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Goldie & the Gingerbreads

 
Artist: Goldie & the Gingerbreads
Home > Library > Entertainment & Arts > Pop Artists

Group Members:

Carol McDonald, Margo Crocitto, Ginger Bianco, Goldie Zelkowitz

Formal Connection With:

Alan Price, Andrew Loog Oldham
  • Formed: 1963
  • Genres: Rock

Biography

Goldie & the Gingerbreads are one of those acts that seem to turn up in the background of a lot of images, biographies, and reminiscences associated with the top British bands of the mid-'60s. Despite a great name, a unique image and lineup, and an enviable array of endorsements by some of the biggest recording stars of their era, however, they never made a lasting impression on the charts. Polish-born Goldie had previously been with an outfit called the Escorts (variously billed as Goldie & the Escorts and the Escorts With Goldie), who had cut a few singles for the Coral label in 1962, one of which ("Somewhere") charted high in a few locales without ever making a national impact. In 1964, Goldie & the Gingerbreads came together, featuring, in addition to the singer, Ginger Bianco on drums, Carol MacDonald, and organist Margo Crocitto (who later became known as Margo Lewis). They made their debut at New York's Peppermint Lounge, and as an all-female group who was also a self-contained instrumental unit, they were unusual enough to attract attention. Ahmet Ertegun signed them to Atlantic Records, and they released a handful of singles over the next three years. As it turned out, they were also good enough in concert to gain the attention of several visiting British performers, including Alan Price of the Animals -- who was reportedly overwhelmed by Crocitto's keyboard work -- and his manager, Mike Jeffries, who saw the quartet playing at a club called the Wagonwheel. Goldie & the Gingerbreads said yes to Jeffries' offer to manage them and the next thing they knew, they were on their way to England. Once there, they found themselves cast in the role of a novelty act. There had been all-female bands in England before, most notably the Liverbirds, but Goldie & the Gingerbreads were different in that they were American and they were a good deal more than just competent, at least on-stage. Even after the initial novelty was past, they were seen by Keith Richards, who helped get them booked as an opening act on a U.K. tour with the Rolling Stones in early 1965. They also got lots of gigs in and around London, including a headlining show where their opening act was the Muleskinners, an early band of future Small Faces keyboardman Ian McLagan. According to McLagan in his autobiography, All the Rage, the Gingerbreads were a delight to hear and to watch on-stage. As one who could appreciate it very keenly, he observed that their keyboard player, Margo Lewis, handled her Hammond B3 organ "like she was on fire." The group's debut English Decca single, "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat," produced by Alan Price, was a hit in England, and they toured in tandem with both the Kinks and the Jeff Beck-era Yardbirds in the spring of 1965, as well as performing in Europe on the same bill as the Hollies. They never managed to generate a major recording career out of this activity, however. Two more U.K. singles -- "That's Why I Love You" b/w "Skip" and "Sailor Boy" b/w "Please Please" -- followed that year, and Atlantic kept putting records out in the United States, but the esteem in which the group was held by the likes of the Rolling Stones never translated into popular appeal. They lasted together long enough to turn up on one of the posters seen adorning the walls outside the club that David Hemmings appears at in Blow Up, but, sadly, that was probably their most lasting direct impact on popular culture. On an indirect basis, however, Goldie & the Gingerbreads were the model for such acts as the Runaways, the Bangles, and the Pandoras. In October of 1965, Goldie split from the group to go solo, billed simply as Goldie. Her association with the Rolling Stones led her to Andrew Loog Oldham's Immediate Records, where she recorded Carole King's "Goin' Back" soon after; the March 1966 single, however, had to be withdrawn over some changes that the artists had made in the words. The group next jumped to Fontana Records, the U.K. pop arm of Philips Records, for one single, "I Do" b/w "Think About the Good Times," that never charted. Goldie later changed her name to Genya Ravan and turned up at the end of the '60s as a member of the jazz-rock oriented Ten Wheel Drive, and subsequently recorded an album entitled Goldie Zelkowitz for the Janus label in 1974. It was as Genya Ravan that she achieved some measure of stardom more than a decade after her time with the Gingerbreads, producing the first album by the Dead Boys and cutting her own solo albums in the company of Lou Reed, Ian Hunter, and Mick Ronson. The Gingerbreads' organist, Margo Lewis, went on to a career in music in her own right as well and their drummer, Ginger Bianco, founded the all-female horn band Isis. ~ Bruce Eder, All Music Guide
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Wikipedia: Goldie & the Gingerbreads
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Home > Library > Miscellaneous > Wikipedia

