| "I was in born in
Camden, New Jersey, and I started singing in school.
From kindergarten onwards, we were taught singing and vocal parts, so I was always
harmonizing. I thought that was the greatest thing in life. So
I always had a singing friend that I could sing a part with.
My first was Brenda Kilgore and then Lucille Dunbar. She and I
used to sing together all the time, we were inseparable. It
was Lucille who brought Timmy Carr [Carstarphan] to my
house. She knew Timmy through his family and the church. Timmy
was starting a group and he wanted some female back-up
singers. Lucille was one and, because we used to sing
together, she came to my house with Timmy to get me
involved.
"There was also Frances
Wallace, whom I hadn't met at that time but we had then
planned to go on over to see her. She joined us but after a
while she had to leave because she was married and she thought
she should back out. So Helen Hutchinson came in and the group
sound changed a little because she was a true first soprano,
so Lucille moved to the middle and I did the bottom harmony.
Helen, like Lucille and I, went to Camden High School but she
was a little older than us - I think she graduated around '63.
I don't know if she had been singing with anyone before us but
we all gelled so well, we didn't even need music.
"We weren't called the
Persianettes initially - we weren't called anything! But all
of us knew we had to get a name because we had been told that
we might be recording, so we sat down to think of something
that sounded good. I had a paper with me which was turned to
the travel section with features on places to go and I
happened to glance at it upside down and saw 'Persia'. Every
group at the time had an 'ettes' at the end, the
Marvelettes... And I just said 'Persia-ettes, Persian-ettes,
hey the Persianettes!' It sounded great to me. I knew
nothing about Persia or what it represented at that moment but
it sounded good, certainly better than the Spain-ettes or
Ital-ettes! People thought the group had been named because of
a cat or something but no, I don't even like cats!
"We did our first recordings
with Timmy. I think the first one was 'Timmy Boy'. Timmy was a
short guy, about five-five, but he was stocky. He was no
little pushover. He was like a weight-lifter, muscles,
all muscles. I was still at Camden High when we did our first
records. Our first one for Guyden was 'Only Now And Then' [c/w
'I Could Never Stop Cryin' - #2104]. Burt Bacharach
arranged that one and we had a whole orchestra on it, violins,
oboes, timpanis, guitars, clarinets, the lot! I was so amazed
that we had such rich music, I was expecting just a little
quartet type thing. We recorded it in New York, I think 'Only
Now And Then' was cut at RCA Studios.
| "When we moved to Ben-Lee, we worked with
Leon Huff and sometimes he would rehearse us at Timmy's
sister's house. Once he got to know our sound, he
started to write songs with us specifically in mind. It
was through him that I met Sundray [Cindy Scott]
as she was recording and writing with him at that time.
[The Leon Huff/Cindy Scott composition, 'It Happens
Every Day' was issued as Or 1256].
She and I hit it off
real well and we became good friends from then on. We
split from Timmy in '64 and went off on our own. They
thought we girls could stand alone too, especially as
Lucille was such a good singer. She was the 'Supreme' of
the Persianettes! We went to Swan for a couple of songs.
'What Good Is It' [issued as parts 1 & 2 -Swan 4271]
and 'Run Run' [unissued until 1996, when released in the
UK on Kent cd 'Swan's Soul Sides - Dance The Philly,
CDKEND 120] were actually ones that Sundray did and we
did others that didn't come out. I found out later that
they used them as demos for the Three Degrees.
|
|
"We broke up sometime around
1966. Lucille was singing in church on a regular basis. She
was starting to gain weight and 'they' - principally Richard
Barrett - were trying to talk to her in the nicest possible
way about controlling it. But she wasn't having it. When she
would sing in church on Sunday, everybody loved it. No one
ever talked to her about her weight there, they weren't
worried about that, they just said 'Praise The Lord!'. But for
[secular] club work, they wanted us to look a certain way,
have a certain style, and that meant her being told to lose
weight. I think this began to hurt her feelings and she just
took the choice to stick to singing in church. It just didn't
sit well and she decided to leave. Helen and I discussed going
on with another girl but Lucille was so much my idol, I didn't
feel we could carry things off. Maybe now I would think
differently."
"Indeed it was a privilege
with much pleasure to have accompanied Cindy Scott, my dear
friend and sister on her recording mission in England during
April 1999. Upon arrival at the airport the open arms of David
Powner and Keith Doy embraced us. Both Dave and Keith were
total strangers to me then, but in a very short period of time
we became loving friends and road buddies. These guys truly
have the gift of hospitality. I loved every moment of my stay
in England due to their care and genuine concern for our well
being in a foreign land. For a minute I thought I was the
Queen of England. The natives of England in some way helped me
to come to my senses quickly. Cindy and I worked together as
diligently as possible with one single goal in mind, that was
to complete the task at hand, a hit CD. There has never, ever
been a time when I have actually felt that Cindy's ship had
finally arrived as it was upon completion of the entire
recording. Even though battling hoarseness she fought to the
end and kept the faith.
Photo: Vera Carey & Cindy Scott
at BBC Radio Shropshire |
"Memories of our past vocal experiences with
the Persianettes were reborn. We truly had a soulful
sound then and I believe that her new recording has
captured a spark of the blast from the past! If you ask
me personally what my favorite side of the CD is I would
have to answer "it's the same side the fans have
considered to make this record hit the charts." One
thing I am positive, there is music on this CD -
The Loving Country that will appeal to
every listening ear." |
"While in England I gave Dave Powner a new name. Yes,
I call him "The Hitman." As a producer his aim appears to be
on target. The bulls eye is #1 on the recording chart. Now the
rest is up to the listening ear of the people. This is where
the power of success lies for any recording artist. No people,
no purchase. No purchase, no hit. No hit, no Hitman. No
Hitman, well Dave will try again!"
"If it has not been for
Cindy's measure of faith in my ability to handle the task of
recording, none of this would have been possible for me. It is
a blessing and an honor to have met you in the late 1960's and
experience all the great times we have shared together. I know
that one reunion is only by the sovereign will of God Almighty
for such a time as this. I thank our Lord Jesus Christ for
what he is about to do in your life as you tour paths unknown
establishing a bond of love from above between you and your
wonderful fans through the vehicle of music."
Love,
joy and peace
Vera
Carey
The Persianettes and Cindy
Scott are featured on the UK Kent CD "Ben-Lee's Philadelphia
Story"
Cat: No: CDKEND 164
Part of the
above text is reprinted from In The Basement
Magazine with the kind permission of
David Cole.
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