#darlene love

[thetaoofzoe]

‘It Was Fun to Be Wanted by Someone Like Elvis Presley’: An Interview With Darlene Love

The gifted singer reflects on Elvis’s collaborative presence and his relationship to gospel music

by MICHAEL MUSTO August 7, 2018

The swaggering real-life Jeff Koons statue named Elvis Presley is hot again. Eugene Jarecki’s June-released documentary The King involves a road trip taken in Elvis’s old Rolls to survey his impact on the culture and determine that the American dream the singer represented is officially dead. (But oh, when it lasted!) Even darker is the film’s exploration of Presley’s appropriation of African-American culture, covering songs like “Hound Dog” — originally a non-hit for the brilliant Big Mama Thornton — and making them rock and sell. For singers like Thornton, the American dream never existed.

Enter powerhouse singer Darlene Love, who is represented on another new project, Where No One Stands Alone, a fourteen-track compilation of Elvis’s gospel work due out August 10 on RCA/Legacy. The L.A.-born minister’s daughter started singing in the church choir at ten, on the road to being scooped up by producer Phil Spector to belt hits like “He’s a Rebel,” “Today I Met The Boy I’m Gonna Marry,” and “Christmas (Baby,Please Come Home).” The lead voice of such groups as the Blossoms and Bob B. Soxx & the Blue Jeans, Love ended up working as a maid in the Eighties, but when she heard one of her old hits on the radio while she was scrubbing, it inspired her to get back into performing full-time. Her appearance in the Oscar-winning 2013 documentary 20 Feet From Stardom was memorable, especially when it addressed the way Spector promised her a solo career, but gave other singers credit for her work.

I recently talked to Darlene about her backup singing for Elvis, and how she feels about the King’s relationship to the music he both co-opted and celebrated.

Hi, Darlene. What is some of the gospel work you did with Elvis?

There is “Let Us Pray,” the one from the movie we did with Elvis, Change of Habit. That was his last film.

It was in 1969, with Elvis as a doctor and Mary Tyler Moore as a nun.

We, the Blossoms, are in the first scene. And we were in his 1968 comeback special [Singer Presents … ELVIS].

His new gospel compilation album should be quite interesting.

They [recently] had me do some fill-ins, what we call ad libs, throughout the album to make it sound more gospel. I haven’t heard it yet. Hopefully it’s a wonderful thing.

Elvis went to church and listened to gospel singers to soak up what they did, right? 

Even today, it’s more mixed than it was in the Fifties and Sixties. Whites and blacks didn’t go to church together back then. What Elvis told me he would do — we had night service on Sunday night when we did what we called “praise songs.” A lot of them were songs he loved, what we called “hymn songs.”

We didn’t have air conditioners. We had pushup windows, with a little rope. Elvis said he would stand outside the church rather than going in, because they didn’t think black and white should be in the same churches together. He said he would listen through the windows. It gave him such a thrill. It’s a big difference between the way blacks sang gospel and the way whites sang gospel.

Do you feel he was dedicated to the music or he was just taking it for himself? 

I found out years later, when we were doing the comeback special, that his mother’s favorite music was gospel. He would always sing gospel around her. I think if he could have had a big career in gospel music, that’s where he would have been. But you can always make more money off secular hits. Elvis had 10 or 15,000 people come to his shows to see him. Today, they have mega churches that hold 25,000, but back then, you were doing great if you had 500 people.

I bet they have air conditioning now.

Oh, lord, yes. [Laughs] I lived in Texas for five years as a young kid with my father, and it was so hot we couldn’t even breathe. There was no air conditioning in church or the house. What a difference it makes to have a cool ensemble. You still sweat because of the energy, but back then, we were soaking wet, when we sang in church.

I love gospel music. If I had a calling — meaning from the Lord — just to sing gospel, I would have, but the secular music got to more people. I bet a lot of secular singers like Sam Cooke and Aretha Franklin felt the same way. They never paid us no money. “Do it unto the Lord.” “OK.” [Laughs] We would drive to the gigs and they’d give you an offering — gas money. They were hardly giving us a whole lot of money. But it was worth it, every penny of it. It was a wonderful experience singing gospel.

