Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans

Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans was an early 1960s vocal group produced by Phil Spector, and was initially conceived as a vehicle for the lead vocals of Bobby Sheen, who took the stage name Bob B. Soxx. The Blue Jeans were backing vocalists, Darlene Love and Fanita James, both of whom were also members of girl group The Blossoms.

Despite Sheen's status as group leader, by the time the trio entered the recording studio, Spector was often using Darlene Love as the group's primary vocalist. Sheen sang lead on the group's first hit: 1962's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah" (originally from the 1946 Disney movie " Song of the South"). Love, meanwhile, handled the lead vocals on Bob B. Soxx and the Blue Jeans' two follow-up singles, 1963's "Why Do Lovers Break Each Other's Hearts?" and "Not Too Young to Get Married".

Sheen and Love share vocal duties on the only album the group ever recorded (1963's "Zip-a-Dee-Doo-Dah").

Sheen can be heard as lead vocalist on the group's final recordings, "The Bells of St. Mary's" and "Here Comes Santa Claus," two cuts on the classic Spector-produced LP "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" (1963), on which Love also appears as a solo artist. On the cover of this album, a group portrait shows Sheen with two "Blue Jeans" vocalists who have been tentatively identified as James and yet another Blossoms member, Gloria Jones.

After 1963 the group was dropped by Philles Records and effectively ceased to exist. Sheen went back to using his real name, cut some tracks for Capitol Records in the mid 1960s, and later joined a late-running touring version of The Coasters (he had also been a member of The Robins joining in 1957). Love, meanwhile, recorded a few solo hits, but, more memorably was the lead vocalist on at least two hit records by The Crystals. It is also established that Sheen, Love and Wright were the voices on the hit "He's A Rebel". Although Spector lost interest in Sheen, he used him as a background singer well up to the 70s, and would often call Sheen about returning to the studio.

Sheen started singing with the Robins in 1957, after enrolling High School at Manuel Art High School in Los Angeles. He met former Robins singer H.B. Barnum, and was encouraged to join the group who had recently split up to form The Coasters. Grady Champman, the former lead of the Robins trained Sheen. Once the group decided to disband, their manager Lester Sill decided to take Sheen under his wing and got Sheen signed to Liberty in 1961. The single was produced by Phil Spector, who had known Sheen from his early days and grew up in the same west Los Angeles area. Spector fell in love with Sheen's Clyde McPhatter-like sound and signed him to his Philles record label.

After Spector, he went to Dimension Records in 1963 and cut one single. Around that time he started touring with Bobby Nunn's Mark Coasters group alongside Billy Richards, Grady Chapman and sometimes Randy Jones. Although he did not become the superstar that he wanted to be he did help launch the career of the groups one time piano/keyboard player James Ingram. Once Ingrams fame skyrocketed Ingram decided to help Sheen out by getting him in to commercials. Sheen's voice was heard all around the country once again while doing jingles for Burger King, Churches Chicken, Levi, Peter Pan Peanut Butter and many more. Sheen was born May 16th 1941 in St Louis, Missouri, and died Thanksgiving Day of 2000 in his Los Angeles home of a heart attack, aged only 59.