CHAINS
THE COOKIES
THE COOKIES
Written by: Goffin/King
Recorded by: The Cookies (1963)
Recorded by: The Cookies (1963)
SOMETIMES YOU HAVE TO admire the
diligence of the young Beatles in
embracing off-the-beaten-track
material. True, in 1963 ‘Chains’ had been a recent
minor US hit for what was essentially the backup
girl group for Little Eva (‘The Loco-Motion’ was
her big 1962 success) but it was hardly an obvious
choice for The Beatles’ first album. Some of The
Cookies – as the group was sometimes known
on its independent forays into recording – were
more famous as part of Ray Charles’ backup
singers The Raelettes. The personnel swaps were
complex, as was the bewildering variety of names
under which the girls additionally recorded and
performed: as well as The Cookies they were
known The Cinderellas, The Stepping Stones
and The Palisades. The line-up for ‘Chains’ was
Dorothy Jones, Ethel-Jean ‘Earl-Jean’ McCrea
and Margaret Ross, all excellent solo singers as
well as accomplished ensemble vocalists. The
guiding lights though were song writers Gerry
Goffin and Carole King who knew a hit when
they heard one, usually because they had written it
themselves. They wrote ‘Chains’ and The Cookies’
biggest hit ‘Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My
Baby’. One ex-Cookie had a minor hit with Goffin
and King’s ‘I’m Into Something Good’ before
Herman’s Hermit’s cleaned up with it. Lennon
and McCartney are on record as saying they
aspired to the same sort of song writing success as
Gerry Goffin and Carole King and it’s not hard
to see why. Before King was reborn in the 1970s
as an introspective singer/songwriter, she had a
laser-like talent for finding the catchy hook and
building an irresistible pop song around it. It was
diligence of the young Beatles in
embracing off-the-beaten-track
material. True, in 1963 ‘Chains’ had been a recent
minor US hit for what was essentially the backup
girl group for Little Eva (‘The Loco-Motion’ was
her big 1962 success) but it was hardly an obvious
choice for The Beatles’ first album. Some of The
Cookies – as the group was sometimes known
on its independent forays into recording – were
more famous as part of Ray Charles’ backup
singers The Raelettes. The personnel swaps were
complex, as was the bewildering variety of names
under which the girls additionally recorded and
performed: as well as The Cookies they were
known The Cinderellas, The Stepping Stones
and The Palisades. The line-up for ‘Chains’ was
Dorothy Jones, Ethel-Jean ‘Earl-Jean’ McCrea
and Margaret Ross, all excellent solo singers as
well as accomplished ensemble vocalists. The
guiding lights though were song writers Gerry
Goffin and Carole King who knew a hit when
they heard one, usually because they had written it
themselves. They wrote ‘Chains’ and The Cookies’
biggest hit ‘Don’t Say Nothing Bad About My
Baby’. One ex-Cookie had a minor hit with Goffin
and King’s ‘I’m Into Something Good’ before
Herman’s Hermit’s cleaned up with it. Lennon
and McCartney are on record as saying they
aspired to the same sort of song writing success as
Gerry Goffin and Carole King and it’s not hard
to see why. Before King was reborn in the 1970s
as an introspective singer/songwriter, she had a
laser-like talent for finding the catchy hook and
building an irresistible pop song around it. It was
The Dimension Dolls...as a compilation albumonce dubbed The Cookies (along with label
mates Little Eva and Carole King). In fact
those three acts were almost the whole
Dimension artist roster for its short but hit-
studded life in the early 1960s.
the golden fleece that everyone in New York’s
Brill Building sought every working day and,
miraculously, Lennon & McCartney soon turned
into such prodigious hit song writers that there is
little doubt they could have held their own in the
company of Leiber & Stoller, Greenwich & Barry,
Pomus & Shuman and, yes, even Goffin & King.
Until that time came, though, they knew enough
to look to the best in the field for their material.
Brill Building sought every working day and,
miraculously, Lennon & McCartney soon turned
into such prodigious hit song writers that there is
little doubt they could have held their own in the
company of Leiber & Stoller, Greenwich & Barry,
Pomus & Shuman and, yes, even Goffin & King.
Until that time came, though, they knew enough
to look to the best in the field for their material.
The Cookies sang backup on Neil Sedaka’s‘Breaking Up Is Hard To Do’and spent more
time as jobbing session singers than as a
permanent group. Their original version of
‘Chains’remains an irresistible record.