Earl-Jean Reavis (née McCrea; born 1942) is an American former pop and R&B singer who was a member of the

vocal group A musical ensemble, also known as a music group, musical group, or a band is a group of people who perform instrumental and/or vocal music, with the ensemble typically known by a distinct name. Some music ensembles consist solely of instrume ...

the Cookies The Cookies were an American R&B girl group active in two distinct lineups, the first from 1954 to 1958 which later became the Raelettes, and the second from 1961 to 1967. Several of the members of both lineups were members of the same fami ...

. Credited as Earl-Jean, she had a solo hit with the original version of " I'm into Something Good", written by

Gerry Goffin Gerald Goffin (February 11, 1939 – June 19, 2014) was an American lyricist. Collaborating initially with his first wife, Carole King, he co-wrote many international pop hits of the early and mid-1960s, including the US No.1 hits " Will You L ...

and

Carole King Carole King Klein (born Carol Joan Klein; February 9, 1942) is an American singer-songwriter and musician renowned for her extensive contributions to popular music. She wrote or co-wrote 118 songs that charted on the Billboard Hot 100, ''Billbo ...

, and later a bigger hit for

Herman's Hermits Herman's Hermits are an English rock and pop group formed in 1963 in Manchester and formerly fronted by singer Peter Noone. Known for their jaunty beat sound and Noone's often tongue-in-cheek vocal style, the Hermits charted with numerous tra ...

Early life

Reavis was born in

Brooklyn Brooklyn is a Boroughs of New York City, borough of New York City located at the westernmost end of Long Island in the New York (state), State of New York. Formerly an independent city, the borough is coextensive with Kings County, one of twelv ...

New York New York most commonly refers to: * New York (state), a state in the northeastern United States * New York City, the most populous city in the United States, located in the state of New York New York may also refer to: Places United Kingdom * ...

, United States, but lived with her family in

North Carolina North Carolina ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Southeastern United States, Southeastern region of the United States. It is bordered by Virginia to the north, the Atlantic Ocean to the east, South Carolina to the south, Georgia (U.S. stat ...

from the age of two. They returned to Brooklyn to live in

Coney Island Coney Island is a neighborhood and entertainment area in the southwestern section of the New York City borough of Brooklyn. The neighborhood is bounded by Brighton Beach to its east, Lower New York Bay to the south and west, and Gravesend to ...

when she was a young teenager, where she attended Lincoln High School. In 1960, she married Grant Reavis, and had a child. Sheila Weller, ''Girls Like Us''
Simon and Schuster, 2008, pp. 114-122 Gerry Goffin and Earl-Jean McCrea (aka Jeanie Reavis) had a daughter while Goffin and Carole King were still married, as author Sheila Weller said in her book ''Girls Like Us'', chronicling the lives of King,

Joni Mitchell Roberta Joan Mitchell (née Anderson; born November 7, 1943) is a Canadian and American singer-songwriter, multi-instrumentalist, and painter. As one of the most influential singer-songwriters to emerge from the 1960s folk music circuit, Mitch ...

and

Carly Simon Carly Elisabeth Simon (born June 25, 1943) is an American musician, singer, songwriter, and author. She rose to fame in the 1970s with a string of hit records; her 13 Billboard Hot 100, top 40 U.S. hits include "Anticipation (song), Anticipatio ...

Career

Reavis's older sister, Darlene McCrea, and the other original members of the Cookies – a group first formed in 1954 – eventually evolved into

Ray Charles Ray Charles Robinson (September 23, 1930 – June 10, 2004) was an American singer, songwriter, and pianist. He is regarded as one of the most iconic and influential musicians in history, and was often referred to by contemporaries as "The Gen ...

' backing group,

the Raelettes The Raelettes (or occasionally The Raelets or The Raeletts) were an American girl group formed in 1958 to provide backing vocals for Ray Charles. They were reformed from the group The Cookies. Between 1966 and 1973, the Raelettes recorded on ...

. In 1961, Earl-Jean was persuaded to join a new version of the Cookies. The group was signed to Goffin and King's

Dimension In physics and mathematics, the dimension of a mathematical space (or object) is informally defined as the minimum number of coordinates needed to specify any point within it. Thus, a line has a dimension of one (1D) because only one coo ...

record label "Big Three" music labels A record label or record company is a brand or trademark of Sound recording and reproduction, music recordings and music videos, or the company that owns it. Sometimes, a record label is also a Music publisher, ...

in 1962, and scored hits with " Don't Say Nothin' Bad (About My Baby)", and "

Chains A chain is a serial assembly of connected pieces, called links, typically made of metal, with an overall character similar to that of a rope in that it is flexible and curved in compression but linear, rigid, and load-bearing in tension. A ...

" (later covered by

the Beatles The Beatles were an English Rock music, rock band formed in Liverpool in 1960. The core lineup of the band comprised John Lennon, Paul McCartney, George Harrison and Ringo Starr. They are widely regarded as the Cultural impact of the Beatle ...

). She left the Cookies, and signed for Colpix, where she recorded the Goffin and King song "I'm into Something Good" (Colpix CP 729), which reached no. 38 in the United States on the ''Billboard'' Hot 100. Later that year in Britain, a

cover version In popular music, a cover version, cover song, remake, revival, or simply cover is a new performance or recording by a musician other than the original performer or composer of the song. Originally, it referred to a version of a song release ...

topped the charts. She recorded a follow-up single in 1964, again written by Goffin and King, called "Randy" (Colpix CP 748) but it failed to reach the chart listings. She later worked as a specialist in early childhood, and opened a

day care Child care, also known as day care, is the care and supervision of one or more children, typically ranging from three months to 18 years old. Although most parents spend a significant amount of time caring for their child(ren), childcare typica ...

center.

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:McCrea, Earl-Jean 1942 births Living people Abraham Lincoln High School (Brooklyn) alumni American women pop singers Colpix Records artists Singers from Brooklyn American rhythm and blues singers People from Coney Island Singers from North Carolina 20th-century American women singers 20th-century American singers 21st-century American women The Cookies members