Goldie & the Gingerbreads was an American female rock band from 1962 to 1967.[1] They were the first all-female rock band signed to a major record label.[2]

Whereas most female bands were ignored by the big record labels and rarely attracted live audiences, the quartet of Ginger Bianco, Margo Lewis, Carol MacDonald and Goldie Zelkowitz were among the first to break into a domain dominated by men. They were signed to Decca in 1963 [3] and to Atlantic in 1964[4]

Contents

Early days

In 1962 Genya Zelkowitz (who would eventually change her last name to Ravan -as she became better known as the lead singer of the band Ten Wheel Drive beginning in 1969) - the then lead-singer of Richard Perry's band The Escorts[5]- met Ginger Panabianco in a New York club.[6] Ginger was on stage, performing as the drummer for one of Perry's friends. The discovery of a female drummer inspired in Genya Ravan the idea of an all-female rock band.[6] The name of the would-be band was decided upon rapidly: Goldie was the name by which Ravan's mother chose to call her after their arrival in the United States from post-war Poland, while gingerbread was a play on Ginger's name.[6]

Richard Perry and the other members of The Escorts were college students.[7] When the summer concert season ended, Genya and Ginger began to look for a pianist and soon recruited Carol O’ Grady.[8] Finding a female guitarist turned out to be much harder. Various ad-hoc recruits filled in as and when required, but when they accompanied Chubby Checker on his 1962 concert tour of West Germany and Switzerland, they performed without a guitarist. [9] Organist Margo Lewis, who turned out to be the group's third permanent member, replaced Carol O'Grady and performed with the group on the Chubby Checker tour. The following year, Goldie and the Gingerbreads found guitarist and vocalist Carol MacDonald, who at the time was signed to Atlantic/Atco Records, and she joined Genya, Ginger and Margo and became the fourth permanent band member.[10]

The Mods and Rockers’ Ball 1964

In 1964 fashion photographer and director Jerry Schatzberg threw a party for the Warhol Superstar Baby Jane Holzer that was later referred to by writer Tom Wolfe as "the Mods and Rockers ball, the party of the year." [11] Goldie and the Gingerbreads were booked to provide the musical entertainment and impressed the assembled attendees with both their music and their inimitable presence.[12] Among the guests at this fashionable and well-attended event were The Rolling Stones and Ahmet Ertegün, the chairman of Atlantic Records, who promptly signed them to the label.[4]

The Gingerbreads in Europe

Later in 1964, the band met Eric Burdon and The Animals, whose manager contracted the Gingerbreads for a tour in England.[10] These standard group tours were arranged by record companies to showcase their roster of talent and the Gingerbreads were one of up to six bands on the tour, performing on the same bill night after night in small towns. In Britain, they toured with The Rolling Stones, The Animals, The Yardbirds, The Hollies and The Kinks, among others.[13]

Troubles with British working visa requirements led to the band performing dates in West Germany (where many UK and US troops were then stationed as part of the NATO defences) at venues including the Star-Club in Hamburg while they waited for their British work permits to come through.[14]

A subsequent appearance in Paris at the Olympia earned Goldie & The Gingerbreads a favourable introduction to the French music scene, despite technical difficulties that arose during the performance.[15]

The politics of popular music

Throughout the early 1960s, when Goldie and the Gingerbreads were touring extensively throughout North America, club and venue promoters were not so much interested in their music as in the excitement that an all-female musical group caused.[10] Another issue of contention and frustration was through the practice then widespread throughout the United States of separate radio stations for white music - who would not accept the Gingerbreads’ black music - whilst their counterpart black broadcast media were unable to feature white artists.[5] Goldie and the Gingerbreads did have one single, "Can't You Hear My Heartbeat", that reached #25 on the British charts in 1965.[4] Although the single was also released in the United States, a recording of the same song by the heavily promoted Herman's Hermits was released with great fanfare just two weeks prior to the Gingerbreads' release, thus fatally undermining the Gingerbreads' chances for their first hit single in the U.S.[16]

The end

Over the course of 1967 and 1968, Goldie and the Gingerbreads gradually broke up.[4] They returned to the United States in an attempt to garner success, but failed. Genya Ravan's strong personality and forceful leadership of the band has been cited as a major factor in the band's split.[5] Frustration due to making little profit from their record releases may also have been an issue.[16]

