"Pearl's a Singer" is a song by English singer

Elkie Brooks Elkie Brooks (born Elaine Bookbinder; 25 February 1945) is an English Rock music, rock, blues and jazz singer. She was a vocalist with the bands Dada and Vinegar Joe (band), Vinegar Joe, and later became a solo artist. She gained her biggest su ...

, as taken from her 1977 album '' Two Days Away'' which was produced by the song's co-writers

Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

. The original version of "Pearl's a Singer" had been introduced by the duo

Dino and Sembello Ralph F. Palladino (born April 1938), known as Ralph Dino, and John Anthony Sembello (February 22, 1945 - May 1, 2013), were an American singing and songwriting duo in the early 1970s. They recorded one album together, which included the original v ...

– also the song's co-writers – on their 1974 self-titled album which Leiber and Stoller had produced. The song is a

ballad A ballad is a form of verse, often a narrative set to music. Ballads were particularly characteristic of the popular poetry and song of Great Britain and Ireland from the Late Middle Ages until the 19th century. They were widely used across Eur ...

, telling the story of a failed singer who still dreams of the success she might have had.

History

Brooks would recall that at a rehearsal session for her ''Two Days Away'' album "Jerry Leiber

aid In international relations, aid (also known as international aid, overseas aid, foreign aid, economic aid or foreign assistance) is – from the perspective of governments – a voluntary transfer of resources from one country to another. Th ...

'I want to play you this song, I don't think you're going to like it, it's too countryish for you but I'll play it for you anyway.'...I said: 'Go on, I've got an open mind, I like a lot of country usic' I listened to 'Pearl's a Singer' and told eiber & StollerI liked it but that they needed to odify it witha middle section. To which Jerry said: 'No problem'. And with that he disappeared and came back half an hour later with the odifiedversion of 'Pearl's a Singer'" which Brooks recorded. Brooks - "To be honest n the mid-1970sI just wanted to enjoy myself in music and I never thought 'Pearl...' was going to be a big hit but fterit was released on my birthday in 1977 the record company really pushed it, tgot played on all the radio stations and became very successful. No one was more surprised than me."

Chart performance

"Pearl's a Singer" afforded Elkie Brooks her debut

chart A chart (sometimes known as a graph) is a graphics, graphical representation for data visualization, in which "the data is represented by symbols, such as bars in a bar chart, lines in a line chart, or slices in a pie chart". A chart can repres ...

single – thirteen years after she'd recorded her first track – reaching No. 8 on the UK Singles Chart in spring 1977. It remained her highest placing in that chart until "No More the Fool" reached No. 5, in early 1987.

Personnel

* Elkie Brooks – vocals *

Isaac Guillory Isaac Guillory (February 27, 1947 – December 31, 2000) was an American folk guitarist. Career Guillory's first band was The Continentals in Gainesville, Florida in 1960 at age 13. This band, which later changed its name to Maundy Quintet, in ...

– guitars *

Jean Roussel Jean Alain Roussel (born 1951) is a Mauritian-born Musician, Composer, Record Producer, Arranger, Educator and Sono-Therapist. He is best known for his keyboard work from the 1970s through today, playing regularly live and in studio with Ca ...

– keyboards *

Trevor Morais Trevor Morais (born 10 October 1944) is an English drummer who has been a member of several notable groups such as Faron's Flamingos, Rory Storm and The Hurricanes, The Peddlers, Quantum Jump and the Elkie Brooks backing band. He is also a s ...

– drums * Steve York – bass

Additional personnel

Mike Stoller Leiber and Stoller were an American songwriting and record production duo, consisting of lyricist Jerome Leiber (; April 25, 1933 – August 22, 2011) and composer Michael Stoller (born March 13, 1933). As well as many R&B and pop hits, they wr ...

– keyboards *

Eric Weissberg Eric Weissberg (August 16, 1939 – March 22, 2020) was an American singer, banjo The banjo is a stringed instrument with a thin membrane stretched over a frame or cavity to form a resonator. The membrane is typically circular, and in moder ...

– guitars * George Devens – percussion *

Muscle Shoals Horns The Muscle Shoals Horns is an American brass section of session musicians who performed on many rhythm and blues and rock records between the late 1960s to the present, as well as making their own recordings which included the 1976 R&B chart hit " ...

** Harrison Calloway (arranger) ** Charlie Rose ** Harvey Thompson ** Ronnie Eades * Meco Monardo (arranger), Tony Posk, Guy Lumia, Elliot Rosoff, Rick Sortonne, Carol Webb, Joe Goodman, Julien Barber, Jesse Levy –

strings String or strings may refer to: *String (structure), a long flexible structure made from threads twisted together, which is used to tie, bind, or hang other objects Arts, entertainment, and media Films * ''Strings'' (1991 film), a Canadian anim ...

* Carl Hall, Peggy Blue, Marry Ellen Johnson – backing vocals

Charts

Weekly charts

Year-end charts

References

1977 singles 1977 songs A&M Records singles Elkie Brooks songs Songs written by Jerry Leiber and Mike Stoller {{1970s-single-stub