Garnet Mimms
Encyclopedia
Garnet Mimms is an American
singer, influential in soul music
and rhythm and blues
. He is best known for the hit "Cry Baby" (later recorded by Janis Joplin
) and "A Quiet Place," a popular song in the Carolina Beach Music
community.
groups such as the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the group with which he would record
his first record
in 1953, the Norfolk Four. He returned to Philadelphia after serving in the military and formed doo-wop
group, the Gainors in 1958.
In 1961, Mimms and Sam Bell from the Gainors left to form a new group, Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, with Zola Pearnell and Charles Boyer
. The group moved to New York
and began to work with the songwriter
and record producer
, Bert Berns
. Berns signed them to the United Artists
label
and wrote the hit
, "Cry Baby
" for them with songwriting partner, Jerry Ragovoy
. The song
topped the R&B
chart
and went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
chart in 1963. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
.
Mimms and the group had a follow-up double sided hit, "For Your Precious Love" and "Baby Don't You Weep", both tracks entering the Billboard Top 30, before he went solo
in 1964. In 1966, Berns and Ragavoy produced another big hit for Mimms, "I'll Take Good Care Of You", which climbed to #15 in the R&B chart and #30 in the Hot 100. He worked with Jimi Hendrix
in the UK
the following year. He did some recording on the MGM
and Verve
labels. In 1969, Led Zeppelin
performed an extended version of Mimms' "As Long As I have You" at various stops on their U.S tour.
In the 1970s, he released a few funk
songs as Garnet Mimms and the Truckin' Co. He had his only hit in the United Kingdom at this time, when "What It Is" reached number 44 for one week on the UK Singles Chart
in June 1977.
Mimms was given a Pioneer Award in 1999 by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
.
In the 1980s, Garnet found his calling ministering to lost souls in prison, but in 2007, returned to recording and a year later, released a new gospel album Is Anybody Out There? on the Evidence label, produced and (primarily) written by Jon Tiven
.
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
singer, influential in soul music
Soul music
Soul music is a music genre originating in the United States combining elements of gospel music and rhythm and blues. According to the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame, soul is "music that arose out of the black experience in America through the transmutation of gospel and rhythm & blues into a form of...
and rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues
Rhythm and blues, often abbreviated to R&B, is a genre of popular African American music that originated in the 1940s. The term was originally used by record companies to describe recordings marketed predominantly to urban African Americans, at a time when "urbane, rocking, jazz based music with a...
. He is best known for the hit "Cry Baby" (later recorded by Janis Joplin
Janis Joplin
Janis Lyn Joplin was an American singer, songwriter, painter, dancer and music arranger. She rose to prominence in the late 1960s as the lead singer of Big Brother and the Holding Company and later as a solo artist with her backing groups, The Kozmic Blues Band and The Full Tilt Boogie Band...
) and "A Quiet Place," a popular song in the Carolina Beach Music
Beach music
Beach music, also known as Carolina beach music, is a regional genre which developed from various musical styles of the forties, fifties and sixties. These styles ranged from big band swing instrumentals to the more raucous sounds of blues/jump blues, jazz, doo-wop, boogie, rhythm and blues,...
community.
Biography
Mimms grew up in Philadelphia, where he sang in gospel musicGospel music
Gospel music is music that is written to express either personal, spiritual or a communal belief regarding Christian life, as well as to give a Christian alternative to mainstream secular music....
groups such as the Evening Stars, the Harmonizing Four, and the group with which he would record
Sound recording and reproduction
Sound recording and reproduction is an electrical or mechanical inscription and re-creation of sound waves, such as spoken voice, singing, instrumental music, or sound effects. The two main classes of sound recording technology are analog recording and digital recording...
his first record
Gramophone record
A gramophone record, commonly known as a phonograph record , vinyl record , or colloquially, a record, is an analog sound storage medium consisting of a flat disc with an inscribed, modulated spiral groove...
in 1953, the Norfolk Four. He returned to Philadelphia after serving in the military and formed doo-wop
Doo-wop
The name Doo-wop is given to a style of vocal-based rhythm and blues music that developed in African American communities in the 1940s and achieved mainstream popularity in the 1950s and early 1960s. It emerged from New York, Philadelphia, Chicago, Baltimore, Newark, Pittsburgh, Cincinnati and...
group, the Gainors in 1958.
In 1961, Mimms and Sam Bell from the Gainors left to form a new group, Garnet Mimms and the Enchanters, with Zola Pearnell and Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer
Charles Boyer was a French actor who appeared in more than 80 films between 1920 and 1976. After receiving an education in drama, Boyer started on the stage, but he found success in movies during the 1930s. His memorable performances were among the era's most highly praised romantic dramas,...
. The group moved to New York
New York City
New York is the most populous city in the United States and the center of the New York Metropolitan Area, one of the most populous metropolitan areas in the world. New York exerts a significant impact upon global commerce, finance, media, art, fashion, research, technology, education, and...
and began to work with the songwriter
Songwriter
A songwriter is an individual who writes both the lyrics and music to a song. Someone who solely writes lyrics may be called a lyricist, and someone who only writes music may be called a composer...
and record producer
Record producer
A record producer is an individual working within the music industry, whose job is to oversee and manage the recording of an artist's music...
, Bert Berns
Bert Berns
Bertrand Russell Berns , most commonly known as Bert Berns as well as Bert Russell and Russell Byrd, was an American songwriter and record producer of the 1960s...