But was Elvis appropriating the music, or that’s just the way it was?

That’s just the way it was. A lot of people think a white person is copying the black person. He just loved the music and he was singing it the way he felt. He sang “Hound Dog” completely different than Mama Thornton. [Elvis’s version was rock, whereas Thornton’s was blues.] Even today, they take secular music and put it in gospel, and vice versa. You know, Elvis won three Grammys, and they were all for gospel records. 

What were your experiences like with Elvis?

One time, Elvis decided we’d all go to the movies. He bought this theater out that night.

What did you watch — Change of Habit?

Don’t even ask me. I don’t remember. [Laughs] We had a lot of free time when we were recording and when we were making the movie. That’s when the Blossoms and myself got a chance to know the gospel side of Elvis. He’d want to know the songs we knew. He’d get his guitar and say, “You know this song?” “Yes, we grew up on it.” He’d say, “Let’s do it.”

Was he funny or serious?

He was funny and he was serious sometimes. If he didn’t think he was doing great, he’d say, “Hey, girls, how’m I doing?” He was very, very funny. I call it that “country funny.” He would do his moves in the studio the way he was gonna do them onstage. It made it easy to be around him, but sometimes it was not easy because his bodyguards were keeping people from him. He wanted to be with the Blossoms, where he could pull out his guitar. We’d say, “We think you’d better go. You’re gonna get us in trouble.” We’d never forget, because he’d be giving us his personal time.

You’d just be hanging out and singing?

Yes! Whatever song he knew — “Amazing Grace” or “River of Jordan” or “Heaven Is a Wonderful Place” or “Sweet Hour of Prayer.” We called them hymns of the church. There was another one called “Pass Me Not, O Gentle Savior.” The Blossoms were known for their harmony. We’d harmonize with him. There’s something we had with Elvis that others didn’t have. It was fun to be wanted by someone like Elvis Presley.

He had tremendous respect for you.

Yes, he did. That was great. I always say he left us way too soon. He is where I plan to go one day, so I’ll see him again.

You were all rather young and great-looking. Was there any sexual tension in the air? 

There was. It could have been. But I was too scared to do anything.

You fool! [Laughs] Kidding. You wanted to keep it professional.

And I definitely did. Something about dating someone you’re working for, it takes away from that. “I know he’s never gonna look at me the same after this.” [Laughs] He’d start playing with me. He’d tap you on the shoulder or do a hip shake, and me and Elvis knew what that meant.

Flirting?

Yeah, I think so, and I think it showed his human side. I wasn’t bad-looking — and I was thin, too. [Laughs] He wanted to take out time and be around us. The reason we sang on his ’68 comeback special is he was the one that insisted that the Blossoms sing in the music section of the show.

So Elvis treated you better than Phil Spector did?

Oh my God, I’d say so.

That’s an easy one.

That’s a real easy one. Phil took advantage of me and my talent. With Elvis, he wanted us to work, and we got paid well. It wasn’t like Phil Spector cracking the whip and us running around!

#elvis presley #darlene love #black women

[twixnmix]

Phil Spector, Darlene Love, Cher, Sonny Bono and Jack Nitzsche during a recording session for the album "A Christmas Gift for You from Phil Spector" at Gold Star Studios in Hollywood, 1963.

