Girl Group Chronicles: The Jelly Beans

A well remembered group, despite releasing only three records, the Jelly Beans consisted of Diane Taylor, Charlie Thomas, Alma Brewer, and Maxine and Elyse Hebert. Under the management of Bill Downs, the group first signed with producers at Red Bird Records which led to the group's debut. "I Wanna Love Him So Bad" was a gritty but girlish pop record which struck a chord with the teen crowd in the summer of 1964. The kids, just out of high school became over night stars, and they began a gruelling series of one nighters.

Despite the innocent lyrics, slightly off-key harmonizing, and tough competition from the British invasion, the song eventually went to number 9 on the national charts on August 8, 1964. Excitement was building, and the group was called back to the studio to record another single, and some tracks for an album. "Baby Be Mine," was released in late 1964. For a little while it looked like the song, with its slower beat and beautiful wall of sound backing, would be a bigger hit than the original release. Some people even predicted it would go to the top of the charts! It reached a respectable number 51, in late 1964.

The groups album tracks include their two hits, "The Kind Of Boy You Can't Forget," originally by the Raindrops,"Chapel Of Love," a hit by label mates the Dixie Cups, "Goodnight Baby," also a hit for label mates the Butterflys, "Ain't Love A Funny Thing," "Do Wah Diddy," "Here She Comes," "Whisper Sweet Things," and "So Long."

Despite the hit songs, Red Bird dropped the group in early 1965 and no Jelly Beans album was ever released until the1990s. The group, now pared down to a trio consisting of Elyse, Maxine, and Alma, released one more single for Eskee, the brooding "You Don’t Mean Me No Good," but it didn't garner much play despite it’s harder hitting sound.

For some reason most group publicity shots only featured four members of the group, Charlie, Maxine, Elyse, and Alma, but all five voices are present on the Red Bird recordings, which eventually became the centre of a compilation called The Jelly Beans And Friends in the 90s. While the four women in the group retired after their recordings, Charlie became a producer, most notably with the Manhattans.

Suggested Listening:

The Jelly Beans and Friends (Collectables) 1996.

The Red Bird Story Vol. 2 (Charly Records) 1987.

The Girl Group Sound: 25 All-Time Greatest Hits From Red Bird Records (Varese Sarabande) 2001.

Additional Reading:

Clemente, John. Girl Groups: Fabulous Females That Rocked The World. Krause Publications: Iola, WI (2000), pp. 140-141.