The first successful black girl group, the teen-aged Chantels came out of the Bronx in the mid-50s behind lead singer Arlene Smith's powerful vocals. And you can see why right here. She simply knocks this song out of the ballpark. It may be just another make-out song about puppy love at the drive-in, but the girl sings her ass off.
"Maybe", which smashed the doo-wop charts in 1958, was once described as "arguably, the first true glimmering of the girl group sound." Probably one of the lesser played of Rolling Stone's 500 Greatest Songs of All Time, it came in at #195.
On a side note, how daunting would it be for a male vocalist to try to cover this song? Could a male singer pull it off without emasculating himself and defacing Arlene Smith's version in the process?
Somehow Red Hot Chili Peppers drummer John Frusciante manages to pull it off. Check out his version here.
Saturday, January 12, 2008
Song of the Week: The Chantels - Maybe [Single] 1958
Posted by Chris Wesseling at 1:46 PM
Labels: Song-Related
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