The Charmaines were an American female vocal trio of the 1960s, described by the NME ''as sassy as

The Supremes The Supremes were an American girl group formed in Detroit, Michigan, in 1959 as the Primettes. A premier act of Motown Records during the 1960s, the Supremes were the most commercially successful of Motown's acts and the most successful Amer ...

and

The Marvelettes The Marvelettes were an American girl group formed in Inkster, Michigan, Inkster, Michigan in 1960, consisting of schoolmates Gladys Horton, Katherine Anderson, Georgeanna Tillman, Juanita Cowart (now Cowart Motley), and Georgia Dobbins, who was ...

''.

Personnel

Supported by Irene Vinegar and Dee Watkins, the group's lead singer and sometime lyricist was Gigi Jackson. Born Marian Jackson, later known as Gigi Griffin, after marrying her producer Herman Griffin, Jackson started her career in a family band called the Jackson Sisters. On specific recordings, Watkins was replaced by Gigi's sister, Jerri Jackson, who later recorded in her own right. Irene Vinegar died on June 20, 2021, at the age of 80.

Career

The Charmaines were considered Cincinnati's leading female R&B trio in the early 1960s, notably as a backing unit for many better-known artists on the

King King is a royal title given to a male monarch. A king is an Absolute monarchy, absolute monarch if he holds unrestricted Government, governmental power or exercises full sovereignty over a nation. Conversely, he is a Constitutional monarchy, ...

label, including Conway Twitty,

James Brown James Joseph Brown (May 3, 1933 – December 25, 2006) was an American singer, songwriter, dancer, musician, and record producer. The central progenitor of funk music and a major figure of 20th-century music, he is referred to by Honorific nick ...

, Hawkshaw Hawkins, Little Willie John, Bobby Freeman, and Gary U.S. Bonds As a group in their own right, The Charmaines' first single was ''Rockin’ Old Man'' (late 1960) with lyrics by Jackson and backed with ''If You Were Mine''. The nearest they came to a hit was #117 on the Billboard chart in 1961 with ''What Kind Of Girl (Do You Think I Am),'' which out-sold a rival version of the same song by Erma Franklin. It was in the time left over at the end of one of their King recording sessions that fellow Fraternity artist Lonnie Mack got the opportunity to record his first improvised hit ''Memphis''. The Charmaines went on to appear on Lonnie Mack's best-known album ''Wham of That Memphis Man'' and recordings of comedian-singer Jack Larson. They would also record for Columbia and other labels - including two Canadian labels, Red Leaf ("Hypnotized" / "The One For Me") and RCA Canada (backing Lynda Layne on "I'm Your Pussycat") - when they were based out of Toronto ca. 1965.

Rediscovery

In 2006, a 28-track compilation of the trio's 1960s recordings was issued on Ace Records and described by Record Collector as ''a delight for Northern fans and all-girl group collectors''. In 2012, NME celebrated The Charmaines as one of the unfairly forgotten girl groups of the 1960s. On the death of Lonnie Mack in April 2016, The Charmaines were one of the groups featured in a Lonnie Mack special on Classic 21's radio show Dr BoogieDr Boogie Lonnie Mack special features The Charmaines' on ''Rockin' Pneumonia and the Boogie Woogie Flu'' at 44'52" with Gigi Jackson on vocals
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External links

Discography: http://www.soulfulkindamusic.net/gigi.htm

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Charmaines American rhythm and blues musical groups American soul musical groups African-American girl groups American R&B girl groups