| "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.
"dedicated
to real soul"
inthebasement@btinternet.com
www.btinternet.com/~inthebasement
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