Richard Barrett (musician)

Richard Barrett was an American singer. He was born on July 13, 1933, and died on Thursday, August 3, 2006, of pancreatic cancer.

Biography

As one of the first successful independent black record producers, few were more influential in shaping the New York R&B sound. Producer and songwriter Richard "Richie" Barrett discovered or promoted such musical groups as Frankie Lymon & The Teenagers, The Chantels, Little Anthony & The Imperials, The Valentines, and The Three Degrees. He managed The Chantels in the 1950's, and later managed The Three Degrees from the early '60s until the early '80s, creating the greatest Girl Group of that era, producing many of their albums and conducting the Orchestra at their amazing live shows. Barrett was most famous for the song "Some Other Guy", which charted at number 26 in the US charts in 1961.

Barrett sang lead for The Valentines from 1954 to 1957. Ronnie Bright, who later joined The Cadillacs and The Coasters, sang bass. Barrett co-wrote two songs with Carl Hogan (also from The Valentines). One was "Be Sure My Love" which was recorded by The Dubs on Gone Records in 1958, and another "So Much" was recorded by Little Anthony & The Imperials on End Records in 1958 and by The Attributes. On The Chantels' single "Maybe" in 1958, Barrett played piano, bass, and drums. He also produced several of The Chantels' records.

Barrett's first single was a cover of The Fleetwoods' "Come Softly To Me", which used The Chantels as backup singers. He cut the record "Some Other Guy" in 1961 which was modeled on Ray Charles' "What'd I Say" and was assured immortality, if not a hit single, following cover versions performed by The Beatles and other Liverpool groups of the time. A clip of The Beatles performing the song at The Cavern was shown on television in Britain in mid 1962 before they'd signed with Parlophone, and has been included on many videos and DVDs.

There is also a record by Richard T. Barrett called "Try To Be Happy" b/w "Your Gentle Heart" released on Maarc Records #1542 in 1962. This may be a different singer.

In 1998, Ben Vereen portrayed Richard Barrett in the film about Frankie Lymon called "Why Do Fools Fall In Love."

Discography

ingles by The Valentines

* Summer Love/For You (Bruce) (1954) (unreleased) (as The Dreamers)
* Tonight Kathleen/Summer Love (Old Town #1009) (1954)
* Lily Maebelle/Falling For You (Rama #171) (1955)
* I Love You Darling/Hand Me Down Love (Rama #181) (1955)
* Christmas Prayer/Kiss Me (Rama #186) (1955)
* C’est La Vie/C’est La Vie (Rama #194) (1956) (with The Wrens but not credited)
* Why/The Woo Woo Train (Rama #196) (1956)
* Twenty Minutes Before The Hour/I’ll Never Let You Go (Rama #201) (1956)
* Nature’s Creation/My Story Of Love (Rama #208) (1956)
* Don’t Say Goodnight/I Cried Oh, Oh (Rama #228) (1957)

olo singles

* Smoke Gets In Your Eyes/Remember Me (MGM #12616) (1958) (as Dickie Barrett)
* Body And Soul/The Party (MGM #12659) (1958)
* Lovely One/The Snake And The Bookworm (20th Fox #150) (1959)
* Come Softly To Me/Walking Through Dreamland (Gone #5056) (1959) (with The Chantels)
* Summer’s Love/All Is Forgiven (Gone #5060) (1959) (with The Chantels)
* Lovable/Only One Way (Metro #20006) (1959)
* Dream On/I Am Yours (Seville #104) (1960) (as Richard Barrett and The Sevilles)
* Some Other Guy/Tricky Dicky (Atlantic #2142) (1962) (as Richie Barrett) ("Some Other Guy" was the original version, written by Jerry Leiber & Mike Stoller, later recorded by The Beatles)
* Summer’s Love/Let Me Down Easy (Crackerjack #4012) (1963) (as Richie Barrett)
* I Will Love You/I Will Love You (Instrumental) (Swan #4228) (as Richie Barrett) (1960’s)

External links

* [http://www.nydailynews.com/entertainment/ent_radio/story/441332p-371776c.html Daily News] "New York R&B legend gets few valentines"
* [http://www.answers.com/topic/richard-barrett Answers] Richard Barrett
* [http://home.att.net/~marvart/Valentines/valentines.html Marv Goldberg's R&B Notebooks - The Valentines]
* [http://www.findagrave.com/cgi-bin/fg.cgi?page=gr&GSln=Barrett&GSfn=Rich&GSbyrel=all&GSdy=2006&GSdyrel=in&GSob=n&GRid=16349364& Find A Grave Memorial]