Rock 'n' Roll (1974).
"Touch Me in the Morning" is a song recorded by Diana Ross on the Motown label. It was written by Ron Miller and Michael Masser, and produced by the latter and Tom Baird. It was released on May 3, 1973 as the first single from her album of the same name. In 1973, it became Ross's second solo No. 1 single on the Billboard Hot 100.
Eat It is the sixth album by English rock band Humble Pie, released in April 1973 through A&M Records. Released as a double album, it peaked at number 13 on the US Billboard 200, number 34 in the UK Albums Chart, and number 9 in Australia.
Venetta Lee Fields is an American-born Australian singer and musical theater actress, and vocal coach.
I Wrote a Simple Song is the sixth studio album by American soul musician Billy Preston. Released in November 1971, it was his first album for A&M Records and marked the start of a run of commercial success in the United States that lasted through to the late 1970s. The album includes the hit single "Outa-Space", which won the Grammy Award for Best Pop Instrumental Performance of 1972. Preston included a live version of the instrumental "The Bus", as part of a medley with the Beatles' "Day Tripper", on his 1974 album Live European Tour.
Clydie Mae King was an American singer, best known for her session work as a backing vocalist. King also recorded solo under her name. In the 1970s, she recorded as Brown Sugar, and her single "Loneliness " reached No. 44 on the Billboard R&B charts in 1973.
A Decade of Steely Dan is a compilation album by Steely Dan, released in 1985. It was the band's first compilation specifically for the compact disc market, and was certified a gold record by the RIAA.
The Supremes Produced and Arranged by Jimmy Webb is the twenty-sixth studio album released by The Supremes on the Motown label in 1972. It stands as a unique entry in The Supremes' discography as it was the only album produced by a non-Motown artist, the accomplished songwriter and producer Jimmy Webb. This album also marked the final appearance of Jean Terrell as the lead singer of The Supremes during the early 1970s.
Sherlie Mae Matthews is an American singer, songwriter and former Motown Records producer, best known as a backing vocalist for pop, R&B and rock groups from the mid-1960s to the present.
Thunderbox is the seventh studio album by English hard rock group Humble Pie, released in 1974. It reached number 52 on the US Billboard 200 album chart. The planned UK release was cancelled.
The Ikettes, originally The Artettes, were a trio of female backing vocalists for the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. Despite their origins, the Ikettes became successful artists in their own right. In the 1960s they had hits such as "I'm Blue " and "Peaches 'N' Cream". In 2017, Billboard ranked "I'm Blue " No. 63 on its list of 100 Greatest Girl Group Songs of All Time.
Live at Caesars Palace is a live album by the American singer Diana Ross, released in 1974. It was recorded during a 1973 performance at Las Vegas' Caesars Palace. It was the first of two live albums Ross recorded for Motown. It reached No. 64 in the USA.
The Dark Side of the Moon Tour was a concert tour by English rock band Pink Floyd in 1972 and 1973 in support of their album The Dark Side of the Moon, covering the UK, US, Europe and Japan. There were two separate legs promoting the album, one in 1972 before the album's release and another in 1973 afterwards, together covering 128 shows.
"No Matter What Sign You Are" is a song released for Diana Ross & the Supremes by the Motown label.
20 Golden Greats is a 1977 compilation album by Diana Ross & the Supremes, released on the Motown label in the United Kingdom. The release spent seven weeks at number one on the UK Albums Chart, selling over 1,000,000 copies. Despite the album's title and that Ross & the Supremes had scored 21 UK chart hit singles, the compilation included two tracks that had never been hit singles in the UK: "My World Is Empty Without You" and "Love Is Like an Itching in My Heart", which were top 10 hits on the US Hot 100. All the other 18 tracks had made the UK singles chart. The three other hits scored by the group in partnership with The Temptations, were all excluded.
"Still the Same" is a 1978 song written and recorded by the American singer Bob Seger. It hit #4 on the U.S. Billboard Hot 100 chart and was an international hit.
Carlena Williams was an American vocalist. Early in her career, she recorded under her name, Flora Williams, as an Ikette in the Ike & Tina Turner Revue. In the 1960s she released a few singles as Carlena Weaver. She later toured with rock group Pink Floyd as a backing vocalist. Williams sang with various artists, including The Carpenters, Bonnie Raitt, Van Morrison, Etta James, David Gilmour, and Humble Pie. Williams was a member of Sunshine, Donna Summer's backing vocal group in the 1970s.