The Pearls

The Pearls were a 1970s girl vocal duo from Liverpool, England, featuring Lyn Cornell and Ann Simmons (née O'Brien ).^[1] They released a total of 12 singles, the most successful being "Guilty", which reached No. 10 in the UK Singles Chart in June 1974.^[1][2]

Career

Cornell and Simmons were originally part of The Vernons Girls, and with assistance from the record producer, Phil Swern, formed The Pearls in 1972.^[3] After her time with the Vernons, Cornell, who had dated Adam Faith, became a solo singer, and had minor success with "Never on a Sunday" and a Christmas song, "The Angel and the Stranger".^[4] Cornell's 1960 recording of "Never on Sunday" reached No. 30 in the UK Singles Chart.^[5]

The Pearls' first records were cover versions of the 1960s songs "Third Finger, Left Hand" (a b-side from the Martha and the Vandellas hit single, "Jimmy Mack") and The Ronettes, "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered".^[3] These records were issued by Bell Records. However, the vocal on the first single issued by The Pearls was not performed by Cornell and Simmons. It was the duo Sue and Sunny, (Sue (Glover) and Sunny (Leslie)), who sang on "Third Finger Left Hand" as stated on The Pearls compilation album. Sue and Sunny could not front The Pearls when the record was released, because they had previous contractual obligations. There were a total of seven singles issued on the Bell label.

The Pearls' original songs included "Let's Make Love Again", "Doctor Love" and "Wizard of Love" amongst others (although these all failed to chart). They had more success with "Guilty", co-written by Ron Roker, which became a UK Top 10 success in 1974.^[2] Their previously unreleased cover of The Everly Brothers, "Bye Bye Love" appeared on their compilation album, A String of Pearls (see discography).^[3]

In 1975 The Pearls changed label to Private Stock releasing three singles over the next two years. The first release "Lead Us Not into Temptation" was an original song but the next two were covers. "The Cheater" was a popular play on the Northern soul circuit, and their last single for Private Stock was a disco version of "I'll See You in My Dreams", which was also issued in the United States as a 10" D.J. single.

Both Cornell and Simmons were also session and backing singers, as also detailed in the liner notes of their compilation album. They belonged at various stages of their careers to other groups. Cornell who had been a solo singer both prior to joining The Vernons Girls and after, was also a member of The Breakaways, The Ladybirds, The Chucks, The Carefrees and The Raindrops. She also sang and toured with the James Last Orchestra during the entire time she was a member of The Pearls. Simmons, as well as her time with The Vernons Girls, was a member of The Redmond Twins, The Breakaways and The Ladybirds during her career.

Cornell married session musician Andy White; the drummer on the album version of The Beatles' first hit, "Love Me Do".^[4] Cornell and White later divorced and she now lives in London.^[4]

Discography

Singles

The respective catalogue numbers and B sides of the above chart hits are as follows :- Bell 1217 - "Little Lady Love Me"; Bell 1254 - "Sing Out To Me"; Bell 1284 - "She Say He Say"; and Bell 1352 - "I'll Say It Over Again".

Further singles issued by The Pearls (with B sides and release dates) are as follows - Bell 1311 "Yo Yo" ("Deeper in Love with You" 8 June 1973) - Bell 1372 "Wizard of Love" ("Playing Around" 9 August 1974) - Bell 1394 "Doctor Love" ("Pass It On" 10 January 1975) - Pvt 28 "Lead Us Not into Temptation" ("Love Sensation" 18 July 1975) - Pvt 39 "The Cheater" ("I'm Gonna Steal Your Heart Away" 17 October 1975) - Pvt 47 "I'll See You in My Dreams" ("Pearly" 6 February 1976) - Hanky 10 "Let's Make Love Again" ("We Can Make It Baby" 15 September 1976) and Ebony Eye08 "Double Trouble" ("One in the Eye for Love" 16 February 1978).

The Pearls singles were issued around the world in a variety of pressings with different catalogue numbers . The above details all refer to the UK releases .

Albums

• A String of Pearls (CD July 2005 by Rev-Ola Records)

1. "Lead Us Not into Temptation" - (Roger Greenaway, Tony Macaulay) 2:52
2. "Third Finger, Left Hand" - (Holland–Dozier–Holland) 2:31
3. "Yo Yo" - (Chris Andrews) 2:45
4. "You Came, You Saw, You Conquered" - (Irwin Levine, Phil Spector, Toni Wine) 2:39
5. "Guilty" - (Ron Roker, Gerry Shury) 3:03
6. "Sing Out to Me" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:51
7. "Pass It On" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:26
8. "You Are Everything" - (Thom Bell, Linda Creed) 2:40
9. "She Say, He Say" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:24
10. "Deeper in Love with You" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:48
11. "Wizard of Love" - (Gerry Shury, Phil Swern) 3:25
12. "I'll Say It Over Again" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:25
13. "Doctor Love" - (Biddu) 2:35
14. "Playing Around" - (Johnny Arthey, Phil Swern) 2:26
15. "Love Sensation" - (Biddu, Phil Swern) 3:13
16. "The Cheater" - (Mike Krenski) 2:52
17. "I'll See You in My Dreams" - (Isham Jones, Gus Kahn) 3:02
18. "Let's Make Love Again" - (Mel Taggart, Ray Roberts) 3:43
19. "I'm Gonna Steal Your Heart Away" - (Biddu, Phil Swern) 3:20
20. "We Can Make It Baby" - (Lyn Cornell, Richard Hewson) 2:13
21. "Double Trouble" - (Gerry Shury, Phil Swern) 2:56
22. "One in the Eye for Love" - (Gerry Shury, Phil Swern) 3:29
23. "Bye Bye Love" - (Felice and Boudleaux Bryant) 2:07
24. "A Lover's Concerto" - (Sandy Linzer and Denny Randell) 2:43^[6]

The CD in one of a number of errors, lists track 18 as "Pearly", the instrumental B-side of "I'll See You in My Dreams". "Pearly" was credited to 'The Pearls Orchestra'. The track is actually "Let's Make Love Again", which the liner notes said was unobtainable. The other instrumental also not included on the CD, was the B-side of their first single "Third Finger Left Hand", and titled "Little Lady Love Me". This track was credited to 'The Rhythm of the Pearls'. The final two tracks were available on this CD for the first time.

References