Jeanne & the Darlings

• Genres: Rhythm & Blues

Biography

Solid warblers from Arkansas who recorded for Stax Records in the late '60s. The bevy consisted of Jeanne and Delores "Dee" Dolphus and two unidentified females. Jeanne worked under the stage name of Jeanne Darling and also went by Mary Jean Cotton -- she wrote songs, a total of 13 cleared with B.M.I., under all three names. Prior to Stax, they recorded as the Dolphus Sisters on Avant Records. Isaac Hayes and David Porter wrote and produced their first two Volt (a subsidiary of Stax) singles: "How Can You Mistreat the One You Love" b/w "That Man of Mine" (1967) and "Soul Girl" (1968), nice songs that didn't go. The company assigned Homer Banks and Alan Jones for the third single, "What Will Later on Be Like," released late in 1968. Banks, along with Don Davis and Clyde Wilson (Steve Mancha), wrote "It's Unbelievable (How You Control My Soul)" a gutty May 1969 release backed with a revamping of Carla Thomas' "I Like What You're Doing to Me." Volt issued the final Jeanne & the Darlings single October 1969, but "It's Time to Pay for the Fun (We've Had)" didn't even pay the water bill and Jeanne & the Darlings vanished forever. ~ Andrew Hamilton, All Music Guide