Photos by Ray Avery

#phil spector #darlene love #cher #sonny bono #jack nitzsche #gold star studios #hollywood #wall of sound #1963 #1960s #1960s fashion #1960s music

[eucalyptusbrainrot]

hello chat

can people recommend me fics that focus on rosekiller, partyvan, darlene, marylily, even pandalily!

i don’t read enough about these characters tbh ❕

#marauders #regulus black #marauders au #marauders fandom #james potter #james x regulus #regulus arcturus black #sirius black #starchaser #sunseeker #darlene love #dorlene #dorcas meadowes #dorcas x marlene #marylily #mary macdonald #lily evans #rosekiller #evan rosier #pandalily

[tinas1469]

Tom Holland and Zendaya ⁣⁣

Merry Christmas 🎄🎄🍾🍾 ⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

.⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣⁣

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#tom holland #zendaya #tomdaya #Merry Christmas #Los Angeles #Oakland #Brazil #London #Paris #mariah carey #Darlene Love

[doll-elvis]

re: elvis and black women- there was also darlene love of the blossoms who gave interviews about elvis hitting on her during filming change of habit. he told her "you know, i really like you and i've never been with a black woman..." and she replied "well, you're not about to be with this one either", which made him burst out laughing, lol.

oh my gosh I’ve never actually heard this story before so thank you so much for sharing because I absolutely love this 💀 like Marty Lacker really expected us to believe that the biggest ladies man of all time didn’t flirt with every beautiful woman he saw, bffr 😭

and it’s always funny to me whenever elvis got humbled a little bit because I think he expected most girls to fall at his feet and whenever a girl didn’t, I think it would make him want her even more (like the story of how he met Dottie Harmony and how she ignored him until he got on his knees and basically begged her to go out with him lmaooo)

darlene is a stronger woman than me because imagine having enough will power to deny him when he’s looking like that 😩

#thank you for sharing!!! #please come into my inbox with more lil stories like these #I just know Elvis was pouting about being rejected in his dressing room lmaoo #the blossoms #darlene love #the comeback special #elvis presley #elvisaaronpresley #elvis #i love him #elvis history #elvis asks

[loveboatinsanity]

#darlene love

[krispyweiss]

Tina Turner Dies at 83

- “She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous,” Mick Jagger says

Tina Turner, inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame as a member of Ike & Tina Turner and as a solo artist, has died at 83.

No cause or date of death was given in the statement posted May 24 on Turner’s Facebook page.

“It is with great sadness that we announce the passing of Tina Turner,” it read. “With her music and her boundless passion for life, she enchanted millions of fans around the world and inspired the stars of tomorrow.”

Turner had “been ill, but I never thought this day would come,” Darlene Love said on Facebook.

“There will never be a performer like Tina Turner again,” Love wrote. “She was one of a kind. Icon, legend, warm-hearted, hard-working, legs for days, hitmaker, pioneer, hardest-working artist, survivor. She was simply the best.”

Former Black Sabbath bassist Geezer Butler recalled seeing the Turners open for the Rolling Stones in 1966 and becoming “an instant fan.”

“I’m so saddened by the passing of my wonderful friend Tina Turner,” Mick Jagger said of his Live Aid duet partner.

“She was truly an enormously talented performer and singer. She was inspiring, warm, funny and generous. She helped me so much when I was young and I will never forget her.”

Turner broke away from her abusive marriage and musical partnership with Ike and launched a hugely successful solo career in the 1980s with hits like “Better be Good to Me,” “Private Dancer” and many others.

“Thank you for being the inspiration to millions of people around the world for speaking your truth and giving us the gift of your voice,” Bryan Adams said in eulogizing his one-time touring partner.

In 1990, Turner launched a sold-out tour of Europe with the Neville Brothers, leaving Arron Neville to mourn her loss.

“She showed us much love and respect,” he wrote on social media.

Jazz guitarist Al Di Meola called Turner “the epitome of class.” Former NBA star “Magic” Johnson said “she gave one of the best live shows I’ve ever seen.” And John Fogerty “loved her version of (Creedence Clearwater Revival’s) ‘Proud Mary.’”

“(Turner) taught women that they could be strong, sexy, fearless and their own person,” Carole King said. “May she rest in peace and power.”

Turner retired from music in 2009. But her influence was secure.

“There was nothing her deep, robust voice couldn’t do,” the Rock Hall said in its online eulogy.