. Berns signed them to the United Artists
United Artists
United Artists Corporation is an American film studio. The original studio of that name was founded in 1919 by D. W. Griffith, Charles Chaplin, Mary Pickford and Douglas Fairbanks....
label
Record label
In the music industry, a record label is a brand and a trademark associated with the marketing of music recordings and music videos. Most commonly, a record label is the company that manages such brands and trademarks, coordinates the production, manufacture, distribution, marketing and promotion,...
and wrote the hit
Hit record
A hit record is a sound recording, usually in the form of a single or album, that sells a large number of copies or otherwise becomes broadly popular or well-known, through airplay, club play, inclusion in a film or stage play soundtrack, causing it to have "hit" one of the popular chart listings...
, "Cry Baby
Cry Baby (song)
-Janis Joplin's version:In September and October 1970, Janis Joplin recorded it for her album Pearl, posthumously released. The song was in blues-rock style and its producer was Paul A. Rothchild. B-side of the track was hit "Mercedes Benz"...
" for them with songwriting partner, Jerry Ragovoy
Jerry Ragovoy
Jordan "Jerry" Ragovoy was an American songwriter and record producer.His best-known composition "Time Is on My Side" was made famous by The Rolling Stones, although it had been recorded earlier by Kai Winding and Irma Thomas...
. The song
Song
In music, a song is a composition for voice or voices, performed by singing.A song may be accompanied by musical instruments, or it may be unaccompanied, as in the case of a cappella songs...
topped the R&B
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs
Hot R&B/Hip-Hop Songs, is a chart released weekly by Billboard in the United States.The chart, initiated in 1942, is used to track the success of popular music songs in urban, or primarily African American, venues. Dominated over the years at various times by jazz, rhythm and blues, doo-wop, soul,...
chart
Record chart
A record chart is a ranking of recorded music according to popularity during a given period of time. Examples of music charts are the Hit parade, Hot 100 or Top 40....
and went to #4 on the Billboard Hot 100
Billboard Hot 100
The Billboard Hot 100 is the United States music industry standard singles popularity chart issued weekly by Billboard magazine. Chart rankings are based on radio play and sales; the tracking-week for sales begins on Monday and ends on Sunday, while the radio play tracking-week runs from Wednesday...
chart in 1963. It sold over one million copies, and was awarded a gold disc
Music recording sales certification
Music recording sales certification is a system of certifying that a music recording has shipped or sold a certain number of copies, where the threshold quantity varies by type and by nation or territory .Almost all countries follow variations of the RIAA certification categories,...
.
Mimms and the group had a follow-up double sided hit, "For Your Precious Love" and "Baby Don't You Weep", both tracks entering the Billboard Top 30, before he went solo
Solo (music)
In music, a solo is a piece or a section of a piece played or sung by a single performer...
in 1964. In 1966, Berns and Ragavoy produced another big hit for Mimms, "I'll Take Good Care Of You", which climbed to #15 in the R&B chart and #30 in the Hot 100. He worked with Jimi Hendrix
Jimi Hendrix
James Marshall "Jimi" Hendrix was an American guitarist and singer-songwriter...
in the UK
United Kingdom
The United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern IrelandIn the United Kingdom and Dependencies, other languages have been officially recognised as legitimate autochthonous languages under the European Charter for Regional or Minority Languages...
the following year. He did some recording on the MGM
MGM Records
MGM Records was a record label started by the Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer film studio in 1946, for the purpose of releasing soundtrack albums of their musical films. Later it became a pop label, lasting into the 1970s...
and Verve
Verve Records
Verve Records is an American jazz record label now owned by Universal Music Group. It was founded by Norman Granz in 1956, absorbing the catalogues of his earlier labels, Clef Records and Norgran Records , and material which had been licensed to Mercury previously.-Jazz and folk origins:The Verve...
labels. In 1969, Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin
Led Zeppelin were an English rock band, active in the late 1960s and throughout the 1970s. Formed in 1968, they consisted of guitarist Jimmy Page, singer Robert Plant, bassist/keyboardist John Paul Jones, and drummer John Bonham...
performed an extended version of Mimms' "As Long As I have You" at various stops on their U.S tour.
In the 1970s, he released a few funk
Funk
Funk is a music genre that originated in the mid-late 1960s when African American musicians blended soul music, jazz and R&B into a rhythmic, danceable new form of music. Funk de-emphasizes melody and harmony and brings a strong rhythmic groove of electric bass and drums to the foreground...
songs as Garnet Mimms and the Truckin' Co. He had his only hit in the United Kingdom at this time, when "What It Is" reached number 44 for one week on the UK Singles Chart
UK Singles Chart
The UK Singles Chart is compiled by The Official Charts Company on behalf of the British record-industry. The full chart contains the top selling 200 singles in the United Kingdom based upon combined record sales and download numbers, though some media outlets only list the Top 40 or the Top 75 ...
in June 1977.
Mimms was given a Pioneer Award in 1999 by the Rhythm and Blues Foundation
Rhythm and Blues Foundation
The Rhythm and Blues Foundation is an independent American nonprofit organization dedicated to the historical and cultural preservation of rhythm and blues music....
.
In the 1980s, Garnet found his calling ministering to lost souls in prison, but in 2007, returned to recording and a year later, released a new gospel album Is Anybody Out There? on the Evidence label, produced and (primarily) written by Jon Tiven
Jon Tiven
Jon Tiven is a composer, guitarist and record producer. He has produced albums by Wilson Pickett, Frank Black and Don Covay as well as a series of tribute albums paying tribute to the songwriting of Don Covay, Arthur Alexander, Otis Blackwell, Curtis Mayfield, and Van Morrison.-Early career:He was...
.
External links
- Garnet Mimms Page via tsimon.com
- Biography via soulwalking
- Garnet Mimms bio via rockabilly.nl