Future careers

Carol MacDonald and Ginger Bianco, later formed the nucleus of Jazz-Fusion band Isis.[17] Margo Lewis joined her ex-bandmates in 1974. Ravan went on to release several solo albums, and later founded the jazz fusion band Ten Wheel Drive.[5] Ravan's memoirs, entitled Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs of a Rock and Roll Refugee, were published in 2004 by Billboard Books.[18] Along with being an accomplished musician, Margo Lewis is owner and President of Talent Consultants International, Ltd., a talent booking agency in NY, and is partner in Talent Source, Ltd, which manages the Estate of Bo Diddley. Lewis toured with Diddley not only as his personal manager, but also as his keyboard player for the last 10 years of Diddley's life.

1997 reunion

On November 13, 1997, the Gingerbreads performed once more to mark their 30th anniversary and to commemorate the release of The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock.[4] Accompanying Genya, Ginger and Margo was Debby Hastings on bass and Diane Scanlon on guitar.

Touchstone Award

On February 3, 1998, Goldie and The Gingerbreads were presented with a Touchstone Award from NY based Women in Music.[19] This distinction is given to women who "have the courage and inspiration to make a difference in the music industry and whose work has set new standards."[20]. At the awards ceremony, the statuettes were presented to each member of the group by music legend Ahmet Ertegun.

Line-up

Although several other musicians played with Goldie & the Gingerbreads over the years, permanent members were:

  • Genya Ravan - vocals, harmonica[10]
  • Ginger Bianco - percussion[10]
  • Margo Lewis - organ[10]
  • Carol MacDonald (joined 1963) - guitar and background-vocals[10] - MacDonald died on March 12, 2007.

Discography

  • Skinny Vinnie / Chew Chew Fee Fi Fum - 1964 SPOKANE 45-4005[21]
  • That's Why I Love You / What Kind of Man Are You - 1965 ATCO 45-6354[21]
  • Can't You Hear My Heartbeat / Little Boy - 1965 DECCA 12070[21]
  • That's Why I Love You / The Skip - 1965 DECCA 12126[21]
  • Sailor Boy / Please Please - 1966 DECCA 12199[21]
  • Think About The Good Times / Please Please - 1966 ATCO 45-6427[21]
  • Walking in Different Circles / Song of the Moon - 1967 ATCO 45-6475[21]
  • Think About the Good Times - FONTANA 693[21]

External links

Footnotes

  1. ^ Deborah Frost. "Garageland." The Rolling Stone Book of Women in Rock. Ed. Barbara O'Dair. 415 - 425. New York: Random House, Inc., 1997. 415.
  2. ^ Lucy O'Brien. She Bop II: The Definitive History of Women in Rock, Pop and Soul. London: Continuum, 2002. 95.
  3. ^ O'Brien. She Bop II. 129.
  4. ^ a b c d e Mitch Patrick. Girls with Guitars. Liner Notes. 4. Ace Records, 2004. CDCHD989.
  5. ^ a b c d Frost. "Garageland." 416.
  6. ^ a b c Genya Ravan. Lollipop Lounge: Memoirs of a Rock and Roll Refugee. London: Billboard Books, 2004. 49.
  7. ^ Ravan. Lollipop Lounge. 42.
  8. ^ Ravan. Lollipop Lounge. 52.
  9. ^ Ravan Lollipop Lounge. 63.
  10. ^ a b c d e f g Gillian G. Gaar. She's a Rebel: The History of Women in Rock and Roll. Seattle: Seal Press, 1992. 64.
  11. ^ Lisa Rhodes. Electric Ladyland: Women and Rock Culture. Philadelphia: University of Pennsylvania Press, 2005. 135
  12. ^ Ravan. Lollipop Lounge. 90.
  13. ^ Gaar. She's a Rebel. 65
  14. ^ Ravan. Lollipop Lounge. 99.
  15. ^ Ravan. Lollipop Lounge. 109.
  16. ^ a b Gaar. She's a Rebel. 66.
  17. ^ Glenn O'Brien. "Isis: Eight-Piece, All-Woman Band in Musical No-Man's Land." Rolling Stone. 8 November 1973.
  18. ^ Watson-Guptill Publications
  19. ^ Untitled Document
  20. ^ Women In Music
  21. ^ a b c d e f g h Genya Ravan: DISCOGRAPHY

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