5/24/23

#tina turner #ike and tina turner #the rolling stones #mick jagger #darlene love #al di meola #magic johnson #bryan adams #the neville brothers #aaron neville #carole king #rock and roll hall of fame #geezer butler #black sabbath #john fogerty #creedence clearwater revival

[xmassongtournament]

Bonus Track: Santa Baby by Miss Piggy

#christmas music #poll #tournament poll #Santa Baby #Baby Please Come Home #Eartha Kitt #Darlene Love #The Muppets #Miss Piggy #A Red And Green Christmas #Round 3 #Youtube

[poptartcrush]

Cher & Darlene Love

#cher #darlene love #rock and roll

[justplaincher]

Cher Christmas - OUT NOW!

Featuring Stevie Wonder, Darlene Love, Cyndi Lauper, Michael Bublé, and Tyga

#cher #goddess of pop #christmas #warner bros #Spotify #Christmas music #cyndi lauper #tyga #Michael buble #Stevie wonder #Darlene love #dj play a christmas song #Michael Bublé

[singonavine71]

The Blossoms are an American girl group that originated from California. During their height of success in the 1960s, the group's lineup most famously consisted of Darlene Love, Fanita James, and Jean King. Although the group had a recording career in their own right, they were most famous for being the group to actually record the No. 1 hit "He's a Rebel" (which producer Phil Spector credited to The Crystals), and for providing backing vocals for many of the biggest hits of the 1960s.

#the blossoms #black archives #black culture #black music #60s nostalgia #60s music #60s fashion #60s r&b #60s #beautiful black women #girl group #talented #darlene love #fanita james #jean king

[twixnmix]

Darlene Love and Joan Jett at the "Light of Day" wrap-up party at The Hard Rock Cafe in New York City on May 28, 1986.

Photos by Andy Warhol

#darlene love #joan jett #1986 #andy warhol #nyc #hard rock cafe #1980s #1980s music #1980s fashion

[the-birth-of-art]

Darlene Love's "Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)" Letterman supercut.

#darlene love #christmas (baby please come home) #david letterman #paul shaffer #brill building #phil spector #a christmas gift to you from me a jew

[hedleylamarr]

Lethal Weapon 3 (1992).

#Lethal Weapon 3 #Danny Glover #Darlene Love #1990's #1992 movies #my gifs #romancegifs #userthing #cinematv #cinemapix #filmtvcentral #tvfilmsource #tvfilmspot #filmedit #filmgifs #moviegifs #usersource #mediagifs #fyeahmovies #90sedit #theninetiesedit

[keepcalmandcarriewhite]

Linzi Hateley & Darlene Love

Carrie 1988

#carrie #carrie white #stephen king #miss gardner #carrie broadway #carrie the musical #linzi hateley #darlene love #gifs #gif

[myvinylplaylist]

Artists United Against Apartheid: Sun City (1985)

This version contains bonus track “Silver & Gold,” which is not mentioned on the outer or inner sleeve but is listed on the side 2 label. There is another version that does have the extra track listed on the rear sleeve.

Sticker on the shrinkwrap on back cover reads: ADDED BONUS SONG: SILVER AND GOLD By BONO, KEITH RICHARDS AND RON WOOD ST-53019

Promotional only copies may contain a press kit for reviewers and news outlets to promote this album. Various items included in kits may be two single-sheet inserts, one Sun City info / fact sheet and one United Nations Special Committee, a 5-page leaflet quotes from artists (30 quotations), and an 8x10 photo of producers Arthur Baker and Little Steven. Not all kits contain the same items.

First selection number labels, second spine, inner sleeve and above mentioned Sun City info / fact sheet.

Manhattan Records

#my vinyl playlist #artists united against apartheid #afrika bambaataa #stiv bators #pat benatar #kurtis blow #bono #jackson browne #clarence clemons #jimmy cliff #george clinton #miles davis #bob dylan #the fat boys #peter gabriel #herbie hancock #little steven #darlene love #michael monroe #joey ramone #lou reed #run dmc #bruce springsteen #ringo starr #pete townshend #bonnie raitt #record cover #album cover #album art #vinyl records